HYDERABAD, Oct 7: The vice-chancellor of the Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam, Dr Bashir Shaikh, has said that a career counselling and placement cell has been set up at the university to guide students during their studies so that the number of enrolment of students could be increased.

He was delivering his presidential address in the 18th meeting of the Senate of the Sindh Agriculture University at the Senate hall on Thursday.

Expressing concern over decline in the enrolment for the last few years, he said that it was due to no job opportunities, ban on appointments, increase in fee structure, non-adherence to the academic calendar and diversion of sizable portion of the students to computer science, IT and business administration fields.

He said the university management was giving top priority to admissions and had taken various steps to enhance enrolment at the university, which include reducing the fees structure, providing prospectus for various degree programmes, timely admission, conducting pre-entry test at each district headquarter, recommending revised curriculum to the Higher Education Commission and pursuing meaningful and market oriented programme and policies.

In addition to this 70 scholarships for under graduate and post-graduate students have been got approved from the HEC to support the deserving meritorious students, he added.

He requested the government of Sindh for granting 88 scholarships of Rs5,000 each for the deserving meritorious students of this university as promised and announced by the ministry of education and pro-chancellor while chairing 17th meeting of the senate.

He said that due to these efforts the university management had received more than double number of applications during the last year and added that the target was to double the enrolment of the students in next five years and to facilitate the teaching faculties, improve their qualification up to PhD level, improve the infra-structure and academic and research facilities in the university.

He said the members of the senate that all the faculties of the university were being inter linked and computerized and within four months all faculties would be made online for 24 hours with libraries of international educational institutions of the world to enhance the capacity building of the teaching staff and students.

The vice-chancellor said that the entire record of accounts was being reconciled and computerized and being transferred from a single entry to double entry to avoid any financial mismanagement.

Answering a question raised by a member of the Senate, the vice-chancellor said that the 17th meeting of the Senate resolved that detailed audit of university accounts from 1997-98 onwards be conducted by the office of the director general audit, the government of Sindh within six months but unfortunately due to pre-occupations and shortage of staff of authority concerned, it was still awaited.

He said that two letters have been written to the authority concerned for completing the job. The vice-chancellor said that the HEC had earmarked 10 foreign scholarships for PhD each year for the faculty with the pre-condition of passing GRE/ TOEFL with 50 per cent marks.