Higher education jobs | Swat students' fee remission

Govt still unable to fill in secy higher education slot
Lahore, June 24: The higher education department is facing shortage of staff after bifurcation of the department. The post of secretary higher education has been lying vacant for most of time as the Punjab government has been unable to find any suitable officer for the said office.

Downward slide of the higher education department started in 2008-09 when the new government took over the province. During this period, from May 2008 till now, six secretaries have been showed the door while the seventh secretary at present is serving the department as an additional charge. The seven secretaries that assumed the office in the department include Arifa Saboohi, Javed Aslam (additional charge), Rai Ijaz Ali Zaigham, Muhammad Ayub Qazi (additional charge), Azhar Hussain Shamim, Umur Rasul (additional charge), Ahad Cheema (additional charge todate).

In the current fiscal year, Azhar Hussain Shamim was lucky to survive for nine months. During his tenure 78 on-going and 38 new schemes were initiated. Due to resource constraint, the development budget was revised downwards by P&D Department from Rs 9100 million to Rs 7333.3 million in 2008-09.

Inspite of repeated requests by the secretaries higher education, the additional chief secretary Punjab failed to fill in five vacant posts of section officers and nine assistants, source in the education department confided on Monday.

In June 2008, the education department was bifurcated into higher and school education departments without any logic and amendment in the Rules of Business 1974. One part of the department, the higher education department, was excluded from the devolution system and since 2006 it is being administered by the provincial government. The divisional and provincial offices lying dormant since 2002 had to be reactivated and faced budgetary and serious manpower constraints to handle the workload for the newly set-up higher education department, the sources said.

Unfortunately, the bifurcation favoured the school education department, as all the project management units (PMUs), staff and computer personnel shifted there. Only the deputy secretary (planning) - a school teacher - was posted in the higher education department and he single-handedly managed planning, implementation and monitoring functions for ADP of Rs 9,100 million with just two section officers (also school teachers) and one assistant.

The sources claimed that the 'low' utilisation of ADP development led to the transfer of the former secretary Azhar Hussain Shamim.

In 2000-01, the ADP of the education department was about Rs700 million that increased to Rs 4,500 million in 2006-07. Surprisingly, the P&D Department doubled it to Rs 9,100 million in 2008-09. The reason behind this giant increase was never shared with the department nor did the department ask about such funding. Two massive block allocations under Punjab education section reform projects (PERSP-ll) and accelerated programme for college education (APCE) worth Rs 2,500 million and Rs 3,000 million respectively were also included. The two block allocations had no schemes mentioned that had to be discovered through CM's directives or MNAs/MPAs requests. Such schemes were to be approved by the concerned quarters in record time to utilise the funds.

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100pc fee remission for Swat students
Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has approved a one-year assistance programme for the students of IDP families belonging to Malakand Division under which a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 per student will be given for meeting their day-to-day expenses. These facilities will be available to all the IDP students studying in educational and vocational institutions in Punjab.

Moreover, the CM had set up a committee under the chairmanship of Provincial Minister for Education Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman. Giving approval to the recommendations of the committee, Shahbaz Sharif has directed that the scope of this decision should be extended to the students studying in commerce colleges and vocational training centres being run by TEVTA.

The committee also reviewed the arrangements made with regard to the disbursement of scholarships and special criteria for these students. In the light of the recommendations of the committee, financial assistance would not be linked up with any scholarship programme but would be provided to all students coming from the IDP families of Malakand Division presently studying in educational institutions in the Punjab, as their families may not be able to pay their fee and living expenses. Similar instructions regarding hundred per cent fee remission have been issued to govt educational institutions and institutes like Sadiq Public School, Bahawalpur.

This assistance programme of the Punjab govt will be for one year for the affectees and it will be withdrawn on the return of IDPs to their respective districts. The authorities at Punjab Education Endowment Fund will scrutinise all applications to be received under this assistance programme and will take necessary action accordingly. Meanwhile, the Punjab govt will also approach private educational institutions, like LUMS and LSC. The Nation

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PU contribution to IDPs lauded
Lahore: Chief Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday appreciated the Punjab University's efforts for the welfare of the internally displaced persons. According to a press release, the chief minister, in a letter to PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran, acknowledged the university's contribution of Rs 1,000,000 in the Chief Minister's Fund for the IDPS. Earlier, Punjab Governor and Punjab University Chancellor Salman Taseer also appreciated efforts made by the PU in the rehabilitation of the IDPs. It is pertinent to mention that PU Relief Camp, established at Shah Mansoor, Swabi, provided medical treatment to over 9,000 patients from May 27 to date. The News

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