Hailey College BCom degree equivalence

Students protest degree 'anomaly'
Lahore, Aug 06: Students of Hailey College of Commerce, Punjab University, on Wednesday demonstrated in front of the Lahore Press Club demanding that the four-year BCom (Honours) degree should be declared equivalent to the MCom degree.

The students were carrying placards and a banner bearing inscription regarding their demand as well as slogans against the college administration.

Talking to reporters, Hailey College final-year student Muhammad Azhar said the admission advertisement had stated that the BCom (Honours) degree would be equivalent to MCom, but now it was not mentioned on the degree. In this situation, he said, the Hailey College graduates would face numerous problems as they would be considered graduates in the job market.

On the other hand, Mr Azhar said the PU's Institute of Business Administration and Hailey College of Banking and Finance were not allowing them opportunity of further studies as they consider them master's degree holders.

The protesters demanded that Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran should take notice of the discrepancy and consider BCom (Honours) degree equivalent to MCom.

Hailey College of Commerce Controller of Examinations Abdul Jabbar Khan said the Higher Education Commission had launched the four-year BS (Honours) programme, stating that it would be equivalent to the master's degree. He said the college did issue a certificate that BCom (Honours) was equivalent to MCom and the college had even considered BCom (Honours) graduates on a par with MCom degree holders in the selection of lecturers in BPS-18.

"Two BCom (Honours) degree holders have now joined as college faculty members," he said.

Mr Khan said the college principal had met the vice-chancellor and considered that the BCom (Honours) graduates should be given to MPhil/MS programme. He said the university was also planning to launch one-year MCom programme for BCom (Honours) graduates.

Answering a question about the degree's perception in the private sector, he said it was a matter of awareness. He said the students could take an equivalence certificate from the college in the light of the HEC guidelines. Dawn

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Send children to schools or face action: govt
Lahore: The Punjab government has warned of action, including fine and imprisonment, against parents and guardians for failing to enrol children of 5 to 10 years of age in schools under the Punjab Compulsory Primary Education Act 1994.

The announcement in this regard was published in newspapers on Wednesday, urging parents and guardians to enrol their children in schools and maintaining it was not only a religious duty but also a national and legal responsibility to provide children education.

According to the Punjab Compulsory Primary Education Act 1994, a fine of Rs 200 with further fine of Rs 20 per day after the conviction or with imprisonment which may extend to one week or both punishments can be imposed. It also states: "Any parent of a child or employer of such a child who, after receiving due warning from the School Attendance Authority, continues to employee a child whether on remuneration or otherwise required under this Act to attend a school shall, on conviction before a magistrate, be punishable with fine which may extend to Rs 500 and with a further fine which may extend to Rs 50 for everyday after the conviction for which the non-attendance at a school continues or with imprisonment which may extend to one month or with both."

According to the Section 4 of the Act, the reasonable excuse shall include any of the following cases (a) Where the prescribed authority is satisfied that the child is incapable of attending school by reason of sickness or infirmity or that by reason of the child's mental incapacity it is not desirable that the child should be compelled to carry on his study further; (b) Where the child is receiving otherwise than in a school, instruction which in the opinion of the prescribed authority, is sufficient; or (c) Where there is no school within a distance of two kilometres measured according to the nearest route from the residence of the child.

It is pertinent to mention here that many advanced countries have strict rules to ensure enrolment of children in schools while laws are also there to control habit of truancy among students.

According to a British media organisation, which has quoted analysis of court statistics, "A parent is jailed for his/her child's truancy once a fortnight every school term in England and Wales."

Recently, the Indian Parliament has adopted "The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill, 2009," which envisages free and compulsory education to children in the 6-14 age group.

It is also important to mention that in April 2000, more than 1,100 participants from 164 countries gathered in Dakar, Senegal, for the World Education Forum. They affirmed their commitment to achieving Education for All by the year 2015.

These education goals include expanding early childhood care and education, providing free and compulsory primary education for all, promoting learning and life skills for young people and adults, increasing adult literacy by 50 per cent, achieving gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015 and improving quality of education. Schools Secretary Nadeem Ashraf said the move was aimed at making parents and guardians realise that enrolling a child was their legal responsibility.

He said the deputy district education officers (DDEOs) had been designated as the School Attendance Authorities.

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Plagiarism-free research stressed
Lahore: A two day workshop on "Research Data Collection, Data Saving, Literature Review, References and Bibliography Writing and Research Ethics and Plagiarism" started at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Punjab University, on Wednesday. PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran inaugurated the workshop which was being organised jointly by the IBA and the Department of Library and Information Sciences (DLIS). The news

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