Punjab university Art College to start MA degree

PU Art College to start MA in Art Restoration
Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) College of Art and Design will start a Masters in Restoration of Art Work and is also working to initiate studies in Art History, according to the college's principal Rahat Naveed Masud.

In an interview, she said the college will start the Masters in Restoration of Art Work by next September. She stressed the need to educate students about Art History. She said no institute in the country had initiated degree programmes in Art History. She said the teaching of Art History would create awareness among students.

"The credit of initiating new programmes in the college goes to Punjab University Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran who always shows keen interest in art and design," she said.

Masud was recently appointed Professor and Principal of the College of Art and Design. She completed her MA in Fine Arts from PU and also holds a Masters degree in Art and Design from Kingston University, London. She is a PU gold-medallist and has also been the recipient of several awards including the Fatima Jinnah Medal for Meritorious Performance in Painting, 2007.

Pain or prosperity: Masud said artists have a lot of room for working in two environments –prosperity or pain. "If the situation is ideal, as it was in the Mughal era, or as it is in the West, masterpieces of art are produced. Or, when the situation is very aggravated, marvellous work is possible," she said. Quoting the example of Pablo Picasso, she said the masterpiece Guernica was produced when the artist was in pain. Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso, depicting the bombing of Guernica, Spain, by German and Italian warplanes on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War.

Masud said the college was offering a two-year Masters programme (MFA) and a four-year Bachelors in Fine Arts (BFA). She said there were other degree programmes including Architecture for five years; Graphic Design, Painting, and Textile Design for four years; MA in Painting and Music for two years. The college allocates 30 seats for Graphic Designing, Architecture and Painting, 25 for Textile Design and 20 for Painting and Music. She said the college also offered a replica programme. "There is always room for improvement and one should always think for the welfare of the students and the department," she said.

The principal said the college will mark 70 years of its inception next year.

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Inquisitive students perform better
Lahore, Aug 21: The Education Assessment Report 2008 by the Punjab Assessment Education System (PEAS) was launched on Thursday, stating students who were allowed to pose questions in classrooms performed better in science than others.

The report also revealed that the score of students from Punjab in science and social studies was higher than those from other provinces.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, the head of PEAS, Dr Bashir Gondal, said the assessment was based on students' learning outcome in science and social studies at 8th grade level in Punjab. He said the score of Punjab in science was significantly higher than other provinces. "Similarly the score of Punjab students in social studies was higher than other provinces," he said.

He said the assessment had revealed that students who were allowed to ask questions in classrooms had performed better in science (mean score 500). "It is also explored that 47 per cent students never took tuitions, 27.5 per cent took tuitions for one to three months, 10 per cent for four to six months and 15.6 per cent took tuitions for the full academic year," he said.

Dr Bashir said students who did not take tuitions performed better in science and in social studies than those who took tuitions. A representative of the National Education Assessment System (NEAS), Jaffar Mansoor, said the purpose of national assessment was to gather information that would aid educators, legislators and others in improving the education sector. "Key goals are to measure the current status of educational achievements of young Pakistanis and to report changes and long-term trends," he said.

Other speakers said results of research conducted in fields of education should be used for the preparation of curriculum and modules for teacher training. They were of the view that there was a dire need to set up an educational research council in order to promote research on education sector.

Excise and Taxation Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman was the chief guest but he did not show up. The news

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PU students excel in competitions
Lahore, Aug 21: The students of Punjab University College of Art & Design (PUCAD) have excelled in the competitions held at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI).

The PUCAD students participated in various categories at the LUMS Olympiad 09. Mohsin Khawar competed in Photography, Nauman Ahmad in Singing, Saad Shakeel in Gaming, Maria Niazi in Thematic Painting, Saad Iqbal and Ali Iqbal in Short Movie while Nobia and Imran participated in Fashion Designing events.

The students bagged second position in Fashion Design competition, won special mentions (5th place) in Photography and clinched top 16 positions out of 70 in Short Movie competitions. The students also qualified for semifinals in Singing and Gaming contests. In Media Festival 2009 held at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI), the PU College of Art & Design students participated in various categories and earned recognition. Mohsin Khawar and Saad Iqbal competed in Photography, Zaid Mian, Ayesha Bakhtawar, Komal Hasan and Amra Abbasi in Short Movie while Hasan Hameed and Ateeq Ahmad competed in Short Movie/Commercial events. The students clinched first positions in Photography and Short Movie categories. The news

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Technical training essential part of education: Taseer
Lahore: Technical training is an essential part of education because it enables students to get jobs in a short time, Governor Salmaan Taseer said on Thursday.

He expressed these views at the certificate distribution ceremony of the National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC) at the Governor's House.

He said it was a positive sign that more than 0.13 million students were getting technical education. He praised NAVTEC for providing technical education to the internally displaced persons (IDPs). "It is really a pleasure that the IDPs raised the Pakistani flag on Independence Day in their native areas," Taseer said, adding that the credit went to the president and the prime minister (PM) for handling the crisis. He said it was encouraging that women were interested in getting technical education, as almost 30 percent of the students enrolled in NAVTEC were women.

NAVTEC Chairman Adnan A Khawaja said besides routine activities, NAVTEC, under PM's 'Hunarmund Pakistan Programme' was also offering short courses.

Backward tehsils: The chairman said the commission, under president's tehsil coverage programme, would provide technical education to 50,000 students of 79 backward tehsils, adding that the training programme had already been started in 42 tehsils. He said a major chunk of population consisted of youth, who were the real assets of the country. He thanked the president and the PM for initiating the programme. Khawaja said keeping in view the international scenario and domestic needs, the NAVTEC board had approved a five-year 'National Skill Strategy' plan. Daily times

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Honorary teachers protest
Lahore: The Honorary Teaching Assistants (HTAs) took out a protest rally on Thursday to protest against the government for discontinuing their services.

The rally started from the Lahore Press Club and culminated at the Faisal Chowk near the Punjab Assembly. Traffic was jammed due to the rally on The Mall and other adjacent roads for quite some time.

The protesters warned that if the government did not restore them they would continue the protest and set up hunger strike camps outside the Chief Ministerís Secretariat, the Assembly Hall and the Lahore Press Club.

It is pertinent to mention that over 2,000 honorary teaching assistants were appointed by the government against Rs 8000 per month some few months ago to cover the studentsí loss due to shortage of lecturers.

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Talent gala
Lahore: Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) on Thursday organised a Talent Gala in which students of district Lahore who have secured A+ grades in recent intermediate and O-level exams were awarded prizes, medals and certificates.

Former Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Pakistan Qazi Hussain Ahmed, JI leader Amir ul Azeem, Punjab Minister Ashraf Sohna, Senator SM Zafar, Principal Government Islamia College Civil Lines Rao Jalil, senior educationists and IJT office-bearers participated in the ceremony. Qazi Hussain Ahmed said if the present government was education-friendly in true sense; it should properly focus the education sector, as it was the most important sector.

Congratulating the students, he said "You are the future and Shaheens of Iqbal" adding. Be practical Muslims as in future you will be leading the country".

Addressing the students, Amir ul Azeem said being Muslims you should be prepared for leadership role in future.

Ashraf Sohna said the present government was taking practical steps for welfare of the students.

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LCWU student honoured
Lahore: Amina Zafar, Lecturer, Department of Environmental Science, Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), has received the "National Youth Award 2009" for her outstanding achievements in the field of environment. The award carries cash amount of Rs 50,000, shield and certificate of performance. The news

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