LAHORE, Feb 12: A former professor of pharmacology at the Lahore Medical and Dental College (LMDC) has alleged that the college administration has terminated her services for showing the academic and attendance record of students to an examiner of the University of Health Sciences.

LMDC principal Prof Dr Naseeb Awan, however, told Dawn that the college had terminated her services because it found a more highly qualified person for the job.

In a presentation to UHS vice-chancellor Prof Dr Malik Husain Mubashir, Dr Nasreen Javaid, professor of pharmacology, stated that she was appointed internal examiner in the subject of pharmacology in the MBBS second professional examination conducted by the UHS.

She said the UHS had appointed Prof Shehnaz Aftab as the external examiner who asked to be provided academic and attendance record of students. Prof Aftab submitted a report to the UHS wherein she appreciated students' performance but observed that some students with a very poor attendance and academic record had been allowed to appear for the examination.

Prof Javaid took a stance in her presentation that allowing students to appear for the examination was not her decision but that of the college administration and particularly the college principal, Prof Awan.

Prof Javaid said Prof Aftab's report was forwarded by the UHS VC to the LMDC principal who sent the report to her for comments. She alleged that her services were terminated the very next day on Jan 8.

She said she had been serving the LMDC for the last five years with a flawless record. "My services were terminated because of malice on the part of college administration over this incident," she alleged.

She urged the UHS administration to take appropriate action so that internal examiners would not be victimized for wrong and unlawful decisions taken by the college administration.

Prof Awan, however, refuted the allegations and said the college had terminated Prof Javaid's services as it found a man with a PhD in the subject for the slot, Prof Dr Hidayat.