23 nursing students expelled from BUMHS

The Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences (BUMHS) has expelled 23 nursing students without issuing any notification on Monday.

The students were in the second semester and went to take their semester paper when they were told that they had been expelled for failing a subject in the first semester. In protest, they blocked the main gate of the college and presented before them the rules provided by the Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC), which say that “a student can be struck off only when they secure less than 50 percent marks in the semester”.

Speaking to Minute Mirror, the students said they had scored more than 50 percent in the last semester, but they were struck off nonetheless. They complained that even if they were struck off in the first semester, they should have been notified earlier, not on the exam day of the second semester. “We took quizzes, gave presentations and participated in all class activities, but we were never forbidden at any point,” they said, adding that they would not accept it.

Another student told this scribe that as per the rules, students have to score 50 percent marks while other marks were given based on quizzes and presentation. “But some of us were given no marks for the quizzes and presentations, despite the fact that we did well in them,” she grieved. She added that if they were informed ahead of time, they could have at least used a legal channel to challenge their marks. “But now we do not understand whether to have our papers rechecked or somehow manage to sit for the exams of the second semester,” she said.

Amidst the tensions, students closed the gate of the college and asked for their right to recheck their papers.

The protest was yet not finished, when the protesting students were not permitted to enter the hostel. After severe resistance, the students were permitted to get in, but their issue remained unresolved. The students have demanded a meeting with their college principal, vice-chancellor of Bolan BUMHS, and the MS.