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Education scene remained dismal in 2006
Lahore, Jan 4(Dawn): The education scene in Punjab remained mired in a number of imbroglios,
many of the government's own creation, and that of the greed rampant in the
private sector, Zulqernain Tahir declares
Despite prohibiting corporal
punishment in both public and private schools in Punjab in 2006, at least two
students fell victim to the menace as they suffered fatal injuries at the hands
of their 'spiritual fathers' in public schools, making a mockery of the
provincial education department's slogan 'mar nahee payar'.
Five teachers
of both public and private schools were shown the door for committing the
offence. Corporal punishment is turning out to be a major factor behind the high
dropout rate at the primary level.
The year 2006 brought no improvement
in the affairs of private schools either. The managements of most of these
schools were as ambitious as ever to make money on the pretext of delivering
'quality education'. According to the Punjab Educational Management Information
System (EMIS), over 35,000 private schools are functioning in the province,
which also include autonomous school systems. However, the private school
owners' association claims that the accurate number is about 80,000.
To
everyone's surprise, more than 60 per cent of the private schools have yet to
get registered with the education department. Most of them are functioning in
small buildings and exploit the parents having desire to provide their children
with quality education. Only one per cent of them, running in collaboration with
foreign school systems, are believed to be providing quality education.
A
twelve-member committee, comprising members of the provincial assembly, took
more than a year to finalise a draft proposing an authority to regulate the
schools' affairs. However, the draft could not be presented in the provincial
assembly for debate in 2006.
The year passed leaving a hope for
schoolteachers that their 'just' demands like regularisation of contract
employees and timely promotion and increase in different allowances will be
accepted in 2007. They held scores of rallies and staged demonstrations this
year, but could not make their voice heard.
Teachers had to face the
police wrath when they took to the streets for their rights. This year, they
were baton-charged in Multan. It is believed that such actions lower teachers'
stature in society. Schoolteachers, like many other government employees, were
also forced by their heads to mark their attendance at political meetings
organised by the ruling party.
The outgoing year was also a testing time
for the heads of different public sector colleges and schools. About 50 heads of
different schools and colleges in Punjab had to lose their positions because
their institutions could not produce better results.
The composite
examination system was revived once again at secondary school level last year
after the part-system could not work despite remaining in vogue for a couple of
years. September was declared the start of the academic year, and examination
dates for the matriculation and intermediate classes were changed. Now they are
held between April and June. The frequent changes in the secondary board
examination system have exposed the government's inconsistent policies and it
seems that no homework is done before taking major decisions involving the
future of thousands of students.
The experiment of handing over
administrative control of some 425 intermediate and degree colleges in the
country to the district governments some four years ago also failed. These
institutions were again placed under the provinces last year. The decision was
apparently made after charges that the district governments were not utilising
the development funds meant for colleges properly. They were also not
functioning in line with the guidelines provided by the Higher Education
Commission, resulting in no improvement in syllabi and curricula.
The
heads having good relations with nazims were facilitated in running the affairs
of their institutions, and transfers and postings were mostly politically
motivated. One hopes that reversal of the decision will not leave the colleges'
administrations and teachers at the mercy of the bureaucracy. The plans of
introducing a bilingual mode of teaching from the primary to the intermediate
level and rationalisation of the student-teacher ratio in intermediate and
degree colleges in 2006 could not see the light of day within the stipulated
time period.
For the first time, institutions like the Government College
University and Lahore College for Women University launched the four-year BA,
BSc (Honours) programme according to the HEC guidelines. The HEC is expected to
make the programme mandatory for all varsities in the country at some stage,
besides declaring the degree equivalent to MA, MSc. The HEC, in 2006, declared
some 109 private and chartered educational institutions unlawful in Punjab, and
subsequently asked the government to initiate action against them. The
provincial government, however, has been keeping mum on the issue.
Seven
posts of vice-chancellors fell vacant in various higher education institutions
during the outgoing year. The institutions included GCU, Bahauddin Zakriya
University, University of Education and the LCWU. Against the vacant posts,
appointment of three VCs was made. Dr Munawar Mirza, who reportedly had
sympathisers among the education department top hierarchy, finally replaced the
provincial government's one-time favourite Dr Mustafa Habibuallah. LCWU former
VC Dr Bushra Mateen succeeded in retaining her position.
The year 2006
witnessed the Punjab University administration emerging successful in terms of
reining in the Islami Jamiat Tulba (IJT). The administration expelled a record
number of Jamiat activists. The university also managed to stop all
IJT-sponsored 'political and educational' activities on campus.
However,
on the educational front, the main focus was on launch of a maximum number of
self-finance (evening) programmes to generate more revenue. However, such
programmes were affecting teachers' performance, who in a bid to take maximum
number of lectures have been concentrating neither on the morning classes nor on
the evening, which resulted in deterioration of standards.
The King
Edward Medical College was upgraded as a university earlier in the year. It is
yet to develop its examination system for postgraduate programmes and is still
counting on Punjab University in this regard. Four Final-year students of the
Allama Iqbal Medical College switched over from the University of Health
Sciences to the KEMU last year without the approval of the former. The UHS had
taken the case to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, requesting action
against the students for violating its constitution. The AIMC is affiliated with
the UHS.
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| Education News | | Updated: 08 Feb, 2012 |
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