Punjab college education | Edu project for FATA students

Cracks in Punjab's college education system are massive
Lahore, April 25: THE cracks in Punjab's college education system are massive but the remedies being demanded and proposed are bound to be inadequate and ineffective. Looking at the issue from the teachers' point of view, it is just a matter of recruitments, transfers, promotions, pay raises and pensions. For the government, resources and administrative procedures seem to take precedence over the delivery of quality education. Caught between the two, students and parents can only wonder if anyone has any consideration for their well-being. Protests over the last week or so by some 4,000 contract lecturers highlight all these issues: the government has pushed itself into an administrative logjam by making frequent changes in recruitment methods and other service rules; the teachers continue grumbling about the pitiable remunerations they get with little prospect of career advancement; and scores of colleges outside Lahore are working without principals besides suffering from an acute shortage of teaching staff. Anyone who gets an appointment anywhere in Punjab wants to get transferred to the provincial capital. That is a concern in itself but the government has helped accentuate the problem by banning all regular recruitment of college teachers. Devolving college education in 2002 and then reversing the decision in 2008 was another blow that the government dealt to the system.

Certainly, teachers at public-sector colleges need better salaries and other benefits. But giving them a one-time pay raise is hardly the ideal solution. Skyrocketing inflation will ensure that they will be asking for another raise sooner rather than later. The alternative is a thorough reform that addresses three basic issues: one, lay down a recruitment procedure immune to frequent changes and free of exemptions and exceptions; two, stipulate salaries and other career advancement rules commensurate with teachers' importance in the social order; and, three, address teachers' lack of willingness to work in small towns and rural areas where education is the only instrument for social mobility. Without such a comprehensive action plan, lecturers may be better off in terms of salaries for a while but the college education system will continue to suffer. Dawn

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Education project started for FATA students
Peshawar: As many as 120 tribal students have been admitted in public sector and colleges whereas 184 were enrolled in various technical institutes of NWFP, Punjab and Sindh under the "Provision of Quality Education Opportunities for the Students of FATA and Balochistan" project.

According to a press release issued by Media Cell FATA secretariat here on Friday, Syed Manzar Jan, the Project Director, has termed the project a phenomenal opportunity of learning and educational experiences for the deserving and poor students of FATA. "The project is designed to provide basic and technical education opportunities to the talented students coming from less privileged background of the tribal areas and Frontier Regions, enabling them to excel in different fields" revealed Syed Manzar Jan. He informed that the Ministry of Education had approved 34 elite institutions throughout the country for the purpose. "Under the initiative 120 students have been admitted to public and cadet colleges whereas 184 have been enrolled in various technical institutions of the country", claimed Syed Manzar Jan.

He further said that the scholarships were awarded purely on merit and for that purpose a testing mechanism administered by the Education Testing and Evaluation Authority (ETEA) was in place, adding "Transparency is the key for the success of the programme otherwise the deserving students would be deprived of something significant and instrumental for their future." Syed Manzar Jan said that Directorate of Education FATA had provided substantial support for smooth implementation of the project and was resolute to make it a success story. "FATA has no dearth of talented and hard working youth who can rise to the highest ranks in academic and intellectual pursuits, provided they are offered opportunities" Manzar Concluded. F.P. Report

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PU awarded Two PhD degrees
Lahore: The Punjab University has awarded PhD degrees to two students on Friday. Ahmad Ali s/o Maulana Siraj-ud-Din has been awarded PhD after the completion of his thesis entitled "Fiqh Islami Ki Roshnee Main Khareed-o-Farookht". He completed his thesis under the supervision of professor Punjab University Department of Islamic Studies Dr Hamidullah Abdul Qadir. Muhammad Yar s/o Muhammad Bakhsh has been awarded PhD degree after the completion of his thesis entitled "Critical Study of Biographics & Essay on Ghalib". The News

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Persecution of Pakistani students criticised
Islamabad: Chairman Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Friday condemned persecution of Pakistani students by the British government under unsubstantiated allegations of terrorism.

The arrest and subsequent release of the twelve Pakistanis has once again exposed the attempts by the British government to malign Islamabad on all fronts in order to pressure Pakistani state and its people, Imran said in a statement issued here.

"It is despicable that the British Government chose to not only victimise innocent law-abiding Pakistanis but also to deny them the basic norms of justice in the form of consular access during their incarceration," he added.

The PTI chief questioned why the British government did not realise that such actions only added to the radicalisation of Muslim youth including the already marginalised Muslim youth of Britain.

"What is even more despicable is that they are now seeking to deport these Pakistani students," he said.

He called upon the European Union to take note of this violation of the basic human rights of the Pakistani students who had not only been victimised by the British government but were also being penalised through deportation to cover up the grave error on part of the British authorities. Dawn

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