|
|
|
We're open to proposals on matric: Qazi
LAHORE, Feb 27(Daily Times): The Inter-Provincial Ministers' Committee (IPMC) can
discuss any proposal from a province regarding the proposed part-wise
examination system for matric (classes 9 and 10), Federal Education Minister Lt
Gen (r) Javed Ashraf Qazi told reporters after the convocation of Allama Iqbal
Open University (Punjab Chapter) on Monday.
Qazi said the decision to
introduce composite examination system had been taken with the consensus of
provincial ministers. He dispelled the impression that the federal government
was imposing any decision in this connection.
Qazi said the admission
tests for medical and engineering institutions could not be abolished before
introducing a uniform and transparent examination system across the
country.
He said that the various education boards of the country had
been directed to coordinate with each other and introduce the same question
papers for all subjects. He added that this would lead to uniformity in the
examination system across the country through a National Testing System (NTS).
He said the pattern of question papers had been changed with greater emphasis on
multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and short answers so that rote learning was
discouraged.
Qazi said the prime minister had approved a summary to raise
the pay scale of teachers from grade 7 to 11. He added that this step would
increase their salaries from Rs 4,500 per month to Rs 7,500. "The federal
government is employing teachers at Rs 10,000 per month, but the financial
implications of this change in the provinces would be enormous," he
said.
The Federal Board, he said, was working on the new pattern of
papers for which Edexcel London Examinations' expertise had been obtained. The
ideal examination system, he said, was still to be reached.
He said the
district governments could not handle the colleges. That was why the control had
been given back to the provincial governments. The administrative control of
technical education has also been given to the provinces, he added.
Qazi
said the draft of a new national education policy was expected to be ready
before the start of the next academic year. The head of the review team, Javed
Hasan Aly, resigned because of differences with fellow team members, he
explained.
The federal minister also denied that the federal government
had withheld Punjab's share of funds in the President's Education Sector Reforms
Programme (PESRP).
He said the PESRP PC-I stated that technical support
would be provided by the Army Engineering Corps and a joint committee of the
district government, the provincial government and the Army Engineering Corps
would supervise the PESRP execution in each district.
However, Qazi said,
the Punjab chief secretary had written to the federal education secretary that
they did not need this money because they had signed an independent agreement
with the National Logistics Cell (NLC) in this regard, he said. He added that
the Punjab had been later informed that in that case, their share could be
distributed amongst other provinces. However, the Punjab chief minister
intervened and stressed that the money be given to the province. He added that
the province's share for this year was nearly Rs 1 billion.
"The other
option is to go back to the Finance Ministry for amendment in the PC-I and ask
for the funds to be given to the provinces without any conditions", he said,
adding that the Punjab government had asked the centre to consider
this.
He said the teachers' training duration should also be increased
since the training of just seven or 10 days was not enough. "The teachers should
spend at least one to two months in training," he said.
Qazi said an
independent committee had interviewed and short-listed the potential candidates
for the post of principal at the National College of Arts (NCA). He added that
the prime minister would notify the final appointment. He said that the previous
principal had remained on the job for 12 years and did not reapply although she
was eligible. He said the NCA did not fulfil the required criteria laid down by
the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to attain university status.
|
|
 |
| Post your Comments about this News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Education News | | Updated: 24 May, 2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
