Private security for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa schools

Private company to provide security to KP schools
Peshawar, Jan 25: A private company will provide security to schools and bus stands in the terrorism-hit province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and tribal areas by installing security cameras, providing guards and paying compensation to the students and passengers, an official claimed on Tuesday.

"We have signed the first two projects with the Dera Public School in Dera Ismail Khan as well as the taxi stand carrying passengers to Torkham. Over 2,500 cars are using the stand to transport passengers between Torkham border and Karkhano Market while over 700 students are enrolled at the Dera Public School," said Sahibzada Sohail Javed, chief executive of the Pak Road Travellers Protectors Limited for KP and Fata.

He said 37 projects have already been launched in Punjab in the last few months. He added that KP was the first province where security to the schools was being introduced as it was suffering by terrorism and needed to be provided security as well as compensation. The news

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College teachers get PhD scholarships for first time
Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education Department for the first time awarded PhD scholarships to college teachers of different subjects here on Tuesday.

An amount of Rs60 million was earmarked for the scholarships under the HED programme 'Human Resource Development for the Better Tomorrow'.

Ten teachers were awarded scholarships under the programme. Four out the 10 teachers would go abroad for PhD and four would do research inside the country while two of them were awarded split scholarships, to be completed both inside and outside the country.

The completion period for each PhD course is three years, however, it can be extended for another year.

The teachers, who will go abroad for PhD in their relevant subjects, include Mohammad Zaman and Muneer Khan (mathematics), Mohammad Tufail (computer science) and Gulnaz (chemistry).

Similarly, Saeed Ahmed Sain, Fazl Raziq, Musarat Shaheen and Attaur Rehman would complete their PhDs inside the country in the subjects of mathematics, statistics, botany and zoology respectively.

The two teachers, who are selected for the split scholarships, include Gulzar Hussain (English) and Iqbal Hussain (political science).

In this connection a ceremony was held at Achieves Library. University of Engineering and Technology Vice-chancellor Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, Higher Education Department Secretary Farah Hamid Khan and Additional Secretary Dr Khalid Khan attended the ceremony.

Farah Khan said on the occasion that government introduced improvements in the higher education. She said that government launched four-year degree programme in many colleges to bring education system of the province at par with that of the develop world.

Dr Khalid said that presently 72 PhD holders were serving in different colleges of the province as teachers. In the coming few months, he said, eight more teachers would complete their PhD courses. The number of PhD holders in pubic sector colleges would reach 110 in the next four years, he said. Dawn

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Court restores academic centres' merger with UoP
Peshawar: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday restored merger of various academic centres with the University of Peshawar (UoP).

A two-member bench comprising Justice Attaullah Khan and Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk also suspended the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government's notification in which it had

directed the UoP to withdraw its notice about merger of academic centres with the university.

After suspension of the UoP notification the merger of the academic centres including the Area Study Centre (Russia, China and Central Asia), Pakistan Study Centre, National Centre of Excellence in Geology, Centre of Excellence of Physical Chemistry and Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre was restored with the UoP.

Senior faculty members had filed a writ petition against the UoP notification and the one issued by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. Dr Pervez Iqbal Khan Tareen, professor at the Area Study Centre, Muhammad Riaz, assistant professor at the National Centre of Excellence in Geology, Abdul Naeem, professor at the National Centre of Excellence, Dr Abdullah Khan of the Pakistan Study Centre and Rashad Ahmad of the Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre had filed the writ petition under Article 199 of the Constitution.

The bench suspended the notifications and admitted the petition for regular hearing. Counsel for the petitioners, Qazi Muhammad Anwar, submitted that the centres in which the petitioners and hundreds of other employees were serving before the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment Act 2010 and even until March 31, 2011 were working under the Federal Education Ministry.

After the passage of the 18th Amendment, he argued that the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination was also assigned the task of implementation. On April 1, 2011, he noted that the Federal Education Ministry transferred the academic centres to the UoP. Following the federal government notification, Dr Pervez Iqbal Tareen submitted an application to the UoP vice-chancellor to ensure that the Area Study Centre came under the university."

Later on July 16, 2011, the Cabinet Division informed the vice-chancellor that a Devolution Cell had been formed for transferring the academic centres to the UoP. On July 19, the Cabinet Division tasked a section officer of the Devolution Cell to visit the UoP for proper handing over of the academic centres," Qazi Anwar stated.

He said the UoP through a notification on July 21, 2011 confirmed that it had taken over these academic centres from the Cabinet Division. Subsequently, he said some high-ups in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government did not approve the transfer of the centres to the UoP and on August 1, 2011 the Higher Education Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through a letter asked the UoP to withdraw the notification for taking over the academic centres.

He said the provincial government on August 18 issued another notification, strictly directing the UoP to immediately withdraw the notification. He added that on August 19 the university administration withdrew its notification regarding its takeover of the academic centres.

Deputy Advocate General Zahid Yousaf informed the bench that the provincial government did not file its comments in the case. However, law officers of UoP, Riaz Ali and Aimal Khan, presented the comments made by the university and pointed out that it didn't object to the petition. The petitioners claimed that the provincial government's interference in the university affairs was illegal under the UoP Act 1974 as it was an autonomous body.

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IMCG holds intercollegiate contest
Islamabad: Islamabad Model College for Girls (Postgraduate), F-7/4, organised four-day Inter-Collegiate Competitions in different categories.

On the first day, Na'at and Qirat and Dry, Fresh Flower Arrangement competitions were held. The events were being held under the auspices of College Students Council of IMCG (postgraduate) F-7/4, Islamabad.

In flower arrangements competition there were nine different colleges that participated in the event. The theme of Dry Flower Arrangement was 'Birds in Paradise' and in Fresh Flower Arrangement, the theme was 'Stunning Beauty'. The fresh flower arrangement were aesthetically decorated with roses, gladiola and with fresh bamboo sticks. In dry flower arrangements the students extensively used cones and dried bamboo sticks, dry red chillies, feathers, dry leaves, peacock feathers, beans, pishtachio shells, nuts and melon seeds, black peppers etc.

In dried out Flower Arrangement competition, 1st position holder was Bushra Siddique (IMCG-PG F-7/4), Fatima Zehra of (IMCG-PG F-7/2) clinched second position and Mahnoor from (IMCG -PG, G-10/4) got third prize. Consolation prize went to Ayesha Riaz (ICG F-6/2).

For Fresh Flower Arrangement competition, the 1st position holder was Fatima Masood (IMCG -PG) F-7/2, 2nd position holder was Saumeen Iftikhar (ICG, F-6/2), 3rd position holder was Saima Noor (IMCG, (PG), F-7/4) and another 3rd position holder was Palwasha Khan (IMCG, F-7/4), while Consolation prize went to Shumila Qamar of F. G. College Kashmir Road Rawalpindi.

In Naat and Qirat compition fourteen colleges participated in the competitions. Qari Ikhlaq Madni, Qari Eshsaan Ullah and Qari Mohammad Nouman were the jury members of the Qirat competitions. First prize went to Ammara Aziz of IMCG, F-7/2. Second prize went to the host college student Iqra Barkat. Mutahira Qazi of IMCG, G-10/2 stood third while consolation prize winner was Hina Noreen of Government College for Women, Peshawar Road, and Aisha Arif of IMCG, I-8/3, Islamabad.

In Naat competition, Fatima Yasmeen of IMCG, G-10/4 stood first, second prize went to Fouzia Ahmad of Government College for Women, Peshawar Road, Iraj Fatima of host college clinched third position and consolation prize.

The chief guest of the ceremony was Professor Dr. Habib-Ur-Rehman, the Head of Arabic Department, International Islamic University Islamabad.

The chief guest congratulated the winning participants and appreciated the efforts of Student's Council for organizing the event.

Later, Principal of Islamabad Model College for Girls (Postgraduate) F-7/4, Ghazala Khalid gave away the prizes and certificates to positions holders of respective colleges.

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QAU PhD degree
Islamabad: Quaid-i-Azam University has awarded their prestigious PhD degree to Major Mohammad Basir Khan in the field of Organic Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Dr Farzana Latif Ansari, says a press release issued here Tuesday. Major Basir has done MSc in Chemistry from the University of Peshawar in 1988. Then got commission in Pakistan Army Education Corps (AEC) in 1989. He has served in Brigade Headquarters and Military Colleges in Pakistan Army as General Staff Officer (Education) and as instructor as well.

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Sports day held
Islamabad: A sports day was held at Islamabad Model School for Boys on Monday in which the students of the school displayed their brilliant talent and won applause from the spectators and school fellows, says a press release. On this occasion Principal of the school Abdul Aziz while praising the talent of students said, "Extra-curricular activities play an important part in the training and growth of the children along with education, and a strong character and morality are the first condition to become a great person." At the end of the sports day, the principal along with school teaching staff gave away prizes to winning students.

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Maths Challenge winners honoured at Beaconhouse
Islamabad: 'Pakistan Maths Challenge 2011', which consisted of a series of online challenges, was held from 27th to 28th October last year, for the very first time in Pakistan, arranged by 'Mathletics', the largest global Math website of its kind, 55,000 students from all over the country participated in this unique and ground-breaking educational experience.

An award ceremony was held at Beaconhouse School System Margalla Campus here on Tuesday, in order to honour the successful participants of the 'Pakistan Math Challenge 2011' from all over Beaconhouse Northern Region. Beaconhouse School System Executive Director Danial Mahmood Kasuri was the chief guest. Awards were then distributed among the students by the chief guest. The young Beaconites were met with a huge round of applause from the parents and teachers present on the occasion. Danial Kasuri, while addressing the audience, said that he was proud to see such talent in Pakistan and vowed to help create a more tolerant and open-minded society.

Speaking at the event, the Regional Director of Pakistan Mathletics, Ifat Ahmar, underlined the impact that 3-D learning had on young minds. She also further elaborated upon the role of online mathematic websites as additional learning tools, which helped inspire the love of learning in young people.

Farzana Anwar, Academic Manager Northern Region for Beaconhouse School System, and keynote speaker at the event, lauded the enthusiasm of the participants and expressed hope that these young mathematicians will bring laurels for both school and country in the future.

School Group Head Ayesha Aziz Khan, Syetem Coordinator Rakhshanda Gilani, Ayesha Sohail, Safia Qasim,and Fouzia Rizwan also graced the occasion.

Mohammad Abdullah Khan (BSS KG Branch RWP), Moosa Feroz (BSS Mandi Baha-ud-din), Shayan Rafi (BSS Mandi Baha-ud-din), Asad Ahsan (BSS Mandi Baha-ud-din) and Hashim Hayat (BSS Gujrat) received individual awards. Recipients of the Emerald Certificates included Mohammad Abdulla Khan (BSS KG Branch RWP), Rohaan Awais (BSS KG Branch RWP), Haris Javed (BSS Peshawer Road RWP), Mariah Izhar (BSS KG Branch RWP),Zain Ijaz (BSS KG Branch RWP), Usman Khan (BSS Khyber Campus) and Muhammad Zarak (BSS Khyber Campus). Shafique's 8th Class and Shafique's 6th class, both from BSS Mandi Baha-ud-din also grabbed the class awards.

In the overall school awards, BSS Gujrat stood at 4th position, BSS Cantonment Branch Peshawar stood 7th, BSS Mandi Baha-ud-din stood 8th, BSS F-7/1 Islamabad stood 9th whereas BSS KG Branch Rawalpindi stood 10th. The news

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