'We don't need no education'
The song spoke about the rigid education system
Karachi, July 05: We don't need no education We don't need no thought
control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Hey! Teachers! Leave them
kids alone! When Roger Waters, bassist of the seminal English rock band
Pink Floyd, wrote the band's magnum opus, 'Another Brick in the Wall', the song
became an anthem for the rebellious youth. The song spoke about the
rigid education system prevalent at the time, which did not allow students to
think out of the box, nor did it grant them any leeway to explore and research
independently. In short, the song argued for education to be a thought process,
rather than merely rote learning. However, one could never fathom that
three decades later, a young position holder from Karachi would actually voice
this sentiment in the presence of her teachers and peers at a ceremony which was
held to honour her achievement. Asma, daughter of Altaf, secured
joint-second position in the Secondary School Certificate-part II (SSC)
examination, which is more or less a stepping stone for students in their
academic careers. To hear her declare that "education is not worth the effort"
despite scoring 88.23 per cent was quite a shock for everybody present at the
awards ceremony. This disclosure makes one consider the reasons why a
bright student like Asma would express apathy and pessimism towards education,
which is often labelled as the key to success. Sadly, however, upon scratching
the surface it is easy to see the reasons for such disillusionment expressed by
Asma and so many other students towards education; the disrespect for merit,
honesty and hard work. Many students feel helpless when they see that
despite spending hours upon hours studying and preparing for exams, some of
their peers get more rewards as they take their exams in especially sanctioned,
illegal examination centres with the connivance of board officials and others.
It is disheartening to see the culture of rampant cheating prevail across
examination centres and complete indifference shown by authorities to curb the
menace. It is just as de-motivating to see same incompetent cheaters getting
fake degrees, lucrative jobs and above all, landing the coveted title of Member
of Parliament. The media has been trying to raise the issue of corruption
which is prevalent in the education boards across Karachi for two years now, but
despite clear evidence against those responsible, cosmetic measures have been
taken to eradicate the menace of cheating. Merit is flouted left right
and centre, with utter disregard for any sense of ethics or morality and
accountability. The curriculum taught is completely obsolete and which only
cultivates rote learning, instead of developing skills for logic and
rationality. Questioning in class rooms is often suppressed and discouraged.
Above all, as mentioned earlier, corruption is rewarded far more than
honesty. Only a few months ago, this newspaper reported about a school in
Jamshed Town holding an illegal Sunday Bachat Bazar on its premises. Last month,
a school in Gulberg Town was razed by the land mafia. Another school in Orangi
Town is a den of drug peddlers and heroin addicts. All of this clearly points
out the absolute incompetence of the authorities who are only keen on filling
their coffers instead of performing their duties with diligence and
sincerity. Education in Pakistan is grappling with wide ranging such as
curriculum design, rampant cheating, and negligible budget for development
programs but above all, corruption remains the biggest hurdle. When the
chief minister of the country's largest province states on record that a degree
is a degree, whether fake or genuine, or when a member of the National Assembly
is made to resign by courts for having a fake degree and yet he gets re-elected
within two months, it only shows a complete lack of honesty and the kind of
importance, or lack thereof, given to the education sector of this country. No
wonder Asma chose to follow Roger Water's advice, albeit for more reasons than
one. The news
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CAP future hangs in the balance
Karachi: The future of the decade-old Centralised Admissions Policy
(CAP) for admissions to first-year classes in government colleges of the city
has become uncertain, as the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) has
refused to undertake the work of admission seekers' placement according to their
grades. Moreover, an inordinate delay in the setting up of the CAP
committee for the next academic session has also created confusion whether
admissions to first-year classes in government colleges will be given under the
CAP policy. The BSEK chairman, Syed Anzar Hussain Zaidi, has already
announced that the board will not undertake the task of placing candidates in
colleges on behalf of the CAP committee as such work not only hampers the
board's work but also causes a delay in preparing the results of the Secondary
School Certificates annual examinations. Meanwhile, Sindh Professors and
Lecturers Association secretary Prof Iftikhar Azmi, who remained associated with
CAP committees in the past, said that although a meeting to help resolve the
issue that had surfaced following the BSEK's refusal to undertake the
candidates' placement work was scheduled for Friday under the chairmanship of
Sindh governor's principal secretary Mumtaz-ur-Rehman, the meeting could not be
held as the director-general (colleges), Prof Nasir Ansar, preferred to attend
some other meeting. He said that if the CAP committee and the work
concerning printing of prospectuses/brochures was not initiated in a couple of
days, it would not be possible for the would-be CAP committee to complete the
process of admissions to first-year classes before the commencement of
forthcoming academic session scheduled to begin from Sept 1.He said that
although the Sindh education minister's coordinator, Naveed Zubairi, had assured
him that the BSEK would be requested to undertake the task of placing candidates
and verifying their marks statements, the director-general (colleges) was now
saying that he would get the candidates' placement work done by the officials of
the directorate despite knowing fully well that a mess had been created when the
former DG (colleges) had got the work done through a private party in 2002.
He said that the BSEK alone could undertake the task of placing
candidates in colleges according to their merit and verifying their mark-sheets
in a much better way as they not only possessed a complete data of admission
seekers but also got the facility to verify marks statements of candidates
quickly.
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Quaid school register traced
Karachi: The missing general register of the Church Mission School that
contained the name of Mohammad Ali Jinnah as a student of the CMS has been
traced into the possession of a former district coordination officer and
commissioner of Karachi. Senior Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq
disclosed to Dawn on Saturday that the mystery of the missing historic document
had been resolved as it was in the private custody of Shafiqur Rehman Paracha, a
retired bureaucrat who now heads the Lyari Town's development project.
"Mr Paracha informed me the other day that he took possession of the
important document as he apprehended that it might be destroyed owing to the
highly dilapidated condition of the school's buildings," the minister added.
However, when Mr Paracha was contacted by Dawn to know that since when
the precious document had been in his possession, he said he had picked it up
from the school when he was the commissioner of Karachi. Asked why he
had not handed over the register, a national heritage, to either the archives
department or to the Quaid-i-Azam Academy, he said though he had once tried but
somehow could not do so. "Now I intend to hand it over to the Sindh senior
minister," he said. The disappearance of the CMS's general register that
contained the record of all its students, including that of M. A. Jinnah, had
been a mystery for more than a decade. CMS's exclusion from ADP
About the CMS building's restoration and renovation scheme which the
Sindh planning and development department had dropped from the annual
development programme in the 2010-11 budget, Pir Mazhar said the chief
minister's adviser on finance, Kaiser Bengali, on being apprised of the
importance of the scheme had agreed to adjust it in the current fiscal year's
ADP in place of some less important scheme. The minister who has been
showing keen interest in the restoration of the school's almost ruined blocks
said that he wanted to restore the status of the school as a national heritage
because not only the Father of the Nation had studied in the school, but it was
the first English-medium school of Sindh, established by the first collector of
Karachi, Colonel Henry W. Preedy, in 1846. Located on Sardar Abdur Rab
Nishtar Road (then Lawrence Road), the CMS was one of the best educational
institutions of the city and its students often topped in the matriculation
examinations. But its 1971 nationalisation not only eroded its standard of
education, but all its three blocks suffered from neglect. The school
where Mr Jinnah had studied before taking admission to the Sindh
Madressah-tul-Islam has also produced a number of cricketers of international
repute.
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32 technical institutes closed, says minister
Hyderabad: Sindh Minister for Technical Education and Vocational Abdul
Salam Thaheem has said that 32 of the 250 technical training institutions
established in the province have been closed due to multiple reasons, including
lack of teachers and facilities. Talking to reporters during a visit to
the Government Poly Technical College in Qasimabad, he expressed dissatisfaction
over standard and output of technical training institutions. H said that
after introduction of devolution of power system in the country, district
governments had damaged the system of technical education. During the
previous regime, this sector of education was ignored and isolated from
meaningful progress. He said that the PPP government, realising the
importance of technical education for social and economic development, had
established the Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority.
He said that a survey about the present status of technical training
institutions in Sindh had been conducted and a comprehensive plan was being
prepared to revamp and streamline technical education. He said that
priority was being given to introducing market-oriented courses for technical
training of youth to minimise unemployment and poverty. The minister
stressed the need for close coordination, working relationship and trust
building between management of technical training institutions and industrial
sites for the employment of skilled manpower. Sindh Minister for
Fisheries Zahid Ali Bhurgari said that the provincial government was sincere to
raise the standard of education and technical know-how among young generation.
The Sindh government, he said, would not bow before hooliganism in the
educational institutions. However, he said that security in education
institutions was not up to the mark. He advised the management of educational
institutions to submit their requirements about security to the government to
help ensure security. Mr Bhurgari referring to the drainage problem of
the college directed the Water and Sanitation Agency management to resolve this
problem on priority. The regional director, Technical Education, Ghulam
Mohammed Memon, briefed the ministers about the enrolment, standard of
education, trades under study and performance of the college. Dawn
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Concern voiced over 'massive corruption' in Education Dept
Karachi: The culture of corruption and bribery is rampant in almost all
government-run educational institutions, including the education boards.
Prof Dr Muhammad Ishaq Mansoori stated this while speaking at a first
session of Tanzeem-e-Asatiza Sindh province administrative body here on
Saturday. Dr Mansoori said that the successive governments had failed to
eradicate corruption and misappropriation from the education sector, as the
corrupt ruling politicians were the first beneficiary of this menace. He
said that the rulers work on the basis on favouritism and create problems for
the people. He urged the teachers to play their due role for guidance of
the people. TAP Provincial President Abu Amir Aazmi, Mehmood Muhammad
Khan, Muhammad Usman, Ajmal Waheed, Nasrullah Laghari and all district
office-bearers were also present on the occasion. A large number of teachers
participated in the event.
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SSUET meeting for next semester
Karachi: A meeting of the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology
(SSUET) has decided to take necessary measures to increase the strength of
students to 100 per cent in classes, a press release issued here on Sunday said.
The meeting emphasised to make sure that everything is in place for the new
semester and students have access to the cutting-edge facilities.
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YLC runs into fourth day
Karachi: The participants of the Young Leaders' Conference (YLC), 2010, on
Sunday learned about 'Entrepreneurial Leadership'. The day four of YLC was
dedicated to encouraging youth to spread their wings to achieve success through
conscious effort, careful planning, and relentless smart work. The day
started off with a keynote speech, "Thinking Big" by Asad Umar, CEO, Engro Corp,
who inspired participants to gain confidence through internal inspiration and
stay ahead of challenges by expressing one's self freely. He also highlighted
the infinite choices the youth could explore and make a difference. Co-owner
Gullak, Amara Gul, CEO, K-Bridals, Kashif Rashid, Moiz Kazmi from Fashion Bites
and Umair Jaliawala, Chief Turning Officer, Torque addressed the youth in small
groups on changing Pakistan's culture from employment to entrepreneurship. The
participants were able to discover multiple ways of transforming an idea into
reality to benefit multitudes in society, taking ownership of their work and
being able to utilise resources effectively. They attended a debate
"Right time to make a move" between corporate sector representative and
entrepreneurs. The session allowed the young audience to gain insights into the
pros and cons of being a leader in the corporate sector versus entrepreneur of a
self-managed business. Participants attended issue exploration sessions
in small groups with prominent experts on topics that included 'Owning the
ethos: Changing Pakistan's culture from employment to entrepreneurship';
'Resources versus Resourcefulness!', 'Employees as owners', 'Multiplying
Markets' and 'Aisi ki Taisi - Let's lead from the front'. The news
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