Sindh University LLB degree | KU drivers' strike

Five-year LLB course introduced at SU
Hyderabad, Feb 21: Sindh University Vice Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui inaugurated the newly introduced five-year LLB degree programme under the Institute of Law on Friday.

The vice-chancellor said that education of law was important because without laws, human rights of an individual could not be protected. He said that education and justice were foundations of society and added that without education and justice, sustainable development in society could not be expected.

He said that by opening the institute the university had made an effort to provide quality education in law to youth. He said that all possible facilities would be provided to students of law and expressed the hope that the students after completing their education would serve the society.

The quality of teaching depended on the quality of faculty, Mr Siddiqui said and expressed the hope that faculty members of the institute would perform their duty with devotion and dedication.

He said that he would request honourable judges to visit the institute and deliver lectures.

Director, Institute of Law, Professor Mohammad Yousuf Leghari, gave the details of subjects and faculty members.

He said that the University of Sindh was the first university of the country which had introduced five-year LLB degree programme. He said that competent lawyers would serve the institute as visiting faculty.

Professor Leghari, who is also the advocate-general of Sindh, announced that regular classes would begin from Feb 23 at the university's Metharam Hostel in Hyderabad.

Dean, Faculty of Law, Professor Ahmed Ali Shaikh, said that five-year LLB degree programme was launched in the universities of Europe in 1996. He expressed the hope that through the programme, competent lawyers would be produced. Dawn

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Karachi University drivers' strike enters 3rd day
Karachi: The management of Karachi University (KU) has failed to resume point-bus service for students and employees, as staffers of transport department continued their strike against beating of their colleague.

KU administration, including the transport committee in-charge is being criticized in the campus over its failure to restore transport facility as per routine, The Nation learned.

Karachi University Employees Welfare Association is trying to defuse the issue emerged on February 18 after some students, allegedly belonging to a political organisation, severely tortured KU bus driver, Nazir, at the zoology department in collaboration with a KU employee, Hameed, who had an old rivalry with the victim.

As the association failed to resolve the issue, the transport service could not be restored.

The KU students, who availed the transportation regularly, said they were facing immense problems to reach the varsity in time. The strike has forced them, especially the girl students, either stay at home and face irreparable academic loss or avail public transport after paying huge charges.

KU Transport Committee In-charge, Dr Zulqarnain Shadab, said the administration had already issued a show cause notice to accused Hameed.

"Only 27 point-buses are available at the campus to provide service to over 24,000 students of the university belonging to various parts of the City. The transport system covers only 22 per cent of the total students and the rest depends on public transport or use their own conveyance. Therefore, this is not fair to say that transport strike has reduced the attendance during strike", he said. The Nation

Dawn's spelling bee winners get prizes
Karachi: After interesting sessions and tough contests among well-prepared students, the national championship round of the 5th Dawn in Education Spelling Bee Contest concluded on Friday.

The Roots School System (9-11 age group), The City School (12-14 age group) and Generation's School (15-17 age group) emerged as the winners.

The winning students in the 9 to 11 age group are: Liaba Ejaz (champion, Roots School System, Lahore), Saad-uz-Zaman (1st runner-up, Aitchison College, Lahore) and Nimra Farooq (2nd runner-up Army Public School, Lahore).

In the 12 to 14 age group, the winners are: Amna Ahmed (champion, Generation's School, Karachi), Zainab Shahid (1st runner-up, Lahore Grammar School) and Ghana Ansari (2nd runner-up, Islamabad Convent School).

In the 15-17 age group, the winners are: Samrah Jamil (champion, The City School, North Nazimabad branch), Syeda Hafsa Sarwar (1st runner-up, Generation's School, Karachi) and Mahnoor Javed (2nd runner-up, Lahore Grammar School).

Around 4500 students from KARACHI: Winners of the 5th Dawn in Education National Spelling Bee Championships (15-17 age group)

over 650 schools and colleges from all over the country took part in the competition organised by Dawn Media Group in collaboration with Djuice Telenor (Pakistan). The district and regional rounds were held over the past few weeks in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. The Oxford University Press (OUP) acted as the facilitator for organising judges and prizes.

"The student participation has increased considerably since 2005 when the first National Spelling Championship was conducted as part of Dawn in Education Programme. This year 48 schools from the interior of Sindh participated and, for the first time, we had representation from Balochistan, too," said programme coordinator Fizza Rizvi.

The prizes were distributed by Syed Ali Rizvi, corporate sales manager-South Telenor; Adnan Hasan, regional director sales and distribution-South Telenor; Ameena Saiyed, Masood Hamid, director marketing Dawn and managing director, Oxford University Press. Dawn

Annual function of DA Montessori
Karachi: The annual function of the Defence Authority (DA) Montessori – II took place at the auditorium of the Defence College for Men on Friday.

The programme comprised nursery rhymes, songs and tableaus and a presentation on 'Rights and Responsibilities', which was well received by the audience.

DHA Education Director, Brig (retd) Iftikhar Arshad Khan, who was the chief guest at the event, said that education of children is the best form of investment. He stressed that teachers should take good care of children and must handle them with affection and tenderness.

Ayesha Wasty, the principal of the school, said that children in Montessori are provided with healthy and colourful environment at school so that their emotional and psychological needs could be met. She further added that a child at Montessori enjoys creative freedom and is allowed to explore different things.

The event ended with the prize distribution ceremony, while the chief guest also announced a donation of Rs30, 000 for the school. The News

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Languages struggling for existence
Karachi: On the eve of the United Nations (UN) International Mother Language Day being celebrated today (Saturday), Sindhi language and linguistics experts insisted that the government and the general public give equal importance to global languages and regional languages.

Some of the language experts linked the extinction of regional languages to the economical crisis. "Due to the global economic crisis, a great number of people have been forced to migrate from rural areas to urban centres, where the language of business and communication is not their mother tongue. They have to adapt and communicate in the more popular languages of the urban centres, leaving their native tongue behind. Thus, if the economic crisis continues, it will entirely change the basis of mother languages, especially minor languages including Dhakti, Marwari, Gujarati, Kachi and Kalami," said Dr Om Prakash, a Sindhi language expert. "I personally believe that the economic crisis will hit these languages first before major regional languages, including Sindhi."

He added that this does not mean that the masses should not adopt and speak the popular languages of urban centres such as Urdu and English, however, while using these languages, they should preserve their regional mother tongue as well. Just like in other parts of the world, the UN International Mother Language Day for is being celebrated in Pakistan. The UN declared the day for mother languages as an international day in 1999 and since then the day has also been celebrated in Pakistan. Talking about the importance of languages, another Sindhi language expert and renowned columnist, Manzoor Mirani, said that besides the economic crisis, the environmental degradation is also affecting regional languages. "Due to the increasing population and the economic crises, several species of birds, animals and plants are disappearing from our land and, thus, the names of these species will not be a part of our languages anymore," he said. He demanded that the federal government and the Government of Sindh should work to promote local and regional languages, enforce the existing laws for the preservation of these languages and should support all those institutions working for the preservation of local languages.

Renowned young intellectual, Masood Lohar, said that in today's modern age, besides the importance of mother languages, universal and market languages such as English also have an importance that cannot be neglected. "A child can learn several languages at the same time, so it is necessary for parents to let their children learn global languages such as English beside their native language, otherwise, they will have a difficult time being successful in the future," he said, adding that no one can deny the importance of international mainstream languages.

Despite the fact that is has been a while since Pakistan was established, regional languages of the four provinces that include Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi and Siraiki have not yet gotten a national status, whereas in Europe, India and other countries, there are several national languages.

"As a part of a planned conspiracy, the regional and local languages spoken by the vast majority were not given their due status," said famous lawyer Ayaz Latif Palejo. Quoting Article 251 of the international declaration of human rights, he said that national language is protected but at the same time the declaration also guarantees the preservation and promotion of the mother language and culture of every person. He demanded that the government make amendments and declare at least six languages as national languages of Pakistan. He suggested that Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi and Siraiki, besides Urdu, be declared national languages. "Besides declaring these regional languages as national languages, the government must use these languages in state procedures and should amend civil court procedures to include these languages as well," he added.

Anthropologist Ishaq Mangrio said that all the languages have equal importance and each language will grow with its own speed. He added that no one can marginalise regional languages.

Different organisations have planned to celebrate the International Mother Language Day to highlight the importance of mother languages. Sindhi Adabai Sangat, in collaboration with civil society organisations, has planned to commemorate the day throughout Sindh. It has planned a gathering of writers, social and political activists, intellectuals and individuals at the Culture Department Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium near the MPA hostel today (Saturday). Daily Times

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