By Khalid Khattak
LAHORE: The recently declared result of MA English Annual Examination 2008 has exposed disappointing performance of public sector colleges as a small number of students from these institutions could pass the exam.A study of result revealed that in most of the colleges those passed the exams were late college students (LCSts), which means they had repeated the exam otherwise, pass percentage overall as well as of individual colleges would have dropped further.According to result gazette issued by the Punjab University (PU), a total of 110 students had appeared in the MA English Part-I exam from Government MAO College while only 16 could pass out of which five were fresh candidates and 11 LCSts.From the Govt Queen Marry College 18 students had appeared in the said exam but only one of them could pass it. A total of 33 students appeared in the exam from the Government College, Township, and only eight could pass out of which only two were fresh candidates while six were LCSts.Thirty eight students appeared in the exam from the Govt Islamia College, Railway Road, while only eight could pass the exam out of which four were LCSts and four were fresh. As many as 16 candidates appeared from Govt Islamia, College Civil Lines, while only four could pass the exam out of which three were fresh candidates.The Govt Fatima Jinnah College for Women, Chuna Mandi, however, produced a comparatively better result as 48 candidates appeared in the exam from this college and 28 were declared passed out of which 19 were fresh candidates while nine were LCSts.A comparison of the government colleges of the provincial metropolis and other institutions of the province as well as those of private colleges also highlights that the overall result is not so encouraging in MA English this year. Only 15.6 percent of the candidates could pass the MA English Part-I Exam while in Part-II the pass percentage remained 37.09. According to PU Additional Controller of Examinations Malik Zahir, a total of 8,800 candidates appeared in the Part-I exam out of which only 1,373 could pass the exam. A total of 3,157 candidates appeared in Part-II exam out of which 1,171 were declared successful, he added.Talking to The News a number of students criticised the PU for introducing the changed aggregate system of marking a couple of years back. They said the overall pass percentage had sharply been declining ever since the university had introduced 50 percent aggregate a must to pass the exam.A student, Awais, said the aggregate system was quite harsh for students of colleges unlike for students of universities. Explaining his point, he said students of government colleges who appeared in the MA English exams conducted by the Punjab University (PU) had to sit in the annual exam unlike university students who appeared under semester system at their respective universities.“It is really difficult for college students to achieve this score under the annual system of exams”, he added.Another student said it was quite ironic that the government could not ensure uniformity in the exam system. “Students of colleges are at clear disadvantage”, he said adding, “They (college students) don’t get marks for attendance and assignments as awarded to students under semester system at he universities.”A lecturer, seeking anonymity, said a number of factors were responsible for poor results especially in the MA English exams. He was of the view that “Education being imparted at government institutions right from primary level does not prepare students to be creative and imaginative rather it encourages rote-learning among the students.”He further said since subjects like English literature required creative and analytical approach by the students, all those lacking this had to face trouble while attempting the exam. There are other issues too like shortage of teachers and lack of facilities at government colleges, he added. He, however, also urged the government to ensure a uniform examination system. He said the prevailing disparity was certainly a matter of great concern as colleges and universities were producing different kinds of students despite the fact they were pursuing similar degree. He was of the view that the PU should introduce supplementary exams for MA programmes as a candidate had to wait for almost a year for annual exams each time even if he/she had failed in a single subject.
Source: The News International
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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