Karachi University under pressure over admission quotas as sit-in continues
Students at the University of Karachi have held a sit-in for more than 78 hours against the KSP admissions policy. A social media campaign is also pressing the university to scrap its quotas and categories.
- Students have sat in outside the Vice Chancellor's Office for more than 78 hours.
- A social media campaign wants the university to scrap admission quotas.
- 1,018 students from outside Karachi districts were enrolled in the first year, against a total intake of 9,691.
- Other Sindh public universities also use district-based quotas.
The University of Karachi is facing pressure over its admission quotas, with a social media campaign urging it to scrap its quotas and categories and students staging a sit-in on the campus, according to reports by The Express Tribune and Minute Mirror.
Minute Mirror reported that the protest had entered its fourth day, with students sitting outside the Vice Chancellor's Office for more than 78 hours. They are protesting against the Karachi, Sindh and Pakistan (KSP) admissions policy, rising university fees and restrictions that stop affected students from appearing in examinations. Members of the Sindhi Shagird Sath have been spending nights at the sit-in.
The immediate trigger is the university's decision to prevent certain students from sitting their examinations. Protesters demand a review of the KSP policy, action on the impact of rising fees, withdrawal of restrictions on affected students and permission for them to take their exams. They say the administration has shown little willingness to hold meaningful talks.
Students also say rising tuition fees and restrictive administrative policies make higher education hard for families with limited financial resources.
The Express Tribune reported that the current pressure relates specifically to admissions in the university's Law Department. Dean of Law Barrister Sarfraz Mitlo has publicly questioned the admission policy approved by the Academic Council.
According to the university's 2026 session figures cited by the paper, 1,815 students from outside Karachi districts were offered admission to four-year BS programmes in December 2025. Of them, 1,018 were enrolled in the first year, out of a total intake of 9,691 students for the session.
The Express Tribune noted that other public universities in Sindh also apply district-based preferences or quotas. Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University Lyari reserves 50 per cent of seats for students from Keamari, Lyari, Gadap and Malir under its Act, and is bound by this unless the Act is amended.
Karachi students are allocated 42 of 1,335 seats at Government College University Hyderabad, 20 of 953 at Mehran University's Jamshoro campus, 19 of 674 at Quaid-e-Awam University and 14 of 986 at the University of Sindh. Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences and People's University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women, Nawabshah, reserve 10 seats each for Karachi students.
Minute Mirror also noted that in December 2023 the Sindhi Shagird Tehreek held a demonstration in Karachi against the same policy, arguing it gave more weight to geography than to academic merit.
Why it matters for Pakistan
District quotas decide how many seats are open to students applying from different parts of Sindh and the rest of Pakistan. Students from outside Karachi make up a share of the University of Karachi's intake, and other Sindh universities reserve a small number of seats for Karachi students. Students barred from exams are directly affected, and protesters say rising fees are a burden for families with limited means.
