NWFP children education recovery

Unicef to educate 9,500 NWFP children
Islamabad, Jan 10: UNICEF Pakistan has expressed its appreciation to the government and the people of Denmark for their recent contribution of DKK 10 million (approximately Rs.160 million, US $6,985,000) to support early recovery of education in Malakand Division.

The funds will be used to rebuild and promote access to 60 primary and secondary schools in coordination with the Pakistani government and local partners, said a news release issued here.

They will help ensure that 9,500 children, including 5,700 girls, have access to schools with all essential facilities.

For the period 2010-2012 Denmark will grant additional DKK 50 million (approximately Rs 800 million, US $34,925,000) to UNICEF's efforts to provide education for children affected by the crisis in the North West Frontier Province as well as - when the situation allows it - in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

"The Government and people of Denmark and other donors have recognised the urgent need to limit the effects of conflict on children and rebuild lives in Swat and other areas as quickly as possible," says Luc Chauvin, the acting UNICEF Country Representative for Pakistan.

"With their support and in partnership with the Government of Pakistan and the NWFP, the children of Malakand Division will return to school and a normal childhood all the more quickly."

Rebuilding is crucial in the context of education in the region as a whole. In NWFP, only 22 per cent of women and girls above 15 are literate while only 41 per cent of girls are enrolled in primary school.

Ensuring a safe, protective and conducive learning environment for the children returning to the areas of conflict is an important priority.

A tenth of all primary schools in Swat District alone were damaged including a quarter of girls' primary schools. Thus when returns began in July 2009, rebuilding education, getting children back to school, and renewing parents' trust in the education system became a major priority for UNICEF and its partners including the government.

"Thanks to the Danish contribution, we can ensure that children can resume the education that was so badly disrupted by conflict and displacement," says Mr Chauvin.

Since October 2008, with UNICEF support, nearly 28,000 displaced children were enrolled in camp schools and 14,000 in host community schools. APP

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NAVTEC to start 23 technical courses for youth
Islamabad: National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC) is starting new technical courses, in collaboration with three leading institutes Construction Technology Training Institute, National Institute of Electronics (M/O Science & Technology) and Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital to train youth in 23 disciplines.

The courses to be commenced in collaboration with CTTI included Building Construction, Steel Fixer, Turner Machinist, Carpenter, Masson, Plumber, Building Painter, Basic Plant Operator, Basic Mechanic Thread, AutoCad and Material Testing. These Courses will be Of 3-4 months duration and start from February 1,2010, at CTTI.

Four NAVTEC courses for youth will be conducted at Al-Shifa Trust Hospital, here, including Ophthalmic Technician, Ophthalmic Nurses, Equipment Technician and Refractionist. These courses duration 6-12 months already started from January 1, Eight technical & vocational training courses of 6 months duration will be held at National Institute of Electronics, Islamabad.

The courses are Telecommunication & Networking, Programme Language,Database Management System, Business Communication & MS Project, Web Designing & Development, Graphic Designing, AutoCADs. The news

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5th convocation of RIU
Islamabad: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government is a proponent of education and striving for country's progress through education, said Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Sector.

She was addressing the 5th convocation of Riphah International University (RIU) at Jinnah Convention Centre on Saturday.

She said the government was committed to promote higher education in the country and taking different steps to achieve this objective. She urged the youth to follow in the footsteps of Jinnah and Iqbal and play their role in all major fields in and out of country with strong moral values, tolerance, vision and faith.

Begum Ali said institutions like RIU could make a significant contribution towards restoring the true image of Islam and normalising relations with other civilisations.

She said only 4.7 percent of total population obtained university degrees annually, while majority of them were not optimistic about their future.

Senator Prof Khurshid Ahmed said youths were the torchbearers of the nation. "All you need is to develop a clear vision of what you want to achieve and shift education from problem-based learning to value-based learning," he said.

RIU Vice Chancellor Prof Anis Ahmed said the country's education system was based on western materialistic, individualistic and utilitarian ideas and it has failed to produce a holistic personality by integrating ethical values and professional skills.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, in their separate messages, appreciated RIU for spreading quality professional education.

Award ceremony: on this occasion the students who topped in different subjects were awarded with gold medals. Around 450 degrees were conferred on the students.

Those who got Chancellor's Gold Medal included Abida Habib, Amber Kiyani, Ali Mansoor, Ali Zahir, Urooj Zafar Alam, Muhammad Umair, Nosheen Fazal, and Mehreen Zeb. Abida Habib, Amber Kiyani, Ali Mansoor, Ali Zahir, Urooj Zafar Alam, Muhammad Umair, Lubna Shaheen, Mehreen Zeb, and Khalid Buland Khan were awarded 'Zulfiqar Gold Medal'. Daily times

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Media-NGO interface workshop
Islamabad: The two-day 'Journalists-NGO Interface' workshop being organised by the University of Miami and Indiana University of the USA in collaboration with the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) started here on Saturday.

The workshop is for journalists, journalism educators and representatives of non-governmental organisations on strengthening media professionalism and NGO-media interface in Pakistan for HIV/AIDS coverage.

The workshop is being conducted by AIOU's Department of Mass Communication Chairman Dr. Syed Abdul Siraj. The trainers from the US include Dr. Jyotika Ramaprasad. She is an associate professor at the College of Communication, University of Miami, where she teaches integrated marketing communication and research methods.

Dr. James Kelly is workshop project leader. He is an associate professor at the School of Journalism, Indiana University, Bloomington, where he teaches photojournalism, mass media and society and new communication technology. Ileana Oroza, a lecturer in the School of Communication at the University of Miami for the last 22 years. She was also on the staff of 'The Miami Herald'.

The first session started with the introduction and orientation of the participants, journalists, educators and NGO representatives. It was followed by an informative lecture on the HIV/AIDS by National Programme Manager of National AIDS Control Programme (NIH) Dr Hasan Abbas Zaheer.

Ileana Oroza gave a lecture on journalism theory and explained the basics of journalism independence, fact checking, multiple sourcing, responsibility and integrity.

Oroza, Kelly and Ramaprasad expressed their views on story ideas and plans and interface between NGOs and journalists. Reporting teams were briefed on how to develop and present their story plans.

The experts gave their views on news gathering, how to find out a story and how to collect the story material in their surroundings. The news

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