Schools, colleges closed in capital | PU exams to continue

Schools, colleges closed for three days
Islamabad, Mar 14: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) on Friday announced that all its educational institutions in the capital territory would remain close from Saturday till Monday (March 14-16) in the wake of the lawyers' long march in the city.

If the government failed to find an agreeable solution to the prevailing political crisis and stuck to its guns, participants of the long march would be reaching Islamabad on March 16 for a sit-in on the Constitutional Avenue.

Whereas the government, as it seems, would take every possible measure to stop them outside the federal capital. Resultantly, people of the twin cities, especially students, would be at the receiving end.

FDE Director General Attiqur Rehman said: "In the wake of upcoming long march, as a precautionary measure we have decided to keep all our schools and colleges in the federal capital closed for three days, i.e. from March 14 to 16".

Replying to another question, he said examinations scheduled for March 14 and 16 would now take place on March 24 and 25, respectively.

When asked what if the long march continued for some days as its organisers have planned to stage a sit-in in front of the Parliament House until the restoration of the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Mr Rehman said the directorate would take action accordingly.

Meanwhile, private schools in the federal capital would also observe holidays from March 14 to 22.

The Rawalpindi government has also announced holidays from March 14 and 16 in all the government and private educational institutions in the district.

Islamabad Professors and Lecturers Association President Prof Qasim said vacations would have an adverse impact on the students, especially those who were busy preparing for their board examinations.

March being the month of examinations has critical importance for students and even a little disturbance would affect their preparations for the examinations, he said.

So far, the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Rawalpindi and the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education are following their issued date sheets for matriculation exams commencing from March 17 and 25, respectively.

However, in case the long march prolongs as announced by the lawyers' community, the boards would have to take some decision for the students of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

But the University of Punjab has not announced anything regarding the ongoing annual examinations so the papers of B.A and B.Sc. would be held according to the date sheet at the centres, he added.

The students took their papers of Geology, Computer Studies, Urdu, Political Science and French on Friday and today (Saturday) they have to take the papers of Economics, Kashmiriyat and Sociology.

District Magistrate Islamabad Asad Ullah Faiz has also declared holidays for the local private educational institutions in Islamabad on March 14 and March 16 for Saturday and Monday. Therefore all the local private educational institutions in Islamabad will remain closed on March 14 and March16 said the statement.

However, Afzal Baber, President Private School Network, said only those institutions, which follow O and A Level system would close their institution whereas other private schools and colleges would remain open.

"Theses schools and colleges are not situated in distant areas and the students need no transport to go to the schools. And this is the month of examination and from Mach 17 final examination of Rawalpindi Board would start so theses days are very important to them so we cannot close down schools for two days" the president of Private Schools Network said.

While the universities would remain open, as no official notification has been issued in this regard by the decision bodies of the universities or the ICT administration but on Monday the universities may remain closed and it is expected that it would be announced today. But the Quaid-I-Azam University would remain closed on Monday. The decision was taken on Saturday at a meeting lately by the administration of the university.

Meanwhile, District Nazim Rawalpindi Raja Javed Ikhlas has declared holidays on March 14 and 16th for private and government educational institutions throughout the Rawalpindi district. Dawn/The Nation

GCU dean dies
Lahore: Prof Dr Sohail Ahmad Khan, Dean Faculty of Languages, Islamic and Oriental Learning and Chairperson Department of Urdu of the Government College University (GCU) Lahore, passed away on Friday morning. A renowned Urdu scholar of international repute, Dr Sohail taught at the postgraduate level for 40 years. He served Punjab University Oriental College as Professor and Principal.

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Punjab University BA/BSc exams to continue
Lahore: Punjab University (PU) Controller Examinations Prof Zahid Karim has said that all the papers of BA/BSc and other examinations will continue as per announced schedule. There were rumours that the PU might announce cancellation of ongoing BA/BSc exam in the wake of ongoing political crisis in the country.

Beaconites try their best for top honours
Islamabad: Students enthusiastically participated in all events at the Annual Sports Day of the Beaconhouse School System here on Friday.

Dozens of students competed in three categories, including flat race, obstacle race and relay race. Parents of the students also participated in two events, which were specially organised to add colour to the day.

Former world hockey star Shahbaz Senior was the chief guest on the occasion, who witnessed all events and consistently encouraged the participants.

Speaking on the occasion, Shahbaz Senior said that sport activities enhance the morale of students and enable them to utilise their talent in a befitting manner. Recalling his own experiences, he said, sport events always provide entertainment and infuse spirit among students.

Ayesha Shabir, principal of the Beaconhouse School (Islamabad), said that co-curricular activities were a part of efforts aimed at providing quality education to students.

Later, Shahbaz Senior distributed trophies and shields among the winners.

In flat race (boys) of class III, Waleed Zaheer, Hamid Farid and Daniyal Khan got first, second and third positions respectively. In the girls' category, Zoha Khan grabbed first position, Momina Hussain second and Amina Naeem got third position.

In flat race (boys) of class IV, Zeeshan Nasir, Buraq Khan and Adil Shami got first, second and third position respectively. In girls' category Bashishta Ahmad got first, Fatima Ijaz second and Noor-ul-Amin got third position.

In the flat race (boys) of class V, Waleed Malik grabbed first position, Saif Ali second and M Ahsan got third position. In girls' category of the same event, Mikhal Iqbal got first position, Minahal Bukhari second and Zeenat Shafiq grabbed third position.

In flat race (boys) of class VII, Anas Nasir, Taha Rohan and Ammad Akhtar stood first, second and third respectively. In girls' category Tehreem Khan stood first, Zara Aftab second while Asma Majeed got third position.

In ball balancing (boys and girls) of class VII, Alina Sameer was first, Khuda Yar second and Tehniyat Masood was third in the event.

In relay race (boys and girls), Taha Majeed and Nabeel Ahmad got first; Pashma Hashmi and Zubair Saleem second; and Yaseera Amin and Tanvir Khan got third position.

In relay race (mix) of class IV and V, Meekhail Ahmad, Maryam Javed, Amer Ali, Sirat-ul-Habib grabbed first position; Hasan Raza, Ayesha Ahmad, Fahad Kamal and Sophia Rehman second; and Abdul Moiz Noor, Maha Nasir, Zubair Haider and Haya Khan got third position.

In obstacle race (mix) of class IV, Ahmad Gillani and Fatima Naveed got first position; Ali and Musa Haroon second; and Ali Nasir and Zara Ali got third position.

Fathers of the students participated in the flat race (100 metres) while mothers competed in brisk walk (50 metres).

At the end, various groups of students presented karate and gymnastic shows and daring moves exhibited during triple storey pyramids and somersaults through the fire ring spoke volumes about the training and efforts, which had gone into preparation. The News

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