Punjab colleges students attendance
Students not interested to attend classes
Lahore, March 07: The teams of Higher Education wing of the Punjab Education Department
has resumed monitoring of the colleges to check attendance of teachers in
accordance with the timetable. On Monday various teams visited a number of
colleges in Lahore and Sheikuhupura districts in the morning. Additional
secretaries Yawar Hussain, Ch Mohammad Akram and deputy secretaries headed the
monitoring teams. It was, however, surprising that students and not the
teachers were found absent from the classes. Further interrogation revealed that
after the send-up examinations and submission of admission forms to the board
and university, students are not keen to attend classes. With the reduction of
backlog of work, ranging from 15 days to one month, the board and university
received admission forms accordingly. Consequently, the attendance became thin
in the classes three months ahead of the closure of institutions for summer
vacations. Virtually the academic session which starts from September 15, has
been reduced to mere four and a half month in a year. Teachers are unable to
cover the prescribed courses during this limited period and the students have to
join the academies and tuition centres for completion of their courses. As
such the Education Department is contemplating to chalk out a mechanism to hold
the send-up examinations in February and if necessary the admission forms prior
to the send-up examinations to be sent provisionally could be subjected to the
withdrawal of a candidate on the basis of send-up examination results. To
check the absence of students, it was also considered imperative to remove the
maintained attendance register, imposition of fine for consecutive absence and
warning to parents that students' name could be struck off from the college roll
for their absence from classes. The Higher Education Department is also
considering appropriate measures to rectify the absence of students, teachers
and to run the classes from September 1 to May 30 for a period of nine months at
least. The nation
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Each district to have varsity sub-campus
Lahore: Higher Education Secretary Ahad Khan Cheema, speaking at the
first meeting of the recently established Punjab Higher
Education Council (PHEC), said on Saturday that at least one university or
sub-campus of a university would be established at each district headquarters
during the next five years. The meeting also discussed college sector
education, admission on self-finance to universities, uniformity in the status
of universities, BS (Hons) four years programme, quality assurance and training
of college teachers. The Higher Education secretary said the Punjab
government had constituted the PHEC for better coordination and coherent policy
making at the provincial level. Highlighting the term of reference of the
PHEC, he said the council would formulate policies guidelines and priorities of
higher education institutions for promotion of access, quality and good
governance. He said members of the council would suggest and undertake measures
for improving performance and efficiency of institutions and devise a regular
system of capacity-building of their teaching faculty. Ahad Cheema said
the PHEC would facilitate the introduction of demand-oriented study programmes
in order to meet the needs of the market and promote the study of basic and
applied sciences. It would also evaluate the performance of the government
colleges and consider cases for their upgrade and placement under board of
governors, he said, adding that in addition to that, BS (Hons) four-year
programme would be introduced in public colleges in phases. The Higher
Education secretary said three streams in college education, namely centres of
excellence, community colleges and public-private partnership, would be
introduced. He said the most vibrant colleges would be given the status of the
centre of excellence and four year graduation and market-oriented subjects would
be introduced in these centers. He said in community colleges, two-year
graduation and technical subjects would be introduced and provision of adequate
infrastructure would also be ensured in such colleges. Under the public-private
partnership, proposal for commerce education in second shift was under
consideration, he maintained. Ahad Cheema said: "It is encouraging that the
government has succeeded in setting up universities at division level," adding
"In order to enhance the higher education facility a university or sub-campus of
a university would be established at each district headquarters." The
vice-chancellors of the different universities welcomed the establishment of the
PHEC and hoped that it would play a role for the provision of quality higher
education for people. Additional Secretary Higher Education Muhammad
Akram Chaudhry, Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran, UET VC Lt
Gen (r) Muhammad Akram, Lahore College for Women University VC Bushra Mateen,
Education University VC Dr Munawar Mirza, University of Gujrat VC Dr Nizamuddin
and other vice-chancellors of public and private universities attended the
meeting. It is learnt that the participants expressed concerns over the
minimum presence of private universities in the PHEC and suggested the new
council should be a forum for all and private sector universities of the
province should be included as members of the council.
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PU staff's promotion
Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) Service Structure Committee, which
has met under the chairmanship of Prof Dr Nasir Ahmad on
Saturday, sent its final recommendations to promote employees in BS 1-5 to next
higher scales to the concerned authorities which will pave the way for rapid
promotion of thousands of employees who had been stuck up in their existing
scales for the past several years. It was further intimated in the
meeting that promotion cases of employees in BS 6-16 were also being scrutinised
speedily to finalise the recommendations for their expeditious promotion to next
scales. PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran will also personally
hand over the orders of regular appointment to 147 ad hoc and temporary
employees at a ceremony to be held at 11:00am on March 8 at the Undergraduate
Block of the varsity. Under the directions of Vice-Chancellor, the practical fee
for Laboratory Assistants has been raised from the existing Rs 02 per practical
to Rs 10. In addition, rules have also been formulated for Rs 20
million's Employees Behbood Fund (EBF) under which interest free loans worth
higher amounts than before would be extended to enable the employees meet the
educational and marriage expenses of their children. The university will
contribute an amount of Rs 30 lac to EBF to replenish every year the total
amount available for issuance of free of interest loans. Similarly with a view
to encouraging the honest officials from BS 01-16, the best employee of the year
award, amounting to Rs 5000, will be given in each category of the varsity
employees. The meeting was further informed that details regarding the
construction of residential quarters for low income employees had also been
finalised and sent to the Project Director office for implementation. Later, Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran has said the goal
of 100 percent literacy can be achieved only through consistent implementation
of educational policy and will as well as commitment of the political leadership
of the country. Addressing a farewell ceremony held for the passing out
graduates of the PU College of Information Technology (PUCIT) in the Old Campus
on Saturday, the VC further said in 62 years of independence, the vitally
important education sector had suffered badly due to deliberate neglect of
successive governments. He emphasised the doubling of the existing annual
spending of 2.0 percent of GDP on education through legislation in the
parliament. "There is also a desperate need for raising the
socio-economic status of the teacher community in order to attract highly
qualified and dedicated faculty to the teaching profession at the university
level", he added. The PU VC further said the present remarkable socio-economic
progress of the western countries was solely because of their advancement in
educational sector. Earlier, speaking on the occasion, PUCIT Principal
Prof Dr Mansoor Sarwar said their graduates were in great demand by several
reputed national and multinational companies. He impressed upon the newly
qualified students to make the noble cause of spread of education a focal point
of their practical life for enabling Pakistan to attain its rightful place as a
prosperous and modern country in the comity of nations.
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Private schools quota
Lahore: Chief Minister's Taskforce on Elementary Education Raja Muhammad Anwar has said that ten percent quota has
been especially reserved for the deserving students of private schools in the
Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) to facilitate the private sector.
Addressing the teachers' ceremony at The Punjab School, Township, on
Saturday, he further said these students were also eligible to apply against the
general quota of merit. Raja Anwar further said 1.9 lakh contract teachers had
been made permanent by the government so that they could perform their duties
with peace of mind. He also said that the government was spending a
cumulative amount of Rs 117 billion on different educational projects in the
province. Despite government's efforts to promote education, lot more is
still needed to be done and for that, private sector should diligently come
forward to lend a helping hand to it, he maintained. The function was
also addressed by CEO of TPS Ahsan Ullah Waqas. Later, shields were also
distributed among the teachers. The news
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LUMS annual play
Lahore: The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Dramaline Society
organised its annual play 'Con'Fused'. The play, written by Shoaib Hashmi and
directed by Junaid Fazl was an adaptation of Peter Shaffer's 'Black Comedy'
translated in Urdu and was based on erroneous identities and the unveiling of
hidden truths through a hilarious series of events. The captivating plot was
further complemented by exemplary performances by the cast elevating the
entertainment quotient and offering an absolute treat to an enthusiastic
audience who had gathered in huge numbers at the complex. Asser Malik,
who played Abbas, the main protagonist excelled in his performance; a complete
power house of talent and a delight on and off stage. Shehzad was cast as a
homosexual, while Khurdam added exuberance to the play through his comic antics.
Other members of the cast included Wajiha, Anum, Talal, Mariya and Bilal, all of
whom gave outstanding performances. The play received a huge round of
applause by the chief guests and members of the theatre industry such as Shahnaz
Sheikh, Salman Shahid, Usman Peerzada and Shah Sharabeel. Daily times
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LDA model schools
Lahore: Academic activities at the Lahore Development Authority's model
schools at Gulshan-i-Ravi and Sabzazaar will begin next month.
Registration and admissions of students at the Model School for Girls,
Gulshan-i-Ravi, and the Model School for Boys, Sabzazaar, are already under way.
Meanwhile, the LDA has sought applications for the post of a principal,
17 posts of prep class teachers (female), 41 posts of science, arts and computer
subjects and three posts of Arabic teachers for its Sabzazaar school.
Candidates with requisite qualification can submit their applications by
March 16, according to an announcement on Saturday. The LDA had in July
last year decided to set up a school at the building it constructed in Sabzazaar
by giving a second thought to an earlier decision to shift its offices there. Dawn
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