Cancellation of class IX physics & Islamiyat papers

Students protest against cancellation of papers
Faisalabad, April 28: About 200 students of government schools demonstrated outside the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) to protest the cancellation of class IX physics and Islamiyat (optional) papers held on April 8.

The protesting students also blocked the Jail Road and chanted slogans against the board officials.

Talking to reporters, the students wearing their school uniforms said the board should be punished for distributing stolen question papers among students. They said that students had nothing to do with the papers theft.

"We had taken examination effectively even in the hours long power outages. Now it will be impossible for thousands of students to reappear in the exams because most of them have either given books to their relatives and friends or sold them."

Some teachers seen with students suddenly disappeared from the scene for some unknown reasons.

Students dispersed peacefully because the board chairman was not available for holding dialogues with him.

The Punjab government has cancelled the papers of physics and Islamiyat stolen from the NBP's Noorpur branch, Sargodha Road, on April 8.

However, superintendents had distributed stolen papers among students on the instructions of board officials.

Thousands of students have been asked to reappear in physics and Islamiyat papers on May 20.

GCUF: Students of the Government College University Faisalabad locked the main entrance of Yousaf Block, housing nearly one dozen departments, and held a demonstration against the administration for its inability to make university's bachelor of engineering and telecom (BET) an affiliate of the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC).

Students gathered on the lawns outside Yousaf Block and chanted slogans against the administration. They barred the faculty and visitors from entering or leaving the building.

Students said that the university administration had done nothing since 2005 to get the affiliation. The head of the BET department often threatened students with dire consequences whenever they demanded accreditation with the PEC.

They claimed that university officials had cited the shortage of funds for not accomplishing PEC requirements necessary for accreditation.

The university administration with the help of BET head Mohammad Afzal and Sajjad Ahmed tried to talk with the protesters, but to no avail.

Mr Ahmed offered students to form a committee to whom university administration would apprise about the status of affiliation with the PEC, but students called it a delaying tactic.

BET students with B-Pharmacy students had also staged a protest demonstration on Feb 25 last year when the university administration had dropped out more than 200 students of the seventh semester citing their failure to gain the required CGPA in the fifth semester. However, they said, earlier such restrictions were not imposed on the students and only strict action had been taken as students were demanding recognition of the BET programme with the PEC.

The university will hold its first convocation on April 29 and Governor Salmaan Taseer will be the chief guest. Students said they would raise the issue before the governor. Dawn

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English medium govt schools await textbooks
Lahore: The Punjab government has announced introducing English medium in selected government schools across the province, however, a majority of the schools have yet to receive textbooks despite the start of the new academic session.

It has been learnt through reliable sources that lack of coordination among the Punjab School Education Department, the Programme Monitoring and Implementation Unit (PMIU) of the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Programme (PESRP) and the Punjab Textbook Board (PTB) is the cause of the unavailability of free textbooks to the government schools.

The sources said that neither the department coordinated with the PMIU to sensitise PTB about increase in demand of books nor at the PMIU realised that more textbooks would be needed after the government decided to introduce English medium in all the central model schools, comprehensive schools, pilot and community model girls schools.

It is learnt that 1,100 schools have been selected from across the province for launching English medium from academic session 2009 which has already started. Talking anonymously to us, teachers from different schools of the provincial metropolis, where English medium has been introduced, complained about non-availability of textbooks.

A teacher at the Govt Central Model School, Samanabad, said textbooks for 6th class were yet to be received by the school, adding that some books of 7th, 8th and 9th classes were also short. He said during the administration had informed the EDO Education, during his recent visit to the school, about non-availability of books, adding that the EDO had told the administration that the problems would be resolved soon.

Another teacher said: "If this is the situation in provincial metropolis, one can judge what would be the situation in far-flung areas of the province." He said the schools, where English medium was introduced, received a great response at the time of admissions. "However, the non-availability of books has been marring this wonderful initiative," he added.

Another teacher said the Punjab minister for education had taken "pride" in making statements in the press, regarding the introduction of English medium but he failed to realise what would students do without books. He, however, appreciated the government for provision of Urdu medium books, saying that it was perhaps for the first time in many years that books reached the schools before the start of academic session.

He demanded the government provide free books to students of autonomous schools. If the government could provide free books to private schools under the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) why not autonomous schools, he questioned. When contacted, PTB Chairman Sohail Masood said the board had published textbooks on the demand, sent by the PMIU, adding that the demand about schools where English medium had been introduced recently was yet to be received.

To a question, Mr Sohail said the demand of existing schools had been met and textbooks had been delivered. EDO Education Dr Muhammad Arshad said the PMIU had been asked to ensure provision of books. He confirmed that there had been reports about the shortage of books for English medium schools. PMIU programme director Muhammad Asif said the demand of books increased because of the government's recent initiative. "This has caused a delay," he said, adding: "The issue would be resolved soon."

Secretary Schools Nadeem Ashraf said he would look into the matter and ensure provision of books on an immediate basis. We tried to contact Punjab Minister for Education Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman for comments but he could not be reached him despite repeated attempts. The News

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Punjab University declared LLB results
Lahore: Punjab University Examination Department has declared the results of LLB, Part-III (Special Exam held in UK), Supplementary Examination 2007, Doctor of Pharmacy, First Professional, Annual Examination 2008, MSc Home Economics, Part-I, Annual Examination 2008, LLM, Final, Annual Exam 2007, MA Women's Studies (Self Supporting), Session 2003-2005, BA/BSc Special (Hearing Impaired), Annual Exam 2008, BSc (Hons) Space Science (Four Years Programme) Fall (Semester System), Session 2004-2008 and Diploma in Environmental Laws (Final 1st & 2nd Semester), Session 2007-2008.

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Punjab Univesity awarded PhD degrees
Lahore: Punjab University has awarded PhD degrees to Muhammad Shahid, Umbreen Javed Khan and Abdul Qayyum Muhammad Shahid S/o Rafi Uddin has been awarded PhD degree in the subject of Islamic Studies after approval of his research thesis entitled "Dawah Strategies In The Present Era". He completed his thesis under the supervision of Punjab University Department of Islamic Studies Dr Ghulam Ali Khan. Umbreen Javed Khan D/o Javed Anwar Khan has been awarded PhD degree in the subject of Zoology after approval of her research thesis entitled "Epidemiology, Economic Importance and Therapy of Paramphistomosis in Cattle & Buffaloes". She completed her thesis under the supervision of Punjab University Department of Zoology Prof Dr Tanveer Akhtar while University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore Department of Parasitology Chairman Prof Dr Azhar Maqbool was her Co-Supervisor. Muhammad Shahid S/o Rafi Uddin has been awarded PhD degree in the subject of Molecular Biology after approval of his research thesis entitled "Expression of Phytochrome-B Gene in Cotton". He completed his thesis under the supervision of Punjab University National Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology Prof Dr Tayyab Husnain. F.P Report

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Rs10 billion for Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) campus
Faisalabad: The government will spend Rs10 billion on the construction of a new campus of the Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) and construction work will begin in May.

At a press conference at his secretariat, GCUF Vice-Chancellor Dr Shahid Mehboob said on Monday the government had earmarked 402 acres for the campus and Governor Salmaan Taseer would lay the foundation stone of the project on Tuesday (today).

The Higher Education Commission released Rs380 million and the Punjab government university Rs80 million, he added. He said 40 per cent of the amount would be spent on human resource development and 24 PhD scholars would be given scholarship.

He said the governor would award medals and degrees to the students of the academia. The students who will receive medals and degrees are of two sessions 2003-05 and 2004-06.

The students of session 2006-08 and different honours programmes offered in 2004-08 would get their degrees in the second convocation to be held in Oct or Nov this year. Dawn

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