BS (Hons) degree programme in Punjab colleges
'BS (hons) to ensure quality education'
Lahore, Aug 07: Secretary Higher Education Punjab Ahad Khan Cheema said
that the introduction of new BS (Hons) programme in 26 colleges of the
province was an initiative to ensure quality education and
capacity-building of students at the existing tuition fee structure. Addressing
students and teachers at the auditorium of Government MAO College on
Friday, he said the standard of higher education was deteriorating in
colleges for which steps have been taken to save it from total collapse.
The moot was organised as part of a campaign launched by the department
to remove misconceptions about the new BS (Hons) programme. He
said the government had initially allocated an additional budget of Rs
250 million to meet the expenditure on human resource and infrastructure
development in this aspect. He added the tuition fee would remain the
same while the universities charged Rs 50,000 per annum and over Rs
150,000 by the private institutions for BS (Hons) programme. The
Secretary Higher Education further said the establishment of
laboratories, libraries and faculty would commensurate with the demand
of the semester based BS (Hons) studies in colleges adding nowhere in
the world, a college was without BS (Hons). Answering a
question, he said there was no truth in reports that 26 colleges were
being privatised and the teachers and staff would be dislocated. He
said the government had given financial and administrative autonomy to
the colleges only through BoGs so that the college administration could
take decisions for faculty development and other local expenditure for
uninterrupted disbursement of education. This pattern is
followed world-wide wherein higher educational institutions enjoy
autonomy and are free from cumbersome governmental procedures, he added.
Ahad Khan Cheema further said instead of giving power to one
person, the collective wisdom of BoGs would make decisions adding 75
percent of BoGs would comprise senior government officials. Principal
Government MAO College Prof Syed Irfan Hussain Zaidi said that MAO
College would introduce BS (Hons) in nine subjects of Science and Arts
while it already offers MA/MSc in six subjects. Additional Secretary
Yawar Hussain was also present on the occasion.
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PU research journals
Lahore: Punjab University (PU) Vice Chancellor
presided over a special meeting of the Research Journal Committee on
Friday to review status and improve standard of 31 journals of the
varsity. PU VC Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran asked all the editors to
keep their record up-to-date and maintain the same as per requirements
of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). The participants pointed out
lack of sufficient PU representation in various sub-committees
constituted by the HEC for recognition of varsity research journals. It
was noted that there was some hesitation on the part of faculty members
for getting their research papers published in the journals which were
not recognized by the HEC. The participants underlined the need for
holding of the HEC meeting frequently for early recognition of the
varsity research journals.
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UVAS employees protest
Lahore: Dozens of sacked employees of the University of Health
Sciences (UHS) staged a demonstration on Friday demanded of the Punjab
government to restore their jobs and award them salaries of past many
months. The demonstration was organised outside Lahore Press
Club. The protestors said it was unfortunate that despite assurances and
commitment of chief minister in the Punjab Assembly in June 2010,
nothing practical had been done to solve their problems. They said they
had ended their protest on various occasions following assurances form
elected representatives; however, they were compelled to take to the
road once again as none of the commitments made with them were honoured.
The protestors said their families were disturbed due to financial
problems after being jobless, adding the holy month of Ramazan was
approaching but no relief has been in sight.
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BISE employees demand raise
Lahore: The Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore's
employees continued protest against the board management on fifth
consecutive day on Friday for not implementing the federal government's
decision of 50 percent ad hoc increase in salaries. They observed Black
Day and staged a demonstration outside the office of the BISE Chairman
to express resentment by chanting slogans against the board management
and the government. The protestors said the employees of BISE Lahore
and Faisalabad were being denied 50 percent increase in salaries unlike
six other boards of the province. The news
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School of Professional Advancement launches new Masters programme
Lahore: An introduction seminar for the launch of Master in School
Management (MSM) was organised by the School of Professional Advancement
(SPA) at the University of Management and Technology (UMT) Lahore.
School heads and perspective school heads from the private and public
sectors were invited for a briefing of the major features of the MSM
program, followed by a complimentary lunch. Dr Naveed Yazdani, Director
SPA, provided a brief introduction of SPA. He highlighted the objectives
of setting up SPA and the scope of the programs offered by the School.
The MSM degree programme was highlighted by Mrs Farah Naz, the Programme
Head. She discussed the importance of the MSM program for the
professional enhancement of the school heads and senior teachers. Daily times
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UoG to organise ceremony for position holders
Gujrat: The University of Gujrat will organise a farewell party and cash prize
distribution ceremony in the honour of those students who secured top
positions in the BA/BSc and BCom examinations at Hafiz Hayat Campus on
August 9. University of Gujrat Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad
Nizamuddin would be the chief guest in the ceremony and would give away
cash prizes to the position holders. All the position holders and their
parents were invited to attend the ceremony. Meanwhile, the
University of Gujrat VC has launched a campaign for collecting relief
aid for the flood victims of the country at Hafiz Hayat Campus. Under
the directives issued by the Student Services Centre, a batch of 15
students from different departments had been directed to collect
donations.
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Lecturer not in secret agencies custody, court told
Lahore: The Ministry of Interior on Friday told the Lahore High
Court that a missing lecturer of the Islamia College, Jhang Road, Toba
Tek Singh was not in custody of any agency working under the domain of
the ministry. This was stated in a written reply on behalf of the
secretary interior submitted before the court of Chief Justice Khawaja
Muhammad Sharif in connection with a habeas corpus petition for the
recovery of Hafiz Tahir Mehmood. The secretary informed the court that
there were 15 agencies under his control but all of them denied the
custody of the missing teacher. At this, the chief justice sought a
report from the director general ISI, which fell under domain of the
Defence Ministry, by August 24 and directed a deputy attorney general to
ensure the submission of reply. The home secretary, Punjab, was again
directed to file a reply in this regard as he did not submit the same on
Friday. Parveen Akhter of TT Singh had filed the petition, stating that
on July 9, 2010 some 18/20 personnel of secret agencies in plain
clothes raided her house and held all inmates hostage. They tortured the
whole family and picked up her son Hafiz Tahir Mehmood, a lecturer in
Islamia College, Jhang Road, along with two guests, including Usman
Gujjar and Javed Anwar. She said the raiders introduced themselves as
personnel of secret agencies and refused to disclose any reason of their
action and arrest of the inmates. They also took away passport, credit
cards and all the belongings of Hafiz Tahir with them. The petitioner
said that the abductees had not been produced before any court of
competent jurisdiction and his whereabouts were not known to her. She
pointed out that on July 27 she, through a telephone call, was informed
that her son had gone mad in the custody of the personnel of agencies.
She expressed apprehensions that the personnel of the agencies might
kill her son in a fake police encounter as the practice had become an
order of the day. She prayed to the court to get her son recovered and
set him at liberty as he was not involved in any case. The news
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