KU mid-term exam notification | HSC exams from April 28

KU issues clarification of mid-term exam
Karachi, Mar 14: After causing much consternation to the students, the University of Karachi (KU) has finally issued a notification clarifying that the students admitted to the 2007 class will not be required to appear in the mid-term test during their four years study. Those students of the 2007 batch who have already appeared in the mid-term test in 2008 will have their results revised by the semester cell according to the rules approved by the Academic Council. Those students who are found eligible for promotion to the fifth semester would be allowed to attend classes and take the Terminal Examinations. These students will be assessed according to the Examination and Assessment Rules 2002 booklet (pages 6 and 7).

B.Sc. (Pass) First and Second Years' Computer Science Practical Examination-2008 for Left Over Candidates will be held at the Department of Computer Science on March 20 and 21 at 2.00pm.

Theory Papers (Papers I and II) of Diploma in Clinical Neurology (DCN) Annual Examination-2008 will be held on March 21. Paper I would be from 11.00am to 1.00pm and for Paper II would be from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. The News

KU senate poll
The election for the Karachi University's 12 senate seats for college teachers will be held on March 31. This was announced by the KU Registrar, the returning officer of the election, Prof Mohammad Rais Alvi, on Friday. App

Research attributes rise in Malaria to change in climate, demographics
Karachi: Researchers from the University of Karachi (KU) Department of Geography have discovered the relationship between the spread of certain diseases in Karachi and other areas of Pakistan, and the rise of temperatures due to climatic change. Dengue and Malaria have especially been mentioned in the research.

Former chairman of the department Dr Syed Jamil Hasan Kazmi, who also headed another research on the relationship between climate change and increase in the incidence of diseases, and the decrease in agricultural output in and around, said that Malaria in Pakistan was limited to coastal and thickly populated areas; however, the influx of Afghan refugees from 1979 onwards resulted in a drastic increase of Malaria. "The demographic change brought about by the refugees resulted in the rise of temperatures. The Afghans, due to the change of their habitat, became susceptible to the disease. The concentration of refugees was in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and the region went from having the lowest incidence of malarial diseases to the highest."

Furthermore, the research states, "Epidemiologically, malaria is a three factor disease: agent (parasite), human host and vector (mosquito). Among the agents, Plasmodium Falciparum (PF) and Plasmodium Viva (PV) are the most common parasites in Pakistan. There are about 22 vectors found in Pakistan, but only four of them are more important, namely A. Culifacies, A. Stephensi, A. Superpictus and A. Fluviatries.

The research was carried out after a striking increase in the severity of autumnal outbreaks of Plasmodium falciparum during the last decade in the NWFP. The role of climatologic variables was investigated. A multivariate analysis showed that during the transmission season of PF, the amount of rainfall in September and October, the temperature in November and December, and the humidity in December were all correlated with two measures of PF: the falciparum rate (per cent of slides examined positive for PF) since 1981 and the annual PF proportion (per cent of all malaria infections diagnosed as PF) since 1978. Climatologic records since 1876 show an increase in mean November and December temperatures by 2°C and 1.5°C respectively, and in October rainfall. Mean humidity in December has also been increasing since 1950. These regional climatologic changes appear to facilitate the transmission of and may account for the rise in the disease incidence in the NWFP in recent years.

"Malaria could be controlled by destroying the breeding grounds of mosquito larvae. The most notable breeding grounds for mosquito breeding are overhead water tanks, while placing of a net at the mouth of the outlet of the tank from where water flows would drastically curb breeding," said Dr Kazmi. Prophylactic doses of anti-malarial drugs should also be taken orally in the mosquitoes infested areas, he added.

The potentially fatal disease, characterized by severely high fevers, is carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. According to Dr Kazmi, "Dengue is an illness that can be fatal, and basically there is not a magic cure that you give for dengue, but you have to treat it symptomatically, i.e. giving medicine for the fever, drink plenty of fluid etc."

The Dengue cases in Karachi have increased at an alarming rate within a few years. The outbreak of dengue fever – highly concentrated in males – is evident from the data collected by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) sources. 2055 patients suffering from the disease have been admitted in various hospitals during a two year period, while the number of female patients received in the same hospitals and in the same period were 879.

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HSC exams from April 28
Karachi: As per the decision of the steering committee, the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) Annual Examinations 2009 will start from April 28 for the Science and Home Economics Groups (morning shift) and the Commerce Group from May 2 (afternoon shift), a press release said on Friday. The detailed schedule of the examinations would be release 30 days before the commencement of the first paper, stated the press release. The News

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Board decides to offer some papers with MCQs: Unavailability of Class IX books
Karachi: The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) has decided to offer "multiple choices" in certain papers of Class IX examinations keeping in view the non-availability of the relevant books.

The decision has been taken after the board realised that the book-II of chemistry, biology, mathematics and physics could not be made available to most of the students promptly during the academic session.

BSEK Controller of Examinations Syed Jawed Iftikhar said on Friday that the chemistry and biology papers for the students taking their Class IX examinations-2009 would have a number of choices and, as such, all candidates would be able to solve their question papers easily whether they had been taught the book-II of these subjects or not.

Although the BSEK model papers of chemistry and biology which were initially provided to schools had suggested that the papers of both the subjects in the Class IX annual examinations-2009 would carry 50 per cent questions each from book-I and book-II, the board has now decided to give a maximum number of choices in both the papers so that those who have not been taught book-II in their schools do not face any difficulty in solving the papers.

The chemistry book-II and biology book-II were supposed to be made available in the market in the beginning of the current academic year. However, thousands of Class IX students belonging to a large number of schools could not be taught from these books owing to an inordinate delay in publishing and distributing the books by the Sindh education department.

Educationists have been questioning the introduction of the book-II, not only of chemistry and biology but also of physics and mathematics, for the students of Class-IX. The education department argues that it was aimed at bridging the gap between the secondary and the higher secondary levels. The educationists believe that the students who have not been taught book-II of chemistry and biology will certainly lag behind those who were taught the books. Consequently, they said, the deficient students would not be able to gain good grades in their intermediate examinations even if they got through in their matriculation examinations with flying colours.

The educationists say that at a time when a persisting shortage of teachers in the government-run colleges is believed to be the main cause of these institutions' dismal performance at the intermediate level, the non-availability of book-II of chemistry and biology at the secondary level will badly affect the already declining pass percentage at the intermediate level.

Marks distribution

Referring to the marks distribution under the new pattern of examination being introduced for the first time for the Class IX examinations, the BSEK controller of examination said that each paper of the compulsory subjects - English, Pakistan Studies and Sindhi - would carry 75 marks.

The biology theory paper would carry 85 marks and its practical 15 marks; the computer theory paper would carry 75 marks and its practical 25 marks; and the chemistry theory paper would carry 85 marks and its practical 15 marks, he added. Dawn

Examination monitoring body: SEC for primary schools on the cards
Karachi: A proposal has been floated to establish the Sindh Examination Commission (SEC) that will focus on upgrading the education assessment system in government schools and would act as an examination monitoring body.

"The commission will be established on the pattern of the Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) that is already active in evaluating the education system in primary and middle schools," official sources in Sindh Education Department revealed. The SEC is likely to be set up under the administrative control of the provincial government.

In Punjab, PEC performs the assessment of primary and middle standard examination as it focuses on improving the learning outcomes of students.

According to the sources, apart from assessing the learning outcomes, SEC will also supervise assessment procedures including students' registration, papers development, conducting and monitoring exams and analysing results of schools. The other functions of SEC will be to enhance the skills of teachers and educational personnel in government schools by using modern techniques that are being practiced globally. Meanwhile, NWFP and Balochistan are also thinking of setting up examination commissions along similar lines. Daily Times

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