Punjab private colleges degree programmes

HEC Four-year degree programmes
Lahore, Aug 24: The four-year degree programme being offered in universities for the last many years on special directions of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) is yet to be introduced at public sector degree colleges where students have no option but to follow a two-year degree programme.

The delay has been irking students and their parents who argue that college students are at a clear disadvantage as compared to the university students, especially at the time of seeking jobs and for further study abroad. They also argue that the delay has also been leading toward more different systems of education in a country which has already various types of educational systems.

A couple of years ago, the Punjab government was aggressively working on introduction of four-year BA/BSc programmes in public sector colleges of the province and 26 colleges were also identified for this purpose. The government had planned to launch the programme from 2008 academic session in these colleges, however, after a few meetings, the Punjab Education Department totally forgot the task, leaving the situation to get worse.

It is pertinent to mention here that the HEC had been claiming to take the initiative regarding the launch of four-year degree programme to bring universal recognition and compatibility to the Pakistani bachelor's degree.

The HEC had also organised different meetings, inviting all the provinces for their feedback in this connection but to no avail. According to sources in the HEC, the plan of introducing a four-year honors programme in public sector degree colleges was delayed because of a controversy over the mode of examination, inadequate and ill-equipped libraries, lack of teachers' training and poor condition of laboratories.

A senior official, seeking anonymity, said that above all a lot of money was required to launch the four-year programme in colleges across the country, adding that it was only because of inadequate funds that the programme could not take off in colleges.

The official said there was no plan to execute four-year degree abruptly but to be brought about in a phased manner, initially through degree colleges to be identified and developed by the provincial governments. He further said the provinces too seemed reluctant in this regard, adding that lethargic attitude on their part was also a major problem in the implementation this programme.

It is important to mention here that according to the minutes of the 8th meeting of the Steering Committee of Provincial Education Secretaries held on July 7, 2008, it was decided that the model to be finalized by the Punjab government in connection with the four-year degree programme would be provided to other provinces.

The sources in the Punjab Higher Education Department said that during the last one and a half year a number of administrative changes were witnessed in the department owing to which this issue was almost forgotten. They said the public sector universities had refused to accept the model of the department on the plea it was not possible, keeping in view the semester system in universities and annual system of examination in affiliated colleges.

Additional Secretary (Academics) of the Punjab Higher Education Department Muhammad Akram Chaudhry, when contacted, said the universities were not ready to accept model presented by the department as they pointed out issues related to examination, faculty and facilities at colleges. He claimed later it was decided that the universities, including the Punjab University, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, and Islamia University, Bahawalpur, would provide a model to the department upon which further working would be done to launch the programme.

Akram Chaudhry also claimed that the department had once again taken up the matter and would work hard for introduction of the four-year degree programme, initially, in 26 selected colleges of the province.

Post your comments

Entrance test for engineering institutions held
Lahore: The combined entrance test for admission to the engineering institutions of Punjab was held at various centers across the country on Sunday.

UET Deputy Registrar (Public Relations) Muhammad Irfan said a total of 24920 candidates appeared in the test out of which 10700 candidates appeared at UET Lahore, 4800 at UET Taxila, 4400 at Multan, 1300 at Bahawalpur, 2300 at NFC Faisalabad, 580 at NED Karachi, 710 at NWFP Peshawar and 130 at Quetta. It is pertinent to mention that this year UET introduced a self-marking scheme. All candidates were given a duplicate copy of the answer sheet while the key to the questions would be uploaded on the website www.uet.edu.pk at midnight of August 23.

Earlier, in the morning a number of people including parents, guardians and relatives of the candidates protested against the UET administration for "poor" arrangements.

However, UET deputy registrar claimed that the varsity had made maximum arrangements to facilitate parents and guardians of the candidates. "However it was not expected that 3 or 4 people would come with one candidate", he added.

It is important to mention that Punjab Minster for Excise & Taxation and Education Mian Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman was scheduled to visit the UET Lahore, however, he failed to visit the place.

Post your comments

Distinction
Lahore: Mahym Mansoor of Kinnaird College for Women has secured a bronze medal in the 20th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) held in Tsukuba, Japan, from 12 July to 19 July, 2009. She was among the four Pakistani students who were selected for this science Olympiad through a programme called National Science Talent Contest (NSTC) held under the supervision of the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

Post your comments

Teachers protest
The Joint Action Committee of Asataza Punjab has demanded the Punjab chief minister take notice of the issuance of show cause notices to teachers by the Schools secretary and the alleged registration of fake cases by the EDO Education against some schoolteachers in Okara. The news

Post your comments