The NED university had about two months ago decided to stop giving examinations to the three groups of students. It had done so because, according to it, the extension of Mehran University's jurisdiction to Karachi and its affiliation with the DCET had made giving tests to its students illegal. The NED university held that if the governor of Sindh amended the letter which extended Mehran
He was of the view that the NED university had stopped giving them the examinations because, despite his university. "We in fact feel that this was an act of revenge."
The student said there were several other outstanding issues between the DCET and the NED which
eeded to be resolved. "The two institutions are at loggerheads over a host of issues," he said. "The governor must look into each of these before they turn ugly." 

                   A deputy registrar of the NED university, Ayub Shaikh, told Dawn on Monday that their academic council had resolved last week that the examinations be given to the students concerned. "Our syndicate upheld this decision of the academic council," he said. 

                    "All the hurdles in the holding of the examinations have now been cleared and we are now ready to hold the examinations." In response to a question, he said the examination schedule would be announced later by the university's controller of examinations.

"The schedule can only be announced after the head examiners and examiners are consulted. Although  the controller has already taken some decisions in this regard, he will take some time before announcing the detailed schedule," he said.

A source in the university told Dawn on Monday that the DCET's students were likely to take all their theory examinations at the NED campus on the University Road. He stated that all the practical examinations, except for the ones to be given to the students of chemical engineering, would be given in  the university's laboratories. 

We don't have a chemical engineering laboratory. That's why the students of chemical engineering are going to take their practical examinations in the laboratories of the DCET.

He added that the DCET had been instructed by the NED's syndicate to pay Rs500 per student for the  practical examinations to be held at the main campus of the NED university. "The students are not going to pay this amount," he said. "It is the DCET which is going to make the payment." 

In response to a question, he said the students who are going to take the examinations belonged to the  DCET's departments of architecture and chemical, electronics, industrial and metallurgical engineering. 

KARACHI: NED likely to hold DCET students' exam 

KARACHI, Aug 3: The NED University of Engineering and Technology on Thursday moved a step towards resolving a dispute with some students of the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology(DCET) when its academic council resolved that the third and final year examinations be given to them.  A final decision would be taken at a meeting of the university's syndicate on Saturday. 

"We hope that the syndicate would also allow the examinations to be given to the DCET's students, thereby resolving the dispute," S. Ghulam Kadir Shah, the NED registrar, told Dawn on Thursday afternoon. 

He said the students belonging to three batches - the 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1993-94 batches - of the  DCET's architecture and chemical, electronics, industrial and metallurgical engineering were stopped from taking the NED University's examinations in view of the extension of Mehran University's jurisdiction to Karachi.

"After Mehran University's jurisdiction was extended to Karachi and the DCET was affiliated to it, giving examinations to the batches concerned became illegal," he said. "That's why the vice chancellor ordered  the controller of examinations to stop giving examinations to these batches of the DCET." 

The registrar said the students of the batches wanted the NED University to give them the examinations.  "To press their case some of the students even threatened to commit suicide. When we heard about this  we requested the Governor's House to amend its order which extended Mehran University's jurisdiction to Karachi." 

Mr Shah told Dawn that a letter amending the order which extended Mehran University's jurisdiction was issued by the Governor's House on Aug 1. "As soon as we received this order we scheduled the meetings of the academic council and syndicate." 

He said the syndicate's meeting was scheduled for 3pm on Saturday. "Therefore a notification on the issue is likely to be issued either on Saturday evening or Monday morning." The registrar expressed the hope that the issue would be resolved to the satisfaction of everybody concerned. 

                    In response to a question, Mr Shah said the date of the commencement of the examinations would probably be announced next week. "The examination schedule can only be announced by the controller after careful consideration of all the issues involved. That's why I think this will take some time." 

                    He said all the theory examinations would be conducted on the NED University's campus. "And all the practical examinations, too, except for the ones to be given to the students of chemical engineering  department."

                       KARACHI, Dec 21: After remaining in the doldrums for more than 18 months, the Dawood College of  Engineering and Technology (DCET) got a new lease of life on Tuesday when its board of governors  approved its affiliation with the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology. The syndicate of the MUET has already voted in favour of the affiliation. 

   The approval by the board of governors was the last major step for the DCET on its road towards affiliation with the MUET. "I am delighted today. I am happy for my college as a whole. But I am especially happy for the students," the principal of the college, Dr Ibrahim Pathan, said on Tuesday. 

                    With a formal link established with the MUET, the DCET will come out of the limbo which it found itself in since the NED University of Engineering and Technology disaffiliated it more than one and a half years
 ago. During this time the college was not affiliated with a degree-granting institution, neither was it a degree-awarding institution itself. 

                    Dr Pathan told Dawn that a formal notification regarding the linking of the two institutions would be issued in three to four days. 

                    The vice chancellor of the MUET, Prof Dr Abdul Rehman Memon, said the educational institutions must never be allowed to be ruined because the youth's future is linked with them. "I am happy that the affiliation process has ended. We hope the future will be good for our two institutions," he added. 
                    The meeting of the board of governors was held at the regional office of the University Grants Commission (UGC) under the chairmanship of the federal education minister, Zobaida Jalal. The chairman of the Pakistan Engineering Council, Prof Dr Jameel Ahmad Khan, the vice chancellor of
                    Karachi University, Prof Dr Zafar H. Zaidi, and the chief of the UGC also attended the meeting, which  lasted nearly three hours. 

                    At the meeting the issue of affiliation as well as the admission process were discussed, said a well-placed  source. The affiliation is initially going to be provisional. The university will, thus, be in a position to  cancel the affiliation, if need be, after three years. 

                    During the meeting the MUET's vice chancellor urged the DCET principal to improve the quality of the  laboratories and to offer jobs to qualified and senior teachers. 

                    After the meeting Dr Jameel told Dawn that in the recent past the PEC was not in favour of granting accreditation to the DCET. "But if they apply for an accreditation now we are going to consider granting them one."

                    Meanwhile, the students of the college are generally happy that their institution is finally being linked with the MUET. This reporter spoke to a number of students and except for one non student opposed the
                    DCET's linking with the MUET. "We have waited for this day for so long. That's why we are delighted," said M. Faisal Khan, a student of first year electronics. 

                    "I have been in the first year for the last four years. Now, we have the affiliation. That's why I hope the principal will ensure that our course is completed in time, each time," he said. 

                    Another student said the MUET was as good an institution as the NED engineering university, "maybe better". "The MUET has more departments than the NED university," said Younis Ali, a student of second year. "I think even standard-wise the MUET is better than the NED university." 

                    The DCET remained in the wilderness for more than 18 months. Its troubles started when it violated some of the admission rules, forcing the NED university to take disciplinary measures which culminated in the disaffiliation of the college. After its disaffiliation, a number of initiatives were launched to stop it from slipping into oblivion. 

                    The most ambitious of the initiatives involved a decision by the authorities to award a degree-granting status to the college. Even this initiative was later abandoned by the federal education secretary. 

                    The then secretary, Safdar Mehmood, didn't favour the idea of granting of a degree-awarding status to the college. He instead wanted the NED to reaffiliate the DCET. So, he launched an initiative of his own in which he approached the vice chancellor of the NED to reaffiliate the DCET. 

                    This initiative, too, failed, allowing the MUET to move into the picture. The MUET is now granting an affiliation to the DCET. 

DCET to get affiliation this week 

                   KARACHI, Dec 7: The Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) is likely to issue an official notification regarding its affiliation with the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) later this week, it was learnt on Tuesday. 

                    "We have still not received a formal notification in this connection," said DCET principal Prof Dr Ibrahim  Pathan. "But I think Mehran university is going to   issue a formal order later this week," he told Dawn over the telephone. 
       He said he received a letter from Mehran university last week saying it had decided to grant an affiliation to the college. He added that the MUET had asked the college to make certain improvements in the  laboratories, etc. "They have also asked us to employ more senior teachers," he said. 

                    He did not say whether a failure to improve the faculty and laboratories would have any bearing on the granting of affiliation to the college. 

                    Meanwhile, an official notification regarding the DCET's affiliation would pull the college back from the brink of disaster. The institution has been in limbo since the NED University of Engineering and Technology disaffiliated it just under two years ago. 

                    After the disaffiliation, a number of initiatives had been launched to stop the college from slipping into oblivion. All these efforts, however, failed. 

                    The most ambitious of the initiatives involved a decision by the government to award a degree-granting  status to the college. Even this initiative, which was backed by a cabinet approval, was later abandoned  by the federal education secretary. 

                    The then secretary didn't favour the idea of granting of a degree-awarding status to the college. He  instead wanted the NED to reaffiliate the DCET. 

                    So, he launched an initiative of his own in which he approached the NED vice chancellor to reaffiliate the  DCET. This initiative too failed, allowing the MUET to move into the picture. 

KARACHI: MUET approves DCET affiliation 

  KARACHI, Nov 25: The two-year ordeal of the students of Dawood College of Engineering and  Technology (DCET) has come to an end following a decision by the syndicate of Mehran University of  Engineering and Technology to affiliate the institution, it is learnt. 

                    "The syndicate of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) at a meeting earlier this week approved the proposed affiliation of the college," a well-placed source in the institution told Dawn on Thursday. 

                    The academic council of the Jamshoro-based university had already approved the proposed affiliation. "The formalities are being completed. A formal announcement on the issue would be made either later  this week or early next week, after the minutes of the syndicate meeting etc are okayed," he said. 

                    "Hundreds of our students, who have only had bad news during the last two years, will collectively heave  a sigh of relief once the formal announcement regarding the DCET's affiliation with MUET is made," he added. 

                    The college has two groups of students who are being given examinations by the NED University of Engineering and Technology. The third group of students - the 1996-97 batch - is yet to take their  first-year examinations even though they were admitted to the college about two years ago. 

                    The source said once the college got affiliated with the MUET it would decide when to give examinations to the 1996-97 batch of students. The other decision which had to be made as soon as possible concerns the admission of the 1997-98 batch of students. The college has already prepared the list of  students who will be offered admissions. 

                    "These are the major issues which must be dealt with in December," he said. He told Dawn that the students of the 1996-97 batch would be given their first-year examinations by the MUET. The other two batches would be given their annual examinations by the NED. 

                    He said the MUET would be setting up a liaison office in the DCET premises. The liaison office will be dealing with issues like enrolment and examination of students. In response to a question, he said he didn't know the grades of the MUET officers who would be manning the liaison office in Karachi. 

                    He said the chemical department of the college planned to organize a seminar this month on chemical industry. The seminar would be titled "Fifty Years of the Chemical Industry" and would be held on Nov 30 in a local hotel. 

                    "You see everything has suddenly started to look up. The academic standard of the college is going to  improve, Insha Allah," he said. 

                    The DCET was disaffiliated by NED university in late 1997. After the disaffiliation, a number of initiatives had been launched to stop the college from slipping into oblivion. All these efforts, however, failed. The most ambitious of the initiatives involved a decision by the authorities to award a  degree-granting status to the college. Even this initiative, which was backed by a cabinet approval, was later abandoned by the federal education secretary. 

                    The then secretary, Safdar Mehmood, did not favour the idea of granting of a degree-awarding status to  the college. He instead wanted the NED to reaffiliate the DCET. So, he launched an initiative of his own in which he approached the NED vice chancellor to reaffiliate the DCET. 

                    This initiative too failed, allowing the MUET to move into the picture. The DCET now hopes to get a formal affiliation from the MUET very soon. 

MUET body approves DCET affiliation 
 

            KARACHI, Nov 19: The academic council of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) has approved the institution's proposed affiliation with the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET), it is learnt. 

                    The matter will now go to the university's syndicate, a meeting of which is likely soon. If the syndicate also approves the granting of affiliation to DCET, then the college will come out of the limbo that it finds itself in. 

                    A faculty member of the DCET commented on Friday that the MUET is going to grant the college the badly-needed affiliation. He said that some of the students didn't want the college to be affiliated with the MUET. "But most of the students wouldn't mind the linking of the DCET and MUET," he said. 

                    "These students have not had any good news for a long long time and that's why they would welcome any positive news that might come their way," he said. 

                    He said it had been more than a year since the college was disaffiliated by the NED University of Engineering and Technology. He said the NED's vice chancellor was probably right in disaffiliating the DCET. "You see there were a lot of problems in our college. There was corruption and favouritism,  too," he said.

                    "However, the college's disaffiliation didn't have the effect NED's vice chancellor had hoped for. Things at the college have gone from bad to worse. And nobody has been able to do anything about it," he said.
 

                    He claimed that the academic standards were not likely to improve at the college if it was affiliated with the MUET. "The standard of our college will be similar to the MUET, which is not too great." 

                    He added that he wanted to see the DCET climb out of the present crisis. "That's why we don't want to do anything that might put in jeopardy the proposed linking of the DCET and MUET." 

                    The DCET was disaffiliated more than a year ago. After the disaffiliation, a number of initiatives had  been launched to stop the college from slipping into oblivion. All these efforts failed miserably. 

                    The most ambitious of the initiatives involved a decision by the authorities to award a degree-granting status to the college. Even this initiative, which was backed by a cabinet approval, was later abandoned  by the federal education secretary. 

                    The then secretary, Safdar Mehmood, didn't favour the idea of granting of a degree-awarding status to  the college. He instead wanted NED to reaffiliate the DCET. So, he launched an initiative of his own in   which he approached the vice chancellor of NED to reaffiliate the DCET. This initiative too failed,  allowing the MUET to move into the picture. The DCET now hopes to get an affiliation from the MUET.

DCET to retain control of committees

                    KARACHI, Nov 5: The Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) has not given any  assurance to the affiliation committee of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET)  that the control of three college committees would be handed over to it.

                    This was stated by the DCET's principal, Dr M. Ibrahim Pathan, in a statement issued here on Friday.  He said that a report appearing in a section of the press and saying that he had given verbal assurances   to hand over the chairmanship of the executive committee, finance and planning committee and selection committee to the vice chancellor of the MUET was incorrect. 

                    The affiliation committee of the MUET, led by its vice chancellor, Prof Abdul Rehman Memon, had    visited the DCET on Thursday.- APP 

KARACHI: NED refuses to re-affiliate DCET 

                    KARACHI, Oct 12: The issuance of an official notification regarding degree awarding status to Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) remains in the doldrums as the federal government is considering two other proposals either to re-affiliate the college with the NED University of Engineering and Technology or to affiliate it with the Mehran Engineering University Jamshoro,  well-placed sources said here on Tuesday. 

                    However, the NED university has refused to re-affiliate the college unless the education ministry  accepts its conditions.   "I have refused even to consider the re-affiliation issue unless the three committees, the Executive Committee, the Selection Board and the Finance and Planning Committee, are put under the control of  the vice-chancellor," said Abul Kalam, the Vice Chancellor of the NED university.   He said the education ministry was not ready to meet his demand, therefore, he added, the university  will not consider the issue. 
                    Even if the education ministry accepted his demand, it will also have to give assurance that the  constitution of the three committees will not be changed, and the vice-chancellor will remain the head of the committees, Mr Kalam said.
                    To a query, he said the varsity had not so far received any written request or intimation from the  education ministry in this regard, and all the things were verbal.    Although the government has awarded degree-awarding status to the DCET, it remains undecided  about the decision putting the fate of engineering students in a quandary. 
                    Earlier, the ministry of education had approached the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, for the affiliation, but, sources added, the varsity had refused to entertain its desire.  Now, they said, the ministry was also considering affiliating the college with Sir Syed University of
  Engineering and Technology, Karachi, besides re-affiliating it with the NED University. 

                    The issue was also raised by the chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC) last year, but, the  sources said, the university administration had made it clear that unless certain DCET officials,  allegedly involved in corruption and misuse of powers, were removed, it would not even think about re-affiliation. 

                    The DCET was disaffiliated by the NED University of Engineering and Technology on April 4, 1998, on the charges of discrepancies and irregularities in administrative and educational affairs. The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) had already postponed the registration of the DCET graduates last year,  following a tussle between the college and the university administration. 

                    The federal government had approved the degree-awarding status to the college some six months  back to resolve the lingering disaffiliation dispute between the Dawood College and the NED  university. But, due to bureaucratic labyrinth in the law division, an official notification in this regard has  not been so far issued. 

                    The summary regarding degree-awarding status had already been approved by the federal cabinet, but  it was referred to the education ministry by the law division, putting some objections.  Though the education ministry had clarified all the objections, so far no progress has been witnessed in this regard. 

                    The summary is still in the law division and will be sent to the president for final approval after a lengthy  process, a DCET official said.-PPI 

  KARACHI, July 15: The NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, has decided to  conduct the examinations of Dawood College of Engineering and Technology. 

                    The decision has been taken after repeated representations by the DCET, and on humanitarian grounds, said the university.  The decision was taken at a meeting of the committee of chairmen of teaching departments of the university on July 12, said a university press release, adding that "on the basis of the recommendations by  the committee, the university has now decided only "on humanitarian grounds" to conduct the examinations of DECT candidates of batches 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96." 

                    It pointed out that the federal education secretary had confirmed that the DCET had not been and would not be awarded degree-awarding status for several months. It said only those candidates would be examined by the university who fulfilled all prescribed examination  requirements. 

DCET struggles for its survival 

   KARACHI, July 10: The Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) has decided to admit fresh students after a lapse of more than two years, it is learnt on Saturday. 

                     According to a source, a three-member team has already been constituted to look into the issue. The  team will soon visit major cities of the country and interview students who had applied for admission a couple of years back, said the source. 

                     He said the administration's move seemed to be designed at giving a shot in DCET's arms. A senior    teacher agreed. But he added that nothing much will come out of the move.

                    "The move will only turn out to be a window dressing. You see the students who are being contacted again for admissions applied to the college more than two years ago. Expecting a sizable number of these students to join the institution is naive," he said. 

                     "The principal knows that the exercise may turn out to be a futile one," he said. "But he is going ahead  with the move simply because he desperately needs a good news for which the college has been starving for a long long time." 

                     He said the last good news the college got was more than five months ago when the federal cabinet decided to grant a degree-awarding status to the institution. "Even that piece of news has, after a passage of five months, turned sour because an official notification confirming DCET's new status has  still not been issued," he opined. 

                     Two senior teachers of the college - Dr Salim Khan and Dr M. Salim Chaudhry - confirmed that the   college still hadn't received any official notification saying it had been granted a degree-awarding  status. 

                     They said that as the college had been disaffiliated last year by the NED University of Engineering   and Technology and it had still not been granted a degree-granting status it found itself in a no man's  land. 

                     Meanwhile, the source said the ministry of education had still not issued a notification because there  were a lot of reservations regarding the awarding of degree-granting status to a federal government  institution located outside Islamabad.

                     "As a result of the ministry's objections the college administration is thinking in terms of setting up a campus in Islamabad," he told Dawn. He, however, said that the college had not taken any concrete step in this regard. 

                     A senior teacher said on Friday that things were so bad that the college had to promote a full batch of students to the second year of engineering without examinations. 

                     "The college was supposed to give examinations to all these students. And the principal had even said to the electronic media that the examinations would be given in July," he said. "But because the  college has still not been granted the degree-awarding status and it itself is not affiliated to any  degree-granting institution, it could not do so." 

                     The principal of the college, Prof M. Amin Shaikh, said he was hopeful that some solution to the DCET's crisis will be found soon. "I have reason to believe that we are going to see better days and  soon," he said.   He told Dawn that the federal secretary was taking a keen interest in the crisis that faced the DCET. 

                     Meanwhile, both Dr Salim Khan and Dr Salim Chaudhry were of the opinion that the best solution was for the DCET to be linked again with the NED university. And, according to Dr Chaudhry, the college badly needed strong leadership. 

                     "The situation in the DCET is so bad as far as discipline is concerned that a student group about 15 days ago seized the records of the accounts department, effectively shutting down the department for10 days," he said.   "The group was protesting against the allotment of a special room to one particular student group.  They were of the opinion that since one student body had been allotted a room, all of the groups be given rooms."

                     The teacher said the incident clearly showed that there was chaos in the college and little else. "Of  what use is a college where the examinations cannot be given to the students.

 KARACHI: Ministry refuses permission: DCET students promoted without   exam 

          KARACHI, June 7: The ministry of education has refused to allow the Dawood College of  Engineering and Technology to hold its examinations for different batches until the issuance of an official notification regarding the degree-awarding status to the college, an official said here on Monday. 

                    Earlier, the DCET administration had decided to hold the long-awaited examinations in June 1999 as the NED university of Engineering and Technology refused to hold the examinations arguing that the college had been awarded the degree-awarding status, and it should hold the exams itself. 

                    The college had requested the education ministry for the same, but it had refused to do so till the  issuance of an official notification regarding the degree-awarding status, plunging the college students  in a quandary. 

                    However, the official said, the first-year students had been promoted to second year without taking their exams. As soon as an official notification regarding the degree-awarding status was issued, the date for respective examinations would be announced, he added. 

                    The federal government had approved the self-degree awarding status for the college some five months back to resolve the lingering disaffiliation dispute between the Dawood College and the NED university. 

                    But, owing to bureaucratic labyrinth in the law division, an official notification in this regard has not  been issued. 

                    He said a summary regarding degree-awarding status had already been approved by the federal  cabinet, but it was referred to the education ministry by the law division, putting some objections. 

                    Though the education ministry had clarified all the objections, no progress had been witnessed in this  regard. The summary was in the law division and would be sent to the president for final approval after a lengthy process, the official maintained. 

                    "We also talked to the federal education minister to intervene into the matter so that the official notification could be issued immediately," he said, adding that the college administration was assured by the education ministry that it could hold the examinations itself before the issuance of the notification, because the students had been waiting for the past one-and-half-year but nothing  favourable happened. 

                    The college administration has continuously been delaying the examinations and admission process owing to non-issuance of the official notification, but, now it has started admissions to the first year batch-1997 with the permission of the education ministry, the official added. 

                    DCET will be the second public sector engineering institute in Karachi, which will award its own degree in the engineering education. At present, the Dawood College is imparting education in the  fields of electronics engineering, chemical engineering, architecture engineering, industrial engineering and meteorology engineering. 

                    DCET was disaffiliated by the NED university of engineering and technology on April, 4, 1998 on the charges of alleged discrepancies and irregularities in administrative and educational affairs. The Pakistan Engineering Council had already postponed the registration of DCET graduates last year
                    following the tussle between the college and the university. - PPI

Students suffer as govt delays decision on DCET status

 KARACHI, May 4: The degree-awarding status to Dawood College of Engineering and Technology has been delayed for some more time owing to bureaucratic labyrinth, plunging the fate of the college students into a quandary, well-placed sources in the education ministry said here on Tuesday.

                    However, the college administration has decided to hold the long-awaited examinations in June. Earlier, NED University of Engineering and Technology had refused to hold the examinations arguing that the college had been given degree-awarding status, and it should hold the exams itself.

                    The federal government had given the degree-awarding status to the DCET some four months back to resolve the lingering disaffiliation dispute between the college and the NED university.

                    According to sources, the summary regarding degree-awarding status had already been approved by the federal cabinet, but it was referred to the education ministry by the law division, putting some objections. Though the education ministry had clarified all the objections, no progress has been witnessed in this regard. The summary is still in the law division and will be sent to the president for final approval after a lengthy process, the sources said.

                    "We have talked to the federal education minister to intervene into the matter so that the official notification could be issued immediately," the sources said adding that the college administration had also taken permission from the education ministry to hold the examinations itself before the issuance of notification, because the students had been waiting for the last one and half years.

                    The college administration has continuously been delaying the examinations owing to non-issuance of the official notification, but, now it has decided to do so with the permission of the education ministry, they added.

                    The DCET will be the second public sector engineering institution in Karachi, which will award its own degree in the engineering education. At present, the DCET is imparting education in the fields of electronics engineering, chemical engineering, architecture engineering, industrial engineering and meteorology engineering.

                    The DCET was disaffiliated by the NED university of Engineering and technology on April 4, 1998 for alleged discrepancies and irregularities in administrative and educational affairs.- PPI

KARACHI, April 29: Following the self-degree awarding status, Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) is going to introduce three new disciplines from the next academic year, official sources said here on Thursday.

                    The proposed disciplines are Computer Engineering, Material Engineering and Communications Engineering.The officials said that a high-power committee, headed by Dr SM Qureshi, had been set up to map out the modalities for the new courses. After the submission of the committee's report, the officials said, the DCET board of governors will formally approve the establishment of three new departments.

                    The introduction of the new disciplines has become essential after the federal government has  approved degree-awarding status to the college, the officials maintained.  To a query, the officials said, the present capacity of seats, allocated for the students belonging to all the provinces, AJK, northern and tribal areas, will be increased with the functioning of the new disciplines. Moreover, they added, cadre strength will also be revised.

                    The official said, a new campus for the college had become an essential requisite, especially after the approval of degree-awarding status, as the present capacity was insufficient. To a query, he said, at least 50 acres of land was required for the establishment of a new campus, but the college was not in a position to buy the required land. Therefore, he said, the government should allocate extra grant for the college so that it could acquire the land for the campus.

                    The federal government had approved the self-degree awarding status to the college two months back to resolve the lingering disaffiliation dispute between the Dawood College and the NEDUniversity. The DCET is the second public sector engineering institute in Karachi, which will award its own degree in engineering.Presently, the Dawood College is imparting education in the fields of Electronics, Chemical, Architecture, Industrial and Meteorology Engineering. The total cadre and students' strength is 60 and 2,200 respectively. - PPI 

Dawood College plunges into another financial crisis

 KARACHI, March 16: Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) is facing a serious financial crisis as almost 50 students, who got admission under self-finance scheme, have withdrawn their admissions, a top DCET official said here on Tuesday.

                    The college administration, he said, had to refund Rs10 million to the students of the batches 1995-96, and 1996-97, admitted under self-finance scheme. The students, he added, had withdrawn their admissions owing to a two-and-half-year rift between the college and the NED university of  Engineering and Technology.

                    Currently, the official said, the DCET was being provided with a grant of Rs16 million annually,  whereas the total salary bills were around Rs18 million. The remaining expenses had been borne through the amount collected under the self-finance scheme by last year, he added.

                    Now, the official said, the college had lost a huge amount of Rs10 million out of the total Rs18 million, collected against 90 seats allocated for the self-finance scheme.

                    "It has now become very difficult to meet the recurring expenses of the current fiscal, keeping the fact in view that much more amount would be required as DCET has been given degree-awarding status," he said. The official said at least Rs30 million should be provided to the DCET as the annual grant.

                    Besides, the official said, no development fund had been released to the college for the last eight years, which added to the financial crunch. "The administration has been compelled to carry out all the development work through its own resources for the last 8 years, which are already insufficient even for the recurring expenses of the college," he said.

                    The official said, a new campus of the college had become an essential need, especially after the approval of degree- awarding status, as the present capacity was insufficient.

                    To a question, he said, at least 50 acres were required for the establishment of new campus, but the college was not in a position to buy the required land. Therefore, he said, the government should allocate an extra grant for the college so that it could acquire the land for the campus.

                    Responding to another question, the official brushed aside any increase in the number of seats, allocated under the self-finance scheme.

                    The federal government had approved the self-degree awarding status to the college two months back to resolve the lingering disaffiliation dispute between the Dawood College and the NED university.

                    The DCET is the second public sector engineering institution in Karachi which will award its own degree in the engineering education. Presently the Dawood college is imparting education in the fields of Electronics engineering, Chemical engineering, Architecture engineering, Industrial engineering and Meteorology engineering.

                    The DCET was disaffiliated by the NED university on April 4, 1998 on the charges of discrepancies and irregularities in administrative and educational affairs. The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) had already postponed the registration of DCET graduates last year following a tussle between the college and the university administration.- PPIrades

DCET: case of an abandoned institution

 KARACHI, March 24: The Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) does not have  a permanent staff member with a degree of industrial engineering even though it has a fully-fledged industrial engineering department.

                    The department of industrial engineering is generally under-staffed. Most of the classes in the department are being taken by the lecturers of the other departments, especially the department of  metallurgical engineering, a senior teacher told Dawn.

                    The engineering college in the recent past appointed two engineers with degrees of industrial  engineering on a contract basis. The department had no industrial engineer before.The two industrial engineers didn't have any say as far as the policy matters were concerned, the teacher said. "The two engineers are too junior to have any say. Besides, they are contract employees. So they can't really influence the college's policies," he said.

                    Meanwhile, the acting principal of the college, Prof Amin Sheikh, said on Wednesday that he hadn't received any official notification regarding the granting of degree-awarding status to the university. "We are eagerly waiting the notification."

                    He said a summary had been prepared by the education ministry regarding the ordinance over the enhanced status of the DCET. "The notification will soon be issued," he said. The delay over the issuance of an official order notifying the granting of the degree-awarding status to the college had fuelled confusion, said a source. The delay over the appointment of a permanent principal had further compounded the problems, he said.

                    The source said that rumours had been making the rounds recently that a senior member of the faculty of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology was being considered for the post of the principal.

                    The source said that the present principal of the college, who is on a long leave, would soon be relieved of the job. He will most probably be sent on further leave, he said.  Meanwhile, another source in the college said on Wednesday that the DCET's principal, Prof Amin Sheikh, had contacted the authorities urging them to ask the NED University of Engineering andTechnology to give examinations to all the batches that were still enrolled with it.

                    The source told Dawn that NED's Vice Chancellor, Abul Kalam, had written back to the higher-ups  that contrary to allegations and charges made against him he had never intervened in the affairs of the DCET.

                    The VC said some damaging statements were made by the education minister against him. However, added Mr Kalam, he would look into the issue of conducting examinations of the DCET's students if  the higher-ups clarified their statements that were made earlier. The VC apparently wanted the college to take its own examinations, according to the source.The source said Prof Amin Sheikh had changed his mind over the issue of getting the Institute of Business Administration to give examinations to DCET students.

                    Meanwhile, a senior teacher said there was nothing but chaos in the college. "There is confusion over everything," he said. "There is confusion over the appointment of a permanent principal of the college. There is confusion over who will conduct the semester examinations. There is confusion also over fresh admissions. In short, there is confusion all around," he said.

                    It seemed, he said, the authorities were not very interested in the affairs of the college. "The ministry doesn't take far-reaching steps. They are only interested in taking steps that are absolutely necessary.
                    There is no long-term policy." He said there was speculation in the newspapers that the DCET was going to establish new departments of engineering. "How can the college set up new departments when its existing departments are in a bad shape."  Prof Amin Sheikh agreed with the views expressed by the senior teacher.

                    TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION: The teachers of the DCET this week elected the office-bearers of  their association, said a press release on Wednesday. Dr Salim Khan was elected the president of the DCET Teachers' Association.

                    The proposed disciplines are Computer engineering, Material engineering and Communication  engineering. The officials said a committee, headed by Dr S.M Qureshi, had been set up to map out the modalities for the new courses.  After the submission of the committee's report, the officials said, the DCET board of governors would formally approve the establishment of three new departments.  The introduction of the new disciplines had become essential after the federal government was approved the degree-awarding status to the college, the officials maintained.

                    To a question, the officials said, the present capacity of seats, allocated for the students belonging to all the provinces, AJK, northern and tribal areas, would be increased with the functioning of the new disciplines. Moreover, they added, the staff number would also be increased. The official said another campus for the college had become essential with the approval of the degree-awarding status as the present capacity was insufficient. - PPI 

 KARACHI, March 10: The federal government is likely to issue an official notification within a  week regarding degree-awarding status to the Dawood College of Engineering and Technology, so  that the college could hold its examinations itself, well-placed sources said here on Wednesday.

 With the issuance of official notification, the present confusion about holding exams would come to an end and the DCET will be able to hold its examination itself, the sources added. The NED university has already refused to hold the examinations of the DCET students after the announcement of degree-warding status to the college.  Following the NED refusal, the college administration had intended to hold its examinations through the IBA, but the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) announced that it would not register the  passing-out students of the DCET if it held its exams through the IBA.

                    The federal government had approved the self-degree awarding status to the college two months back to resolve the lingering disaffiliation dispute between the DCET and the NED university.

                    The DCET is the second public sector engineering institute in Karachi, which will award its own degree in the engineering education. At present, the DCET is imparting education in the fields of electronics engineering, chemical engineering, architecture engineering, industrial engineering and meteorology engineering.

                    The DCET was disaffiliated by the NED university on April 4, 1998 on the charges of discrepancies  and irregularities in administrative and educational affairs. The PEC had postponed the registration  of DCET graduates last year, following a tussle between the college and the university  administration.

                    The NED university administration had also demanded the removal of the DCET principal, director for finance, registrar and an associate professor, but only the principal had been removed, the  sources said.

                    Currently, the DCET is being run by acting administration, including the principal.- PPI

   KARACHI, March 2: The Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) has still not  been issued any official document acknowledging that it had been granted a degree-awarding status even though 20 days have passed since the federal cabinet approved such a proposal, it was learnt on Tuesday.

                    The delay in issuance of an official note over the subject was causing tough problems for the students and the faculty of DCET, said a senior teacher who talked to Dawn on condition of anonymity. To drive home his point, he pointed towards the controversies that had been generated since Feb 15 when the DCET's principal issued a press release which said: "Dawood college attains a self-degree awarding status."

                    "First of all NED snapped almost all its ties with DCET," he said. "On Feb 26 NED issued a  handout saying that it would no longer be holding any annual examinations for the students of DCET. This action has caused great anxiety among the students belonging to the batches of 1993-94,  1994-95 and 1995-96, who were incidentally enrolled with NED," he said.

                    "Secondly, another controversy started when DCET approached the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) for conducting semester examinations. The Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has expressed surprise that an institution that hoped to award degrees sought to give examinations to its own students through another educational body," he said.

"PEC has reportedly said that it would not be recognizing DCET's degrees if it had its examinations conducted by IBA," he said. He added that there was a lot of controversy over the issue inside the  college as well and not just outside it.

"What we have today in DCET is utter chaos. A lot of controversies have been generated over the granting of the degree-awarding status even though no official document confirming it has ever been issued," said the teacher.

Another senior teacher said that the whole problem in the college was because the authorities had  accorded degree-granting status to it before laying the proper groundwork. "The authorities have implemented a part of the Essani report by granting the college the enhanced status. But they didn't implement the recommendations fully.

"The part of the report dealing with the recommended changes in the management should also be implemented fully," he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of PEC, Prof Dr Jameel A. Khan, said late on Monday that the DCET would have to submit a fresh application for obtaining accreditation as an institution awarding engineering degrees. "Once we receive an application we will inspect the facilities, infrastructure  and calibre of the college. Then we will be able to decide whether we should grant DCET an accreditation or not," he said.

Regarding the conducting of the DCET examinations by IBA, he said it seemed strange that an  institution that was being awarded a degree-granting status wanted to avoid giving examinations to its own students. "As of now neither DCET nor IBA have any sort of accreditation as far as PEC is  concerned.

"How can they examine engineering graduates when they are not accredited with PEC," asserted Dr Jameel. He, however, added that PEC had not formulated a formal stance over the issue.

Well-placed sources in the college, meanwhile, said on Tuesday that the students belonging to the  batches of 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96 and who were enrolled with NED were surprised by its decision to stop conducting their examinations. They wanted NED to hold their examinations, the source added.

DCET lands into another crisis: Non-teaching staff shut down   college

 KARACHI, Feb 23: An emergency meeting was held in Dawood College of Engineering and  Technology (DCET) on Tuesday between its principal and non-teaching employees. The meeting  discussed the situation obtaining in the institution following its closure which was forced by the non-teaching staff on Monday.
At the meeting it was observed that the present point in time was very crucial for the DCET because it is being granted a degree-awarding status. The participants of the meeting therefore decided to reopen the college with immediate effect.

The closure of the college was aimed at protesting against some statements made by some teachers while talking to a journalist, said Ghulam Abbas Samo, a labour leader. He was of the view that the teachers wanted some of the non-teaching staff members to be removed from their jobs. "In their press statement the teachers have even accused us of being corrupt," he said. "Most of the  teachers who have given these statements themselves don't take their classes regularly," he said. "But  they have termed even the staff below 15 grade corrupt. Isn't that strange. How can clerks and peons  of low grades be corrupt if the higher-ups are all clean."

M. Iqbal Khan of the DCET Employees Association also criticized the teachers for making  controversial statements.  The principal told Dawn that the teachers were not interested in getting the non-teaching staff removed. "We have to hire more teaching and non-teaching members of staff because our institution  is becoming a degree-granting one."

Meanwhile, a senior teacher told Dawn that the faculty members will not take part in any academic activity till Feb 27. "In view of the deplorable attitude of the non-teaching staff the teachers have decided to take this extreme step," he said. He added that the faculty would review the situation on Monday.

A senior educationist said on Tuesday that the closing down of the DCET for two full days by the non-teaching staff showed that the college still faced a number of problems. "The mere granting of degree-awarding status to the institution will not take it anywhere," he said.

STUDENTS PENALIZED: All the candidates of third year electronics engineering annual examination of 1993-94 batch of the DCET given by NED university were declared to have failed owing to their having walked out of the examination at the time of industrial administration and production engineering paper, APP adds.

This was announced by the Examinations Department of NED on Tuesday. It said the candidates bearing the following seat numbers of 1991-92 batch who appeared with third year electronics engineering annual examination of 1993-94 batch and took the examination in other subjects were declared to have passed the examination.

Third year electronics engineering supplementary of 1991-92 batch: The seat numbers are: 206, 292, 295, 380, 405 and 431.

 KARACHI, Feb 22: The Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) has approached   the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) to organize one of its semester examinations, said a well-placed source in the college on Monday.

 This is the first time that an educational institution has asked the IBA to hold its internal
  examinations. The IBA has so far restricted itself to holding admission tests and other similar  examinations.
According to the source, the IBA has in principle agreed to the DCET's request and has even formed  a committee of four faculty members in this regard. The members of the committee all hold a  bachelor of engineering degree in addition to a master of business administration degree.

Two members of the DCET's faculty will work closely with the committee and finalize the details of  the examinations. The venue of the tests would be the main campus of the IBA in the University of  Karachi.  The engineering and architecture students of the 1996-97 batch of the DCET, with those of the 1995 batch, will be given the examinations, said the source.
He said the step had been taken by the college to enhance its reputation, which has been tarnished by the allegations of corruption and favouritism. The DCET has just been granted a degree-awarding status by the cabinet and it was keen to improve its image, he added.
Meanwhile, the teachers of the college have developed differences over the holding of semester  examinations by the IBA. Some teachers say the IBA can neither prepare the test papers nor evaluate  the answer sheets because it does not have engineers in sufficient numbers belonging to the disciplines that are taught at the DCET.

"This means that the IBA will only be acting as an invigilating body," said a senior teacher. "No outside invigilating body can check favouritism in the college, if any."
The principal of the college, Prof Amin Sheikh, on the other hand, is of the view that most of the  students who resort to unfair means to get through examinations do so during the actual holding of  these tests.

If he, therefore, manages to check cheating during the period when the students are actually given a  test then his efforts to eliminate use of unfair means in examinations would be largely successful, he says.

 KARACHI, Feb 20: The members of faculty of Dawood College of Engineering and Technology  (DCET) on Saturday expressed happiness over the granting of degree-awarding status to their  institution. They, however, were of the view that an overhaul in management was needed if the college was to successfully face the challenges the new situation threw up.
"We badly need an overhaul right from top to bottom. That is, from the principal down to the peons,"     said Prof M. Amin Sheikh, the acting principal of the college. Other members of the faculty expressed similar feelings. Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of NED University of Engineering, the institution that disaffiliated  the DCET last year, said on Saturday that he didn't object to the awarding of degree-granting status to  the DCET. Abul Kalam didn't comment further as he hadn't received the details of the recent cabinet   decision enhancing the status of the college.
Prof Amin Sheikh, the acting principal of the DCET, told Dawn that he had not received any official  notification over the issue. "But we expect to get a notification in this connection within the next twoor three days." He said a meeting of the high-level committee headed by S.M. Qureshi and charged with reviewing the situation would be held on Feb 27 to look into the issue. 

  Prof Sheikh said that the granting of degree-awarding status to the college was a historic step.  "However, the historic opportunity available to DCET would be squandered if the authorities didn't  take the other actions required to make the whole initiative a successful one."
                The other faculty members were of the view that no groundwork had been done by the authorities  before granting the college an independent status. If the badly-needed steps were not taken soon then  the whole exercise would backfire, said one of them.

           They also opined that if the people and problems that had brought a bad name to the college in the   past were not removed, the whole exercise would end in failure. "The authorities should publish the  contents of the UGC's Essani report over the situation obtaining in DCET and implement it too," said  Dr M. Saleem Chaudhry, a member of the Board of Governors.

  His views were echoed by Prof Salim Khan of the Metallurgical Engineering Department, Prof  Javed Iqbal of the Basic Sciences Department and Mr Hanif of the Chemical Engineering  Department.
      Meanwhile, the teachers of the college said there were several problems facing it. "The college  doesn't even have a permanent principal," said Prof Sheikh.    Sources said on Saturday that the Principal of the college, Prof Razzaque Memon, who was on a long  leave, would be transferred from the college in view of his previous record. The sources claimed
 that the Federal Minister was interested in appointing a principal from outside the college. This step would not be favoured by the academic staff, it was learnt on Saturday.

   "The man from outside will take at least a year to grasp the gravity of the situation. The whole thing  may explode during that time," said Prof Salim Khan. Almost all the teachers expressed similar sentiments.

The teachers also said that the new status demanded that the college be given enhanced funds. The enhanced funding should come from the government, they said. Prof Sheikh added that if there was a shortage of funds in the government, the college could obtain funds from the philanthropists.

"The businessmen can come forward and remove some of our weaknesses. The industrialists and businessmen can install equipment and set up laboratories for us, for example," he said.The teachers said that there was too much interference by the students in the management affairs.  "We let the students interfere too much in the affairs of the college," said Dr Chaudhry as the other  teachers nodded in agreement.

Dr Chaudhry also said the college needed well-developed and qualified faculty. He told Dawn that the DCET at present had 50 regularly appointed teachers. "In contrast there were as many as 217   non-teaching employees in the institution," he said.
A teacher said that of these 217 workers at least 42 may be dismissed without disturbing the overall  efficiency of the workforce. He pointed out that a non-teaching employee of the college was enjoying  the facilities of grade 20 while the acting principal was in Grade 19.

A teacher also said there was a lot of leakages as far as funds were concerned. "There was a mafia  which was in action in the college," he said. "The Essani report has addressed this issue in detail.  That's why it should be published immediately."
Meanwhile, a former student of the college said on Saturday that it was ironic that an institution that   couldn't function properly as an affiliated institution was given the onerous responsibility of awarding degrees. "Let's wait and see what the future has in store for the college."