KARACHI, Sept 7: The University of Karachi will not be awarding gold medals to more than 60 deserving position holders of various departments at its 19th general convocation on Sept 9, as it has been unable to arrange new endowments for the purpose.

According to official sources, about 80 per cent of the honours examinations’ first position holders and 20 per cent that of the masters classes of the morning programme and the entire lot of the top position holders belonging to the evening programme can not be offered the medals, as the university does not have sufficient fund for the purpose.

The University of Karachi is all set to present 81 gold medals to top position holders and other deserving graduates belonging to 2005 batches. As many as 59 medals will go to masters degree holders, while another 20 to Honours degree holders. This year, each medal made of one tola of 18-karat gold is to cost about Rs13,000.

Except the two gold medals, which would be presented to two recipients of DSc and D Litt degrees this year, all the gold medals have been sponsored by outside agencies, individuals and philanthropists.

Any gold medal to the first position holders of BA (Hons) examination in Visual Studies and MA examination in Education will be awarded for the first time this year after some re-appropriation exercise undertaken by the varsity. As the endowments established some years back for toppers of the law faculty of the KU were lying unutilised, it was deemed good to use that for other departments, said a senior official of the KU, adding that the consent of the donors had also been taken in this regard.

Some 35 years back the amount of endowment for one gold medal used to be Rs3,000 to Rs5,000, which was increased up to Rs150,000 in 2002, and then after up to Rs500,000. The varsity could not get any fresh endowment since 2001-02, the official informed.

A KU staffer said some of the position holders had approached the officials for award of gold medals at the forthcoming convocation, but were denied as the varsity was not in possession of medals or endowments for them.

The meritorious graduates are of the view that the KU, which did not want to open its coffer up for the purpose of medals, could at least have contacted the industries or persuaded influential people to get finances for instituting new gold medals.

An official of the university regretted over the plight of position holders in question, but noted that such issues could be addressed only when the varsity had a team of dedicated persons.

It would be in the fitness of things that the sponsor firms, groups or individuals or philanthropists offered the amount of endowment for medals and not determine the recipients of awards or the beneficiary teaching department, a senior teacher in the social sciences remarked.

The departments where more than one gold medal is being awarded for last many years included Arabic, Economics, English, Urdu, Botany, Chemistry, Genetics, Mathematics, Zoology, Pharmacy, Business Administration.

The varsity does not have any gold medal for masters’ top position holders in the departments of Chemical Technology, Petroleum Technology, Physiology, Islamic Studies and Usuluddin.

In the case honours’ programme’s position holders only the departments of General History, Mass Communication, Political Science, Public Administration, Urdu, Chemistry, Chemical Technology, Physiology, Zoology, Pharmacy, Islamic Studies, Business Administration and Commerce have medals to offer.