University of Education's degrees issue
Nonacceptance of UoE degrees
Lahore, March 08: The nonacceptance of the University of Education's BA/BEd and
BSc/BEd degrees by the Punjab University (PU) has emerged as a critical academic
issue, exposing lack of coordination among the institutes of higher
education. It has also exposed the lethargic attitude on part of the
authorities responsible for ensuring the equivalence of degrees to save students
from any inconvenience. The University of Education (UoE) students held a
number of demonstrations last week to highlight the issue and make the
authorities concerned realise the gravity of the situation. The issue surfaced
recently when the PU refused to accept the UoE's BA/BEd degree which reportedly
resulted in cancellation of a number of students' admission to various PU
disciplines. The PU refused to accept the UE degree on the plea that the
university required two years for completion of BA/BEd together while the Punjab
University required three years. On the other hand, the UE administration claims
that the university has condensed the three-year programme into a two and a half
year course. A senior PU faculty member said the UoE graduates, having
BA/BEd degree, were enrolled in various PU departments on a provisional basis.
"They had tendered an undertaking that they will provide equivalence
certificate from the PU in due course of time," he said, adding: "Now, when they
have failed to provide the same, their provisional admissions have been
cancelled." Seeking anonymity, he further said the incumbent UoE
Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Munawar S Mirza, being director of the PU Institute of
Education and Research, had herself opposed the double-degree programme when her
predecessor introduced it a couple of years ago at the UoE. Dr Mirza
said the UoE was not expecting non-acceptance of its double-degree
programme, claiming that all the stakeholders were consulted before its launch.
She said that being IER head she had opposed the UoE double-degree programme
because there were issues related to its duration and credit-hours.
"There are no such issues now," she claimed, adding: "The programme is
equal to other degree programmes, if not better." The UoE VC said
recommendations had been submitted to the PU and hopefully the issued would be
resolved soon. Academic circles are of the view that public sector
institutions should be more careful and they should resolve all the issues
related to equivalence and acceptance of degrees well in time so that the
students might not suffer and continue their studies or professions without any
doubts and fears. The news
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Education top priority of government
Lahore: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday said that provision of quality
education is the priority of the government. "My government is also
working to further improve the quality of education in the country", he said
while addressing the annual reunion ceremony of the Formanite Alumni Association
(FAA) at the Forman Christian College.About the quality education, the Prime
Minister said that imparting world class education is important for Pakistan.
He said Pakistani youth deserve the best educational opportunities and FC
College is a leader in this noble task. The prime minister lauded
the services of Forman Christian College for the cause of education and said
that the college has rendered outstanding service to Pakistan as a large number
of Formanites have served the country as politicians, educationists,
businessmen, doctors, jurists, intellectuals and scholars. "In my own Cabinet,
Formanites are holding important positions as Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Minister of Defence. A number of your graduates have excelled in the civil and
military services, Law, Education and business as well", the Prime Minister
said. He said FC College has a long and glorious tradition of producing leaders who have
lived by the college motto "By love, serve one another". It is this spirit of
service which is vital for the future of nations. He said that education
emancipates the minds of the people and FC College is rightly pursuing the
tradition of liberal arts in higher education. The prime minister said
that education needs to produce useful workers in a global economy, prepare
people as voters in a democratic process and inculcate core values of integrity,
commitment to excellence, respect for the rights and dignity of each human
being, discipline and accountability, justice and service to community.
"These values will contribute to a better Pakistan", he said. Appreciating FC College's
role in promoting religious harmony, he said FC College is a model of interfaith
harmony. He said that by learning to live together in an atmosphere of mutual
respect and trust, people of all faiths can contribute to the solution of a
major problem that faces our world today. About the enrolment in
colleges, he said the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan is striving to
double the enrolment in colleges and universities within five years, and triple
the enrolment within ten years time. The Prime Minister said
that the progress made by Forman Christian College during the last six years is
the result of a strong partnership between USAID, the Government of the Punjab,
and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The prime minister also
expressed satisfaction that the Rs 500 million invested in Forman Christian
College by the federal governemnt has been wisely spent in the service of
improving the quality of higher education in Pakistan. The Formanites Alumni
Association annual reunion ceremony was attended by Federal Defence Minister
Ahmed Mukhtar, MNA Jehangir Khan Tarin, FAA President Ch.Ahmed Saeed,
Co-Chairman Abu Dhabi Group Pervaiz Shahid and Rector FC Collge University Peter
Armacost. APP
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LUMS training workshop
Lahore: A four-day workshop "Web Accessibility" was organised at the Lahore University of Management Sciences
(LUMS) last week. According to a press statement, the workshop provided
hands-on training on the development and evaluation of accessible websites. The
workshop participants also learned about how persons with disabilities (PWDs)
accessed the web and studied international guidelines and practices for
accessible website development; following the guidelines of The World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C). Silatul Rahim Bin Dehman, web accessibility specialist
from Malaysia, was the instructor of the workshop who was assisted by Associate
Professor in the Computer Science Department of LUMS Dr Asim Karim. The news
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