KARACHI, Oct 15: A number of classes were either put off or remained halfway due to the ongoing protest campaign under a students’ alliance at the University of Karachi on Saturday, as the administration remained indecisive on a demand that amendments made recently in the eligibility criteria for admissions should be withdrawn.

Though it was a peaceful day, but teachers and administration did not come up firmly against the students protesting against the academic council’s decisions and as such the group of students enjoying support of different students’ organizations managed to get the classes suspended on Saturday as well, said students on the campus.

Students chanted slogans and staged demonstrations demanding the withdrawal of changes made in the admission policy by the KU council, as according to the students those were discriminatory and aimed at restricting the outstation students from taking admissions under general merit seats. Unrest prevailed on the campus almost for the last one week.

In the meantime, the convener of a committee formed by the vice-chancellor to look into the grievances of the students, Dr Abdul Rashid, met a group representing the students of the Northern areas and Balochistan, Frontier and Punjab provinces and discussed the controversial points in the new admission policy.

Dr Rashid told Dawn that he held meeting with a group of students so that their grievances could be eliminated. The aggrieved students stated that the recent amendments in the policy were not in the interest of students’ community and it should be withdrawn first.

Giving his views Dr Rashid said that since the changes were approved at a meeting of the Academic Council of the varsity it could be taken afresh by the council only. He said that he had informally apprised the VC about his dialogues with the students, but any formal report would be submitted on Monday after having another round of negotiations with the students in question.

Meanwhile, the KU VC Dr Pirzada Qasim also discussed the issue with senior deans, pro-vice-chancellor and registrar and other concerned on Monday but failed to reach a consensus.

A number of KU students have been boycotting classes and holding protest demonstrations on the campus against the “controversial admission policy envisaging admission only to those who studied in Karachi and passed their SSC, HSC and Bachelors examinations at Karachi”.

According to sources on the campus, possibility of holding a meeting of the varsity’s academic council in the near future cannot be ruled out.

Since the “controversial” decision was taken abruptly, without having any formal working paper and facts and figures, just considering reservations and apprehensions expressed by a limited number of members, it would be in the fitness of things that the matter be discussed afresh or university should stop implementation of the new eligibility criteria until those were reconfirmed by the KU council or endorsed by the University syndicate, said a senior teacher having administrative flair as well.

The KU is opening its admission process for admissions to Master’s programme on Oct 17 with the sale of admission forms and prospectus through designated branches of UBL. The last date for submission of forms has been fixed as Oct 26, said a source on the campus.

As per the approved policy and the Academic Council resolutions only those candidates, who have passed their graduation examination not before 2000, are eligible for admission to master’s programme. Preference will be given to those candidates who have passed their SSC and HSC or equivalent from an institution located in Karachi and graduation from the colleges affiliated with the University of Karachi.

The eligibility criteria for admission to master’s programme in the faculties of Science, Arts and Islamic Learning is a second class Bachelor’s degree or 45 per cent aggregate marks from any recognized university, added the source.