Biology topic controversy at Dawood Public School
Biology topic controversy deepens: School faces ire of conservatives
Karachi, Aug 28: Some elements in Pakistan have always resisted modifications according
to international standards in the curriculums of schools. They
have always resisted changes both cultural and literal and those trying
to introduce changes have always been in the line of fire. The
same happened to the administration of Dawood Public School, which has
introduced the reproduction of human beings in grade seven. Jamaat-e-Islami
and its associates on Wednesday protested against the syllabus and
demanded that the school's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) be sacked for
the introduction of the material while the school is already under
scrutiny as it imparts musical education to its students. On
Thursday, 14 parents, led by Muhammad Suleiman, addressed a press
conference demanding the authorities concerned to arrest the school's
CEO, Sabreena Dawood, for the introduction of reproduction topic in
biology in the school, starting of music classes and teaching a book
written by Jan Thompson on Islam. It may be remembered that the school
is teaching imported books from Singapore, which it claims are
according to international standards. The books are severely
criticised by some segments of the society, which say topics like
reproduction should not be included in the syllabus of grade seven. The
parents claim that the Sindh government on their complaint has seized
the school's building and cancelled its registration. However, the
claims were later refuted by the officials of the education department. Private
Institutions Director Mansoob Hussein Siddique, informed after visiting Dawood Public School that they found nothing
controversial in their syllabus hence their registration was not
cancelled. "The school is performing well for the past few years
and the school's administration said that they had removed the
controversial topics from their syllabus," the private institutions
director said. He said that the controversial book that the
complainants were talking about had never been distributed amongst the
students and in fact, some elements had assaulted the building and took
the books out from the store, which the education department took into
its custody. However, he added that now music classes have been made
optional which were earlier compulsory. When the protesting
parents were asked as to why they do not change their children's school
instead of rioting their surprising reply was, "What if other schools
provide the same education, therefore we think it is better to struggle
to change the system of Dawood Public School rather then go somewhere
and start afresh." Before the press conference, approximately
dozen parents claiming to be the representatives of around 1,600
students of Dawood Public School gathered in the lawn of the press
club. Some of them had beards, were wearing traditional caps
on their heads and were seen telling the protesting mothers, "You are
fighting for the cause of Islam, we will not accept this system
anywhere in the country," encouraging them and convincing them that
their fight was for a pious cause. When the scribe sought explanation
from the guys they refused to give any comments. Muhammad Suleiman, who was leading the parents, critcised the school administration for holding compulsory music classes. The
parents' reservations did not end there, they also objected to the
dress code that the new CEO, Sabreena Dawood, who is a foreign graduate
has introduced, replacing the traditional Shalwar Kameez with pant
skirts and trousers. Sabreena was also criticised for not making
wearing veils compulsory. This spree may engulf the whole
country in the coming days and schools introducing modern education may
find that it is difficult for them to survive. Even though the
Dawood Public School was all for modern education but after the
protests, they have changed course and excluded the so-called
controversial material from the syllabus. Faizullah Jan, an academician, opines that teaching such topics in grade seven is not bad. "If we do not teach our children what reproduction is all about in a systematic manner, how will they learn things?" he asks. He
adds that it would be better if such topics were addressed in schools
rather than being left to the imagination of young ones and them
getting cheap thrills out of it. Irfan Ashraf, another academician, although endorses Jan's opinion yet he has some reservations. "It
is better if sexual education is imparted in a systematic manner in
schools but we should make some amendments in the international
syllabus according to the local customs," he said. Daily times
Your Comments
"as i think those parents do not know the requirements of this age .they should know what the modern worlds requiremants. if any one give their children a chance to study in abroad , i dont think they will say no. "
Name: faiz ahmed
Email: sober-love@hotmail.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"iam living in canada,for ur information sex education is not compulsory they asked to parents about they want to tech thir child sex education or not ,if u dont want they didnt give them.and we r muslims what harm if we fihgt for islam,its to early to give sex education to 5th standerd."
Name: cool
Email: cool_punjabi@hotmail.com
City, Country: canada
"if they admitted there children in such high standard school which offers quality education then they should know and understand that their children will come to know about these such things.............................................................. dawood public school zindabad.............................................................................................n v want miss sabrina back.... frm astudent of dawwod public school "
Name: sana
Email: z-s-husnani@hotmail.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"It is sad that some elements in Pakistan refuse to stay in the middle ages. As Anthony Serafini says in his classic book THE EPIC HISTORY OF BIOLOGY, its critical for all nations to rid science of all religious dogma and concentrate on empirical research and rational thinking. "
Name: David Fine
Email: booknestadv@aol.com
City, Country: Boston, MA
"hello, my daughter studying in this school since last 9 years there was not a single nonsense which media took it to height has never occured in those years infact i m as a mother very proud that my daughter is studying in this school this school has given her a excellent religious education now in class ninth she & all her class fellows have learned surat yaseen by heart along wit lots of surats as well whole book of on islam they recite quran wit all tajweed which i m sure ppl who critcising this school cannot we parents are very up set with whole situation & we demand that we also want a press conferece so the whole media who exploit the situation knows thae other part of the story.I am &other 1700 parents are wit this school. ayesha saud "
Name: ayesha saud
Email: ayeshaglow@hotmail.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"we are muslims and according that this is our duty to protect our islamic basic fendamantal.this is muslim country not other eurpen or amarican we must teach ours childerns islamic education nor other this is completly right and also compalserry for girl hijab in thier school. "
Name: shahbaz hussain
Email: shahbaz1699@yahoo.com
City, Country: pakistan
"what a mess? it is not a "SEX" education it is actually a biology man,, so, behave like a literate "
Name: Zubair Abdullah
Email: zobair@msn.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"It is such a pity the a school had to be just down for the pry of a few islamic extremist & politically influenced people. A quick corrective action needs to be enforced as the matter is now in the hands of our government which not very famous for it. I believe ppl complaining against teaching their kids sex education would never realize that this may actually save the children from comtting adultery"
Name: Arsalaan
Email: arsalaan69@yahoo.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"this is hundred percent correct if these parents were to have a chance to send their parents abroad they will take no time to think..but here they r making a big fuss of nuthing they should know what o levels syllabus requirements are and if they dont than they should make their children study in a government school!"
Name: shuM
Email: fade_suckz@hotmail.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"first of all dozen of parents r not the representative of all the students.dawood public school is very well known school in the world.dps has produced many position holder school in the world,DPS is the pride of our country.i met many dawoodians who r very intelligent,very energetic andwell- behave ,they were showing how they r confident and in which institution they belong.we live in modern age,students have curiosity about every thing,without curiosity they willnot learn any thing.they cannot compete in this world.we mustdo to update them .regarding dps science book,if books r seized why those dozen parents and ummat akhbar were giving false colour .every sensible person would think,they r not responsible parents,they r playing with the future of students except their child.althoug dawood management realised their mistakes why they did this.those dozen parents should sorry to every students and their parents for giving such torture.at last iwould say human being made amistake,and God forgive us.why should us"
Name: mrs rehman
Email: dinamic -seemi@hotmail.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"iwant to tell those stupid irresponsible parents,dawood public school is not their fathers school,they had options to change the school.they ruin the security of 1600 students by involving political party.im asking everyone.are they responsible parents?they socially isolates their kids they can solve problem descently. Advise for shameless parents,who destroy the respect of institution ,please take their kids to usman public school .this school will suit u.Dont let your child go to university because there r male teachers. "
Name: mrs rehman
Email: dinamic -seemi@hotmail.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"All I want to say is "I SUPPORT MS SABREENA DAWOOD AND DPS AS A WHOLE... GOD BLESS HER"
Name: Muhammad Uzair
Email: deadline43@hotmail.com
City, Country: Karachi,pakistan
"These people are fools. Its an academic institution and its preparing to impart knowledge. Does knowledge have various forms? Yes. If you dont like it, you can take your kid out of the school. There is no reason to shut it down. Only retarded ******* with nothing better to do then waste their time on nonsense would ever question something like this......."
Name: Faran Asif
Email: faranasif1@yahoo.com
City, Country: Lahore, Pakistan
"this is one of the best school in town......all people are talking ******** about this school.....i am supporting this school....we want madam sabrina dawood back..... "
Name: madiha
Email: NOORUL.HUDA@HOTMAIL.COM
City, Country: karachi,pakistan
"its very sad to come to know. as i am dawoodian also , i have taught there, i left five years ago. it; svery pity. infact i used to proud to be a student and teacher od d.p.s. admin. should check all this. one thing i want to say the d.p.s admin has to softens their policy too."
Name: wajiha
Email: wajiha_ahmad@yahoo.com
City, Country: bahrain, united arab emirates.
"Although my daughter is quite young & studing in DPS Montissori so I dont know much about the happenings at the secondary section. I myself have studied from Cambridge school & recall studying human reproductive system in either grade VII or VIII in biology which is for the sake of education, awareness & imparting knowledge so whats wrong with it. Attention all parents!!! We being literates & wise enough to know the physical developments our child is going through & needs to understand those changes in a meaningful healthy manner in order to address his / her question marks enabling them to accept the physical changes & adapt accordingly to coupe with it. We are not living in stone ages the child already has access to a lot of info i.e. internet, media, modern society etc. They should know their boundaries in advance through discussion at home & at school for which its necessary for the kid to know what ur talking about coz he / she is already going through the process of evolution day in & day out. But as far as family planning & safe sex is concerned it should be condemned if taught in our country coz its not a part of our society atleast at school level. All cambridge system following schools are teaching same prescribed books its not that DPS has come up with some thing new. All that was needed to be done on this issue was to have a peaceful dialogue between DPS administration & parents along with representative of education board to set course outline in accordance to our traditional values i.e. (within limits being muslim country) & omit the part which is not related to our society & customs. Instead of politicizing the issue on media. If the DPS administration initially should have handled the issue tactfully not showning rigidity when the point was raised, by suspending the students & mistreating their parents which eventually lead to involvement of media creating a hype & politicizing by religious parties showing stubbornness, ultimately giving DPS a bad name & spoiling their repo. Therefore here I would plead to both parties i.e. parents as well as school admin to show some respect & kindness towards each other behaving like sensable ppl & resolve disputes amicably without involving media to exaggerate the situation again further provoking both parties coz ultimately the loss is ours either as parents or school admin. "
Name: Kamal
Email: mkamalp@yahoo.com
City, Country: Karachi, Pakistan
"i have been a student in dps since 10 years....and i am proud to b a dawoodian....well as far as current situation is concerned so i wud like to tell u ppl that the chapter was stapled!...they didnt hav any intension to teach it....and watever the controversies are going on i can surely say they are all untrue...in dps a perfect islamic environment has been maintained and. the quran teachings are compulsory and tell me in how many schools do student learn surah yaseen by heart??? how many schools teach there students the basics of our daily life and wat we shud do in different circumstances.....tell me how many students of age 16 know clearly what we shud nd shudnt do while fasting? how many ppl know when to observe ghusl?? i must say dps is really a good school where students feel safe and learn every good thing in a secure and safe environment in a way good for them! "
Name: zunaira
Email: miniheart02@hotmail.com
City, Country: Pakistan
"I DONT KNOW WHY PARENTS ARE OBJECTING ON SCIENCE BOOK,WHY DNT OBJECT WHEN THERE CHILDERN WATCH SARPLUS AND ALL ENGLISH MOVIES IN WHICH ALL THIS SO PROMINENT...I THINK ISSUE SHOULD BE PURELY RAISE FOR ISLAMIAT BOOK FROM THE STUDENT OF DAWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOL "
Name: sara
Email: sara_twins@hotmail.com
City, Country: karachi, Pakistan
"My question to those who in the name of modernization wants to teach sex education, is that is there only the sex topic which is left now in our society to be moderanized, We have left islam far bhind, forgot the values which was taught by our prophet(peace be upone him), the aim of those genious academics sgould be to get back those high values in society, just insisting on sex topics is just nothing but there ill mind setesfation "
Name: Muhammad Asif
Email: m_memon@yahoo.com
City, Country: karachi, Pakistan
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'Objectionable' curriculum of private school seized
Karachi: The Directorate of Private Institutions, Sindh, has seized
the objectionable curriculum, being taught at Dawood Public School
located next to Pakistan Television Station on Stadium Road, to calm
down the angry parents and their children. Director Private
Institutions, Sindh, Mansoob Siddiqui, with his team visited the school
and directed the chief executive officer of the school, Sabreena
Dawood, and school Principal Mrs Waqar to readmit the expelled four
girl students, who had lodged complaint to chief executive officer of
the school against the curriculum, addressing the issues of birth
secure and insecure sex and birth control in Biology Book of 7th Class.
The director private institutions had a meeting with angry parents
and ensured them that the objectionable material would be excluded from
the school books, mostly printed from Singapore. The education of sex
issues at the school has caused annoyance not only among the students
but also among their parents. Mansoob Siddiqui said on
Thursday that administration of the Dawood Public School had assured
the government that objectionable material would be excluded from the
curriculum. "The school administration will seek pardon from
parents through an official letter, as some parents of students have
been misbehaved in the protest. On the other hand, some changes in the
syllabus of Islamiat subject are also being considered as intolerable
material." He said that nearly 1,600 students were studying in the
school, which is one of the most reputed schools of the City; the
future of such students were attached with the said school therefore
the directorate was trying to solve the issue peacefully. On the other
hand, some people are trying to politicise the issue, he said and added
that the issue started when a new chief executive officer started
making changes in the syllabus. Siddiqui said that almost all books
had been printed from Singapore, while some chapters had already been
declared useless by the school administration for teaching purpose as
per our culture and educational environment. The nation
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2,000 posts of lecturers lying vacant: Sindh Education Minister
Karachi, Aug 26: As many as 2,000 posts of lecturers are lying vacant.This was stated by the Sindh minister for Education, Pir
Mazhar-ul-Haq. He announced here on Wednesday that these vacancies would
be filled on the basis of merit.The Minister was of the view that recruitment of the
teaching staff on merit would have a positive impact in the field of education.
He also asked the faculty members to impart knowledge to
the younger generation with commitment and devotion. Pir Mazhar ul haq also asked the office bearers of the
Sindh Professors and lecturers Association (SPLA) 'not to oppose the Education
Department's policy of merit'. He further maintained that there should be no pressure for
'getting declared as successful' those 29 candidates who were unable to qualify
in the interview conducted by the Sindh Public Service commission for
recruitment as ad hoc lecturers. The Minister maintained that this should not be the role of
the SPLA to resort to such tactics and oppose the policy of hiring on the basis
of merit. He also asked the Sindh Secretary Education to initiate
disciplinary action against those interfering in the process of teaching. Pir Mazhar said that protect demonstration and disruption
in the academic process is not the solution to the problems. Instead attention should be paid towards honestly
performing the professional duties and with a sense of commitment and devotion,
he added. App
Your Comments
"In EDO office list of PST, JST and HST teachers is incomplete. Candidates who got Admit Cards at the Centers and secured 60% are waiting for their oppointment letters but here are only names of those Candidates who got Admit Cards before test.Is this another gift of Ramazan from Government to people of Sindh? "
Name: Mohammed Shoaib
Email: akhund_ss@yahoo.com
City, Country: Matiari, Pakistan
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SSUET develops device to help the blind read SMS
Karachi: The students of Sir Syed University of
Engineering & Technology (SSUET) have developed a tactile
communication Braille system that uses mobile and other mechanical
device to enable visually handicapped people to read from a portable
device. According to the details revealed by the Computer
Engineering Department, the system works on the basis of
micro-controller, while its component parts include a Portable Braille
Pad, a control unit and a mobile. The system developers have
claimed that the current cell technology is expensive but their project
has researched less costly alternatives, resulting in the development
of cells using solenoids. They said that they wanted to enable the
blind to read SMS texts from their mobile devices, and for this purpose
the Braille Pad has been designed, in which eight Braille cells are
connected in parallel on which a blind person can read words one by one
with button provided for the next or previous word.
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'Technical training programmes for special people soon'
Karachi: Sindh Minister for Youth Affairs Syed
Faisal Ali Sabzwari has said that the Youth Affairs Department was
starting various projects for the rehabilitation of special people to
provide them training and employment. He said this while
talking to a two-member delegation of Family Educational Services
Foundation at his office on Thursday. The delegation was led by
Foundation Director Mary A Rek Florijn. Foundation Executive
Director Richard Geary was also present on the occasion. The delegation
enlightened the minister about the foundation's services for special
people. Faisal Sabzwari told the delegation that his department was
launching various programmes for technical and educational training of
special people, adding that they would be trained in such trades so
that they could get employment easily, adding that in this regard they
were also contacting non-government organizations. He said he
has suggested to the government that special people should be included
in internship programmes so that they consider themselves an important
part of the society besides playing their active role for development
of the country. Mary Rek told the minister that her institution was
working on various welfare projects in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Lahore
in which different training projects had been launched for deaf
children and grown-ups. The projects also include
beautification and cosmetology courses, IT, photo-shop, web designing,
graphics, embroidery, road safety and traffic awareness courses, she
said. The news
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