KARACHI, Aug 7: The Centralised Admission Policy (CAP) Committee is considering extending the last date for the submission of admission forms as the Board of Secondary Education Karachi has decided to issue SSC marks sheets on Aug 15.

This was stated by the CAP Committee chairman and Director Colleges, Sindh, Dr Rafiq Ahmed Siddiqui, at a press conference held at the PECHS Girls’ College here on Tuesday.

He said that the committee would extend the last date by a week or so. Dr Siddiqui said that to make the entire admission process transparent, 13 claim centers -- seven for female candidates and six for male candidates — had been set up this year.

The committee chairman advised students and their parents to contact the claim centers in case of any problem or complaint.

He said that 23 members of the admission committee would be available at these centers and would also visit the designated bank branches to monitor the admission forms’ issuance and submission process.

Dr Siddiqui said that centralised admission policy was introduced in the year 2000 to ensure transparency in college admissions. He said that last year, 82,500 students were admitted to the government colleges through the CAP system while this year some 90,000 forms would be sold and 83,700 students would be granted admissions to various institutions.

He said that around 900 posts of lecturers had been lying vacant for the last two years in various city colleges and higher secondary schools while 200 fresh graduates were appointed in different colleges under the Prime Minister's National Internship Programme (NIP), which, according to him, would help overcome the current shortage of teaching staff.

Criticising the trend of seeking admissions to priority institutions, he said that all colleges and their teaching standards were similar. He said that his department was planning to launch a campaign and a seminar to change the trend.