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Academic session 'Sept-May'to stay
Islamabad, Feb 06, 2008: The caretaker government has decided not to revive the
previous academic session of April to March leaving this matter for the newly
elected government to decide.
Earlier, the Ministry of Education was
considering to revive the previous academic year of April to March 31 on the
increasing demands of the parents, students and teachers which the government
had enforced from the last year.
All the representative organisations of the
schools from private as well as public sector have demanded to alter the
prevailing academic year, as that session of September1 to May 31 is not
compatible with the weather conditions of the country and affecting the
performance of the students.
According to the current academic year the
students take their examination in May, which is the hottest month of the year
and not suitable time for examination as heavy load-shedding is routine of these
months which disrupts the students' preparations for exams.
Sources revealed
that this year the examinations would be held in May instead of March. The
caretaker set-up also has left the matter of finalisation of Education Policy
2008 to the next elected government, which was to be presented before the
cabinet for approval in January of this year. The Nation
Inter-provincial ministerial conference fails to satisfy millions of students
Karachi, Feb 05, 2008: The 12th
Inter-Provincial Ministers Conference has failed to decide the date of the new
academic session in the country, as Caretaker Federal Minister for Education
Shams Lakha and all caretaker provincial ministers for education kept themselves
away from taking of the decision to start the new academic session from April 1,
2008, official sources said here on Monday.
Caretaker Federal
Minister for Education Shams Lakha presided over the Conference at Sindh
Secretariat in which as many as 30 officials, including all caretaker provincial
ministers for education, chairpersons of examination boards and textbooks
boards, education secretaries and other government high-ups
participated.
The source said that 12 officials out of total 30 participants
attended simply from the federal capital.
The conference was of the view
that there is a dire need to keep up 'O' and 'A' level system in the country. It
is pertinent to mention that this was decided in the last Inter-Provincial
Ministers Conference in 2005, that the educational standard at the government
schools would be enhanced in accordance with 'O' and 'A' level system, existing
in the country.
Speaking at a press briefing, held after the conference, the
caretaker federal education minister said the new academic session would start
as per existing schedule while new government would decide about any change in
the academic session. He said, "all the four provinces will work out for further
four weeks and prepare a paper to facilitate the next government in taking a
decision regarding the change in academic session.
"This was not an easy job
to change the date of the academic session because such decision will affect
millions of the families in the country. The federal ministry and the provincial
ministries will endeavour jointly on this front as they are doing so", he
said.
"All provinces are agreed on the national curriculum, which is highly
appreciable, while the academic studies from 2009 will be based on new national
curriculum. All the textbooks are being published as per the new curriculum and
will be available from August 2008 in the country," Shams Lakha added.
To a
query, Caretaker Provincial Minister for Education and Literacy Shujat Ali Baig
said the government was taking strict action against ghost teachers and the EDOs
were directed to take notice of such teachers. However, the government
functionalises nearly 1,000 out of 8,000 non-functional schools in Sindh, he
said.
According to the source, Shujat Ali Baig did not play his due role in
context of taking the decision of starting the new academic session from April
1, 2008, while the educational ministers of other provinces were agreed upon the
new academic session from April 1. Conversely, the meeting of the steering
committee and the stakeholders belonging to Sindh were in favour of the said
date of the session. The Nation
'Academic session change to be decided by new govt'
Karachi: The current educational session (starting August 1) will continue
for the time being, and the decision to alter it would be left up to the new
elected government that comes in after the February 18 general elections,
caretaker Federal Minister for Education Shams Qasim Lakha said.
The
decision was taken Monday at the 12th Inter-Provincial Education Ministers
Conference (IPEMC) that held at the Sindh Secretariat after a lapse of three
years. The last IPEMC was held December 2005.
At a press conference held
later, Lakha said that a host of issues were discussed during the IPMEC, and
representatives of all four provinces presented concrete arguments. The
caretaker government, however, has no legal powers to change the academic
session, Lakha said, adding that the existing academic session would continue
and the new session for the year 2008 would start on August 1 and September 1
across the country.
Meanwhile, provincial education departments would
prepare an in-depth study of the outcome of the meeting and would submit it to
the next elected government. "We have only 14 days left before the next
government comes in," Lakha said, "If we announce a change in the academic
calendar now, 47 days of study would be lost and books approved in the new
scheme of study would not be ready for students."
The new academic
syllabus, the federal minister said, had been prepared via consensus from all
four provinces, and would be implemented in the year 2009.
Books would be
published on time, and will be available in the market before the start of the
new academic session, Punjab Education Minister Mira Phailbus said, while Lakha
maintained that publishing books was a provincial matter and directives had been
issued to the departments concerned.
Also, he said, education is not
purely a provincial matter and there has been consensus in Monday's session. All
stakeholders, including FATA, FANA, provincial education departments,
examination boards, the National Institute of Science and Technology, and
education officials of Azad Kashmir, have been taken into confidence.
'O'
and 'A' levels cannot be done away with immediately, and are needed till the
country's local system of education comes up to that level, Federal Secretary
Education Jehnagir Bashar said.
Meanwhile, caretaker Sindh Education
Minister Shujaat Ali Beg denied allegations relating to commission being
demanded from publishers.
He also spoke about 8,000 non-functional
schools, and said that a deadline has been issued to EDOs concerned and they
have been asked to make these schools functional. Around 1,000 schools had
started functioning again after the interference of education department
officials, Beg said, adding that no transfers and postings have been made in the
Sindh education department. The News
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| Education News | | Updated: 09 Feb, 2012 |
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