Punjab university BA / BEd degree issue

PU stance leaves students perplexed
Lahore, Feb 27: The Punjab University has refused to grant equivalent status to the University of Education's BA/BEd degree with its BA degree, which has resulted in cancellation of a number of students' admission to various PU disciplines.

It is learnt that a number of UoE graduates having BA/BEd degree got admission to various departments of the Punjab University tendering an undertaking that they would provide equivalence certificate from the PU administration in due course of time.

Taking cognizance of the matter, the UoE administration has made a representation to the PU authorities and the case is reportedly being referred to the Equivalence Committee for a final decision.

As a few students who had got admission to PU's master's classes in different departments had applied for equivalence certificate for their degree, the Punjab University administration, only a couple of days ago, decided that the UoE BA/BEd degree could not be considered equivalent to the PU's BA degree.

According to a decision on the subject by the director of PU's Institute of Education and Research, "the UoE is requiring two years for completion of BA/BEd together whereas PU requires three years – two years for BA and one year for BEd. Hence, BA/BEd from UoE and BA from PU cannot be considered equal."

Soon after the decision, different departments have issued notices to the UoE graduates that their degrees were not granted equivalence and they were no more students of their respective departments.

Economics Department chairman Dr Hafeezur Rehman said the chances of regular admission of the UoE graduates were bleak as the university administration had refused to grant equivalence to the UoE degree.

He said five UoE graduates were granted provisional admission to the department as they gave an undertaking that they would submit their degree's equivalence certificate in due course of time. "As the PU has denied equivalence to the UoE degrees, these students' admission has been cancelled," he said.

UoE VC Prof Dr Munawar S. Mirza said the university would soon sort out the matter as it has done nothing wrong. She claimed that UoE's BA/BEd programme was better than many programmes being offered by various other universities.

Stating that people do not understand when an institution launches a new programme, Prof Mirza said the university had condensed the three-year programme into a two-and-a-half-year course. She said the PU itself was running four-year BBIT programme in three years, while a number of private universities were running two-year programmes in less than one-and-a-half-year.

The UoE VC said the PU got confused over the session duration and double-degree name. "The UoE had abolished summer, winter and spring vacation and completed the number of study days, periods and semesters and there is no deficiency," she claimed.

She said it's a practice the world over that universities organise summer semesters, while some universities organise two semesters of eight to nine weeks to facilitate their students.

She said the university had held extensive consultation meetings with the stakeholders and then finally gave a presentation to them all at a meeting chaired by then governor/chancellor Khalid Maqbool. "The matter will soon be resolved," she hoped. Dawn

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PU BA/BSc exams rescheduled
Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) Examinations Department on Friday rescheduled the commencement of BA/BSc Annual Examination 2010. According to a press statement, under a notification, the exam now would start from April 14 instead of April 20, 2010.

Later, Punjab University Examination Department declared the results of BS Environmental Sciences (Morning), Semester System, Session 2004-2008, MPhil Persian (Semester System), sessions 2006-2008 and 2007-2009. The detailed results are available at www.pu.edu.pk

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PU Quiz Contest
Lahore: The Punjab University Student Teacher Centre (STC) on Friday organised Inter-Departmental Seerat Nabi (PBUH) Quiz Contest in which students from 26 departments participated.

According to a press release, team comprising Umaila Mahzaib and Ambreen Fatima of the Arabic Department clinched the first position and cash prize of Rs 5,000. Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology (IBB) team, Zaibun Nisa and Amina Qayyum, bagged the second position and Rs 3,000 cash while Islamic Studies Department team comprising Asif Haroon and Sadia Qamar got the third position and Rs 2,000 cash prize.

Meanwhile, Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Mujahid Kamran stressed the need for effective implementation of quality assurance procedure for enhancing the standard of academic and research programs of the university.

According to a press statement on Friday, he was presiding over a meeting of deans and directors of various faculties to review their performance in respect of quality assurance of educational programs. The PU VC said the quality improvement program provided an opportunity for upgrading the quality of higher education.

The Institute of Quality and Technology Management acted as media on behalf of the PU VC between different university departments and the HEC, he added. The participants of the meeting agreed that quality assurance needed to be implemented by all the educational institutions to promote quality enhancement of their ongoing academic and research pursuits. Earlier, IQTM Director Dr Aamir Ijaz gave a comprehensive and in-depth presentation to indicate the up-to-date progress made in the accomplishment of higher academic and learning standards by the educational institutions of the varsity. PU Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan and other officials were also present on the occasion.

Later, Punjab University awarded PhDs to two students in subjects of Sociology and Earth and Environmental Sciences. According to a press statement on Friday, Khalil Ahmad s/o Abdul Ghafoor has been awarded a PhD in Sociology after approval of his research thesis "Management of Chronic Conditions as Predictor of Healthy Ageing: An Analysis of Urban Population, Lahore, Pakistan."

He completed his thesis under the supervision of Prof Dr Muhammad Hafeez. Syed Fazal ur Rehman Shah s/o Syed Iqbal Ahmad Shah has been awarded a PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences after approval of his research thesis "Effect of Mixed Industrial Effluents on Soil, Tree Biomass Production and Trace Metal Elements Uptake." He completed his thesis under the supervision of Prof Dr Nasir Ahmad.

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Second phase of New School Programme
Lahore: The chairman of Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) said that 57 more schools would be commissioned under the second phase of New School Programme.

Chairing a departmental meeting on Friday, PEF Chairman Raja Muhammad Anwar also Chairman Chief Minister's Taskforce on Elementary Education said in five new districts of the province.

He said 15 schools each would be selected in Rahimyar Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Layyah districts, while six schools each will be selected in Bahawalpur and Rajanpur districts.

He said the objective of this programme was to promote quality education among poor families of the area and to ensure enrolment and retention of out of school children of the poor.

"NSP motivates private entrepreneurs to set up new schools in poor areas of Punjab where they are needed for educating the underprivileged children."

He said the programme was launched in March 2008 as a Pilot Project in five tehsils of Chiniot, Dunyapur, Khairpur Tamewali, Jatoi and Rojhaan.

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UET VC appointment
Lahore: Confusion prevailing over the appointment of vice-chancellor to the University of Engineering and Technology cleared late on Friday night when the Punjab government formally allowed incumbent VC Lt-Gen Muhammad Akram to continue "till further orders". Lt-Gen Akram's third four-year tenure as VC was expiring on Feb 27 (today).

Since the government had neither advertised the post nor allowed the incumbent VC to continue till the last working day on Friday, confusion was prevailing among UET faculty and students in particular and academic circles in general.

In this situation, a fake order on behalf of the Governor's Secretariat was also circulated to different news channels. This fake notification regarding a UET professor's appointment as the acting VC antagonised the governor who asked the Punjab police inspector general to investigate the matter, arrest the person behind the fake notification and register a forgery case against him. However, no development has so far been made in this connection, it's learnt. The news

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UVAS vacant posts
Lahore: The University of Veterinary and Animals Sciences (UVAS) has recruited 10 officials against vacant posts, including a full-fledged controller of examinations and information technology director.

The university administration has recruited Sajjad Hayder as controller of examinations and Muhammad Rizwan Saleem as information technology director in BPS-19.

The other officials are Aqib Inam as software manager, Muhammad Umar as deputy treasurer, Muzaffar Abbas as deputy registrar at Jhang Campus, Badar Munir as assistant controller of examinations, Shahid Mehmood as assistant treasurer, Kanwar Shahid Iqbal as store officer City Campus, Tariq Abdullah as assistant treasurer Jhang Campus and Muhammad Zafar Naseem as assistant controller of examinations Jhang Campus.

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PILAC FM radio relaunched
Lahore: Regular transmission of the FM 95, the radio channel of Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture (PILAC), has been re-launched after a gap of over two years, officials said.

Officials said earlier the transmission was facing multiple problems which had been addressed. The major hurdle, they said, was non-availability of license which the radio got in August last.

The radio also needed a generator which, they added, had also been bought some months ago, besides resolution of the problems related to staff hiring and budget. The channel, they claimed, had come out of the dull period and now a number of talk shows, entertainment and other programmes were being aired.

Dr Sughra Sadaf has been appointed Station Manager of FM 95 Punjab Rang and Khaqan Haider Qazi as the executive administrator. Haroon Ahmed Khan Director General, Punjab Archeology Department, has been given the additional charge of PILAC director general a couple of days ago.

Ms Sadaf told this correspondent that the new DG had plans to expand the broadcast, and he had given directions to open FM 95 stations in Siraiki and Potohari belts, along with some more cities of Punjab.

She said at present the transmission hours were from 7am to 10pm, and by the next week two hours would be added to the transmission which would last till 12 midnight. Dawn

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