BAHAWALPUR, Feb 11: Hundreds of Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB) students were stopped from taking their first examination under the semester system, which began on Baghdadul Jadid Campus here on Monday, owing to shortage of their attendance during their academic session.

According to a source, those candidates whose attendance remained below 80 per cent were disallowed entry to examination halls.

Later, an IUB spokesman told Dawn on telephone that the 80 per cent attendance was mandatory for the students to sit in the examination under the semester system, and under this rule only those candidates, who failed to meet this requirement, were barred from taking their examination of various subjects.