The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training, Tuesday passed the “The Federal University Amendment Bill, 2022”.
According to the reports The standing committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of Irfan Siddiqui.
While Debating on occasion, Senator Seemee Ezdi, the mover of the bill, apprised the committee that the primary aim is to make the internship a mandatory part of the curriculum for all public and private universities located in the Federal territory.
The committee deliberated on the matter raised by Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi regarding the issue of examination faced by students of Law at Bahauddin Zakariya University.
Mansoor Akbar Kundi, Vice Chancellor of Bahauddin Zakariya University, apprised the committee that the matter is subjudice and the university is unable to provide any date until the matter is adjudicated. Officials of the Law Ministry said that there is no such bar for examinations of students in the 2nd and 3rd year and the bar is only limited to 1st-year supplementary students.
In addition, the senate committee was also briefed by the vice chancellor of Allama Iqbal Open University regarding the responsibilities, administrative control, faculty, and fee structure of the university. Dr. Ziaul Qayyum apprised the committee that the university is self-sufficient despite the closure of the two-year BA program by the HEC in which the university enrolls 0.15 million students annually.
The chairman committee was of the opinion that the policy should not be implemented in a jiff but instead, should be implemented gradually. He further added that the policy which rules 150,000 students out of the spectrum is not even a policy and advised the ministry to coordinate with the HEC and the AIOU in this regard and submit a report within 15 days.
The chair also directed the HEC officials to submit a report as to why the funds are not being provided to the AIOU. He asked the Vice Chancellor to satisfy the committee about the sudden increase in the fee of the BA program from Rs 9,000 to Rs 19,000 in the next meeting.
The meeting was attended by senators, Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhary, Jam Mahtab Hussain Dahar, Engr Rukhsana Zuberi, Rana Maqbool Ahmad, Molvi Faiz Muhammad, Seemee Ezdi, Bahramand Khan Tangi, and Prof Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, as well as Aamir Ashraf Khawaja secretary of Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Vice Chancellor of BZU Mansoor Akbar Kundi, Vice Chancellor of AIOU Dr. Ziaul Qayyum and other concerned officers.
