Universal Primary Education Campaign
Parents face action for not sending children to school
Lahore, March 15: With a view to ensure the 100 percent enrolment of all out children of
age group (5 to 9 year), first phase of Universal Primary Education Campaign
will be launched by the School Education Department from March 23 to 31st May,
2010. Whereas, the Second phase of the campaign will start from August 14 and
continue till the target is achieved. According to the circular issued by School
Education Department Punjab, survey and registration of un-admitted children (5
-9 years) age group will be made all over the province. Officers and officials
of District government, public representatives, stake holders, private
institutions, public as well as private organizations will also participate in
the campaign. The Education Department will ensure the retention of newly
admitted children in school by creating friendly atmosphere in the educational
institutions. Departmental officials will also keep close contact with the
parents to reduce the dropout rate. With a view to aware the people from the
significance of Primary Education Campaign, the seminars, discussions and walks
headed by notables and public representatives will be arranged at District,
Tehsil, Markaz and Mohallah levels. The Education Authorities have decided to
take legal action against the defaulter parents and in this connection the
Deputy District Officers will send the list of parents on monthly basis, who do
not cooperate and send their children for admission in school to concerned EDO
(Edu.). Notices will also be issued to parents under Compulsory Primary
Education Act 1994, who will not get admitted their children of age group 5-9
years to schools despites efforts by teacher / filed officers and initiatives of
the action. F.P Report
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Students hold their ground against terrorism
Lahore: Despite several schools closing down in RA Bazaar and Allama Iqbal Town
after Friday's attacks in Lahore, terrorism failed to dampen the spirit of
students, who pursued extra-curricular activities at educational institutions in
high spirits. The week saw s flurry of terrorist attacks in the city,
however, educationalists said that sports and other extra-curricular activities
were needed to provide the students with a much-needed distraction from the
dangers in the world around them. A sense of foreboding peril was
observed in citizens and students alike with a number of private schools in
Model Town, Cantonment and Allama Iqbal town closing down on Friday. It was
observed that although several schools in the city closed down, there were
others who engaged their students in various extra-curricular activities. These
schools were trying to divert attention from the tragic events that had visited
the city during the week. The eight Boards of Intermediate and Secondary
Education (BISE) in Punjab are currently holding matriculation exams with
various public and private sector schools also busy in holding their respective
exams. Most of the city's major schools had organised extra-curricular
activities with the aim of giving students a welcome distraction so that they
could appear for their exams with relatively fresh minds. Despite the
twin-suicide blasts in RA Bazaar, the Kinnaird College Political Science
Department students hosting a lecture on the impact of terrorism on the youth.
The students went on with the show even though they had gotten word of the
blast, fulfilling their commitment to the struggle against
terrorism. Also on Friday, the Salamat International Campus for Advanced
Studies (SICAS) held its annual prize distribution ceremony at the Ali
Institute, in which students of the institute performed plays and music
performances and highlighted the issues of special persons. They proved that
they would not bow down to terrorism or fear. Students' parents also attended
the ceremony and appreciated the faculty and students for holding such
activities instead of staying indoors. The Government Girls College
Gulberg had organised a week of various activities and competitions. Different
colleges from across the city participated in the activities, including art
competitions, floral arrangement competitions, debating contests and poetry
recitation competitions. Separately, students of the Fatima Jinnah Medical
College (FJMC) held their annual sports day on March 11, in which medical
college students took part in various sports competitions, while the college
administration rewarded them with certificates and medals. The Lahore
Garrison Education System held a ceremony on March 13, as did the Grand Public
School in Model Town. Such extra-curricular activities showed that students –
the future of the country – are standing tall and firm against terrorism. It is
not only the country's military that is making sacrifices in the endeavour, as a
number of schools were targetted by terrorists last year in Swat and NWFP. Daily times
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Punjab non-functional schools
Lahore: The Chairman of the Punjab Chief Minister's Taskforce on Elementary
Education, Raja Muhammad Anwar, has said that 1050 public sector schools were
not functional across the province, including 60 in district Jhang
only. According to a DGPR handout, Raja Muhammad Anwar, while talking to
an eight member delegation of private schools and college owners association of
district Jhang at his office on Sunday, said the Punjab government was committed
to strengthening the role of private sector schools for achieving 100 per cent
literacy rate. The delegation was headed by Tahir Farooq Sajid. The
Taskforce chairman said for this an independent and autonomous organisation to
be called as the Punjab Private Education Promotion and Regulatory Authority
(PPEPRA) would be set up. Raja Anwar said the government did not want to
levy any tax on private schools as it was committed to encourage the private
sector. He said the taskforce recommended to the government not to levy any
commercial tax on private schools receiving fee less than Rs 1,000 from their
students, for five years. Furthermore, it is also recommended to provide
free textbooks to students of such schools, who are 86% of the total number of
schools in the province. This would benefit the private sector by playing a
facilitating role as PPEPRA will act as a one window facilitator to the private
sector to solve their problems at their doorsteps.
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Focus on primary education
Lahore: Speakers at a seminar have emphasised the need to focus on primary
education and urged the government to increase budgetary allocations for the
education sector and ensure consistency in implementation of
policies. The seminar "Role of Private Sector in Promotion of Education:
The Challenges" was organised by the Mir Khalilur Rehman Memorial Society (Jang
Group of Newspapers) and the Tameer-e-Pakistan Party at the PC Hotel on
Sunday. Speakers were divided on the role of private sector in promotion
of education. Some argued that the private sector had taken up the issue of
education as a business while others argued its role was quite important as no
government had ever given priority to education. Punjab Minister for
Education and Excise & Taxation Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said education
was the top priority of the government, adding it was unfortunate that earlier
no government could set its direction in this regard. Lauding the role
of private schools, he said the public sector, with the support of private
sector, would achieve the target of 100 percent literacy rate by 2013 in the
province. He said the number of private schools had increased manifold over the
years, adding these should unite on a single platform to promote education.
The minister talked about the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF),
saying talented students who earlier had to face problems in continuing
education were being awarded scholarships under the PEEF, established with
seed-money of Rs 2 billion. He said teacher training programmes were being held
to ensure quality of education. Punjab University (PU) Vice-Chancellor
Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran was of the view that we could not depend solely on the
private sector for development of the country. "The history is witness that
countries that made progress did so under patronage of public sector
institutions," he said. He said the role of private sector educational
institutions, especially schools, was more important in Pakistan as no
government had ever paid due attention to public sector schools.
Referring to China, Russia and Korea, the PU VC said: "The private
sector cannot play the role which the public sector can to bring the country out
of backwardness." He said research and development (R&D) was equally
important, adding it was unfortunate that no government could prove its
commitment to education in terms of budget. "It is also unfortunate that
policies change as governments change," he regretted. Senior educationist
Dr Nosheena also talked about the low budgetary allocations for the education
sector besides lack of professionalism and obsolete curriculum. She said it was
a hard fact that major chunk of the budget was spent on paying debt and defence
sector, adding lack of funding for education was a serious issue. Dr
Nosheena also highlighted the importance of teachers, saying teacher was the
linchpin of the education system. She said those joining the profession of
teaching by chance could not deliver well. She added the role of the private
sector in promotion of education could not be underestimated. Nadia S
Malik from the US said no society could progress without focusing on education,
especially women education. She said it was unfortunate that out of 600 million
women and girls in Muslim countries, most were having marginalized
lives. Private Colleges Association's Chairman Amanullah said the private
sector was playing an important role in promotion of education and instead of
facilitating it the government had imposed various kinds of taxes on private
sector education institutions. He said that if the government could not abolish
these taxes, it should bring down their rate. Former PML-N
parliamentarian Sohail Zia Butt said we could excel in comity of nations by
improving the standard of education. "We have resources but unfortunately our
institutions are not strong," he added. About the role of private schools, he
said though such institutions were minting money but were providing quality
education to the children. He said there should be some kind of uniformity in
fee structure of private schools. Brig (retd) Muhammad Yousaf said it was
unfortunate that education had never been the priority of any government in
Pakistan. He was quite critical of private sector schools, saying most had taken
the task as a business and not as social service. He underlined the need for
better salaries and social status for teachers, saying teachers had great duties
and responsibilities. He also highlighted the need for focusing on primary
education, saying education upto 7 years of age was very important. "Developed
countries such as the UK pay special attention to primary education," he
said. University of Lahore Chairman MA Rauf said the standard of public
sector institutions was deteriorating with the passage of time. "Once people
took pride in sending their children to Central Model School or the Government
College but the situation is different today," he said. "There are universities
like Oxford and Cambridge for Europe but in the Subcontinent we have Taj Mahal,"
he lamented while pointing out that education had never been priority of our
rulers. He said highest funding was provided to public sector universities in
Musharraf regime, adding unfortunately the standard of education could not be
improved. "The increasing private sector institutions show that there is a
vacuum," he added. PU IBA Director Dr Ehsan Malik criticised private
sector institutes of higher learning, saying why the private sector was not
opening campuses in the far-flung areas. "Their approach should be
education-oriented and not money-oriented," he said. Former Interior
Secretary Tasneem Noorani said there was a need to focus on schools situated in
villages and far-flung areas. "There should be more focus on schools in
villages," he said. He said different kinds of education systems were creating
divisions within the society, saying this must be checked. Mir Khalilur
Rehman Memorial Society (MKRMS) Chairman Wasif Nagi also spoke on the occasion.
Tameer-e-Pakistan Party Secretary General Aziz Ahmed Awan, Bishop Samuel
Azariah, PU Dean of Education Prof Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal, GIFT University,
Gujranwala Rector Dr Iqbal Tahir, Prof Abdul Qayyum Mirza and renowned fashion
designer Bee Gee were also present.
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Health Department vacancies
Lahore: The Young Doctors Association (YDA) has criticised
the Punjab Health Department for failing to announce vacancies of
professors in basic medical sciences through PPSC. YDA office-bearers, including
Dr Rana Sohail, Dr Salman Kazmi, Dr Aslam Rao and others, said there was severe
shortage of medical teachers in the basic sciences departments of public and
private medical colleges, adding several posts of professors of Anatomy,
Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Community Medicine
were vacant. They said four seats of professors of Pathology, which were
announced by Health Department last year, were withdrawn from PPSC, as the
criteria had not been laid for them, adding these posts were still vacant since
Health Department had not announced these vacancies in the PPSC so far.
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Army role to education
Lahore: To acknowledge efforts and achievements of students and teachers
of the Lahore Garrison Education System (LGES), a High Achievers and Incentive
Awards ceremony was held at the Garrison Academy the other day.
According to a press release, Lahore Corps Commander Lieutenant General
Ijaz Ahmed Bakhshi, who is also the Patron of the LGES, was the chief guest on
the occasion. He awarded prizes to the students for attaining distinction in
various curricular and co-curricular activities. Gen Bakhshi said that
apart from defending the national frontiers, Pakistan Army was also making
invaluable contributions to the nation building projects and the education
sector was one of them. "Pak Army has contributed large network of army public
schools and cadet colleges in the country," he said, adding, "The LGES is making
earnest efforts to groom young minds into diligent, honest and responsible
citizens." Earlier, LGES Chairman Major General (retd) Muhammad Tariq Masood
highlighted the achievements of the LGES. The news
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