Higher Edu Dept entry banned | Private universities research
Ban on entry to Higher Education Dept irks people
Lahore, June 11: Contrary to the Punjab government's tall claims that it was
following an 'open-door' policy, the new secretary of the Higher Education
Department has banned the entry of visitors to various sections of the
department. Visitors are not allowed to enter the upper floor of the
department which houses most of offices of senior officials, including the
additional secretary (establishment), deputy secretaries (general,
establishment, budget, universities and boards etc). Offices of many
under secretaries and section officers (SOs) are also situated there. A large
number of people belonging to various parts of the province visit these offices
on a daily basis for solution to their problems. They said the fresh move had
multiplied their problems. During a visit to the department on Monday,
this correspondent observed many people complaining about the new "policy".
Visitors were informed that the department was computerising the record owing to
which they could not be allowed to enter. On the other hand, department
employees were also seen expressing displeasure over the new exercise as they
had to clear all cupboards containing hundreds of files. People criticized the department high ups for banning their entry to the
department. They said the move had added to their miseries. A visitor, Saleem,
said the government had claimed to have adopted an open-door policy while in
reality people were suffering as usual because of such practices. He said
banning entry was like violating rights of individuals who come from various
parts of the province for solution to their problems. He suggested instead of
barring people the department officials should chalk out some other plan so that
the visitors might not suffer as in most cases they come from far flung
areas. Another visitor said he wanted to meet SO (Boards) about an issue
related to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore but
was denied entry. An employee seeking anonymity said most of the wings and
sections were understaffed owing to which the new exercise had created troubles.
Another commented that the new secretary was working on an additional
post - an arrangement that was not meant to last for a long time. "It seems the
boss (secretary) wants to pass this period without getting into troubles people
bring with them on a daily basis," he added. When contacted, Secretary
I&C (S&GAD) Omer Rasool who has recently been given additional charge as
the higher education secretary said visitors were not allowed as the department
was computerizing the record. "Everything is topsy-turvy in the department," he
claimed adding "Once things are in order, this will help visitors". "We are
doing this for their benefit", he added. "Visitors should come to my office as I
am here to serve them," the secretary said. The News
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"One Window Operation - a much needed - is breakthrough at Punjab Secretariat Lahore. However, it needs vigilence to avoid loopholes and pitfalls; since the enclosure is the same, the files moves in the same hands and decades old klerkocracy-habits ( especially among rankers ) would not diminish overnight. It was alarming to find a secretary of education removed off her office by these rankers. Some of the negatively opinionated officials - pcs as well as the rankers, play Brute; taxing the the whole business of affairs. Similarly, the planners and evaluators hardly succeed, falling easy prey in the hands of veteran-malpractioners, opine objectively on merit. A Joining-Report submitted in person to the DPI in 2004, remains undecided; the DPI could not evaluate the educational asset of an English teacher, returning from an English speaking country. Further more, some of the deputies and SOs at the Punjab Secretariat are trying not to make use of the cognizance and exposure to a worldwide-experience of a teacher. Their professional requirement - as HRM, is to facilitate in providing the world experience of the teacher to the student-community. But they fail to practise professionally. The One Window Operation return date was August 16, 2009 on the petition ( No. 221 with 46 pages of exhibition - inclusive of medical certificate with covering letter of Mr. Basit the Pakistan Consul New York USA, English language teaching licenses and certificates from USA ; British Council English language training at Aberdeen University Scotland UK ). However, every telephonic inquiry on the subject is hushed up with responses: CASE IS IN PROGRESS; the file is lost; the boss is on leave; the file is with boss; the clerk is on leave; you tell me how to do it; you come next week and it will be done; it is not easy to do it etc. The asset resource must be used - for it is in the benefit of the students and the nation at large; much has been wasted by the ill-opinionated workers at the offices of DPI and Lahore Secretariat."
Name: Amjad Farooq Shah
Email: amfa7@hotmail.com
City, Country: Lahore
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Private universities lag behind in research
Lahore: A majority of the city's private universities lag behind in research and go without contributing any
major publications to the peer-reviewed journals, a report on universities by
the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has revealed. HEC has compiled a
report by taking into account publications by Pakistani universities, which
appeared in peer-reviewed journals indexed by Thomson-Reuter, ISI Web of
Knowledge during the years 2007 and 2008. The databases used for this
analysis were Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, and Art and
Humanities Citation Index. According to the report, the Quaid-e-Azam
University tops the list with 544 publications in 2008 and 409 publications in
2007. University of Karachi comes in second position with 419 publications in
2008 and 276 publications in 2007. Aga Khan University is the only private
university that comes in the top five universities on the basis of research
publications. The university is third in the list with 311 publications in 2008
and 186 publications in 2007. The University of the Punjab is the only
university from Lahore that comes in the top five universities. The university
is fifth with 278 publications in 2008 and 162 publications in
2007. Private universities: The report shows that the majority of private
universities in Lahore are not focusing on research and have only a few
publications during 2007 and 2008. Lahore University of Management Sciences
(LUMS) is the only private university in Lahore that has contributed in the
internationally recognised journals. LUMS is fourth in the list of universities
from Lahore. The university has 27 publications in 2008 and 19 publications in
2007. No other private institution in Lahore has produced research based
publications. Many reputed government institutions including the Forman
Christian College University (FCCU) and Kinnaird College did not publish any
research material. FCCU has three and Kinnaird College only one publication in
2008. HEC Executive Director Dr Sohail H Naqvi said this
ranking had nothing to do with the overall positions of the universities and was
only a research-based report on universities. He said many reputed private
institutions focused on market-oriented courses and Bachelors degrees and were
less focused on the research. "Besides, most of the research is possible with
government funding. For some years, HEC has been providing scholarships to the
private institutions like LUMS and Aga Khan University which are doing really
well," he added. He said the research work in the universities has now improved
as compared to the previous years. Daily Times
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KEMU students apprise CS of problems
Lahore: A Delegation of 20 students of Student Action Committee of King
Edward Medical University (KEMU) met the Punjab chief
secretary. According to a press release here on Monday, the delegation
led by Qazi Yasir included Furrukh, Tariq, Shahzad, Hammad, Tayab, Kamran,
Yasir, Aamir, Mehsen, Shabnum, Tayyaba and Kinza. The chief secretary,
after listening to all queries of students, referred them to the provincial
health secretary whom they briefed about problems in the examination system in
the King Edward Medical University. They demanded transparent examination
system in the King Edward Medical University, which, according to them, was
based on nepotism/favouritism as well as discrimination. They informed
the health secretary that two key officials, controller of examinations and
additional controller of examinations, had been changed in the King Edward
Medical University a few months back without properly notifying it which raised
doubts about this covert decision of the KEMU administration. The health
secretary told the students that after having a meeting with KEMU vice
chancellor of King Edward Medical University, he will inform them about the
decision probably tomorrow and assured that every possible relief would be
provided to students. The students are also expected to meet Punjab
governor. The News
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Unregistered schools : LHC issues notice to edu secretary
Lahore: Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman of the Lahore High Court
(LHC) on Monday issued notices to the Punjab education secretary and other
respondents on a petition challenging the opening of unregistered branches by a
private school in the city. The petitioner, Muhammad Shahid Chohan,
through his counsel Asif Mehmood Khan, submitted that his son was a student at
the private school's Gulshan-e-Ravi branch, which was unregistered. He
said 20 of the school's branches were unregistered. He said this was unjustified
and unconstitutional. He alleged that the school administration was deceiving
the public at large. He requested that the unregistered branches of the private
school be shut down under the Punjab Private Education Institutions Ordinance,
1984. Daily Times
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Urdu translation of Churchill's book
Lahore: Islam bring light to the dark world and it has been the greatest
and the moist enlightened religion of the modern age which has rekindled the
diminishing sprit of humanity in a world of materialism.This was the consensus
opinion of renowned speakers at the book launching ceremony organised by the
Jamhoori Publications at the Adabi Bahitahak at Al Hamra Arts Council, The Mall
on Monday. The book which was launched on this occasion was the Urdu
translation of Sir Winston Churchill's world-renowned book 'Jang Malakand
1895.The speakers who included Former Federal Minister for Law SM Masood,
Furrukh Sohail, Hassan Nisar, Oriya Maqbool Jan, Shujaat Hashmi, Nisar Safdar
and others , were of the opinion that the book by Churchill still has a lot of
significance since it narrated about the people of that area who had not changed
much in all those years but the things have certainly changed a lot in the last
century. The News
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