Education Thread

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Punjab saves its teachers from starvation​

The Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, has finally come to the rescue of a system that was drawing its last breath. Thousands of Punjab teachers danced outside Lahore’s Alhamra Hall after hearing from the chief minister that Rs4 billion would be spent on the improvement of their salary structure. This was a big change: in Pakistan one usually expects schoolteachers to demonstrate in the streets of the four provincial capitals, furiously beating their chests after taking off their shirts. In Punjab, too, this was almost a cruel ritual since 2004 when the province announced a Rs21 billion package under the Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme with not a penny in it for the teachers.

Anyone looking at the new package will have to say that it is not one of the useless financial poultices applied to the running sore of school education in Pakistan. The big yardstick was the way teachers got up and clapped after hearing the details. The teaching ladder begins with the primary school teacher with a grade-7 job, lower than an office clerk in the Lahore secretariat and just a little higher than a sweeper. Employed by the government, he has no link to the private sector market where a good cook or a driver can earn several times more.

Now the grade-7 primary school teacher — Punjab employs 50,500 of them — will move two grades up to grade 9 from his present spot and the teacher in grade 9 will go up to grade 11. Elementary school teachers will move to grade 11, grade 12 and 14 and 15 as per their seniority, with substantial increase in salaries. Half of the Secondary School teachers will move to grade 17 and the other half to grade 18, already considered a “gazetted job” in terms of the old system. The increase in salary for the three types of teachers will be substantial: primary Rs817, elementary Rs2066 and secondary Rs2267. Teachers of English, mathematics and science will have more benefits under their separate packages. The total number of teachers to profit from the new package in Punjab is 350,000.

One “service delivery” that the state of Pakistan has consistently failed to address is education. After a good growth rate and a historically much bigger revenue budget, one might think that throwing money at the problem would resolve the crisis, but it doesn’t happen like that. The system lacks the ability to deliver planned spending. It is no use complaining that our expenditure on education in ratio to the GDP is abysmally low compared to the other South Asian countries. If you notch up the education budget, the money will go waste unless you can institutionalise its spending.

But for some strange reason, all “reforms” in the sector of education have ignored the schoolteacher. The logic may have been that one can’t throw money at a sector which is incompetent. But this argument simply neglected the depth of the problem. The old teachers were in a deplorable state and no new ones were coming in for employment. Those who had learned to survive did jobs on the side and did not attend. Because the salaries of the teachers were not made real, money meant for the upkeep of the school properties was embezzled by the education bureaucracy by showing “ghost schools”, that is, schools that existed only on paper.

Punjab is the biggest province with 60 percent of the population. Other provinces are much smaller and can immediately uplift their teachers by improving their salaries the same way by spending much less than the Rs4 billion outlay by Punjab. It is said that the school system in the NWFP and Azad Kashmir functions much better than elsewhere but the teachers there too need to be rescued from poverty. In other provinces many primary schools have the ratio of one teacher to three classes. It means there is a high “drop-out” percentage among the teachers too.

Punjab will also have to showcase the next step, that of monitoring the performance of teachers; and rewarding the good ones to compensate for the lack of incentives that are prevalent in the private sector, usually consisting of changing the job when offered a higher salary. At much less expense, but not without a good system on the ground, teacher training must be improved from its present level, and training institutions with good residential facilities have to be established to cater for the entire cadre, perhaps also helping the other provinces in this regard.

The state of Pakistan with its 3 million schools has lost the battle against the religious madrassa. The madrassa is simply more “caring” and definitely better run in terms of monitoring and distribution of rewards. The country continues to spend more on the higher education than on the grassroots schools, but the primary sector is where it is really required to play its role. The Punjab Chief Minister, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, has moved in the right direction and blazoned the way for the other provinces. Well done, Chaudhry Saheb! *

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Another step in the right direction.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Literacy rate rose by just 1pc in 2005-06
‘Parha Likha Punjab’ project fails to boost literacy; Balochistan achieves marvellous results

Saturday, September 08, 2007
By Mehtab Haider

ISLAMABAD: According to findings of the Pakistan Social & Living Standard Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2005-06, the literacy rate in the country has gone up to 54 per cent in 2005-06 against 53 per cent in 2004-05, showing an improvement by only one per cent.

The literacy rate was 45 per cent in the country, according to the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (PIHS) conducted in 2001-02.

The Punjab government has failed to boost the literacy rate despite spending millions of dollars on its “Parha Likha Punjab” programme”, while the Balochistan government has claimed to achieve marvellous results by increasing the literacy rate to 39 per cent in the province.

The Punjab government led by Ch Pervaiz Elahi has spent millions of dollars in the last couple of years on the education sector with the help of donors, especially the World Bank, but it has failed to boost the literacy rate in the province, according to the results of the official survey conducted by the federal government to assess social indicators.

However, the Balochistan government has claimed a 200 per cent increase in enrolment at primary school level, especially girls, during the last four years. “The literacy ratio which was only 24 per cent on average and has now reached 39 per cent,” states an official report prepared by the Balochistan government and exclusively made available to The News on Friday.

However, according to the latest data compiled by the government of Pakistan, in Sindh the literacy rate declined by one percentage point in 2005-06 as it stood at 55 per cent in accordance with the results of the official survey against 56 per cent in 2004-05.

In Punjab, the literacy rate went up to 56 per cent in 2005-05 against 55 per cent in 2004-05. There were 66 per cent literate males and 47 per cent literate female in 2005-06 against 65 per cent literate males and 44 per cent literate females in 2004-05.

The literacy rate in Sindh stood at 55 per cent in 2005-06 with 67 per cent literate males and 42 per cent literate female literates. The literacy ratio in the province was 56 per cent in 2004-05 with 68 per cent literate males and 41 per cent literate females. It means that the male literacy rate declined by one percentage point during the 2005-06 as compared to 2004-05 in Sindh.

The literacy rate in the MMA-led NWFP went up to 46 per cent in 2005-06 against 45 per cent in 2004-05, showing an improvement of one percentage point. There are 64 per cent literate males and 30 per cent literate females in 2005-06 against 64 per cent literate males and 26 per cent literate females in 2004-05.

It shows that the female literacy rate increased by four per cent during 2005-06 in the NWFP.

The literacy rate in Balochistan stood at 38 per cent in 2005-06 against 37 per cent in 2004-05. There were 54 per cent literate males and 20 per cent literate females in 2005-06 compared with 52 per cent literate males and 19 per cent literate females in 2004-05.

The primary NER decreased in the Punjab by one percentage point during 2005-06 compared with the previous fiscal year 2004-05. The primary NER in Punjab was 57 per cent in 2005-06 compared with 58 per cent in 2004-05.

The primary NER increased in Sindh as it stood at 50 per cent in 2005-06 against 48 per cent in 2004-05. The net enrolment ratio at primary level in the NWFP was 48 per cent in 2005-06 against 47 per cent in 2004-05.

The primary NER decreased in Balochistan as it stood at 34 per cent in 2005-06, which was 37 per cent in 2004-05, showing a downfall by 3 percentage points.

The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at primary level increased by one percentage point, as it was 87 per cent in 2005-06 compared with 86 per cent in 2004-05. The GER at primary level in Punjab stood at 94 per cent, Sindh 80 per cent, the NWFP 82 per cent and Balochistan 65 per cent in 2005-06.

In the Punjab, the middle level NER stands at 20 per cent in 2005-05 and it was at the same level of 20 per cent in 2004-05. The middle level NER decreased in all other three provinces, i.e. Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan, during 2005-06 compared with the previous year.

The middle level NER in Sindh was 17 per cent in 2005-06 against 18 per cent in 2004-05. The NER for middle level in the NWFP was 14 per cent in 2005-06 against 16 per cent in 2004-05. The NER for middle level in Balochistan stood at seven per cent in 2005-06 against eight per cent in 2004-05.

The middle level Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) increased in 2005-06 as it stood at 49 per cent in accordance with the latest survey against 46 per cent a year earlier on 2004-05.

The middle level GER in Punjab stood at 53 per cent, Sindh 44 per cent, the NWFP 52 per cent and Balochistan 37 per cent during 2005-06.

Literacy rate rose by just 1pc in 2005-06

Well, the good news is that its still going up, and its really nice to see a huge jump in Balochistan.

 

[Neo]

2,500 new teachers in Rawalpindi govt schools expected soon​

By Terence J Sigamony

RAWALPINDI: Around 2,500 teachers of grade 7 to grade 16 will soon be recruited in the district to solve the problem of understaffing in government schools, sources at the Rawalpindi Directorate of Education told Daily Times on Friday.

“A summary in this regard has been sent to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who had promised in a meeting with the district education officials to accord approval for recruitment of teachers as soon as possible,” sources said.

Over 2,700 posts of teachers of grade 7 to grade 16 have been lying vacant for more than a year, resulting in grave problems for thousands of students who often complain about incomplete courses at the end of the academic year.

“Shortage of staff is one of the major reasons for government school students showing poor results in examinations, as the available staff is also overburdened,” said the sources.

Sources said nazims of Murree, Kahuta and Kotli Satian in a recent meeting at the office of the education executive district officer (EDO) also urged the Punjab government to fill the vacant posts.

They said that the district government had given Rs 20,000 to each primary school and Rs 50,000 to each middle school for repair and maintenance during the current financial year. They said the district government had allocated Rs 14 million to high schools, which was equally distributed among them. Sources said all schools had been provided with the books under the Chief Minister’s Scheme.

Rawalpindi District Teachers Association President Saghir Alam said that the local government’s claim of huge spending on education was a big lie. He said that most of the school buildings in the district were in bad shape. He said that government officials should visit these schools to monitor whether the funds were properly used or not.

There are 2,040 government schools in Rawalpindi district. Of them, 158 high schools are for boys and 97 for girls, 19 higher secondary schools for boys and eight for girls, 687 primary schools for boys and 823 for girls and 109 middle schools for boys and 139 for girls.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

PU VC search committee is competent enough: governor​

LAHORE: The Search Committee that appoints vice chancellors (VCs) is a competent body, framed by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and no one can challenge it, Chancellor/Governor Lt Gen (r) Khalid Maqbool said on Thursday. Answering a question of the Punjab University acting VC Dr Arif Butt at the Vice Chancellors’ Conference at the Governor’s House, Chancellor Maqbool said the members of the search committee were well-reputed people and had contributed a lot to the field of education. Maqbool stopped Dr Butt from talking on the search committees and internal matters of the Punjab University (PU). He said the purpose of the conference was to discuss on academic development, not varsities’ internal affairs. Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman Dr Attaur Rehman said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz met with the chancellors of all provinces a few days ago and the meeting discussed the issue of search committees. He said the meeting decided that the HEC would give funds only to those universities that accept its decisions and follow its policies. He said the committee looked for people with leadership qualities for the job of a VC. Mumtaz Ahmed Salik, president of the Federation of All Pakistan Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) had on September 9, criticised the HEC’s search committee. He had said that its members were “incompetent, not from the academic circle and do not even have a PhD”. staff report

I hope the government can keep this process independent. Punjab University and KU especially have become a hub of partisan politics and sectarianism, often encouraged by staff who themselves have strong links to the organizations sponsoring the student groups. Then you have educators with no love or interest for teaching, as illustrated in this article:

Political science dept in the throes of controversy​

Friday, September 14, 2007
By Perwez Abdullah

Karachi

The teachers at the Department of Political Science, University of Karachi (KU) are religiously conforming to its name by forming a divide among themselves: one supporting an ethnic students’ party while the other cementing its relationship with a religious students’ outfit.

The News talked to students from different classes and needless to say, it was confounding to know about the practices of the department. The students, on condition of anonymity, revealed that teachers take classes when they please. Mostly, they stay in their rooms. A professor, for instance, will come to class and deliver a lecture but he/she will not interact with students. The latter remain passive listeners and do not have the time or will to ask questions. Another teacher will come in with her notes that are at least 10-15 year old. The leaves of those notes are probably yellow and the contents dimmed with the passage of time. “There is no change in the content and students feel suffocated with her monotones and lack of will to include the latest knowledge in her notes,” said Yasmeen (not her real name), a final-year student of the department.

Faraz, also a final-year student, narrates the story of two brothers who have retuned to the department after spending 18 months in prison on charges of fraud. These students bestow valuable gifts on teachers, including mobile handsets and computers. Not surprisingly, they do really well in their exams. “The brothers in question often return their test copies to the teacher after one-and-a-half hour, and they end up getting the highest grades. How can one get maximum marks after taking the theory exam in such a short while?” he asked.

It is common for teachers to victimise students who belong to a rival party. They are rude to them, mark them absent frequently and give them fewer marks than the students of their party. Afshan, a third-year Honour’s student was wary of her Chairman, Dr Abdullah Qadri, who is blind. “Dr Qadri, while lecturing in class, digresses from the topic and begins sermonising girls about what they should and should not do. It is nauseating,” she complained.

It has been observed that in the different departments of both arts and science faculties, classrooms are not open when students come at 8:30 a.m. to attend their first class. Upon inquiry, they are told that the person who has the keys has not arrived. In such circumstances, it is no surprise that students are hardly interested in taking classes.

The HEC has taken some excellent decisions to improve the standard of Pakistani educational institutions, and hopefully the regional administrations will continue to extend support to its mission of reform and improvement, and educators like the ones above can be eventually be completely weeded out of the system.

 

[sigatoka]

We do need a Kamal Ata Turk in Pakistan else there is only one way for Pakistan to go, that is down.

While Pakistan is in need of reforms in all areas of its economy, it is ironic to hear of Kamal Ata Turk as being a role model. The "reforms" that were introduced under him did nothing to arrest the slide of Turkey from its role as a dominating force in the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans. Rather it cemented an excessive role for the military at the expense of a democratic progressive governments. Changing the dress code or the written form of the language may create the illusion of progress, but fundamentally it is not activity on the part of government or "reformers" that matter but the actual substance of their activity.

 

[Neo]

Nespak to build nine Tevta centres in Punjab ​

RAWALPINDI (October 28 2007): The National Engineering Service of Pakistan (Nespak) has been tasked to construct nine technical training centers for the Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (Tevta) Punjab.

The institutions to be built in different parts of the province, including four polytechnic institutes, two polytechnic institutes for women, two surgical instrument institutes, and one textile institute, would help produce skilled manpower for the industrial sector of Pakistan, sources said while talking to Business Recorder.

Sources said that Tevta has signed an agreement with Nespak for the completion of 33 development schemes for Rs 1,713 million. The government has assigned the task of imparting technical and vocational training in the province to Tevta, which aimed at producing technically-sound workforce for public and private sector industries in the province, they said. Sources said the government efforts would help eliminate unemployment and poverty.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

Pak-Norway collaboration on higher education​

ISLAMABAD: Prof Dr Attaur Rahman, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman and advisor to the prime minister on Science and Technology, has desired to develop more cooperation between Pakistan and Norway in the field of higher education.

He said this during a meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Aud Marit Wing who called on him at his office here Tuesday.

Both parties exchanged views for developing closer ties between the two countries in the field of higher education.

Dr Atta stressed the need for creating more links between Pakistani and Norwegian universities.

He informed the ambassador about the ongoing efforts being made by the HEC for establishing nine new state-of-the-art universities, particularly in highly sophisticated science, engineering and technological fields in various cities of Pakistan in collaboration with the consortiums of Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Sweden and South Korea.

The HEC chairman also discussed the possibility of establishing joint ventures with Nordic Universities focusing on Science, Engineering and Technology in Pakistan for talented students of the country.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

Education sector badly affected by corruption, says ADB​

ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: Pakistan’s education sector is marred by corruption, strong gender and regional inequalities and insufficient budget allocations, leading to social imbalances and poor delivery of services in the public sector, according to the Asian Development Bank.

“Pakistan’s education indicators are poor, even within the context of South Asia. Gender and regional inequalities are strong. Unless the performance trajectory changes markedly, Pakistan probably will not achieve the education MDGs (millennium development goals),” said an evaluation report of bank.

The evaluation is based on the ADB’s 38-year operations in Pakistan. During the period, the ADB extended a total of $16.3 billion for more than 180 projects in a number of sectors including education, agriculture, energy, finance, law and economic management and communications sectors.

The bank’s own performance in only two sectors, namely transport and law and economic management, was found to be efficient. In the rest of sectors, the outcome was either partly successful or unsuccessful.

“Although many reasons are given for the weak performance of education sector, insufficient budget allocation and ineffective use of the resources are the main factors. Leakage through corruption is almost certainly an important factor,” said the bank.

“As the public education system has failed to deliver the results parents want, private schools have expanded in response to strong demand,” it said.

In overall terms, the success rate of education sector projects in Pakistan is 29 per cent, although this rate improved to 50 per cent for projects approved in the 1990s.

The ADB’s own assessment put the education sector projects at ‘partly successful’ on a four-category scale of highly successful, successful, partly successful and unsuccessful.

The report said the ADB’s focus on girls’ basic education has been both an advocacy and investment. Given the importance of education, the ADB’s resource allocation to the sector has been relatively modest and the volume of advisory technical assistance has been low. During the entire period of 39 years, the ADB extended around half a billion dollars.

Talking about the need for changed intervention strategy, the reports said it should direct a greater proportion of resources to the education sector with three provisions.

First, the predominant focus on providing access rather than learning outcomes. Second, increased funding needed to be driven by careful consideration of the results being achieved and should be based on more complete understanding of the causal factors of poor performance. Third, the bank needed to increase significantly the resources it directed to support the programme.

The assessment suggested that analytical underpinning of education sector operations has been insufficient, compounded by a lack of accurate information about sector performance and the fact that apparently learning from experience has been too meagre.

Likewise, supervisory operation in areas of service delivery were widely dispersed and relatively inaccessible, and more so in basic education projects.

Education sector badly affected by corruption, says ADB -DAWN - Top Stories; December 10, 2007

 

[Neo]

NWFP Agriculture University: Aurakzai lays foundation of Rs five billion sub-campus project ​

PESHAWAR (December 11 2007): The NWFP Governor, Lieutenant General Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai (Retd) on Monday laid the foundation stone of Rs 5 billion project of the establishment of sub-campus of NWFP Agricultural University at Hangu. The governor also laid the foundation of OPF Public School and College.

Under a phase of the programme an amount of Rs 800 million had already been earmarked for the First phase of which Rs 300 million have been provided by the provincial government. In the beginning, 1500 students would be admitted in various departments of the campus and with the passage of time, the enrolment could be enhanced to 8000. The campus, which would be first of its kind in the province, apart from the agricultural and animal husbandry, would offer educational and research facilities in management sciences as well as other disciplines of important nature.

Similarly, the OPF Girls Public School and College will be completed at a cost of Rs 67.3 million in a record time of 18 months, which would have the capacity to accommodate 600 students. The institution would also have the hostel facilities and offer co-education up to primary level as well.

Speaking on the occasion, the Governor described the day as historic one for the people of Hangu and said that being the newly created district, its people are confronted with the problems of lack of educational facilities.

However, he remarked, the day is not far away, when the area would become an education city. The sub-campus of the NWFP Agriculture University, he remarked, would not only facilitate the people of southern districts of the province and its adjoining tribal agencies and would also be a great source of knowledge for the desirous students from the entire country as well as abroad.

In fact, Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai said, this is the fourth new project of its nature in the province during the last six months. The Khyber Medical University has recently started functioning while historic Islamia College has been given the status of university, he said.

Apart from this, he added, work on the establishment of the second campus of Hayatabad based Institute of Management Sciences has also been initiated whereas the earth breaking of the new campus of NWFP University of Engineering and Technology is expected to be taken in hand shortly which is expected to cost Rs 6.5 billion.

He said efforts are underway to create a new higher educational institution in the shape of Fata University, which would have its campuses in all the tribal agencies and later on all such campuses could be raised to the status of universities gradually. In fact, the Governor said, it is the vision of the government to establish at least one university in each district of the province to enable the youth to avail the educational facilities of higher knowledge in accordance with the demand of the hour. 50 percent of the seats in the new campus of the Institute of Management Sciences, the Governor said, would be meant for the students from Fata while 33 percent of the seats in the new Islamia College, being established at Swabi under the aegis of Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Memorial Trust would also be reserved for the students, hailing from Fata.

Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai said that he himself is a member of the Trust and according to the programme, the new Islamia College would be of the same standard and quality as of the existing Islamia College in all respects.

Referring to the OPF Public School and College project, the Governor said, it was his long cherished desire to have this institution at Hangu and he had been struggling for it for quite some time. Therefore, he added, the practically launching of the project is in fact of great satisfaction for him.

He expressed the determination to make efforts for establishment of an institution of similar nature for the boys as well under the arrangements of OPF at Hangu.

The Governor also paid rich tributes to the former Commandant of Frontier Constabulary, late Israr Ahmad Shinwari for providing land for the project and prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul. He also highly appreciated the role and services of the present Commandant of the Force, Malik Naveed, which made the said land more useful for the institution. The Governor also stressed the elders of the area to fully focus on education of their children and thus make the investments of the government useful in true sense.

Speaking on the occasion, the Vice Chancellor of the NWFP Agricultural University Professor Dr Said Khan Khalil said that the Sub-Campus would be spread over an area of 1600 kanals. Their University, he added, is of international standards in all respects wherein out of 190 faculty members, 110 are having PhD level qualifications.

Presently, he remarked, 10,000 students are getting educational and research facilities in 10 different disciplines of the University and it has the capacity to fulfil the requirements to be emerged in the wake of it expansion.

The Managing Director of the Overseas Foundation, Syed Nazar Hasnain Haider while addressing on this occasion said that their institutions are already successfully working at Mansehra, Hangu and Dera Ismail Khan.

Earlier, the Governor formally launched the projects by un-veiling the plaques. The ceremony was largely attended by educationists as well as the elders of district Hangu and its adjoining Orakzai Agency and the respective senior government officials.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

34 PWWB schools educating children of labourers​

LAHORE: Thirty-four modern schools are working under the Punjab Workers Welfare Board (PWWB) in various cities of the province where modern computer and religious education is being imparted to the children of labourers and skilled workers.

This was informed by the Labour Minister Shahzad Azem Khan while presiding over a meeting of Punjab Workers Welfare Board on Friday.

The minister said the provincial government was paying special attention to the education, training and treatment of those children. The Labour secretary told the minister that free of cost education, uniform, textbooks and other educational facilities were being provided to the children of labourers and workers in the schools being run by the PWWB. He said by setting up 27 housing colonies in various cities of Punjab, residential problem of labourers and their families had been resolved. He said electricity, potable water, sewerage, gas and telephone facilities had also been provided in those residential colonies. The minister said an exhibition would soon be arranged to display the products made by skilled people. He said items made by skilled people had equal demand at the local and foreign level. He said the government would leave no stone unturned for the welfare of labourers.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Neo]

ICMAP seeks excellence to uplift education standard ​

LAHORE (December 18 2007): The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) believes in continuous improvement of the curriculum to equip students with the latest knowledge up to their expectations to compete in the corporate sector.

Further, as a part of facilitation to its students, ICMAP is continuously in search of latest teaching methodologies in order to assure that the knowledge is conveyed in the most befitting way. In search of teaching excellence, ICMAP has introduced IBDLP (Internet Based Distance Learning Programme) for the first time ever in any Professional Accounting body in Pakistan.

Muhammad Arif Nara, Honorary Secretary ICMAP, Executive Director PIPFA Shahzad Ahmad Awan, Chairman Lahore Branch Council, ICMAP Noor Muhammad, Executive Director expressed their views while they were addressing a seminar here on Monday. They said the ICMAP's major concern regarding distance learning was that the level of knowledge might not be optimised until they have been passed through the lectures.

Further correspondence students are always looking for crash coaching classes to review the course by instructors. Understanding their utmost need, it was decided to facilitate the distance learning students in a way that shall not affect the essence of distance learning course and at the same time optimum learning can also be assured.

An announcement to this effect was made by the spokesperson of the ICMAP here on Monday. It was pointed out that the ICMAP has also been offering distance learning education through its correspondence course. In fact, it has served as the first open University of Pakistan. Currently bold and innovative initiatives are being taken to provide professional education through digital devices.

The ICMAP has so far produced over 3,200 qualified members and today has 23,000 students on its rolls. It has offered formal professional education in 16 cities of Pakistan and abroad. Under this IBDLP programme, lectures will be available on CDs. It will facilitate students living in remote areas and out-sides Pakistan. Students will get opportunity to interact with the counsellors for guidance on regular basis through Internet, in this connection two online tests will be conducted to test the students overall progress on the course.

On the successful completion of IBDLP session and passing one of the two online tests, students will be eligible to appear in ICMAP examinations nationally, internationally.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

 

[Neo]

2007 sees improvement in education sector​

By Adnan Lodhi

LAHORE: The year 2007 witnessed development in the education sector in the Punjab and several progressive steps were taken in this regard.

The Punjab government allocated Rs 21,480 million for educational projects in its annual Development Plan 2007-08. The budget for education was 72 percent higher than the pervious year’s. A total of Rs 8,488 million was allocated for school education, Rs 9,936 million for higher education, Rs 954 million for special education, Rs 1,200 million for literacy, and Rs 902 million for sports in educational institutes. An amount of Rs 8,959 million was allocated for 333 ongoing development projects under school, higher education and public college educational programmes, while Rs 9,464 million was announced for 25 new programmes. The allocation of Rs 960 million was announced for the 12 ongoing development programmes for Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education (NFBE) and an amount of Rs 240 million was allocated for 16 new literacy programmes. The Punjab government prioritised the teacher training, construction and improvement of 275 schools and construction of computer labs in 2007. More than 500 schools have been provided computer labs so far.

The major issues that popped up now and again in 2007 were the school level examination system, a package for teachers, free education and unavailability of school buildings. Out of Rs 21 billion allocated for the Punjab, Rs 170 million was allocated to provide basic facilities at school level in all districts.

The education analysts were of the opinion that the allocated Rs 102 billion was by no means sufficient to meet the challenges faced by the education sector.

Development at high school level: The government set a target to enroll around 11 million students in schools within the province. A project to set up libraries in schools is underway in collaboration with the German government. The pay scale of teachers was improved and 20,000 new schoolteachers were appointed in 2007.

In the summer vacation, an issue of collecting a three months’ fee surfaced in primary schools. Schoolteachers wanted to collect the total fee the before holidays while parents wanted to pay the fee on a monthly basis.

The unavailability of course books in government schools and the issue of whether hold the matriculation examinations by parts or composite repeatedly haunted educationalists, teachers and students as well.

Like the last year, the government set a target to construct and upgrade 90 colleges and establish libraries in 3,251 colleges. The government failed to meet the objective last year and the snail-paced progress this year speaks for the same outcome. Apart from the target, the government also planned to renovate 140 public colleges under the Missing Facilities Programme.

An Education Department official said the government allocated Rs 25 billion for college education under the Punjab Sector Reform Programmes. He said in 1,422 colleges teachers were trained, libraries were set up and buildings were repaired or constructed.

Higher education: Several developments were made in the higher education area. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) introduced the Tenure Track System. Several universities, including the University of Engineering and Technology, the Government College University, the Punjab University (PU) and the Lahore College for Women University, set up sub-campuses in other cities.

Various universities launched four-yearss undergraduate studies.

Around 1,000 students from various universities were sent to foreign countries for higher education on scholarships and about 700 students were sent abroad to attend conferences and lectures.

The HEC hired about 200 foreign qualified faculty members in various programmes. The HEC also introduced the anti-plagiarism policy in 2007, which proved a moot point between the Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association and the HEC.

Political activism in universities: A large number of universities’ students became politically active after the chief justice issue. The students of twenty-one public and private universities formed the Student Action Committee to protest against the government in an organised way.

After the arrest of Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan while at the PU, most of the PU students protested against the Islami Jamiat Taliba (IJT). The movement, however, was not able to uproot the IJT because most of the teachers were sympathetic towards it.

Religious issue at PU: Shia students protested against the IJT’s alleged involvement in banning Shia students from praying on campus. They were barred from praying in hostel, so they began praying on the road. They were stopped after two days.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

GCU gets nuclear accelerator​

LAHORE: Government College University (GCU) Lahore’s Centre for Advanced Studies in Physics (CASP) installed a nuclear accelerator funded by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

According to a press release issued by the GCU on Saturday, GCU Lahore vice chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Khalid Aftab said the pelletron accelerator would be used to detect, diagnose and treat patients suffering from cancer. He said it was a great addition to the GCU CASP laboratories, as it would transform CASP into a hub of research work in Physics.

Director CASP Prof Dr Ghouri said on the occasion that the GCU had invested Rs 20 million from its own funds to construct a multi-purpose, multi-storied building in CASP in order to install the most sophisticated nuclear accelerator. He said the pelletron accelerator had been purchased from the National Electrostatic Corporation of USA with an amount of Rs 69.68 million funded by HEC for the rejuvenation of the GCU`s High Tension Laboratory.

Prof Ghouri said CASP was already bedecked with technologically advanced instruments such as the ND Yag Laser Transmission electroscope and scanning electron microscope. He said they had already been extending facilities to the students of the University of the Punjab, Agriculture University Faisalabad, Bahauddin Zakaria University Multan and Islamia University Bahawalpur.

Finally, Prof Ghouri said, with the installation of the accelerator, students could now conduct research work in environmental sciences, archaeology, medicine, agriculture and medical sciences, as well as facilitate research in nuclear Physics and atomic sciences. staff report

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Five-year LLB course soon
*New Law University​

Saturday, January 12, 2008
Islamabad

To give legal education its due importance along with other disciplines, the Higher Education Commission has decided to introduce five years LLB degree programme in public sector universities and degree awarding institution of country, says a press release.

This was disclosed in a National Curriculum Revision Committee (NCRC) meeting held recently at HEC Headquarters, Islamabad. The members of the NCRC apprise the HEC about setting up of a world-class ‘Law University’ in lines with other developing countries. A project prepared for the purpose has been approved by the Planning Commission, Government of Pakistan to established main campus of the university at Islamabad and two sub-campuses one each in Lahore and Karachi. In the 2nd phase the campuses at Peshawar and Quetta will be established.

Professor Ahmed Ali Khan, Project Director National Law University, HEC, informed that most of the work to make the law university functional has been completed in all the three campuses and the classes will start in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi in March 2008.

Explaining the salient features of the proposed five-year LLB curriculum, he said that an effort has been made to bring the new scheme in line with the modern curricula offered in top world-class universities. The scheme envisages to inculcate in students a broad understanding of the social, political and economic contexts within which the Pakistani and global legal system operates as well as equipping the students with knowledge and understanding of the fundamental doctrines and principles of legal knowledge. It will also develop the intellectual, practical and transferable skills necessary for employment in the legal profession and other careers.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/arc_news.asp?id=6

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Rs 1.5b for training 0.1m skilled workers every year​

Saturday, January 12, 2008
By By Our Correspondent

LAHORE

NATIONAL Vocational and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC) will provide Rs.1.5 billion for training of one lakh skilled workers every year.

This was informed in a meeting chaired by Governor Punjab Lt. Gen. (R) Khalid Maqbool at Governor’s House here on Friday.

One lakh skilled force will be prepared every year by imparting them three-month to one-year training courses in the government universities, semi government corporations and various private institutions of the province. NAVTEC will provide funds of Rs.1.5 billion for promotion of this program in Punjab while Prime Minister Secretariat has issued directive to give Rs.2000 stipend instead of Rs.1000 to the girl and boy students of short training courses through NAVTEC.

The meeting was informed that evening classes had started in various government universities last year for training of some technical trades and four thousand students had passed out during the last one year while five thousand students are getting training in livestock management, artificial breeding of animals, food processing, accountancy, CAD and enterprises resource program including preparation of computer software.

The meeting decided to give training of six months to 540 persons from February 01 in motor-winding, refrigeration & AC mechanic, Mill Wright, Steel Melter, Welder, Moulder, Pattern Maker, ICE Fitter and Machinists at Locomoto Workshops and Apprentice Training Center Mughalpura of Pakistan Railways.

Governor Khalid Maqbool gave approval of the pilot project for certification of one-year training course in information technology sector.

In the first phase, this pilot project is being launched in Punjab University, Lahore, GC University, Lahore, GC University, Faisalabad, Agriculture University, Faisalabad, University of Sargodha, University of Central Punjab and NetSol. Governor Khalid Maqbool stressed upon the launching of B.Sc. Nursing Courses at all District Headquarters Hospitals of the province.

The meeting was informed that PC-I for training projects of 8700 skilled persons has been received by NAVTEC by 25 various government and semi-government institutions so far. The Governor also directed to accelerate the pace of process for final approval of all these projects.

Vice Chancellor Punjab University Dr. Mujahid Kamran, VC Agriculture University Dr. Bashir Ahmed, VC Sargodha University Dr. Muhammad Akram Ch., VC University of Health Sciences Dr. Hussain Mubashar Malik, VC LCWU University Dr. Bushra Mateen besides Secretary Health Punjab Anwaar Ahmed Khan, Secretary Punjab Medical Faculty Dr. Mazhar-ud-Din, Chairman Medipak Dr. Khalid Javed Ch., Chief Executive Protan Qaisar Nawaz Khan, Senior Vice President NETSOL Ayub Ghauari, Regional Director NAVTEC Abid Javed and senior officers of the concerned departments attended the meeting.