Edu policy for private sector | PU bilingual declamation contest
Edu policy for private sector to see little change
Lahore, April 30: It is estimated that almost 40 per cent students study in private
institutions while thousands of teachers' jobs are attached to these
institutions. But these institutions are facing innumerable problems including
the problems of registration, taxes, funds, affiliation, examination and
equivalence etc. Now, there is a need of a separate directorate of education
for these private institution besides funds from the Higher Education Commission
as well as budgetary allocations of provinces. The career and pay structure of
teachers should be rationalised, moreover the fixation of tuition fee is
required in accordance with the performance and reputation of the institution.
The registration to private schools should be granted at least for 10 years and
relaxation should be given in affiliation fee besides the complex affiliation
process should also be simplified. In addition to the above, dual taxes of
federal and provincial governments as well as utility bills also need some
recession. As the critics of private institutions say that the private
institutions owners have commercialised the education and instead of taking it
as a mission or a public service they considered it a money making trade. These
institutions trade about Rs 22 billion rupees annually. In addition to the
inflated tuition fee, they fetch money in the name of subscriptions, books,
uniform, sports, transport and other such facilities. Prof Sharif Malik,
member Education Executive Club, says that there is common perception that
private sector is giving better performance but don't forget, he added, the
expenditures on government institutions are almost 60 per cent less than the
private sector schools/colleges. Regarding quality education in public sector,
he said, it can be improved with better administrative measures. Moreover, he
said, a fact cannot be denied that the maximum number of position holders in
Board and University belongs to government sector. The LUMS, NUST and other private universities are often mentioned as quality
institutions but the enrolment in LUMS is not more than a 1000 students as
compared to Punjab University having on-campus enrolment of students to 30,000.
None of the private universities, considered as the best in the country, can
match their enrolment with Punjab University, Lahore College for Women
University, Government College University, universities of Faisalabad and
Sargodha or University of Education, KEMU & Veterinary University &
University of Health Sciences. The private sector in education, however, is
being grossly neglected as in the past in the education policy plans 2009. The
curriculum suggested for the public sector schools/colleges during the previous
regime will witness little change. Similarly higher education both in public and
private sectors will also be neglected. The education policy is still being
formulated and the draft is undergoing for final touches. The Prime Minister
may himself announce the policy before the budget 2009-10. Sources said that the
education policy proposals already forwarded might undergo a drastic change due
to the current financial crunch taking heavy toll on development outlay in the
education sector. The Nation
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PU inter-dept bilingual declamation
Lahore: The Punjab University Declamation Committee in collaboration with
Student Teacher Centre (STC) organized the PU Inter Departmental Bilingual
Declamation Contest at the Undergraduate Block on New Campus on Wednesday. PU
Dean Faculty of Science Prof Dr Jamil Anwar Chaudhry chaired the ceremony while
Adviser Students Prof Dr Makshoof Athar, Muhammad Ali of College of Information
Technology, Deputy Adviser Students Muhammad Zubair Akram and a large number of
students were present on the occasion. Students from various departments
took part in the contest enthusiastically. Ahmad Sohail Basra, Ijaz Ahmad and
Ishtiaq Ahmad were the judges on the occasion. Department of Zoology bagged team
trophy in the contest. Individually, in English category, Shamoon Ahmad
of College of Pharmacy secured first position, Saad Shahid of Undergraduate
Studies stood second while Muhammad Nauman of Zoology Department and Tasneem
Sarwar of College of Information Technology shared third place. In Urdu
category, Hafiz Hamid Raza of Institute of Business Administration bagged first
position, Rabia Asghar of Zoology Department secured second place while Muhammad
Atif of College of Information Technology and Umair Javed of Hailey College
shared third place. Addressing the prize distribution ceremony, Dr
Makshoof Athar congratulated the winners and said such activities helped promote
competitive environment and provided opportunity to students to polish their
skills. He said PU students had won over 70 competitions at national level from
January to date. The News
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'Education vital for development'
Lahore: The role of education for the development of a nation is
of pivotal importance and the Punjab government's foremost priority is to take
revolutionary steps in this regard, Punjab Assembly (PA) Speaker Rana Iqbal said
on Wednesday. He was addressing a prize distribution ceremony at a local hotel.
The speaker said Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was taking interest in the
development of education and had allocated Rs 22.5 billion for the education
sector as part of the Annual Development Programme. Iqbal said parents and
teachers need to play their due role in the process of educating the children.
He said it was their responsibility to guide the students in a positive manner. Daily Times
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Prosecutors to be hired through PPSC
Lahore: The Punjab government assured the Lahore High Court on Wednesday
that recruitment in Prosecution Department would not be made on political
grounds but the Punjab Public Service Commission. This assurance was
given by former Punjab Advocate General Khawaja Haris who is defending the
Punjab government in this case as a private lawyer. He made this
statement to dispel the impression that new recruitments would again be made on
political consideration. The Punjab government had already told the LHC
that 488 ad hoc prosecutors recruited by the previous government throughout
Punjab were failed to pass departmental examination held for their conformation
and consequently they were dismissed from service. A full bench of the
LHC comprising Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice
Hafiz Tariq Nasim is hearing hundreds of identical cases against dismissal of
prosecutors. The LHC had suspended their termination order last year. The
court adjourned hearing for today on the petitions of Sarfraz Ahmed and hundreds
of others deputy, assistant and deputy prosecutor generals who had sought
court's indulgence to keep them continuing their jobs. Petitioners said
they were appointed between June 2006 and September 2007 under the Contract
Appointment Policy 2004. They said there was a criteria to remove them
from service, but the government had sacked them after they had failed in
interviews conducted by a selection committee months after their appointment.
The officers claimed that they had passed interviews before being
appointed and requested the court to declare the sacking orders
illegal. Plea against Hafiz Saeed's detention: The Lahore High Court
adjourned for Thursday (today) the hearing of a habeas corpus petition
challenging the detention of Jamat-ud-Dawat ameer Hafiz Saeed and its three
other leaders after the petitioner's counsel concluded his arguments.
Now a deputy attorney general, Pakistan, and the advocate general,
Punjab, will make their submissions. Earlier, the federal government in
its reply said the leaders were detained following the sanctions imposed by the
United Nation Security Council Sanction Committee. Petitioners' counsel
AK Dogar while concluding his arguments on Wednesday said the impugned order was
unconstitutional, as the UN had no authority to interfere in the country's
affair. He said the UN could not make such decision against the sovereignty of a
state. He said the federal government had only asked to freeze the
accounts of the JD, not to take the leaders in custody. He said the provincial
government while passing the detention order had not given any written reason
and this fact alone rendered the impugned order illegal. He said the LHC
review board had extended the detention but it could be challenged through a
writ petition because the board's decision administrative in nature, not
judicial one and as such the single bench could take cognizance. Dogar
also said the detention orders of the petitioners dated Jan-9 and March-9, 2009,
issued by Home Department, were without lawful authority and of no legal effect.
He said the JD was an independent organization and it has no connection with
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. The counsel said the government of Pakistan was
indulged in the condemnation of religious parties and was trying to advance
Olive Branch to India. He added the JD had been banned under the influence of
Indian lobby's propaganda as Pakistan's permanent representative at the UN
Security Council Abdullah Hussain Haroon had convince the Security Council to
ban the JD, a charitable organization. He requested the court to issue a
direction in the nature of habeas corpus, asking the respondents to bring the
petitioners before the court and declaring that they were being held in custody
without lawful authority and in an unlawful manner.
PPSC recommends five candidates
Lahore: The Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) on Wednesday
recommended three candidates to the provincial government for appointment to
posts of Sub-Divisional Officer Archaeology, BS-17, in the Directorate General
of Archaeology, Punjab Information, Culture and Youth Affairs
Department. The candidates are: Rafique Ahmad, Ali Adnan Syed and
Muhammad Sajjad. Meanwhile, PPSC also recommended two candidates Muhammad
Ismail Syed and Kamran Khan to the provincial government for appointment to
posts of Translator, BS-11, in the Research and Admn, Archives, S&GAD,
Punjab. The PPSC has also cleared 662 candidates for interview for
recruitments to 139 posts of Lecturer, Urdu, (Female), BS-17, in the Punjab
Education Department. Detailed results can be seen on PPSC website
www.ppsc.gop.pk. The News
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Governor's wife distributes cheques to 343 students
Lahore: The Punjab governor's wife,
Aamna Taseer, distributed cheques worth Rs 5,000 each to 343 students of the
vocational training institute situated in the Governor's House under the Mora
Tool grant on Wednesday. The distribution ceremony's guests were informed
that the school provided various technical skills and education to its students.
The grant's distribution was aimed to help students establish a better future.
Each student was also provided a special allowance of Rs 500 per month during
the course and Rs 5,000 on successfully completing it. The guests were also
informed that 1,247 students have completed the course so far. Daily Times
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