SAHIWAL: Ninety-six students of the Software Engineering Department of the University of Sahiwal were granted permission to complete their 15 credit hours missing course for completing BS degree.

The move came after the students’ protest against the university for teaching them only 127 credit hours instead of the required 136 as prescribed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

They argued that their degree would not be recognised and existing transcripts having 127 credit hours would be a hurdle to their admission to the Master’s programmes while it would affect their job prospects too.

The students pointed out that the former head of their department and additional controller of examination were responsible for the discrepancy. They blamed negligence and inexperience in designing course management which led to the credit hours shortfall. Many were concerned that the discrepancy could result in the loss of their academic year.

The HEC’s recommended curriculum for BS Software Engineering specifies a total of 130-136 credit hours with a minimum of 85 for engineering courses and 30 for non-engineering courses, structured over eight semesters, each lasting 15-18 weeks.

Vice Chancellor Dr Javaid Akhtar accepted the students’ demand and formed a three-member committee, headed by Dr Waris, to probe the matter. The committee, in its findings, admitted the fault of the department. After the probe report, the university offered the students a crash programme of three weeks to complete the missing credit hours. It also notified that the students would not be charged any fee for the programme as they had already paid full semester fee.

It is important to note Dr Javaid Akhtar has been working as permanent VC for the last 20 months but most of the key administrative and teaching faculty positions, including registrar, treasurer and controller examination, are being managed by the junior staff having additional charge for the last seven years. Currently, more than 300 teaching and non-teaching faculty positions are vacant at the university.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2024