KARACHI: For the first time in 69 years’ history of the University of Karachi, its Academic Council is going to meet on Friday, June 05, 2020, through virtual means of communication to decide future line of action of the University to conduct academic activities as part of the lockdown measures against the spread of the coronavirus.
The Academic Council has to decide the best mode of teaching when the regular classroom-based studies could not be conducted by Karachi University as like the rest of the educational institutions in the country because of the lockdown regime in place against the spread of Covid-19.
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One of the preferred choice before the Academic Council is to conduct online classes wherever it is possible to impart education related to its various degree programs.
On June 01, 2020, a meeting of the Deans’ Committee, which was chaired by the Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, was conducted in the Vice Chancellor’s office to discuss matters related to the First semester 2020 under the prevailing situation of COVID-19.
All the deans briefed about the outcome of the meetings of their Board of Faculties that was based on the deliberations of the board members that included almost all the members of the Academic Council and representatives of Lecturers, Assistant Professors and Associate Professors of the departments.
Based on the outcome of the Board of Faculties, the deans recommended that the University would facilitate three to five teachers from each faculty as master trainers, whose responsibility would be to train other faculty members of their faculties.
Furthermore, the deans would be responsible for nominating the master trainers. They would also monitor the training of other faculty members by the master trainers.
As per deans’ recommendation, the dean offices would be the hub to facilitate the teachers, whereas, the Dean Faculty of Education, Professor Dr Nasir Salman, would guide the teachers in avoiding plagiarism and copyright matters during online classes.
The online classes/submission of assignments of various courses as per the approved course outline would be conducted till July 15, 2020. The online classes may also include the alternative to labs / practical sessions.
The teachers could conduct online classes from their home, In case of any difficulty, they can use their offices, classrooms, or meeting rooms of the Dean Offices of their faculties. Each department should constitute a departmental evaluation/student assessment committee before July 15, 2020.
Subject to permission by the authorities, the University would conduct classes for the students who were unable to attend the online classes on Saturdays and Sundays from July 16, 2020, to August 13, 2020.
During the same period, classes, labs, or alternatives to labs / practical to complete the leftover part of the Syllabi by considering the Smart duration of 40 minutes for each class.
The finalization of online student assessment/examination/evaluation material would be carried out from August 17 to 21 2020. The Deans’ also suggested that semester examination could be held from August 22 to September 12, 2020.
The second semester teaching would be conducted from September 15 to December 13, 2020. The semester examinations would be held from December 14 to 31, 2020.
Meanwhile, online teaching (classes), labs and assessment for the evening program would be conducted till July 15, 2020, while classes/labs for leftover syllabus could be conducted from July 16 to September 10, 2020, and finalization of online assessment/examination/evaluation material would be held from September 11 to 13, 2020.
The first-semester examination would be held from September 14 to 30, 2020 while the second semester could be arranged from October 01 to December 31, 2020, and second semester examinations could be started from January 01 to 20, 2021.
All these recommendations would be placed before the Academic Council consideration, discussion, and approval on June 05, 2020.
