ISLAMABAD, May 30: Students of National University of Modern Languages (Numl), Islamabad continued their protest on Wednesday, forcing the management to cancel the master level examinations in five subjects.

However, the management claims that they have revisited the policy and most of the students will be allowed to participate in the exams, Dawn has learnt.

Earlier, tension in the university mounted when 500 students came to the campus on Wednesday morning and stopped the Numl buses
from moving out of the campus and started chanting slogans against the management.

Exams in International Relation, Mass Communication, Education, Economics and Pakistan Studies were to be started but the protesting students did not allow anyone to sit the exams.

Management tried to keep the students away from the examination centres and had to call the police but in the end decided to cancel the exams. Protesters continued their protest till evening.

On Tuesday, Numl management introduced a new policy making 70 per cent attendance mandatory for participation in the examination.

Over 300 students were asked that they could not sit the examinations beginning from Wednesday as their attendance was less than 70 per cent.

The new rule took the students by surprise and they constituted a delegation which met the university Rector Maj Gen (retired) Masood Hasan in a bid to convince him to implement the new policy from next session but he refused to entertain their request. Later, the students gathered outside the management block and started chanting slogans against the management and the new policy. They also blocked the transport of the university.

Some students while talking to Dawn said that in the past the students having overall 70 per cent attendance were allowed to sit the examination but now the management had changed it making 70 per cent attendance in each subject mandatory. A teacher of the university on condition of anonymity said: “Even teachers were not aware of the new policy otherwise they would have made the students to attend all the classes.”

The Numl spokesman, Malik Amir while talking to Dawn said during orientation ceremony in February this year, all the students had been informed about the new policy.

On the other hand the students contested the management’s claim saying if they had informed the students in orientation ceremony then why they had been allowed to sit the midterm exams.

A student said: “It seems some elements in the management are trying to tease the students and want to tarnish the image of the university”.

A student who has come to give exam said that because of irresponsible behavior of the management, the students having 70 per cent attendance were also being affected.