Women university is not what its administration claims

PESHAWAR, The environment and facilities at town campus of the Frontier Women University (FWU) are far from what its website claims as its vision and objective of promoting research-based education system.

The university set up in the Muttahidda Majlis-i-Amal government has yet to provide state-of-the-art facilities and environment to the students.

The campus has been set up in two bungalows in the outer area of the city. The name of the FWU on a board just outside the Bio-informatics department (house) has been defaced. A student of the university said it was done due to fear of extremists who oppose girls’ education.

While the administration is not brave enough even to display the name of the university, its Vice Chancellor Farhana Jehangir in her statement posted on the university website states that she takes pride in being appointed as head of the first ever women university in the province.

It further says: “Our graduates will be passed out as competitive human beings, confident to take up challenges as the women of the modern age. They will step into their practical lives well-prepared and ready to excel in all walks of life”.

Some students requesting anonymity for fear of backlash from the administration said reality was far from these tall claims. They complained that the environment at the campus was stifling and frustrating at times.

The campus did not provide them research facilities as frequently as they needed. Two departments - Micro-Biology and Bio-Informatics - are being run in two bungalows, but the two laboratories have been set up in Bio-Informatics department and students of Microbiology said they did not get much chance to do practical work on their own.

“The university is short of funds; perhaps that is why we have controlled access to laboratories and we cannot do practical work whenever we want”, said one student. Another student decried that they were BS students but being treated like schoolchildren.

“Practical work was done once and even if we have free time we are neither allowed to go to labs nor our homes. Despite government’s announcement of Saturday as an off-day, it is a working day at this campus,” said another student. “With no generator how we are going to study in the summer and loadshedding,” she added.

Another student who has been participating in sports and debates complained that extra-curricular activities were rare and there was no playground at the campus.

She pointed at an unkempt lawn of the department (house) and said that no one could play at such a place. Kitchen-turned-canteen at the campus also offers little variety of food to the students.

There were no electric coolers. Students complained that drinking water often had algae which showed it was not clean. There were three washrooms for a department having around 70 students and only one had running water in it, the students lamented.

“We thought we would be studying in the university with an open and creative environment. We were mistaken,” said a student disheartened by the lack of facilities and suffocating environment.

When asked why the campus was opened in two houses, Ms Jehangir said the main campus set up in the Frontier College was crowded and also short of space.

When she was informed about the problems told by the students, she brushed off their complaints and said, “Don’t listen to what the students say. These two campuses are outstanding campuses (regarding facilities)”.

The VC cut the conversation short and instead of answering questions said: “You can get more information from the university administration”.