KARACHI, Aug 24: In view of a rigid admission policy, it is feared that a number of students having passed their matriculation examination with computer science as a subject will not be able to get admissions to pre-medical classes at colleges.

Parents of such students informed Dawn that they were not aware of such a harsh repercussion in the case of their wards, who are now aspiring for admissions to the first year pre- medical group classes.

“In view of the reports about booming computerization, our wards had taken computer as a subject in class 9th, but at that time they were not informed by the school management or the Board of Secondary Education that they would have to continue with the same combination of subjects in the later stage of their academic career,” they maintained.

Interviews of students and parents showed that there were a number of students who wanted to change their group of study in the intermediate classes by joining the pre-medical group, but the existing rules of the intermediate and secondary education boards were not allowing them to do so.

The problem was not so serious in the early years, when the combination with computer as a subject was introduced, but after the formation of the Centralized Admission Committee (CAP), students have been running from pillar to post to get admission to the pre-medical group, it was learnt.

The CAP’s eligibility rules say that those students who have passed SSC examination with computer science subject are not eligible to take admission to the pre-medical group.

The parent of a student affected by the admission policy said that like him many other parents were in mental worries and saw no way but the intervention of the higher authorities, including the two educational boards.

“Some three years back computer was introduced as a subject and not as any technology in class 9th and it was not clear at that time that students taking up the new subject, along with other subjects, would not be given admission to pre-medical classes,” said the parent, adding that his daughter had passed the SSC examination with A-grade and it was the tight compartment policy at the primary stage which was discouraging her from taking further education.

Another parent said that at the age of 13-14 years, when normally the students are admitted to class 9th, they are not matured enough to decide about their academic career.

“After appearing in the matriculation examination, if a student finds that he is week in mathematics or biology then he must be allowed to join any of the two major science groups (pre-engineering or pre-medical) afresh.

While officials at the Centralized Admission Committee are expressing their inability to help the computer subject students in getting admission to medical classes, parents maintained that if the two educational boards, like other boards in the province, took a lenient view on an humanitarian ground then the future of a number of students could be saved.

It was suggested that the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi, should allow the students of computer combination to appear in the biology subject additionally, as a special case, in the forthcoming supplementary examinations and then the city government’s education department would not have any objection in accepting the successful students for the pre-medical group.

A senior official at the Board of Intermediate Education maintained that the Board had been adopting a liberal policy in the case of students and did not believe in any tight compartment education even at the intermediate level.

The Board, after approval, could allow provisional admissions to the affected students, he added.

It was said that the affected students should be required to appear in the supplementary examinations in order to have passed the biology papers, which was a prerequisite for admission to the pre-medical classes, otherwise their admissions would stand cancelled.

It was also learnt that the BSE at present allows all such candidates who either want to improve their results or appear in some additional papers for appearing in annual examination only and not in supplementary examinations.

However, the facility of taking additional papers is allowed to students of general group who wanted to appear in science group papers, provided they fulfilled the conditions of attending the practical classes as well.