Injustice Towards Students By Private Universities

Injustice Towards Students By Private Universities

Background:

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all the universities closed their campuses for students and shifted to online mode of education. It was announced that everything including course work, assignments, projects, quizzes, midterm and final exams would be held through online medium.


Students protest for online exam

Objection towards the online mode of education:

At first, the adoption of online mode of education was slow and when it got implemented, lots of students protested against the online mode of education, citing that they were unable to grasp proper concepts, the interaction between them and the teachers wasn’t smooth and that they were facing numerous connectivity issues among many other reasons. They opposed online mode of education and wanted their universities to pause the education until the pandemic is dealt with. But universities were reluctant to taking online classes and continued on with the studies. They were of the opinion that the online mode of education and examination is very effective and could serve as a good alternative to campus education.


Methods of teaching and examination used during online mode of education:

During online classes, the students got no deep explanation about any particular topic by the instructors. All the instructors did was to share their computer screen, open up a PowerPoint slide and read it out loud. They didn’t care about anything else. Apart from that, the connectivity issues sometimes on the end of instructors and sometimes on the end of students created an environment which wasn’t conductive to learning, messed up the attendance record of students and also resulted in missed quizzes, assignments, etc. The students adapted somehow and focused on concepts rather than the theoretical stuff because all the tests held online were in an open book format and were meant to be solved by using the help of course materials.


Demand for Online Final Exams:

The notices released by the universities clearly stated that the whole session would be held ONLINE and that includes ONLINE mode of examination. It’s very baffling to see the universities not remaining true to their own word. For education, the universities opted for a third-class online system and now when the time’s come for taking examination, they want students to give them on campus. This is a severe violation of student rights. I won’t explicitly state the hidden agenda of the universities behind this but it’s quite apparent and I’m sure that you, my dear reader can fully understand it.


Protest by students regarding this injustice:

Worried about their future, the students decided to protest against this strange policy of the universities. This policy by the universities made it clear that they don’t care about their students. They want their students to do just as they tell them to do and the students cannot even object to their decisions.


The protests started from Twitter. Students contacted and tried to reach all the concerned government bodies related to the field of education but no notice was taken. This compelled them to come out on the streets only to get threatened by the university management and to get beaten up by the police. No one is becoming the voice of the students; they are standing for their rights all on their own. The management of universities are conspiring against students and are trying their best to smear their name in front of public.


Yesterday, the students of Bahria University Islamabad protested peacefully in front of the university gate:

Students protest for online exam

Everyone bears witness that they caused no harm to anything or anyone yet still the university threatened the student representatives with FIR and suspension from the university. Moreover, they even sent messages to threaten students to stop them from being part of the protest. All this just because they were asking for their rights. Today, during a protest in Lahore, a student even got martyred while demanding his rights. The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan delayed our justice once more, we need justice, we are also an entity living in this country, we want recognition, we need online exams. It’s so sad to see the future of Pakistan being mistreated like this by the very institutes they seek education from.



Students protest for online exam

I’m also a student of university and I’m also a victim of these conspiracies against students. Please support our cause, we are fighting for our cause all on our own. As explained earlier, the only feasible way to conclude an online session/semester is to take online exams. Otherwise, our futures will not be secure, our dreams will be shattered. We all have proud and supportive parents; they care for us and want to see us succeed. We are your children. Help us.We want justice.