Punjab lecturers show cause notices

Legal action against absent lecturers
Rawalpindi, Feb 15: Taking legal action against 612 teachers who remained absent since long, the Punjab Government have served show cause notices to all lecturers.

According to details, Director Public Instruction Colleges Rawalpindi has taken strict notice of absent of male and female lecturers performing their duties in different colleges of the province including Rawalpindi.

The notices have been served to these undisciplined teachers under section 5(1)(b) of Punjab Employees Act 2006.

Director Public Instruction Colleges Rawalpindi has directed all these lecturers to appear in front of him within 15 days of issuing of serving notices.

According to list issued by Director Public Instruction Punjab, 289 male and 323 female lecturers are among these 612 teachers and 90 lecturers belonged to Department of Physics, 40 from Chemistry, 70 from Biology, 65 from Mathematics and 80 from the Department of English. The nation

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Agricultural varsity notifies pay-raise
Peshawar: NWFP Agricultural University has issued a notification about upward revision in the pay of the members of the faculty. A press release of the university on Sunday said the Institute of Business and Management Sciences (IBMS) was being run on self-sustaining basis and the faculty was hired on fixed monthly salary on terms and condition mutually agreed.

To get regular status in graded position, the IBMS faculty had filed a writ petition in Peshawar High Court and subsequently the court passed a short order. The university administration is abiding by the court's order and whatever the final decision of the court, the release said, adding that the university, however, placed the faculty's request for pay raise before a committee after getting opinion of legal advisor.

The committee held meetings chaired by the vice chancellor and also heard the views of IBMS faculty members. Taking into account all the relevant factors, the committee approved raise in the pay package. In the revised package, a minimum of Rs8,600 per month increase was approved for lecturers and 12,000 for an assistant professor.

The assistant professor's package has been raised to Rs53, 470 from the existing Rs43,470 while lecturers getting Rs27,095 each would now get 33,695. Those drawing salary in the range of Rs13,400 to Rs26,244 will get increased amount of Rs6,600. It said that the ad hoc/interim relief announced by the government and annual increase commensurate with the status of the faculty would also be allowed to them.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the teachers' association has rejected the pay raise and vowed to continue the strike. "We will continue our protest till the acceptance our demands," the spokesman, adding the association had already rejected the so-called raise in the salary.

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HEC training workshop
Islamabad: The National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE), a project of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), in collaboration with the USAID funded Pre-Service Teacher Education Program (Pre-STEP) is organising a four-day workshop from February 15-18 in Lahore.

The title of the workshop is 'National Workshop: Training Master Trainers of PCEPT'. A total of 32 higher education faculty members from different universities of Pakistan will attend the workshop. Pre-STEP is a five-year $75 million programme sponsored by the USAID as part of its assistance to the Government of Pakistan in support of its goal of improved classroom teaching. Pre-STEP is collaborating with the Ministry of Education and HEC to strengthen pre-service teacher education and policy actions in support of the 2009 National Education Policy to meet the need for more and better teachers. Pre-STEP programme is implemented by the Academy for Educational Development (AED).

The main purpose of the workshop is to prepare the participants to become Master Trainers at a national level. These trainers will be authorized to teach NAHE modules in future programmes. The reviewers of modules from Pre-STEP Dr. John Dirkx and Dr. Rhonda Ejidio along with our two module developers and Resource Persons Dr. Aslam Adeeb from Islamia University Bahawalpur and Dr Jane Alam Khaki from Agha Khan University will conduct the workshop. Dr. Aslam Adeeb and Dr. Jan e Alam Khaki will work as Master Resource Persons for the future National Workshops on Training Master Trainers of PCEPT.

NAHE has been working hard since 2004 to conduct professional development training courses for the enhancement of teaching competencies of university teachers at their doorstep.

In Phase-I NAHE imparted training to 3564 university teachers in 38 Human Resource Development Centres established at public sector universities of Pakistan. NAHE conducts these training courses through its key component named as "Professional Competency Enhancement Program for University Teachers" (PCEPT).

It is a 24-day programme that covers seven modules which are; Teaching as a Profession, Academic Planning and Management, Curriculum Development, Assessment & Evaluation, Learners' Psychology, Andragogical Skills, Communication skills and Research Methods and Skills.

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FAST university competitions
Islamabad: The students competing for distinctions made hectic efforts on Sunday to get into the final rounds of their respective competitions in a three-day 'Tamasha 2010' being held at the FAST University.

Around 200 students from 30 universities put in their best efforts for top slots in various competitions, including essay writing, bilingual declamation, painting, theatre and cultural performance.

The students set up a society at FAST called 'Jagoo' for enlightening the souls of young fellows. 'Tamasha 2010', under the flag of 'Jagoo,' aims to provide a thought-provoking platform for discerning students to refresh the standard of their emotions, sensitivity along with agility and brainpower. Another purpose behind 'Jagoo' is to help the people in need besides reviving the realisation of potential and responsibilities in young people.

The second day of the event witnessed some exciting display of skills by the young students in bilingual declamation contest. The declamation competition was bilingual and actually encouraged the participants for contention in words or the healthy discussion for the purpose of elucidating truth or influencing action.

The speakers were free to choose from the list of topics provided to them. The topics of the final round would be announced today (Monday) and one of the speakers from each team would speak on a humorous topic while the other one would debate on a serious subject. "We have put in all our efforts to make youth learn about their duties, through different platforms and competitions, for their beloved homeland without blaming them directly for not playing their role," said Shaheer Mansoor, who has been assigned the task for organising theatre competition.

In painting competition the students were given two days to complete their work but those who ended with their work displayed their paintings at the gallery to secure comments from the students.

"Our paint for glory show looks to provide a platform where the youth of today can reproduce their artistic talents by displaying creation in style. Theatre contest attempts to infuse theatre as a cultural norm in our society and movie making contest expects the students to put their creativity and skills out on stage," said Hira Zainab, a student and coordinator of the event.

The focal point of the evening programme was bound to arouse not just a laugh or two but a hysterical downpour of laughter through 'Mushaira'. The prominent poets provided fun and excitement to the audience that enjoyed a real fun time amid cheers by the students.

A number of stalls have been set up by various cellular and multi-national companies where their representatives are offering special packages and prizes to the students.

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True teachings of Islam
Islamabad: Patron-in-chief of Minhaj-ul-Quran International and Chairman of Pakistan Awami Tehreek Professor Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri on Sunday urged the youth to forge unity among their ranks and follow the teachings of Islam in letter and spirit.

"Islam is a religion of peace and condemns terrorism in all forms and manifestations. Terrorism does not have even the remotest possible link with Islam," he said in his telephonic address to the participants of a Milad March in Rawalpindi.

The Milad March was organized by Minhaj-ul-Quran Youth League in connection with the birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). Thousands of youth from the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad participated in the March, which was headed by League's Central President Bilal Mustafvi. The march started from Chandni Chowk and calumniated at Committee Chowk. Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri, who has recently issued his 150-page edict (fatwa) against terrorism and suicide attacks, said that all the terrorist' acts were clear violations of human rights and contravention to Islamic teachings. He said that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) always promoted love and tolerance in the society and there was an urgent need today to highlight his teaching in its true perspective.

He said the country was passing through critical times and the youth must come forward and play their due role. "There lies a great responsibility upon the shoulders of youth as they are future of the nation. They must not only disassociate themselves from the terrorist activities but also project the true Islamic teachings," he said.

"The entire nation should also stand behind their armed forces, who are busy in safeguarding the innocent lives and securing national defence by eradicating terrorism," Dr Qadri said. Highlighting the importance of Eid-Milad-un-Nabbi (peace be upon him), he said it was the best source of expressing love and reverence for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). Speaking on the occasion, Bilal Mustafvi said that by participating in the Milad March without any fear of terrorist attacks, the youth had proved their love and respect for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).

He said Minhaj-ul-Quran Youth League would organize a number of torch-bearer rallies in various cities of the country in the month of Rabi-ul-Awal in connection with birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). The news

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Changes in education sector
Islamabad: Revolutionary changes are required in the education sector to make Pakistan a developed country, said Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) Vice Chancellor (VC) Professor Dr Mehmoodul Hassan Butt.

He was addressing the concluding ceremony of a six-day workshop on 'Television script writing'on Sunday. The workshop was held to train the newly recruited staff of the Faculty of Education.

He appreciated efforts of the AIOU Institute of Educational Technology Director Qasim Haider for organising the workshop.

Referring to the 'National Scheme of Studies' prepared in 2006, he said that it was devised in consultation with all the provincial education ministers. "The scheme is placed on the Ministry of Education's website and also of the AIOU," he informed the participants.

He said that few changes in the country's education system were suggested in the scheme. Giving details, he said the scheme envisaged that more resources should be diverted to the study of Math, Social Studies and Science subjects. APP

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