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Seats in government colleges increased but not teachers

By Zahiruddin

CHITRAL: The students of Chitral have complained that the government has increased the seats in intermediate classes in the public sector colleges but without increasing the strength of teaching faculty and improving the infrastructure. Talking to chitraltimes.com here on Tuesday, the chairman of Chitral Students welfare organization (CSWO) Muhammad Aftab said that there were only two degree colleges once for boys and girls in Chitral city for the swelling number of students. According to a survey, he said, only forty percent of the students applying for admission are accommodated in the college due to the limited number of teaching staff and space. Mr. Ahmed said that the elected representatives from Chitral adopted a novel way this year and increased the seats by almost hundred percent in the colleges but did not increase even a single teacher. He said that this ill-advised step spoiled the academic progress in the colleges where limited teachers fail to manage the multitude of students. He questioned that how a teacher can teach a class of two hundred students at a time while during the specified period of forty minutes, he or she can only take roll call of them. He reiterated that more increase of seats was not the solution but establishment of another one college each for boys and girls was intensely required in the city. He said that the acute shortage of hostel accommodation is also one of the severe problems haunting the students specially the girls. He said that more than eighty percent students come from the distant valleys and villages and they needed a seat in the hostel. Mr. Ahmed regretted that a good number of parents from the distant places withdraw their children from the college when failed to get a seat in the hostel. He said that for the last twenty years, not a single hostel been added to any government sector college of the city while the number of students has multiplied many times.