Govt colleges shortage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Shortage of govt colleges : Many students quit studies after SSC
Peshawar, July 26: Shortage of public sector colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
annually deprives thousands of students from admission to intermediate classes,
it is learnt. Every year a large number of students fail to join
government colleges after passing their Secondary School Certificate (SSC)
examination as the existing number of seats is not enough to absorb them. Most
of them have to abandon further studies altogether as they belong to poor
families. Around 230,397 students passed the SSC examination 2010,
according to the result gazettes of the eight boards of intermediate and
secondary education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, an official said, the
intermediate seats' capacity in 143 government colleges was 120,000 and in
government higher secondary schools 20,000. According to the result
gazettes, 41,983 students passed the examination from the Peshawar board, 34,265
from Abbottabad, 29,808 from Swat, 33,044 from Malakand, 35,270 from Mardan,
21,560 from Bannu, 19,274 from Kohat and 15,194 from the Dera Ismail Khan board.
"The students left from admission to government collages and higher
secondary schools have two options: either to opt for admission to private
colleges or discontinue education after SSC," an educationist said.
Students belonging to well-off families join private colleges but those from
poor families cannot afford education in private institutions and have to
discontinue their studies. This problem is in particular grave in the
capital city which has limited number of colleges and even students who pass the
SSC examination in first division fail to get admission to intermediate classes.
Mohammad Ismail, a resident of Peshawar city said that he had applied
to most of the colleges because it was difficult to find one's name on the merit
list due to less number of colleges and seats. Dawn
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Transfer orders of 400 college teachers issued
Karachi: The Sindh Education Department announced on Saturday the
issuance of transfer orders of over 400 teachers of government colleges in the
province. According to a press release issued by the department, the
move aims to rationalise the strength of teaching staff and overcome acute
shortage of teachers in various colleges throughout the province. The
teachers whose transfer orders have been issued include 176 lecturers (BS-17),
233 assistant-professors (BS-18), and seven associate-professors (BS-19). In
colleges of Karachi, transfer orders were issued for 96 lecturers and 46
assistant-professors. In Karachi, most of the transfers were made in the
following colleges: Government Girls College, Metroville; Government Girls
College, 7-C Orangi; Govt Girls College Ibrahim Hyderi; Govt Degree Girls
College, Block-13 Gulistan-e-Jauhar; Govt Girls College, Korangi-2 1/2, Govt
Girls College Baldia Town; Govt Degree Boys College, Quaiabad; Pakistan
Ship-owners' Govt College; Govt Degree College, Jhangal Shah; Govt Degree
College, Shamspir; Govt Degree Boys College, 5-L New Karachi; Allama Iqbal Govt
Girls College. According to a press release issued by the provincial
education department, the above-mentioned colleges of the city have been facing
acute shortage of teaching staff, therefore staff has been provided to them from
other mainstream colleges in the city including Govt College for Women,
Nazimabad; Govt Girls College Zamzama Gizri; Khatoon-e-Pakistan Govt College for
Women; Sir Syed Govt Girls College; Govt Degree College, Gulshan-e-Iqbal; Govt
College for Women, Korangi-4; SM Govt Arts/Commerce College No-2; Govt College
for Men Nazimabad; Adamjee Govt Science College; National Govt College Karachi.
From Hyderabad region, 73 assistant-professors and 42 lecturers have been
transferred. In Hyderabad, 58 assistant-professors and six lecturers were in
excess. In Matiari, four assistant-professors were in excess. The
teachers from Hyderabad region have been transferred to colleges in Thatta,
Sujawal, Matli, Badin, Sewhan, KH Shah, Mehar, Dadu and Johi, where teaching
staff in proper strength was not available. The statement said that
postings and transfers of college teachers were been made on merit to cater the
needs of students so that colleges of each area functioned with appropriate
number of staff. The news
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SAU in financial crisis, says VC
Hyderabad: Dr A.Q. Mughal, Vice-Chancellor of the Sindh Agriculture
University, has said that the university is facing a financial crisis and urged
the Higher Education Commission and the government to release additional funds.
The vice-chancellor said in a statement that the university's current
budget of Rs540.934 million was far short of meeting even the annual salary bill
of Rs604.385 and utilities and POL charges of Rs67.7 million. He said
that a recent communication of the HEC said that the university's recurring
budget for 2010-11 would stand frozen at Rs540.934 million, was almost equal to
the funds released in 2009-10. The university already faced a shortfall
of Rs174.782 million on account of payment of 15 and 20 per cent ad hoc relief
to employees and 15 and 20 per cent increase in pensions during 2009-10, he
said. In keeping with the requirements, he said, the statutory bodies of
the SAU had approved a budget of Rs876.787 million for 2010-11. Besides, the
university had to bear the additional cost of Rs177.515 million in 2010-11
because of increase in basic salaries, pension and medical allowance recently
announced by the government. In addition, under HEC's directives, the
university was establishing the Directorate of University Advancement and
Students Financial Assistance and Directorate of Research which required a
further Rs7.851 million, he said. Put together, the total expenditure
would come to Rs1,062.153 million for 2010-11 but the HEC committed only
Rs540.934 million. The university expected an internal income of only Rs90
million from fees, university farms and other sources, Dr Mughal said.
He said the university would face a shortfall of Rs430.719 million which
would adversely affect all spheres of its activities. Although the
university had been trying to raise revenue but institutions of higher learning
were service providers and could not function as business entities. The
recent establishment of an endowment fund at the university would take years to
grow to a sizable amount to support its activities, he said. With the
Rs540.934 million budget, it would be difficult to pay salary bill of Rs604.385
and utilities and POL charges of Rs67.7 million, and also to meet the commitment
to increase in salary and pension announced by the government. He urged
the HEC and the government to sanction additional funds to pull the university
out of its financial crisis.
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Former VC accused of financial irregularities
Nawabshah: A former vice-chancellor of the Quaid-i-Awam University of
Engineering, Science and Technology has been accused of 'fleecing' the
university of Rs2 million during his short tenure and of continuing to occupy
the guest-house of the institution. The former vice-chancellor moved
into the guest-house of the university and made it his official residence soon
after taking charge and also kept a bungalow allotted to him earlier when he was
a professor. He was entitled to Rs70,000 as house rent and Rs15,000 as
utilities allowance but he did not pay anything from his salary till the end of
his tenure. The total of house rent for the period of 23 months comes to
Rs1.61 million and utility allowance Rs340,000. Sources in the
university said that the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) had raised
serious objections to non-deduction of house rent and other allowances from the
former VC's salary but the finance department of the university managed to hush
up the matter by removing the relevant paragraphs from the audit report.
With the guest-house remaining occupied, the university is spending huge
amounts on providing alternate accommodation to guests from other universities,
members of visiting teams from Governor's House and Higher Education Commission.
The sources said that the officials concerned planned to bring the
embezzlement to the notice of the syndicate. Purchase of inferior
quality furniture and fixtures for the new administration block costing Rs7.5
million would also be taken up by the syndicate, the sources said. The
former VC, when contacted by this correspondent, denied the allegations and said
that he was being victimised. About the occupation of the guest-house,
he said that former vice-chancellors had also lived in the guest-house and he
had to live there because there was no accommodation at the university. Dawn
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