Sindh unregistered private schools

1,543 unregistered private schools operating in Sindh
Karachi, Jan 13: Senior Minister for Education Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq told the Sindh Assembly on Friday that 9,122 registered and 1,543 unregistered private schools were operating in Sindh province.

The Minister gave details of registered and unregistered private schools in 23 districts.

According to him, there are 5,359 registered and 563 unregistered schools in Karachi; 878 registered and 336 unregistered in Hyderabad; 222 registered and 25 unregistered in Sukkur; 307 registered and 56 unregistered in Mirpurkhas; 441 registered and 65 unregistered in Khairpur; 140 registered and 67 unregistered in Larkana; 217 registered and 35 unregistered in Benazirabad (Nawabshah); 192 registered and 62 unregistered in Ghotki; 128 registered and 31 unregistered in Jamshoro; 131 registered and 24 unregistered in N. Feroze; 107 registered and 34 unregistered in Dadu; 132 registered and 27 unregistered in Badin; 201 registered and 32 unregistered in Sanghar; 94 registered and 15 unregistered in Thatta; 39 registered and eight unregistered in Matiari; 42 registered and seven unregistered in Tando Muhammad Khan; 79 registered and 16 unregistered in Tando Allahyar; 79 registered and 44 unregistered in Umerkot; 79 registered and 16 unregistered in Mithi; 60 registered and 10 unregistered in Kambar, Shahdadkot; 63 registered and 30 unregistered in Shikarpur; 67 registered and nine unregistered in Jacobabad; 65 registered and 31 unregistered in Kashmore, Kandhkot.

The minister said that out of 1,543 schools detected unregistered, 967 schools have so far been registered whereas notices have been issued to 576 schools under the relevant ordinance. The news

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Education dept decides to hand over Govt schools to NGO
Karachi: The Sindh Education Department has decided to give eight more government schools to a Non-Governmental Organisation - Bookgroup - for adoption while the government would provide the NGO around Rs 200 million for running the academic system, a source concerned said on Friday.

Bookgroup is the partner organisation of the Zindagi Trust, and both the entities are already running the adopted government schools, situated in premises of SMB Government Girls College in the metropolis. The source said that the provincial government had yet to release the fund, but the said NGO would initiate working after receiving the cheque of Rs 200 million. The government has decided to handover three schools from Badin and five from Karachi to Bookgroup, he said and added that two years back, the government schools at SMB Government Girls College had been adopted by Zindagi Trust, while such schools were performing quite well as compare to previous administration. On other hand, the government officials, including Secretary Education Sindh Siddiqu Memon, were not available to give their comments on the issue, while Additional Secretary Education (Schools) Riaz Memon and Additional Secretary Education (Academics) Taj Muhammad Ceelro said that the said area was beyond their working authority.

Conversely, the senior officials of the Bookgroup, Akber Khan, while commenting on the issue, said he was not aware about the government's decision to hand over these government schools to his NGO, but the government's decision would really go in favour of these schools. He said, "Our two years performance can be seen at SMB Government schools that were adopted nearly two years back despite of the huge criticism by some organisations. After two years, the significant change at these schools is the certificate of our day and night efforts."

It is pertinent to mention here that the provincial government had also decided to produce government colleges to Zindagi Trust for adoption. But due to strong resistance from Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA), the government had had taken back its decision of handing over to NGO some government colleges, including SMB Government Girls College, Government Rana Liaquat Ali Khan Home Economics College and Khatoon-e-Pakistan College.

When SPLA Leader Prof Iftikhar Azmi was contacted for their views, he said that it was not beyond to expectation, as the government had already provided government schools to NGOs for adoption.

He pointed out that despite of having the government support the said NGOs had failed to bring any positive change in these institutions despite that fact that two years had passed. He said strange curricula were being taught in these schools, these curricula were totally different from the original one set by the government.

He said, "The decision, made in 2007 under the previous government, of handing over these public institutions to Zindagi Trust was highly condemnable. But the disgusting thing is that the present government is doing nothing to take back such senseless decision, contrary to this more institutions are being produced for adoption.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan had played vital in term of taking back the education department's decision of handing over the management of RLAK Govt College of Home Economics and Khatoon-e-Pakistan Girls College to Zindagi Trust and Bookgroup. The nation

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Devolution destroyed education
Karachi: Devolution has destroyed education in Sindh province, according to Senior Minister for Education Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq.

Talking to media persons outside Sindh Assembly on Friday, the education minister said that schools were given under the control of local governments but the number of closed schools reached up to 7,700 in the province as district governments did not take interest in education.

He said that he was accountable for schools but the schools were not under the control of education ministry. He disclosed that the government was considering bringing schools under the control of provincial education ministry.

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PEF quality education plan launched
Lahore: The Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) has launched phase-6 of Foundation Assisted Schools (FAS) Program in ten new districts, to promote quality education among the poor segments of society.

According to a handout issued here, this was stated by Chief Minister's Taskforce for Elementary Education chairman Raja Muhammad Anwar.

He said a total of 1337 PEF-Partner schools were already imparting quality education, under the FAS program, in remote and less developed areas of the province.

He said PEFs FAS program had been launched in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakpattan, Okara, Sargodha, Attock, DG Khan, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Layyah and Rawalpindi districts to enable the poor students of these areas to have quality education without any cost.

Under the program, free of cost text books would also be provided, he added.

Raja Anwar said Rs 350 per student for elementary classes and Rs 400 per student for secondary classes were being provided under the program. Now, no indigent child will be deprived of education as the government is ensuring that each child gets quality education, he said adding education was the fundamental right of every child which should be fulfilled at every cost.

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Punjab varsity signed MOU
Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) and University of Technology Malaysia have signed a five-year MoU to enhance mutual cooperation for achieving a breakthrough in enabling faculty members and researchers to do their PhDs besides promoting exchange of students and teachers delegations between the two universities.

PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran and Deputy VC University of Technology Malaysia Prof Dr Muhammad Taj Uddin signed the MoU at varsity's New Campus on Friday.

Dr Mujahid Kamran, welcoming the visiting officials from the Malaysian university comprising Prof Dr Muhammad Taj Uddin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Siti Hawa, Deputy Registrar, gave a detailed briefing about various departments as well as ongoing research projects of the Punjab University.

He expressed his hope that the newly-signed document of cooperation between both the institutions would open up new vistas of cooperation in the academic and research fields. He added the PU was presently having the strength of 30,000 on-campus students with 635 regular faculty members out of whom 32% were PhDs.

Deputy VC University of Technology Malaysia said that their varsity's total student population was presently 25,000 with 2,000 faculty members out of whom 45 percent were PhDs while in international ranking the UTM stood at number 260.

"Malaysia has always given preference particularly to the universities of Muslim world for bilateral cooperation and collaboration," he added.

PU Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Jamil Anwar, Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan, Director PU External Linkages Maria I Maldonado and other officials were also present.

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Students held demonstration
Lahore: Students from various universities of the provincial metropolis gathered at Liberty roundabout on Friday and held a demonstration to express solidarity with Dr Aafia Siddiqui and missing persons.

The Students Action Committee (SAC), which had played an important role in the movement for restoration of judiciary, had organised the demo. Students from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), the Forman Christian College University (FCCU), the National College of Arts (NCA), FAST National University, Punjab University (PU) and other institutes of higher learning of the city took part in the demonstration.

Students chanted slogans in favour of Dr Aafia. Wearing black armbands and carrying placards, banners and pictures of Dr Aafia, students chanted slogans and called for a fair trial. They also distributed pamphlets and leaflets among pedestrians and asked them to spread the message.

SAC convening committee member Sundas Hurain said Dr Aafia Siddiqui had become the symbol of atrocities committed in the guise of the war against terror. "Whether guilty or not, we protest illegalities in her abduction, in her unreported detention and torture and in the trial process," she said. She said: "We, the students, appeal to our government to take a stand and to appeal to the US to apply to us the same human rights, due process of law and penal transparency as they do themselves."

Meanwhile, according to SAC press statement, the US court verdict in Dr Aafia case had caused a a general uproar.

"Considering ourselves responsible human beings, we feel it is our moral duty to appeal to the world to bring to light the atrocities that continue to be committed in the name of fight against terrorism for the greater good," it said.

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LUMS MBA Networking
Lahore: MBA Placement Office (MPO) of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Business School organized the LUMS MBA Networking Night 2010 at the varsity campus on Friday.

According to a press statement, senior HR management of participating employers and senior LUMS alumni networked with students for specific time slots and evaluated them for a potential fit within their organizations.

This platform allowed students to know more about employers through a meaningful, one-on-one dialogue and in turn weigh them against their preferences.

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Primary teachers documents
Karachi: The Executive District Officer (Education) Karachi, Muhammad Ibrahim Kumber, has said that the candidates, who have cleared the Primary Teachers Test with 60 per cent marks or above from Sindh University Jamshoro, should contact District Officer Education, Secondary (Male) between February 15 and 20.

Moreover, he added, the candidates should submit three sets each of their educational and professional certificates, copy of CNIC, domicile, PRC, three photograph, as well as residential certificate issued by the local/area union council Nazim to the said office located at Boltoun Market. The news

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