Beaconhouse National University departments' merger
Departments' merger leaves BNU students in limbo
Lahore, April 01: A horde of students from the Beaconhouse National University
(BNU) – mostly from the department of School of Liberal Arts (SLA) –
protested on Wednesday against the administration's decision to merge
their department with another department – the School of Social
Sciences (SSS) – and the "unceremonious" termination of their dean,
Naveed Shahzad. Gathered in the campus courtyard, the students
were holding placards and posters and shouting slogans against the
Board of Governors' decision to merge the departments. Some students
also protested outside the campus and were not willing to end it
despite security personnel stopping them. A student from the SLA
said that they started protesting as soon as they got news
of the merger. He said the administration had also terminated their
Dean Naveed Shahzad and decided to hand over SLA to another dean who
had nothing to do with their curricula. Incompetence: He said
if the administration did want to merge SLA with another department, it
could have done it with the School of Media and Communication, which
was more relevant to their programme. He said a look at the profiles of
SSS faculty members would prove that none of them were competent enough
to teach the SLA syllabi. He also said there were three batches
currently enrolled at SLA and they should be allowed to continue their
programmes under the current rules, adding the merger should be
effective for students who enrol for the new semester. Another SLA
student said they got admission to the university only to be taught
from the SLA faculty mentioned in the university prospectus and not
from people who had nothing to do with their courses. She said a
prospectus is a "contract" between the students and the university and
should not be violated. She said she and her fellow students were
satisfied with their dean and would not accept any decisions made
without taking the students into confidence. Demands: She said
the students had been invited by the BNU Vice Chancellor Sartaj Aziz
today (Thursday) where they will present a charter of demands, but she
said they were committed to not accepting the decision. She said they
would protest across the city if the administration did not withdraw
its decision. Criticising the administration, other female students
said they were not fool enough to allow the merger of SLA and SSS and
neither did their parents want it. Results: One of the
students said the courses offered at SLA focused more towards practical
and technical studies and were not concerned with SSS. She said SLA was
one of the most popular departments of BNU and its faculty – under the
leadership of Naveed Shahzad – was yielding desired results. Confidence:
A senior BNU faculty member said that students, faculty
members and parents had not been taken into confidence over the
decision, while they were equal stakeholders. He said there were some
legal complications in the decision and the students' protest against
the merger was justified. Centralisation: However, Sartaj Aziz said that they would merge SSS with SLA, adding that Social
Sciences, Law and Humanities were merged at LUMS as well and had not
affected their academic matters. He said they were centralising
administrative affairs and would merge more departments in the future.
He said the notion that the film and TV department was being sidelined
was totally false, adding that both SSS and SLA would be headed by
separate members but would work under one dean. New dean: He
said the merger would not create any problems for the administration,
which was competent enough to handle all the students together. He said
Dr Hafeez Pasha would head the combined faculty, while they were not
terminating Naveed Shahzad but promoting her. However, sources
said that the merger of SSS and SLA would have a
significant impact on the students' futures, whereby if the students of
TV, film and theatre received a degree in social sciences, it would be
totally irrelevant to their field of specialisation. Separately,
academic circles are abuzz with the view that the merger of SLA into
SSS is not possible since BNU holds a provincial charter – under which
a university needs to have a minimum of six departments while the
current merger and any future ones would reduce the number of
departments at BNU to four. Academicians are of the view that a
university holding a provincial charter does not need the centralising
that BNU is going for. 8 VC says merger will centralise
administrative affairs, more depts will be merged soon; Dr Hafeez Pasha
to head combined faculty, Naveed Shahzad being promoted. Daily times
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No 'unofficial' book fair at PU: VC
Lahore: Punjab University vice-chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran has
said that no student organization would be allowed to organize separate
book fair within the varsity premises. He said this in a
meeting with the facultiesí deans, principals of colleges and high
ranking administrative officers here on Wednesday. According to
a press release here, the meeting decided that, as per previous
practice, the PU administration itself would organize book fair, for
which a suitable date would be announced in due course of time after
making befitting administrative measures for the fullest participation
of the students community in the book fair. Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Jamil Anwar Ch and Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan also attended the meeting. The news
No classes at PU
Lahore: Punjab University administration has announced that in view of
the Turkish President Abdullah Gul's presence in the City, classes
would not be held on Thursday while buses will remain non-operational
on Thursday. Only gate No 1 and 2 will remain open for entrance and
exit of the visitors. Meanwhile, Punjab University has announced the
results of MSc Computational Physics, 2-Years (Morning), Semester
System, Session 2007-2009, MSc Computational Physics, 2-Years
(Evening), Semester System, Session 2007-2009, MSc Physical Education,
(Morning), Semester System, Session 2007-2009 and MSc Physical
Education, (Self Supporting), Semester System, Session 2007-2009. The nation
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Achievers of class-V, VIII honoured
Lahore: The education department on Wednesday honoured top
position holders of class-V and VIII in Lahore district. The Punjab
Examination Commission had declared the results on Tuesday. According to results, overall top position in class-VIII was bagged by
Arslan Tariq of Government Central Model School, Lower Mall, who
secured 743 marks out of 800. Shariq Nadeem of Society Public School stood second with 735 marks, while Ali Zohaib Saeed got third position with 734 marks.
Among female candidates, Mehak Sabir of Wapda Girls High School,
Shalimar Town, clinched first position with 729 marks. Mahrukh Naseem
of Qazi Grammar Girls School High School, Chungi Amer Sidhu, secured
second position with 722 marks. The third position was shared
by Hafiza Maham Tariq of Government Comprehensive Girls High School,
Wahdat Road, and Maria Kanwal of Qazi Grammar Girls School High School,
with 719 marks each. In class-V, the overall top position was
clinched by Irum Shahid of Government Kinnaird Girls High School with
521 marks out of 600. Muhammad Bilal Salman and Sharafat Ali of
Government Elementary School, Amritsar, Ravi Road, bagged second and
third positions with 520 and 516 marks, respectively. Among
boys, the third position was shared by Nauman Ashiq and Muhammad Salman
of Government Elementary School, Amritsar, Ravi Road, with 515 marks
each. Lahore EDO (education) Dr Muhammad Arshad presented medals to top position holders. Dawn
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Professor's termination stay extended
Lahore: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday extended the stay
granted against the termination of the Punjab University's professor Dr
Muhammad Salim and fixed the main petition for April 14. The PU
had moved an application to vacate the stay but the court dismissed the
same, observing that the petitioner-professor was condemned unheard in
violation of law. The petitioner, through his counsel, contended
that he was appointed in the PU Botany department as professor in
Grade-20 on two-year probation. He submitted that his probation ended
on August 31, 2008 but he was not intimated about his confirmation. He
pointed out that the Supreme Court had held in different cases that
after completion of probation period, an employee deemed to have become
permanent employee of the university. He said under the University of
Punjab Act 1973 the total period of probation should not exceed three
years. He said instead of issue confirmation letter, he received a
letter from the university administration on February 27, a public
holiday, that his services were no more required. The petitioner
said that neither a show-cause notice was issued nor the opportunity of
hearing was afforded to him. He said the head of department had
nurtured a grudge against him and wrote adverse remarks in his Annual
Confidential Report, alleging that he had violated rules and
regulations. The news
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