HSC annual examinations 2012 schedule
HSC annual examinations to commence from May 7
Karachi, Apr 09: The Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) Annual
Examinations 2012 of pre-medical, pre-engineering, commerce (regular),
medical technology, computer science and general groups would commence
from May 7. Chairman of the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi
(BIEK) Prof Anwar Ahmed Zai on Friday, announced this. He said that
these examinations are being conducted in accordance with the decision
of steering committee of the provincial education department. The BIEK
chairman said examinations of these groups would continue till May 28.
He further pointed out that the examinations of inter-commerce (private)
and arts (regular and private) groups will commence from June 1. The
papers of the first phase would be conducted at 91 examination centres
and those of the second phase at 70 centres. As many as 300,000
candidates would appear in both the phases of the examination. app
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FUUAST publishes second edition of science journal
Karachi: Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science &
Technology (FUUAST) has published the second edition of its first
science journal, 'FUUAST Journal of Biology,' announced a press release
issued here on Tuesday. The journal includes research articles on
different aspects of biological sciences, prepared by faculty and
students engaged in research activities related to biological sciences
at the university, besides research papers compiled by researchers and
scholars from across the globe. Relevant circles are hoping that the
journal would play an important role in biological research in the
country, the release added. Daily times
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New KU VC hints at lifting ban on student unions
Karachi: He sits in a black suit at a wooden desk, and looks up from behind his
wide frameless spectacles as the interview begins. Dr Muhammad Qaiser
has recently been appointed the vice chancellor of the city's largest
seat of learning, the University of Karachi, taking up perhaps the most
challenging of posts in the field of education. A major
challenge likely to confront the newly appointed vice chancellor is
violence on campus. In a recent spree of violence by student political
groups, a fourth-year student was picked up from the university's gate.
He was found three days later on March 12 tortured, both physically and
sexually. How big is the menace of student politics, he is asked, how
does he feel about the role being played on campus by the Rangers and
are students secure? He answers by retracing the history
of student politics and the genesis of the current situation. In the
year 1989, he recounts, the Rangers were first deployed at the campus
after the killing of three students. However, he is less forthcoming
when asked why weapons have continued to proliferate in the campus
despite the presence of these men in uniform. "Yes,
student politics should not occur. The campus should focus only on
education, and the only solution is restoring student unions. We are
working on it," says Dr Qaiser. He states that by the end
of this month he will be able to restore student unions, perhaps
forgetting the fact that the process is not so easy and will have to go
through parliament first. In 2008, when the present Prime Minister,
Yusuf Raza Gilani, came to power, he too had promised to lift the ban on
student unions. Four years later, however, the status quo remains. To
improve the security situation on the campus, Dr Qaiser reveals that a
foolproof security plan is in the process of being finalised, which
includes CCTV cameras. However, he does not mention the problem of the
broken boundary walls around the campus, which security officers have
often claimed to be a cause of the induction of weapons at the premises. In
a recent statement issued by the city's largest seat of learning, the
newly appointed vice chancellor was quoted as having said that his
university ranked second in Pakistan and 600th in the world. So what was
the criterion for this assessment and which organisation accredited it? While
he claims that ranking in Pakistan was determined by the Higher
Education Commission, he is less sure about his statement about world
ranking. "Several organisations determine university ranks, but they
differ among themselves too," he says. Though an accurate
figure is not available, a reasonable estimate is that at least 1,500
students graduate from the university each year. How many of them get
jobs is a figure the new vice chancellor is not sure of. "We
get students from all backgrounds," he says. "A lot depends on the
student himself too. Some of our students from departments like
pharmacy, chemical engineering and computer sciences get jobs even
before they graduate," he adds. As for the quality
teaching faculty at the university, he says the criterion for a lecturer
to be hired is a test and candidates who score the highest are
shortlisted. An interview with a team of experts is then held, and the
best candidate given the post. Work experience or the number of research
papers published is not a criterion, he admits, "though a candidate who
has these will get added benefit", which could be but is not
necessarily monetary. In his opinion, the maximum number of courses a
lecturer should take is three. When informed that a particular teacher
at a department is taking at least five, he admits that "that should not
happen". His vision for Karachi University is that by the
end of his tenure the university should excel academically, because
"research papers are the way forward." However, he complains about
funding issues being an obstacle to realising that vision. "Before the
last budget ,while teachers' salaries were ordered to be increased by 50
percent, when the budget came in May, the proportion for education was
cut off and universities were asked to generate their own resources." Dr
Qaiser has some plans to generate resources "probably by utilising free
land by, let's say constructing a hospital, or raising the fee of
students by rupees 200-300, but not more than that."
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BS students allowed switch to Honors
Karachi: The University of Karachi (KU) will allow all the existing
students of Bachelor of Studies (BS) first, second and third year to
switch their programme from BS to Bachelors (Honors). An official of the
institution said on Thursday that the Semester Rules 2002 will be
applied on them. However, in order to bring uniformity in the
examination and evaluation procedures, passing percentage for both, BS
and Bachelors (Honors) Programme will remain 45 percent. This decision
was taken in a meeting of the KU Academic Council, chaired by Vice
Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Muhammad Qaisar. In the beginning of the
meeting, minutes of five previous meetings of the council were approved.
Moreover, minutes of eight meetings of the Board of Advanced Studies
and Research (BASR) had also been approved. During the meeting, Prof Dr
Abid Hasnain won election for the representative of BASR in the council.
Prof Dr Shahida Sajjad of the Department of Special Education and Prof
Dr Mutahir Ahmed of the Department of International Relations have been
nominated as representatives of Pakistan Study Centre and Area Study
Centre for Europe, respectively. The programme and schedule of KU MPhil,
PhD, MS and MD programmes has also been approved with minor
modifications. The council rejected the report on bifurcation of
faculties. Recommendation report for including Area Study Centre in the
KU and making it a member of BASR, academic council and syndicate has
also been rejected and it was decided that the same policy will be
applied on it which is followed by other centers affiliated with KU.
Members of the Council collectively gave approval for the five year BA,
LLB Honors programme. In the meeting of the council, approval was given
for the affiliation of 23 institutions. The decision was highly
appreciated by the faculty members. It was decided that a proper
strategy will be devised in a meeting with the college principals. app
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Degrees distributed
Karachi: At a ceremony at the University of Karachi, 22 PhD, four MS and nine MPhil
degrees were distributed. Addressing the Board of Advance Studies,
Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser said that the students who
achieved higher education were the country's assets.
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KU clinic's new building inaugurated
Karachi: The new building of the University of Karachi (KU) clinic was inaugurated at the campus on Thursday. Vice-Chancellor
of the University, Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser, performed the
inauguration.Speaking on the occasion, he was of the view that this
clinic is a milestone regarding provision of the healthcare facilities
to the faculty and employees of the institution. It was
pointed out that the new building has sufficient space with which it can
cater to almost all the problems faced by the university staff in terms
of their health care needs.It is very likely that ultrasound and x-ray
facility will be available in the clinic in addition to the facility of a
well-equipped laboratory, informed Dr Nadeemuzzaman of KU. Dr
Qaiser added that the selection board for two medical doctors (male and
female) will soon be held which will proceed with the appointment of
two more medical experts.Eventually, seven doctors will be available for
the university staff round-the-clock. In addition, two separate male
and female wards containing 20 beds will be setup and appropriate and
well-trained paramedical staff will also be provided for the
facilitation of patients. Dr Qaisar stated that the clinic
may use the expertise of the university's centralised laboratory. Since
the clinic will be equipped with the facility of ECG and Pharmacy, the
Pharmacy faculty will play its role and setup a state-of-the-art model
pharmacy with the help of its experts and students. President
of the Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS), Prof Dr Mutahir
Ahmed, highlighted the importance of the collective efforts at the
administrative and academic level and said that the new building was an
evidence of mutual efforts of the university's faculty, officers and
employees. A large number of KU faculty and staff members were present. The news
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Sindh University Exams
Hyderabad: Controller of Examinations (Annual),
University of Sindh Jamshoro on Thursday announced commencement of LLB
part-I, II and III annual examinations 2011 from April 20, to May 7 at
respective colleges. All affiliated colleges had been directed to collect admit cards of
students from the office of Deputy Controller of Examinations (Annual),
University of Sindh Jamshoro, on April 17. Dawn
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1,000 degrees awarded at SSUET convocation
Karachi: About 1000 graduates of the batch of 2008 were awarded degrees in the
engineering and computer science disciplines at the 15th convocation of
the Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology (SSUET) held at
Karachi Expo Center on Saturday. "SSUET graduates are
serving in various countries of the world, with placement in important
positions, making new breakthroughs not only in Pakistan, but also in
Europe, America and other countries", said the chancellor of SSUET, Z.A.
Nizami, while addressing the convocation. The chancellor
said it was their conviction that good engineers and technologists would
combat the forces behind weak economic conditions of the country. They
can find ways and means to transform poverty into "plenty", he observed. The fresh graduates should come forward and accept the
challenges the country is confronting like dwindling energy and water
resources, dependence on foreign actors, and reliance on primitive
systems. There is a need to effectively exploit the
country's latent natural resources like the enormous deposit of coal at
the Thar, in addition to copper and other valuable minerals in other
parts of the country. Presenting the annual report, the
Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Saiyid Nazir Ahmed highlighted the successful
journey of the SSUET from its inception in 1994 to its present glorious
stage. He informed SSUET's annual budget had soared from Rs17.22 million
in 1994 to a record of Rs712.3 million in 2012. The
university gave a financial assistance of Rs10 million and scholarships
worth Rs40 million to deserving and talented students during the year
2011-2012. The university also provided Rs7.7 million to needy students
and Rs2.3 million to deserving employees. The university, which started
with only 200 students in 1994, today has over 5600 students on the
roll. It has given around 9820 graduate engineers to the nation since
1998. At present the university is dispensing 6 bachelor's
degree, 6 master's and 2 PhD programs while its faculty holds 22 PhDs.
As many as 15 faculty members are pursuing phD degrees from the
university. Dr Nazir informed the university supported its alumni in
their career planning and placement. Out of about 8660 graduates till
2011, 77 percent attained employed in "gainful" jobs while remaining
proceeded for higher studies or started their own businesses.
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'Self-assessment will improve quality of higher education'
Karachi: Methods of self-assessment would improve the quality of higher education in
Pakistan, said Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Qaiser of Karachi
University at a recently held workshop. "In order to
attain fast-paced development in university-level education, it is
imperative that possible ways of self-assessment be introduced in the
teaching methodology." "The western educational system is
highly credible and successful, because they use this strategy for
improvement," he said, adding that finding our weaknesses and overcoming
them was the gist of the profession. At the workshop
titled "Self-Assessment Report" organised by the Quality Enhancement
Cell (QEC) of KU, Professor Peerzada from the COMSTECH Institute of
Information Technology said implementing the methodology would benefit
the teachers more. "It would improve their teaching capacity, and help
them increase their own market value." During his welcome
address, the Cell's Director Professor Sajdeen shared his plans of
organising more awareness seminars for improving the quality of
education imparted by the university. "Many more awareness programmes
are in the pipeline." "Technology is equally important for
formulating self-assessment reports, as it can highlight the
qualitative as well as quantitative details of teaching and research,"
said Professor Dr Abuzar Wajid, dean of the Faculty of Management and
Administrative Sciences. He also distributed shields among the
participants at the end of the session. During the
workshop, Professor Dr Aqeel Ahmed of the Department of Microbiology
shed light on the importance of computing and laboratory facilities in
higher education. The Campus Security Advisor, Professor Dr Khalid
Iraqi, also appreciated the efforts of the Quality Enhancement Cell and
said as a teacher, he looked forward to evaluating his own teaching
methodology. The workshop was attended by many members of the KU
faculty, including Prof Dr Ansar Rizvi, Prof Kaleem Raza Khan and Ms
Ghazal Khwaja.
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BSEK claims improving facilities at exam centres
Karachi: On the second day of the matric exams on Saturday, the authorities claimed
to have taken notice of some of the problems faced by students on the
first day. Taking action after a story on this issue was
published in The News, controller examinations Board of Secondary
Education Karachi (BSEK) Rafia Mallah summoned the superintendent of the
Cosmopolitan Government School in Orangi. Students at the school had
complained of filthy desks, lack of electricity and rude invigilators.
The superintendent was directed to ensure that satisfactory facilities
be provided to the students. Additionally, in a survey of examination centres in Lyari and Saddar Town, the BSEK caught two students using unfair means. The
team comprised Chairman BSEK Professor Muhammad Saeed, Controller BSEK
Rafia Mullah and a team of journalists. The team visited the Okhai Memon
Secondary School, the KMA Girl's Secondary School, the Government
Girl's Secondary School No.2 Mir Ayub Khan and the Government Boys'
Secondary School No.2 Gul Muhammad Lane Lyari Quarter. The
superintendents of the Government Boys' Secondary School Gul Muhammad
Lane and Government Girls Secondary School Mir Ayub Khan were directed
by the board "to be vigilant". "A female superintendent
and an invigilator of a centre have been changed," said Mallah, adding
that "the papers of the students using unfair means were seized and
returned to the board," she said. "Of the four centres
visited, two had electricity and two had functioning generators," she
said, ensuring that the students no longer had to deal with power
outages. However, a student from Lyari, who requested anonymity,
believes that the raid was nothing more than cosmetic. "The
clerks at the centres threaten the teachers; they warn them the centre
is in Lyari, and that they'll have to stay in Lyari too." Meanwhile, matric exams in Larkana have been postponed following the death of JSQM leader, Bashir Khan. The news
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SSC exam centres told to rent generators
Karachi: The Board of Secondary Education Karachi
(BSEK) has once again asked the centre superintendents for the ongoing
Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination to use standby power
generators to offset the impact of prolonged loadshedding being carried
out by the Karachi Electric Supply Company. Sources said the BSEK authorities, including controller of
examination Rafia Mallah, held meetings with the centre superintendents
on Friday and sent letters to the centres over the frequent disruption
in power supply and subsequent hardship suffered by candidates.
The centre superintendents had precisely and repeatedly been told to
use standby generators if they already had, or rent ones for the
examination, a source said, adding that the board was ready to pay for
the rental and fuel consumed by these generators.
It was further learnt that the BSEK had once again requested Sindh
Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to direct the relevant quarters for
improved security arrangements at the examination centres on Saturday
and onward.
The board once again sought a proactive role of the centre
superintendents, invigilators, centre controlling officers in rooting
out the use of unfair means - including cheating, impersonation and use
of bogus examination documents such as admit cards.
The board made it clear that if any of the candidates were found
presenting fake admit cards at the centres, the centre superintendents
were required to report immediately on 99260076, 99260266, 99260251 and
99260252.
The BSEK urged all the centre superintendents and vigilance officers to accomplish their respective assignments honestly.
A BSEK press release said that it was the responsibility of the
centre superintendents to ensure their physical presence at their
respective centres and coordinate with the vigilance officers appointed
by the board and ensure peaceful and cheating-free conduct of
examinations.
The board also advanced the time for centre controlling officers
carrying question papers. Now they were required to report for the
purpose at the BSEK at 7.30am to receive the packets for onward supply
to the centres and BSEK-designated hubs in the metropolis.
After a gap of one day, another about 129,000 boys and girls
belonging to the general group are to take Islamiat (compulsory) and
Ethics for non-Muslims (compulsory) exam for class X on Saturday from
9am to 12noon. Dawn
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