University of Karachi; A lot has changed in the year since the suicide attack on Chinese teachers

Karachi: It has been a year since the Confucius Institute and its teachers were targeted by a suicide attack, but a lot has changed in this one year.

According to the details, after one year, the teaching process in the institute is still there, but to teach Chinese language to Pakistani students, Chinese teachers are teaching online from their country instead of physically, and the Chinese language program is practically sitting in China now. A large part of the Chinese language bachelor program has gone online while the rest of the academic load is with Pakistani teachers who have learned Chinese.

Due to the physical absence of Chinese teachers and the difficulty of working hours in online teaching, the evening program in Confucius Institute has been closed and only the morning program is being run, but the admissions in the morning have increased compared to the past. On the other hand, NED University Considering these difficulties, the Turkish language has also been introduced in the university, while due to the limited number of teachers and the large enrollment of students, the teaching of Chinese language has been extended to different semesters for students who wish to learn Chinese in NED. Pakistani teachers are sent under the Confucius Institute to teach Chinese language in other institutions as well.

It should be remembered that three Chinese teachers were killed in a suicide attack by the banned Baloch separatist organization outside the Confucius Institute in Karachi University on April 26, 2022, while one of their Pakistani drivers was also killed and several more Chinese teachers were killed. There were also injured. This suicide attack was carried out by a burqa-clad female student at around two o’clock in the afternoon on April 26. It is believed that the student was also studying in Karachi University, while exactly 20 days after the incident, 15 In May 2022, Chinese teachers said goodbye to Pakistan due to further security concerns.

This suicide attack raised many questions about the security situation of the University of Karachi. Professor Nasira Khatoon was appointed part-time or acting vice-chancellor on a court order in the University of Karachi and before the explosion by the said acting vice-chancellor. The security advisor was also replaced while Mohammad Zubair, the security advisor appointed at the time of the blast, informed the Pakistani director of the Confucius Institute, Dr. Nasiruddin, 26 days before the accident, through a letter containing a surprising text, that the Chinese teachers were not Information is transmitted so we will never be responsible for any untoward incident.

On the other hand, after a year, now the vice chancellor is permanent in the University of Karachi and the aforementioned security advisor has also been changed, but the security situation is still not much different from the past. It fell from places, still four walls do not exist in more or less the same places, while the security system of the University of Karachi, spread over an area of ​​more than 1200 acres, is not so durable and sophisticated or free from defects that it can be fully trusted. .

On the other hand, when “Express” contacted Prof. Dr. Nasiruddin, Pakistani Director of Confucius Institute, about the current situation on the completion of one year of this unfortunate incident, he was quite confident about the current situation of the institution. Admissions have exceeded the number of seats allotted for these students who have to go to China for advanced studies in the coming years.

However, on further inquiry, he said that since Chinese teachers now teach online and China’s standard time is 4 hours ahead of Pakistan, it was not possible for the evening to be extended online late at night, so the evening could not continue. Nasiruddin said that for online we have not limited to the internet system of the University of Karachi, but there are separate high quality interactive classes on the internet. Each student was given a microphone and camera individually with his seat While the standards of Pakistani teachers who are teaching in University of Karachi, NED or other institutions are checked by the relevant Chinese authorities.

On a question, he said that we have requested 3 acres of land from the University of Karachi administration for the institute adjacent to IBA. In such a case, the Chinese teachers are ready to return because they will stay and work in the compound where there can be adequate security.

It should be noted that there have been 20 admissions in 16 seats for the session 2023 in the Confucius Institute of University of Karachi, while the number of admissions last year was 8. The Confucius Institute was established in 2013 to teach Chinese language in University of Karachi. The first batch of the S program was admitted. Moreover, Vice Chancellor of the University of Karachi, Professor Dr. Khalid Iraki, said, “We have requested a PC from the Confucius Institute to know how the project will be run.” will go and what will be the cost estimate after which the Syndicate will be able to take a decision regarding the allotment of land to the institute.

On a question regarding security, the vice chancellor said that the matter of security mostly depends on intelligence information and the university administration is in contact with the relevant institutions on security matters. It should be remembered that PC1 was sent to HEC by the former Acting Vice-Chancellor for the integrated security plan of the University of Karachi, but this plan is currently only on paper.