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Karachi University MS, PhD programs' delay
Timings, dearth of resources may delay MS/PhD classes
Karachi, Dec 15: The MS and PhD programs of University of Karachi (KU) are likely to face a delay as university teachers
have opposed holding the programs until the availability of basic resources and
formulating flexible timings for classes.
"Karachi University Teachers
Society (KUTS) has unanimously opposed holding classes of MS and PhD as it is a
tough task to spare time for taking doctoral classes besides teaching in the
morning and evening shifts," a highly placed source in Board of Advances Studies
and Research (BASR) said.
He said that BASR had proposed
timings between 9:00 am to 2:00 pm for the one-year course work of MS classes as
well as of PhD. "KUTS views that the proposed timings are in conflict with the
morning shift at the university which starts at 8:00 am and ends at around 2:00
pm," the source added. He said that the timings would be a problem when the
second year of the MS program starts where the candidates will have to write a
thesis.
"At present, each KU department has two or three Higher Education
Commission (HEC) recommended supervisors for research work. It will be
impossible for the supervisors to simultaneously manage teachings shifts of the
university and to guide candidates during their thesis," the source said.
Apart from the time management issue, the availability of resources and
separate classes for doctoral degrees may also delay the starting of the
session. The separate block meant for the MS and PhD classes is still under
construction.
With classes commencing from January 1, 2009, the
university has issued the final lists of candidates for MS and PhD courses. Some
1,600 candidates have been selected in 53 departments of arts, science and
pharmacy faculties for doctoral degrees.
Dean Faculty of Science Prof
Shahana Urooj Kazmi is heading the committee for MS and PhD admissions. She
opines that time management should not be a problem for the doctoral classes as
the candidates have to attend two courses at their chosen departments and two at
any other department as per need of their course work. "This will ease the load
on the teachers and they will be able to adjust their timings for the
classes."
Kazmi said that the timing issue has emerged because it is the
first time that admissions in the MS and PhD programs were given simultaneously
while earlier the doctoral degree admissions remained open throughout the
year.
'Issues to be settled before MS/PhD classes'
Karachi: Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS) said that all
issues should be settled before the start of MS and PhD classes. A KUTS
spokesperson said that the teachers have no problems in taking classes but the
schedule should not exhaust the teachers either. The spokesman also said that
necessary resources like a separate block for doctoral classes does not exist
and it should be made to ensure that candidates hand in quality research work.
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Edu dept to include BB, others in syllabus
Karachi: The Sindh Education department has taken the decision to include the profiles of important
personalities and their works along with major historical events in the
syllabus.
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, G M Syed and Hosh
Muhammad Sheedi are some of the personalities who would have chapters dedicated
to them in textbooks.
The Sindh education ministry has directed the
curriculum wing of the education department and concerned officials with
recommendations to take appropriate steps in this regard so the policy can
materialize.
Apart from personalities, important events like the case of
Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar presented at Khaliqdina Hall, the resolution passed
in the Sindh Assembly in the favour of the creation of Pakistan and other
important events will, also be included in the text syllabus.
Education
experts will be consulted for making the syllabus more in line with the modern
times. The sources also said that a director will be appointed in the curriculum
wing in this regard and soon a meeting will be called where high officials will
take part and a decision will be taken.
Sindh Minister for Education Pir
Mazhar-ul-Haq has confirmed the inclusion of personalities and their work in the
text syllabus. He said that personalities that will be considered are the ones
that have worked for the welfare of the people and the province so that the new
generation would get to know the real value of these people. Daily Times
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Is selection for govt jobs credible?
Karachi: Interviews of hundreds of people from interior Sindh were
conducted on Sunday at the Sindh Home Department for vacancies in the District
Public Police Safety Commission. These candidates, however, were not hired even
after passing through several tests and fulfilling the criteria.
Sources said that these interviews were a mere formality because after this
process, a list of "selected" candidates will be provided to the authorities
concerned for issuing job letters.
The officers took a whole day to
conduct interviews at the Sindh Home Department. Most interviewees had come from
Larkana and Sukkur after incurring huge expenses. None of them would be hired,
though. It may be noted that the authorities had recently invited candidates for
a similar exercise at the Civic Centre and other places but none of the
candidates was hired, and the fate of these applicants remains unknown. The News
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Karachi University plans institute for printing education
Karachi: Plans are afoot to transform the University of Karachi's Bureau of Compilation, Composition and Translation (BCC&T) Press, which
turned 50 in 2007, into a fully-fledged institute that would impart education
pertaining to the printing process as well as the maintenance of rare and
damaged books, it was learnt.
Professor Dr Mansoor Ahmad, the current
director of the bureau, told this reporter that the university wanted to make
the BCC&T not only the country's first centre for printing education, but
also an institute that would teach the rules of translation, compilation and
composition, while students would also be taught techniques on how to maintain
library books and scientifically preserve rare manuscripts.
Asked when he
envisaged the institute to be launched, Dr Ahmad, who took over as head of the
bureau 10 months ago, said 2010 was being considered for the potential launch.
"The vice-chancellor is taking keen interest in this project. The course and the
syllabus are in the process of being thrashed out, though right now the progress
is not very fast. We aim to produce something at par with international
standards."
About the BCC&T's current activities, the director said
that the bureau acquired modern printing machines in 1989 and now, along with
meeting the university's publishing requirements, it is also operating the press
on a commercial basis, taking on external projects from across Pakistan, as it
is the only institution of its kind in the country's public and private sector
universities.
"We also translate into different languages, not just from
Urdu to English and vice versa. We also translate to and from German and
Persian," said Dr Ahmad. The original mandate of the bureau, established in
1957, was to formulate relevant Urdu expressions for English terms, publish
teachers' lectures, books and translations.
He added that the bureau
publishes textbooks, as well as a monthly magazine titled Jareeda. One of the
BCC&T's bigger machines is capable of printing 5,000 pages per hour. The
bureau also publishes international journals on botany, Urdu, Arabic and
chemistry, amongst other subjects.
When asked if the focus on publishing
external literature on a commercial basis was taking the priority away from
research publications, Dr Mansoor Ahmed claimed that this was not so and that
academic work was getting due attention at the bureau. When asked to give an
estimate of the BCC&T's yearly publications, he said offhand he could not
come up with a number, "but it goes into the crores (of rupees)."
He
admitted that during the past few years the bureau had seen some lean days,
however, he said efforts were on to make it as productive as possible. When it
was pointed out that the Bureau of Compilation, Composition and Translation's
50th anniversary passed off without being noticed last year, he said something
would be planned to mark the event befittingly.
Publishing houses
attached to universities are part of a venerable global academic tradition, for
some of the world's leading varsities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton and
Harvard all have notable presses. Closer to home, the Scientific Society of
Aligarh, founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in the mid 19th century, played an
integral part in making modern scientific literature available to Muslims of the
subcontinent. Dawn
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| Education News | | Updated: 23 May, 2012 |
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