Graduate record examination policy

QAU students protest HEC's policy on GRE
Islamabad, March 17: A number of Quaid-i-Azam University's students on Tuesday staged a protest demonstration against the introduction of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) by the Higher Education Commission for awarding MPhil and PhD degrees.

The students marched from the National Press Club to the Parliament House and staged a sit-in there. However, they dispersed after two hours as MNA Tariq Fazal Chaudhry assured them that he would arrange a meeting of the students' representatives with the education minister on Wednesday.

The students enchanted slogans against the HEC for introducing a "black law" in the form of GRE. They were also carrying banners and placards demanding withdrawal of the GRE condition, which according to them, was at odds with the country's education system.

The protesters also criticised the HEC for "failing" to introduce a uniform GRE policy for implementation in Pakistani universities. According to the HEC criteria, any candidate sent to U.S. for higher study has to pass the NTS examination, whereas international GRE has been imposed on local PhDs, they said.

"The commission has sent above 4,000 students to the universities in Europe and China without requiring GRE and passing the local NTS test was considered sufficient, but for the admission to local universities GRE has been made compulsory," a student said.

"The test that the HEC has made compulsory for us is conducted nowhere except in few universities of America and it is only compatible with the education system of that country, but has no relevance with our system or any other in the world", he added.

"They want us to take a graduation level test at advanced levels and it is not a research paper and does not impact our research capacity", said a girl student.

"Isn't it silly to evaluate an Mphil or PhD degree through a graduation level examination?" she questioned. "The fee to take the GRE is very high and many students cannot afford to pay it costing Rs15, 000", said another student.

It is worth mentioning here that in 2005, the HEC introduced the quality criteria for the award of MPhil and PhD degrees in the Pakistani universities.

However, the HEC has failed to introduce a uniform policy for the implementation of this test and over the past five years the policy regarding the GRE has been changed by the HEC several times. Dawn

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FBISE annual matric examinations 2010
Islamabad: The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) will hold `Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Annual Examination 2010' from March 25. The roll number slips of the ex-private candidates appearing in examination have been dispatched to their given addresses, said a news release issued here.

If the roll number slip is not received by any candidate up to 17-03-2010, he or she should contact Controller of Examinations on his phone number 051-9250606, Director One Window on 051-9250612, Deputy Controller of Examinations (SSC Conduct) on 051-9250620 or Assistant Controller of Examinations (SSC Conduct) on 051-9250642.

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Ministry empowers youth to develop their dynamic efforts
Islamabad: Ministry of Youth Affairs empowers youth to identify and develop their dynamic efforts to attain and maintain success and own their future.

Minister of youth affairs, Shahid Hussain Bhutto said that "mainstreaming the youth from backward and special areas" under this programme, the young people from backward areas will be invited to visit major cities and get the exposure of city life, exposure for development in the country, visit to major development projects and institutions of learning. He said that special scholarships will be offered to students from backward and special areas to study and live in urban universities, colleges, schools and vocational centres.

"This will provide opportunities for learning and interaction with their contemporaries in urban areas, experience the urban environment and build the bonds amongst the youth and share their value" he added. Shahid Bhutto said that the aim is to create inspiration in the youth of such areas to improve their own environments and play constructive role in their areas.

"We do this by enhancing the lives of the country youth and expanding the training opportunities, pointing the way to a future full of hope and working together to create that future.

He said that "our projects like National Internship Programme (NIP) and National Volunteer Movement (NVM), which we provide in a safe atmosphere to start training for the better future" he added. "However there is a great need to enhance the existing programmes of skill development and vocational training in the country as it has a tremendous potential to provide employment to our youth in rural and urban areas as well as the job market abroad" he added.

He said that the future of any nation is dependent on the integration of the youth in the political and other social activities.

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PMAS-AAUR 11th convocation
Islamabad: Students of a university in Rawalpindi have been made to take an oath that they would not embarrass the Punjab governor by refusing to receive medals from him, as was happened in the past and shown on TV channels countrywide. The administration of Pir Maher Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, has taken such a solemn undertaking from 55 students to receive their medals from the governor at the convocation to be held on Wednesday.

Sources in PMAS-AAUR informed after oaths were taken the governor has been told about it and assured he can confidently confer the medals on the students. The sources said after two incidents when some students of Lahore and Faisalabad refused to receive their medals in protest from Salman Taseer, the universities have become cautious in inviting the governor, who has also avoided convocations of a few universities fearing embarrassment.

The official spokesman of the university, Musa Kaleem, expressed his ignorance about the issue of taking oath from students to ensure no one protests before the Punjab governor. He said he was not aware of any such development. One of the students of Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi told this correspondent on condition of anonymity the 55 medallists of the university had been asked to take oath one by one by the university administration.

The student said the medallists were no more a part of the university as they had passed their degrees and the university had to call them for the exercise of undertaking of oaths.

Some 28 students would receive gold medals, 16 will get silver and 11 will receive bronze medals from Salman Taseer. The university is holding its 11th convocation and some 1,450 students will be awarded with their degrees.

Recently Governor Salman Taseer had two bad experiences while conferring medals on the students. On October 9, 2009 an LLB position-holder of Quaid-e-Azam Law College, Muhammad Shahid, refused to accept a gold medal from Taseer at the Punjab University's convocation, leaving faculty members and the other award recipients stunned.

The student asked the governor why the Pakistan People's Party was not taking action against MQM activists who killed innocent people in Karachi on May 12, 2007, and burnt lawyers alive in April last year. As he explained his point of view, the governor again tried to give him the medal but the student left the stage without taking his award.

In another incident, in Nov 2009 Atta Rasool, a textile engineering student of a university of Faisalabad, left the governor in a daze when he refused to take his bronze medal from the governor, saying he disagreed with the governor's statements.

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Pakistan National Library
Islamabad: The National Library of Pakistan is providing the students a treasure of knowledge as around 90 percent students vying for the CSS competition examinations visit the library on a regular basis to seek help from reference material available with the library archives to get themselves prepared for the exams.

National Library of Pakistan Director General Chaudhry Mohammad Nazir said that the library has a stock of 300,000 books on diversified subjects and the CSS students and position holders are utilizing this treasure to excel in the competitive exams.

National Library is the largest public library operating in the federal capital and thousands of readers visit the library to opt reference material from magazines, books and journals.

"Books on diversified subjects are being added to the library archives by each passing day as the library receives more than thousand books, journals and magazines every month under copyright law," Nazir said. The library has also preserved around 10 thousands historical and rare books for the readers which includes original Aain-e-Akbari and around 150 books of Quranic translations, he said.

"The process of finding books and other reading stuff has been simplified to facilitate the readers. Earlier, the visitors were bound to find out required book or material through card system," he observed. "Now they just browse the library website to know about the availability of books or reference material through the internet while sitting at their homes. The library has also maintained record of 40 year-old newspapers and the readers can obtain the required news in scan form or photocopy in the library," he added.

Looking into the rough texture of newspapers, the library has initiated a project for digitising 40 years record of newspapers within a year, Chaudhry Nazir said.

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RMC principal removed
Rawalpindi: The Punjab government removed Rawalpindi Medical College (RMC) Principal and Allied Hospitals In-charge Professor Dr. Mohammad Mussadiq Khan from his post with immediate effect through a notification issued on Monday night.

The professor of urology at RMC and head of Urology Department at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Dr. Muhammad Afzal Farooqui, has been given the additional charge of the RMC principal. Dr. Mussadiq has been directed to report to the Punjab Health Department.

"Dr. Mohammad Mussadiq Khan has been transferred with immediate effect and directed to report to the health department," says the notification issued by the Services & General Administration Department of the Chief Secretary's Office here on Monday night.

Chairman Task Force of Administrative Efficiencies at Chief Minister's Secretariat Syed Farogh Navid said that he recommended the Punjab government to remove Dr. Mohammad Mussadiq Khan from his post.

"It (the transfer) is not the sole action taken against Dr. Mussadiq, further action would also be taken against him for whatsoever he had done wrong," he said while responding to a query.

He said that he had completed his inquiry recently and whosoever be found guilty would have to face the music, but it might take a little time. The news

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IIUI cafeteria high rates
Islamabad: The female students of International Islamic University (IIUI) on Tuesday staged a protest demonstration against the alleged unhygienic food and high rates of IIUI female cafeteria.

They occupied the cafeteria for at least three hours and chanted slogans against its administration. After the protest, the IIUI administration closed the cafeteria for a couple of days.

Over 50 girls from different departments of the university staged the protest demonstration in front of the cafeteria. The students said they brought the matter of unhygienic food and high rates to the notice of the IIUI administration many times, but it paid no attention to the issue. The students were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans including 'stop serving unhygienic foods', 'cafeteria- an enemy of our lives' and 'stop serving poisonous food'.

They demanded that the university administration take action against owner of the cafeteria. IIUI Vice President Perveen Qadir Agha said she was aware of the matter as since long the students had been complaining against the cafeteria administration.

"The cafe has been closed for two days and the university administration would hold talks with the café administration to settle the matter. Hopefully, all complaints would be addressed and matter would be solved amicably," she said. Daily times

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