KARACHI, Oct 18: After a week long spell of protest and demonstration by students, the administration at the University of Karachi on Tuesday decided to allocate 100 seats each in the masters and bachelors programmes for those students who have not passed their matriculation examination from Karachi board.

A source on the campus said that 200 seats would additionally be offered to students this year only as an ad hoc arrangement, while demand of an alliance of students regarding withdrawal of the latest amendments made in the admission policy could be considered by the university’s academic council some time later.

About a week back a number of students under an alliance at the varsity had launched protest which also affected teaching process at many of the departments repeatedly. The group feared that the changes in the admission policy finalized by the academic council were aimed at “depriving the outstation students of admissions” at various departments in the ensuing session”.

In its last meeting held on Sept 28, the KU council had decided not to allow admissions to students who had not cleared their matriculation, intermediate and bachelor examinations from Karachi-based institutions.

They had urged the authorities to intervene and ensure justice in the case of students coming from other parts of the country to a varsity funded by the federal government.

The source said that the vice-chancellor, Dr Pirzada Qasim, had taken the latest decision in the light of recommendations of a three-member committee, headed by Dr Abdul Rashid, which negotiated with the agitating students at least three times.

The delegation of students which held talks with the varsity officials and accepted the latest offer included representatives from the Northern areas, Kashmir, Punjab, Balochistan and the NWFP, it was learnt.

The number of additional seats offered for admissions were finalized after a study of data pertaining to the admissions given to the outstation students in the past, said a source privy to the VC’s committee, adding that the students had been told that this was a one-time arrangement.

Under the offer, now those students who had been completing their intermediate and bachelor level education from Karachi’s educational institutions, but did not passed the matriculation from the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi, would be entitled to apply for admissions at various programmes of the varsity, it was further learnt.

Talking to Dawn, Dr Pirzada said that these 200 seats had been reserved under S and P categories fro admissions to the KU, in order to redress the grievances of the protesting students and also to facilitate the students from the quake-hit areas.

In the meantime a KU press release said that the varsity had decided to reserve 100 seats each for honours and masters programmes this year in view of the huge damage caused by the earthquake.

Dr Pirzada noted with a sense of grief that students belonging to the quake-hit areas may face a lot of problems in continuing their education in their native areas and that the University of Karachi must facilitate them in their endeavour to acquire higher education, added the press release.

Meanwhile, the KU VC has also written a letter to the vice-chancellor of Azad Kashmir University offering help and assistance to their students. The offer includes grant of direct admissions to master’s final year students of various faculties and departments if resumption of normal academic activities at the AJK University is not possible in the near future.