Government schools Urdu medium classes

No Urdu medium classes in govt schools from next session
Lahore, Jan 18: The Punjab Government has declared all the primary and elementary sections of secondary schools as English medium thus rendering English as medium of instruction for primary classes.

According to notification issued by the EDOs Education of all districts of the province, there will be no Urdu medium classes in government schools from the next session starting from April 2010. The decision has superseded the earlier decision to declare 10 per cent schools as English medium.

The government has also started 12-day training of primary teachers in spoken English. Already headmasters, headmistresses and senior teachers have been given six days training in spoken English as Master trainers. For their training, students of B.Ed and M.Ed in Teachers Training colleges and University of Education (UoE) were hired on monthly remuneration of Rs3000 for training of Master trainers.

According to notification, the teachers will get three hours training daily after the school timings. The teachers bodies however have expressed reservations against the English as medium of instructions in government schools due to inadequate arrangements. Muslim Teachers leader Rana Liaquat Ali said that the primary teachers can teach English as a subject after some training but they can't teach Mathematics and General Science in English.

Moreover around 50,000 primary teachers employed before the year 1997 are simply Matriculates. How can these teachers impart instructions in English to their students?, he asked. Furthermore, the six-days training to Master trainers and 12 days to teachers does not mean anything special when the trainers themselves are untrained and ignorant of English language and its teaching. The news

Post your comments

Education, most effective weapon against extremism
Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that education is the most effective weapon against extremism and this menace cannot be overcome without promotion of education.

He was addressing a reception arranged by Glasgow City Council after reaching Britain from Turkey on Sunday, says a handout.

Council head Steven Purcell and a large number of city councillors accorded a warm welcome to the chief minister when he reached its headquarters in Glasgow, the capital of Scotland.

Pakistani expatriate British councillors Hanzala Malik and Shaukat Butt JP were also present on this occasion. British MP Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar also accompanied the chief minister.

Addressing Glasgow City Council, Shahbaz Sharif said promotion of health and education sectors was the top priority of his government. "It is the responsibility of the developed countries to provide an opportunity to their friendly states to join the race for development and progress."

He said seeking cooperation of Britain in education, law and order and health sectors would be the part of his agenda during his stay in Britain. Dawn

Post your comments

GCU scholarship for bright students
Lahore: The Government College University has announced initiating a permanent Silver Scholarship with a donation of an amount of Rs 500,000 by GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab. Endowment Fund Trust Executive Committee Secretary Khalid Manzoor Butt said 'Dr Khalid Aftab Sliver Scholarship' would be given to the deserving and bright students of the GC University, Lahore, on merit every year and it would cover the student's hundred percent university's fee.

"The world over, deserving talented students managed their academic expenses through scholarships of endowment funds and alumni associations. Philanthropists and alumni should come forward and help the deserving students so that they could complete their education without any mental pressure,' the Endowment Fund Executive Committee secretary said.

Post your comments

Quality education stressed
Lahore: Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran has stressed the need for imparting high quality education of modern sciences and technologies to the younger generation so as to ensure country's survival and sovereignty as well as its supremacy in the fields of education and socio-economic development at the global level.

He was addressing the participants of the annual award giving ceremony of the Punjab School System in Township on Sunday.

Secretary General Jamat Islami Liaqat Baloch, Chief Executive of PSS Syed Ahsan Ullah Waqas and Director retd Col. Muhmmad Sabir also spoke.

Dr Mujahid Kamran said despite the passage of 62 years, we were still facing a critical situation in the education sector.

He appealed to the political leadership to arrange enactment of necessary legislation for compelling the government to compulsorily spend at least four percent of GDP on education.

He said we were currently spending two percent of our 453 billions US Dollar GDP while advanced countries spent three times of the same on education. Similarly, the expenditure on research and development is presently 0.2 percent of our GDP whereas the US is spending 2.7 percent or 390 billion dollars on R& D. The result of past neglect towards high priority education sector is that presently we are confronted with an acute shortage of highly qualified experts in academic field.

The number of PhDs in all the Pakistani universities is 3700 as compared to the Manchester University where against the total number of 35000 students, there are 5800 PhDs while the UK is producing 16000 PhDs annually. He said out of a population of one million, the strength of R&D experts in USA, Japan, Israel, Iran and Pakistan is 4100, 4900, 1600, 600 and 78 respectively.

He said with this meager allocation of funds on education and literacy, how could we compete with the developed countries. Dr Mujhaid Kamran said competition and conflict among the nations was always going on in the world and ultimately one day it transformed into an actual armed conflict.

He said the advanced countries were always making preparations to emerge out of this clash successfully. Resultantly they succeed in safeguarding their survival and sovereignty besides guaranteeing a respectable and prosperous life to their countrymen.

He said knowledge and education played a key role in the struggle of nations. No country can produce highly qualified academic leadership and brave fighters unless and until it enjoys educational supremacy in addition to qualities of noble character. He said we were lucky that we were followers of Islamic civilization which had both of these merits.

The Almighty has laid great emphasis on contemplating the natural phenomena, he added. He cited the example of a student of renowned English scientist James Jeans who asked him that being a scientist why he was carrying a copy of Bible.

Replying to him, he remarked that when he observed the vastness of universe through his telescope, he did not know whether there was any God or not, but he was stunned by its mysteries and secrets. Dr Mujhaid Kamran said students, belonging to the middle and lower middle classes, possessed great talent and potential and thus faced the challenges of life competently and efficiently.

Earlier, Secretary General Jamat Islami Liaqat Baloch and CEO Punjab School System Syed Ahsan Ullah Waqas, in their speeches, paid glowing tributes to the Vice-Chancellor on his academic services in imparting high quality education to the Punjab University students and his untiring efforts to convert the University into an internationally acclaimed center of excellence.

Post your comments

Maulana Zafar's anniversary
Lahore: BABA-e-Sahafat and Pakistan Movement leader Maulana Zafar Ali Khans 136s birth anniversary will be observed on January 18 (today). The Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Trust and the Punjab University Mass Communication Department will hold a ceremony at the conference room of the PU Mass Communication Department.

PU Vice-Chancellor Mujahid Kamran will chair the event. The speakers include Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Trust Chairman Khalid Mahmood, Mujeeb ur Rahman Shami, Altaf Hassan Qureshi, Dr Mughees ud Din Sheikh, Sajjad Mir, Salim Bukhari, Dr Ahsan Akhtar Naz, Masood Ali Khan, Raja Asad Ali, Dr Nadeem Gilani and Maqsood Butt.

Post your comments

Talism-e-Hoshruba launched
Lahore: The recent work of Shahnaz Aijazudin, "Talism-e-Hoshruba," another immaculate translation of the Persian epic and adventure, was launched at Aitchison College on Sunday.

Literati including Intizar Hussain, Dr Omar Adil, Dr Noman-ul-Haq and Aitchison College Principal Fakir Syed Aijazuddin attended the function. Intizar Hussain said the immense talent of Shahnaz had preserved the essence of extensive writing in a different language which was a rare achievement. He said keeping linguistic coherence throughout such a lengthy work of literature was the effort of somebody with intense passion and expertise in literature.

Shahnaz Aijazuddin is an accomplished writer of Lahore. Her first book, "Lost From View," was published in 1994. "Talism-e-Hoshruba" is her most recent work in seven volumes.

"Talism-e-Hoshruba" is a narrative of adventures of the legendary Persian hero, Amir Hamza, the protagonist of Hamzanama, his sons and grandsons. The epic opens with the commander-in-chief of the Islamic army, Hamza, pursuing Laqa, the villain in the story, who makes false claims to divinity. Laqa takes refuge in Kohistan, adjacent to Hoshruba, ruled by the King of Sahirs (magicians), Afrasiab. The story then evolves through an enthralling series of adventure.

The brilliant condensed translation by Shahnaz Aijazuddin sensitively interprets highly Persianised Urdu of the original text into an eminently readable book which retains the essence of the original version. The book was published by Penguin Books, India. The news

Post your comments

Diyal Singh Library
Lahore: Although the Diyal Singh Trust Library (DSTL) is facing issues regarding digitalisation, the library is doing well in providing facilities to foreign and local visitors.

The administration has set up a special room for the recitation of 'Guru Granth Sahib' and established a 'Dyal Singh Research and Cultural Forum' for Sikh delegates. As Sikhs have a strong affiliation with the DSTL, the library provides special facilities for such visitors.

"Every year, a number of Sikh delegates visit the DSTL and show a lot of interest in the Hindi, Sikh and Gurmukhi manuscripts - the library has an extraordinarily rare collection of books in these languages," DSTL Director Fakhra J Hasmi said.

According to an official of DSTL, common visitors are usually not allowed to enter the room that has been exclusively set up for the recitation of the Granth Sahib.

Moreover, no employee can enter the room with his shoes on.

He said the DSTL has an extremely rare 'Guru Granth Sahib' in the room, with a stool and a hand fan for Sikh visitors who wished to recite it there. The official said Sikh visitors often congregated at the 'Dyal Singh Research and Cultural Forum' for discussion.

The DSTL also provides various services to needy students, and is the only library that provides textbooks to students on request in the case of non-availability. According to Fakhra, the DSTL has numerous textbooks on medicine, engineering and social sciences.

She said that it is the only library that has 23 different kinds of newspapers, which can be availed by both library members and general visitors. Daily times

Post your comments