We really like and respect our teachers but sometimes they just force us to think otherwise. I study in one of the most sought after universities of Karachi, and am a student of English Literature. Our department has a very bad practice of not taking action against teachers. No matter how much we suffer because of our course in-charge, we can never breathe a word to our chairperson because it doesn’t really help. I tell you why: once, a group in our batch went to the chairperson to file a complaint against a lecturer who was very irregular. Throughout the semester she hardly took three classes in a week, which is the official limit in the university. The course was a linguistics one and it had connections with other courses, too, and the said group was getting scolded by the teachers in charge of other courses because of their ignorance regarding the other course. After a prolong humiliation and futile efforts of talking to the course-in charge about her negligence, the group finally decided to go to the  chairperson. After talking to the chairperson the group did not witness any improvement in the lecturer’s behaviour; in fact, it got worse. They noticed that she had become very strict with them, started asking difficult questions in class discussions, especially pinpointing those students who had gone to the chairperson as class representatives, and humiliated them on every possible encounter. These students who were bright started scoring very low in the said course. And, later on, we got to know that the lecturer made sure that she got more courses with the same group so that they can’t get rid of her. Till date, that group is unreasonably scolded by that teacher for mistakes they don’t make and they continue to score low in her courses. It is shameful to see the teachers who are supposed to be an example and a source of inspiration for students to degrade their position to the extent that the students start feeling contempt for them. They should be role models … just imagine if we all start behaving this way with each other, we will be individuals full of hatred and scorn for the other person.  

- Tormented souls

A controversial statement

You always praise your alma mater no matter what the circumstances are. Though all institutions have their good and bad points, students tend to ignore the problems as long as they are not a hurdle to their career. However, there are certain annoying incidents you just can’t let go off.

Certainly, I love my university and there are very few aspects of it that I want to change, but the thing that offended me the most was an ironic statement by our former Vice Chancellor when he said: “We do not prepare our students for professional lives.” This blatant statement shattered the confidence of many students who had joined the university to polish their skills, and enter the professional fields of their choices. Let me tell you that I belong to a professional girls’ university, and such remarks can be really harmful for our self-esteem. Many protests were carried by the students regarding the VC’s statement, but it turned out to be futile as his tenure ended the same year.

I am a Mass Communication student and I chose this subject to serve a purpose – become a journalist, and joining one of the renowned universities for women is the best option for girls to acquire higher education without any obstacles. If my university is not ready to prepare us to enter professional lives, then why did they even introduce such subjects in the first place? I, like many other students, kept regretting our decision to enrol in the university whose VC has no hopes for the future of his students. There are more than 4000 optimistic girls studying in more than 17 different faculties in our university; are they all supposed to do domestic chores after attaining academic qualifications?

That comment from our ex-Vice Chancellor was inappropriate. Some people should really think twice before making any public statement, especially if they are in a position to influence minds.

- Angry and disappointed