Punjab colleges first year admission forms

SSC students up for 'admission contest'
Lahore, Aug 09: With the declaration of secondary school certificate (matriculation) annual examinations for 2011 results by all the eight boards, students are frantically visiting all top colleges and universities to purchase and submit admission forms to secure admissions to first year classes in the institutions of their choice.

As the results show that students have obtained very high marks ranging over and around 90 per cent (thanks to the objective-type questions), the competition is tough for securing seats particularly in pre-medical and pre-engineering disciplines. The contest will get tougher, as the top scorers from other seven boards also apply for admission to universities in Lahore. In other major cities of Punjab, though merit will be low in colleges the competition to secure seats will remain tough.

As there are quite less seats available in public sector universities and colleges particularly the top institutions, the students are submitting admission forms to various colleges as well as different disciplines to secure admissions by chance – if not by choice.

Besides public sector universities, private sector colleges have also opened admissions to their intermediate programmes offering a wide range of disciplines including science, humanities, commerce and computer.

The rush in universities and colleges shows that there is an acute shortage of higher education facilities as compared to the number of applicants. Though the private sector colleges are shouldering the burden, there is a persistent complaint about their ever-soaring fees. The private colleges, which have earned a repute of imparting relatively quality education, keep on exploiting students â€" financially.

As many as 120,977 students have qualified the matriculation annual examination from Lahore board alone that include 12,998 carrying A+ grades and 17,334 students A grades. While, there are only 70 colleges in Lahore division, including some 36 colleges in Lahore districts besides universities and degree-awarding institutions offering intermediate level education.

Student Muhammad Asim, an aspirant for Government College University, said he was applying with A+ marks but not sure that he would get admission to the varsity's engineering discipline. He said the need was that the Punjab government should set up or upgrade colleges that could offer quality education on a par with GCU, FC College and LUMS, so that at least all A+ and A graders could get quality education.

However, students' trends show that everybody wants to be admitted to renowned colleges and many of them (who can afford exorbitant fees) even turn to known private sector colleges to seek quality education. While a large majority of public sector colleges complete their admissions much after the closure of admissions to top public sector institutes, a large number of students are accommodated in most (low priority) colleges.

There were persistent complaints in previous years that students even pay fees on getting admissions to certain colleges and wait for the merit lists in other relatively better colleges. In certain cases, they get admissions to better colleges and keep on blocking the seats, where they had submitted fees. The colleges neither refund fees nor cross off students' names, who did not join and the seat eventually fall vacant after three months, when everybody gets settled.

Though the higher education department never identified such vacant seats nor took remedial measures, the department has this year introduced online admissions to 24 colleges in nine districts, including eight colleges in Lahore.

While hundreds of thousands of students are busy in seeking admissions to colleges, a good number of students are still running from pillar to post to get their results corrected from their respective boards after finding discrepancies, while others are applying in the wake of rumours, which in some cases turns out true. The board offices remained open on Sunday to rectify students' complaints. Dawn

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LCWU extends admission forms date
Lahore: Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) on Monday extended the date to obtain and submit admission forms for Intermediate classes till August 12, 2011.

Earlier, the varsity had set till August 9 as the last date for receiving and submission of admission forms.

LCWU Vice Chancellor Dr Sabiha Mansoor allowed the extension on account of bad weather.

A spokesman for the varsity said prospectus along with forms were available at specific branches of The Bank of Punjab (BoP) and could be received at LCWU Campus till August 12 during working hours. The first merit list will be displayed on August19.

Meanwhile, sources in the Higher Education Department said the department was likely to issue direction to government colleges to extend the dates for receiving and submission of forms for admission to intermediate classes in the wake of weather conditions with heavy rains in different parts of the province. The news

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PMA rejects evening shift
Lahore: All branches of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) have strongly rejected the 'so-called and self-made' proposal of the federal government to start evening classes at public and private medical colleges of the country. Talking to reporters at the PMA House here on Sunday, PMA office-bearers called it an attempt to destroy medical education standard and future of thousands of students and warned of the government an "un-ending and vigorous" country-wide agitation if the government tried to materialise this plan.

The office-bearers of all the main branches of the PMA including general-secretary (centre) Dr Mirza Ali Azhar, joint-secretary (centre) Dr Shahid Malik, treasurer Dr. Qaisar Sajjad, Punjab chapter president Prof Dr Ashraf Nizami, Lahore chapter president Dr Tanveer Anwar, general-secretary Dr. Izhar Chaudhry and Young Doctors Association Pakistan Secretary-General Dr Salman Kazmi were present.

"A high-power commission should immediately be formed to look into the affairs of medical education in public and private sector and role of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) as a regulatory body," Dr Azhar said.

He demanded reconstitution of the PMDC with powers to act as autonomous and independent body against groups having obvious vested interests in the medical profession. Dr Azhar said some federal government officials were making "underhand deal" to start evening shift at public and private medical and dental colleges to watch the interests of a "specified group" behind the move.

"The PMA believes that all manipulations like decision of initiating evening shift are based on unscrupulous and unethical practices. There is strong lobby in the government which is playing foul at the cost of health of poor patients and the medical education," he said. He said the PMA was not against private medical colleges, but it always demanded that all public and private medical colleges be established under the rules set by the PMDC.

Unfortunately, he said, the PMDC had been granting permission to medical colleges in violation of its own rules. At the moment, there are 108 medical colleges registered all over the country and many more are in the pipeline, he said. These colleges were short of facilities, including proper faculty, or they did not have good teaching hospitals attached with them for imparting training to students as prescribed by the PMDC.

In these circumstances, Dr Azhar said, the efforts to launch evening classes at medical colleges meant to play havoc with not only the future of students but the lives of patients. This fact could not be ignored that there was not even a single private medical college in United Kingdom, Ireland and Scotland.

"As the medical education is a full-time job, we fail to understand how the students will be accommodated in evening classes and what would be the format of these classes. Which faculty will look them after and what would be the modus operandi of the clinical teaching as all OPDs, clinics and surgeries take place in the morning hours," he said.

By starting evening classes, the federal government is going to make a mess of medical education which ultimately may destroy the institutions, he warned. He said it would open the doors of corruption at every level. It would be a big blow to entire medical education system.

"The PMA condemns the idea of establishing evening medical colleges," Dr Nizami said. He called it a burning issue and sought immediate intervention of the President and the Prime Minster to look into it.

Dr Shahid Malik said the issue of evening shift came to the surface in the month of March 2011 when Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences vice-chancellor was required to give a presentation at PMDC's 118th meeting to be held on April 3, 2011. The medical community acted immediately as the PMA called a press conference on March 28, 2011 at Karachi and strongly criticised this move. Then again on April 1, 2011, the association called another press conference and informed the government regarding disastrous effects of this plan on medical education in the country. Similarly, he said, the Punjab chapter of the PMA had also expressed its resentment over the issue in a press conference in Lahore.

According to new development, Dr Shahid said, the government in connivance with some federal ministers was again planning to start evening shift classes in public and medical colleges which was evident from a letter (No 1014/PSPM/2011 dated June 15, 2011) issued by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister to materialise this proposal.

He warned that the medical community would not allow the government and the PMDC at any cost to fulfill the designs of some influential people, who wanted introducing evening shift merely for want of money. Dawn

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VC felicitates IUB media students
Bahawalpur: The Islamia University of Bahawalpur vice chancellor said that the varsity's Media Studies Department had been glorifying the name of the university and its students had been achieving prominent distinctions in various competitions at national level.

It may be recalled that the IUB Media Studies Department's documentary "Papa Ghar Par Nahin Hain" secured second position among six short listed productions in the Transparency International Pakistan's Intervarsity/Colleges Documentary Competition.

In this connection, a prize distribution ceremony was held at Karachi, in which Dr. Abdul Wajid Khan, Agha Sadaf Mehdi and student Muhammad Faraz represented IUB.

On the occasion, the VC felicitated the production team on this exclusive distinction and has said that the students of IUB were not behind any of the public or private sector university of the country.

The VC also advised chairman of Media Studies Department Dr. Ghulam Shabbir Baloch to produce an exclusive documentary of the IUB.

He also congratulated the Sports Director Amjad Farooq for his nomination to be part of the national squad representing Pakistan in the 26th World Universiade Games in China.

The Higher Education Commission has included him in the contingent as Manager of the HEC Judo Team in the games being held in Shenzhen, China from 12th to 23rd August 2011.

His nomination in the China bound squad has been hailed in the sports circle of Bahawalpur and affiliated institution of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur with the hope that this sequence will continue further and IUB players will keep on achieving honour for their university. The nation

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AFAQ encyclopaedias
Lahore: In order to provide knowledge to young students, the Association For Academic Quality (AFAQ) is developing and publishing a creative set of encyclopaedias on personalities, countries, inventions and animals on monthly basis.

The AFAQ has so far published 48 issues of encyclopaedias in Urdu, English and Arabic and presented in Sri Lanka, UK, Dubai, America, and Malaysia besides Pakistan.

Association's spokesman Saqib Hameed says the AFAQ Encyclopaedias offer unique information on various topics. It presents exciting new information and learning activities for children aged between seven and 13. He says this encyclopaedia instills a look-it-up habit and captures the imagination of young children with engaging photography, artwork, and information on the topics they love.

With articles by scholars from around the world, this set takes an interdisciplinary look at the institutions and practices of societies throughout history. The spokesman says the encyclopaedias are the perfect tool for homework assignments, building research skills, and making learning fun for children.

Mr Hameed says the encyclopaedia presents social, cultural and political history of world from antiquity to the present day.

"The AFAQ encyclopaedia is the first to document and interpret every work, major and minor, that has played a role in the history of world. It is by no means a routine, mechanical exercise in fact-finding but a creative activity," he said.

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GCU debating summer camp
Lahore: The Government College University Debating Society has launched a National Debates Summer Camp to train the young aspiring students in the art of English and Urdu parliamentary-style debates.

Former GCU Debating Society president Barrister Omer Mehmood Khan, who has won a record number of awards at national and international parliamentary debates, will coach students in public speaking at the one-month summer camp.

GCU Debating Society co-adviser Muhammad Saddique Awan says registration for the summer camp is open till Monday (today), 2pm while the camp will be inaugurated on Tuesday (tomorrow). He says the summer camp is totally free-of-cost and open for all students who belong to GCU or anywhere else.

"The objective of this free-of-cost summer camp is to gather young students from diverse backgrounds under one roof and train them in the art of public speaking." Dawn

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