PU B.Com Part-II out of course paper

BCom students protest
Lahore, June 14: Dozons of students, staging a demonstration, protested against an "out of course paper" during the B.Com Part-II Annual Examination 2010 being held by the Punjab University these days.

The students gathered on the PU New Campus on Saturday and held a strong protest saying the B.Com-II paper of Advance Financial Accounting held on June 11 (Friday) was out of course owing to which they faced immense problems in attempting the paper. They demanded the university resolve the issue at earliest saying their future was at stake owing to alleged mistake of the paper-setter.

The students dispersed following PU Controller and Principal of varsity's Hailey College of Commerce assured them that their genuine grievance would be redressed.

PU Controller of Examination Prof Dr Zahid Karim said the matter would be resolved as per law adding the case had been referred to the Board of Studies. He said if there was any problem, it had to be rectified through legal procedure since his office alone was not authorised to address such issues. The news

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Around 30,000 PU students deprived of time-off
Lahore: Although government and private institute students are celebrating their summer vacations, around 30,000 students from different corners of the country and dozens of foreign students of the Punjab University are being deprived of the opportunity to visit their hometowns, as they have to sit for their exams and attend makeup classes.

These students – who number in the thousands – are only suffering due to the brutality of the activists of the Islami Jamiat Taliba (IJT), who forced the PU to suspend all educational activities for almost 20 days.

At present, various students from countries including Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Nigeria, Nepal, Turkey and the continent of Africa are enrolled in different departments in the PU. The only chance these students get to visit their homelands is during the summers, but this year they have all been denied that one chance since the IJT's actions led to the varsity conducting its classes for a considerable portion of the summer vacations. Similarly, there are a number of students from Gilgit-Baltistan and other far flung areas of the country who have been left to bear the heat of the provincial capital.

It is worth noting that in April, dozens of activists of the IJT injured a senior professor of the varsity, ransacked his office, damaged vehicles outside his office and also attacked the vice chancellor's (VC) office and his house at the varsity's New Campus.

The violent outbreak came after several students belonging to the IJT were expelled. Immediately after the violence, the PU administration closed the varsity for 20 days and teachers, students, civil society and human rights activists launched protests against the IJT and demanded the government eradicate the group from the varsity. Although the government and the varsity's administration made some efforts in this regard, including police raids in the varsity, the efforts did not find much success. In the end, the students are the ones who have been left to suffer for the IJT's activities.

Separately, the Government College University's Student Services Center organised a 'Signature Campaign against Tobacco' event in a bid to bring together students in the fight against smoking. More than 500 students signed anti-tobacco banners with pledges to play an active role in convincing people not to smoke in universities, colleges, hospitals, restaurants, offices, parks and other public places. GCU Placement Officer Muhammad Waqar Ahmad said that female students participated more actively in the campaign, which was organised in collaboration with Green Future, an organisation working with the WHO against tobacco consumption.

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PU VC wants 4% GDP for education promotion
Lahore: Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran on Sunday said that the federal government should allocate at least four percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the promotion of the education sector in the next fiscal year's budget.

Addressing a gold medals' distribution ceremony organised by the Tehreek-e-Istehqam Pakistan Council (TIPC) at the National Auditorium, the vice chancellor said that if the government failed in allocating funds for educational promotion the country would confront dire consequences and would not be able to achieve a dignified and respectable status among other countries in the years to come.

Kamran was awarded a Quaid-e-Azam gold medal in the acknowledgement of his contribution and services in academics, research and teaching. He thanked the TIPC president for holding the ceremony in recognition of those who have been contributing to the country positively. Daily times

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Function at PU
Lahore: Punjab University Student Teacher Centre (STC) is organising a function in which renowned TV anchor person Syed Tallat Hussain will give his personal eye witness account of the Israeli military attack on freedom flotilla, on Monday, June 14, 2010 at 10:00am in the Faisal Auditorium New Campus.

PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran will chair the ceremony while Chief Editor Daily Pakistan Mujeebur Rehman Shami, eminent intellectual and columnist Oriya Maqbool Jan and former Vice-President PU Student Union Syed Ehsan Ullah Waqas will also address on the occasion. The nation

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KEMU graduates awarded degrees
Lahore: At least 472 graduates of the King Edward Medical University (KEMU) were awarded degrees at the university's 150th convocation here on Saturday.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani awarded medals to outstanding graduates and announced foreign scholarships for three graduates who won the highest number of gold medals.

Gilani congratulated the graduates and the faculty for their success. He said consultation in Health Policy 2010 was in the final stage. He said thanks to the 18th Amendment, which made health a provincial subject and now provinces should ensure provision of health facilities at the grass root level.

Earlier, KEMU Vice-Chancellor Prof Zafarullah Khan presented the welcome address. He said KEMU produced 148 research papers and 16 of these were published in international journals.

He said the university spent Rs2.5 million on research during the last two years. He sought patronage from the federal and provincial governments. Dawn

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UHS employees released
Lahore: A LOCAL Magistrate on Saturday released on bail 22 former employees of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on the submission of surety bonds.

Former UHS contract employees were arrested in the wake of their alleged plan to block the road on the arrival of Chief Minister Punjab at the varsity on Friday.

Police had registered an FIR under Section 290 and 291 of the Pakistan Penal Code against 22 nominated accused.

The former UHS employees were protesting against the UHS administration and Punjab government for not regularising their services.

The CM Punjab had to visit the UHS to attend a two-day Youth Conference on its first day held under the recently formed Chief Minister Youth Commission.

Some of the sacked employees said their families were not allowed to meet them in the lockup while later they were shifted to Nawakot Police Station in prisoner van.

They said that on way to Nawakot the van was stopped for almost four hours in scorching heat which created panic among the sacked employees. It was a clear violation of human rights, they added.

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Private schools demand fee exemption
Lahore: All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association (APPSMA) has demanded the Punjab government either exempt private schools from commercialization fee or collect reasonable fee, warning that, otherwise, it would launch a protest campaign against the government.

Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club on Saturday, APPSMA president Adeeb Jawadani and other office bearers claimed that the increase in commercialization fee by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) was illegal, alleging that the policy introduced by bureaucracy was anti-education.

They said upto 2008, the LDA used to collect 1.5 percent commercialization fee annually while in 2009 it started to collect three percent fee on annual basis, adding that, since January this year, the Authority had started collecting 4.5 percent fee per annum. ìIt is a move to get rid of private schools which have been playing a pivotal role in promotion of education", they added. APPSMA office bearers said that, besides the LDA, the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) had also got published advertisements in newspapers regarding collection of commercialization fee from private schools and other business set up on 118 different roads of the city. The news

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Chosen students unravel 'priority' truth
Lahore: The issues and problems in education and health sectors highlighted by a few chosen students representing the youth at Chief Minister's Punjab Youth Commission conference must serve as an eye-opener for the Punjab government that is crying hoarse that it has prioritised education and health sectors.

The Punjab government selected 360 top students on the basis of written test and interviews and called them to Lahore to brainstorm and discuss issues and problems plaguing their districts and divisions at large. The government launched this initiative to "listen to the voice of youth" about issues and problems across the province and their doable solutions.

On the second day of the two-day conference, two representatives - one boy and one girl - from each division gave presentations and answered questions from the audience.

Almost all speakers said the education sector was in a "terrible" condition because there was a lack of buildings and those available badly needed repairs. The schools lacked facilities. They emphasised that there was a lack of teachers in educational institutions even after recruitment of 38,000 teachers last year, and most teachers remained absent. "Quality education is still a distant dream in public sector schools," a student said. One of the participants said the quality of education could not improve until and unless politicians and bureaucrats send their wards to public schools.

The representatives from D.G. Khan were vocal enough to say that feudal lords and Sardars in the district did not let the common people get education, fearing that they might compete with them. As senior adviser to chief minister Sirdar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa was sitting on the stage, they pointed out that there was no full-fledge university in the district.

They suggested that teachers' recruitment on a contract or honorary basis should be stopped forthwith because they could not teach with dedication when they would not be sure about their future. They called for revision of curricula to impart modern knowledge to young students.

They suggested that school and college buildings should be used in the evening by starting evening classes there and teachers should be offered incentives to teach there. They called for introduction of skill-based education so that graduates can readily get jobs.

They suggested that students in schools and colleges should be offered career counselling so that they might seek education with an aim in their minds. They said youth should be included in the school and college councils to monitor funds and policies.

During his speech, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif agreed that facilities in schools were missing despite spending billions of rupees on this sector during the last many years.

The youth representatives conducted a survey of health sector facilities in the province and had a consensus that available health facilities lacked doctors, paramedical staff as well as medicines. They said most basic health units and rural health centres in far flung areas had become deserted places because of unavailability of doctors and the paraphernalia.

In hospitals where doctors were available, the youth representatives said, patients were being treated rudely.

The students suggested the government should announce internship programme in all medical colleges and ask MBBS doctors and doctors specialising in various areas to serve at basic health units for a certain period. As the youth was giving this suggestion, the Punjab health department was busy disbanding such programmes already on the ground. One such example is the reported suspension of the Punjab Safe Motherhood Project, in which gynae specialist students served in Sheikhupura and Chakwal districts and showed encouraging results in terms of serving gynae patients in their hometowns. The students from D.G. Khan said a separate ward should be set up at a hospital here for HIV/AIDS patients. They said there was a high incidence of AIDS in this district, which had almost half of all AIDS patients in Pakistan. They said D.G. Khan was ranked first in HIV/AIDS cases in South Asia.

Criticising the bureaucracy, the youth representatives said it was a matter of concern that "public servants have become public masters". Dawn

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