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EDO Education transferred | Issues in medical education
EDO Education transferred
Karachi, May 07, 2008: Executive District Officer (EDO) Education, Fakhr Karim, has been transferred as
Additional Secretary Schools, while the notification issued for the same post
for Principal, Comprehensive Secondary School, Nazimabad, Roshan Ara Syed, was
withdrawn at the last minute.
Whereas when we sought the opinion
from the outgoing EDO, Fakhr Karim, the latter showed her surprise saying that
the cancellation orders of Roshan Ara Syed was issued but she did not receive
any notification regarding her transfer.
The last minute issuing and
withdrawing of notification of Roshan Ara Syed as EDO Education has created
ambiguity, as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) being the coalition partner in
Sindh is giving some posts under the power-sharing formula as did the previous
government, inside sources informed.
However, this absurdity in the
education department further aggravated as the most important post, EDO
Education lying vacant creating uncertainty amongst the officers concerned.
Additional Secretary Academic, Qazi Arif, has been transferred to the
Governor House leaving vacant the post. Further more Head of the Reform Support
Unit, Iqbal Durrani, has also been transferred and no other person has been
appointed in his place.
Similarly Karim Bux Serohi received a
notification to take charge as Special Secretary Education but was not allowed
joining for the last 15 days.
This haphazard orders has created doubts
among the concerned authorities, who expressed their anxiousness as funds about
170 million are with the education department and that has to be used before the
next budget session or it may be lapsed. The News
Your Comments
"i want to request to EDO multan that after the announcment of Govt, still private schools are open, plz check private school in wapda colony piran ghaib power station, they violate the rules .thanks"
Name: muhammad sohail
Email: crmtmm@yahoo.com
City, Country: multan
Post your comments
Students of DJ Science College protest
Karachi: The Student Action Committee
of DJ Science College staged a protest against the construction of offices of
the Sindh Education Department besides their college sports ground on Ziauddin
Ahmed Road.
About 200 students carrying placards and banners stood
protesting in the premises of the college and chanted slogans against the
construction of the offices. The Metharam hostel of DG Science College has been
occupied by the Pakistan Rangers for a long time now.
The students
demanded that the premises of their sports ground should not be used. The
students didn't come out on the road, saying that this protest was their token
protest and if the government would not drop its plan to construct offices
besides the sports ground, then the protest would be expanded. Daily Times
Issues in medical education
What started a few years ago as a favour to some friends has ended up pushing
medical education in the country into a deep crisis.
It all began when
after seizing power General Pervez Musharraf assigned the task of running the
Sindh health department to a retired lieutenant-general. Being a graduate of
Liaquat Medical College at Jamshoro, the health minister saw this as an
opportunity to revive old friendships.
Thus the idea of establishing the
country's first medical university came to be floated. Apart from the personal
interest of the sponsors, the project also sought to promote their political
ambitions as it envisaged taking all medical colleges in the province,
including, of course, those in Karachi, under its wings.
To make it
palatable to all concerned, it was reasoned that the proposed university would
organise medical education along scientific lines in the province and, in doing
so, it would be able to set an example for the other provinces to
follow.
The professors concerned naturally had little realisation of the
dynamics of regional politics and power in the country and could not foresee
that taking over the entire province would not be the piece of cake which they
thought it would be.
Besides, as experience has shown, they had very
little understanding of how medical education is conducted in the modern world.
The minister should have thought twice, but he was won over by his friends. He
did not even bother to learn from the experience of a private medical
institution that had already been working independently in the province. The
decision was taken in such haste that no baseline feasibility of the project was
in place when it was announced.
The Liaquat University of Health and
Medical Sciences came into existence by an executive order and the Higher
Education Commission (HEC) was made to dish out millions of rupees for the task.
The series of events that followed the establishment of LUHMS is as interesting
as it is unfortunate.
Immediately after the announcement by the Sindh
government, the health minister of Punjab decided to have a medical university
in his province. If Sindh could have a medical university, why not Punjab? Thus
came into existence the Punjab University of Health Sciences.
Back in
Sindh, with the appointment of a new provincial governor, the idea of a medical
university in Karachi was floated by the professors of Dow Medical College.
Provincial politics being what it is, the establishment of the Dow University of
Health Sciences (DUHS) did not take long. Another executive order came around
without any proper feasibility report. The HEC was again there to fund the
project.
Now with Sindh having two medical universities, there was ground
enough to prepare for a similar number in Punjab to restore parity. The famed
King Edward Medical College took the lead and was soon converted into a
university. The provincial government made the announcement and the HEC rushed
ahead with funds. Nobody bothered to pause and see whether a medical university
was required at all. No one asked about the performance of the particular
medical college that was selected for upgradation, and, more importantly,
whether there had been a significant change in any of the three universities
established thus far.
With Sindh and Punjab engaging in a war of numbers,
it was only a matter of time before the North West Frontier Province and
Balochistan started feeling neglected. As the two smaller provinces, they had
always been denied their rights, but they were not going to miss out on this
score. Khyber Medical College in Peshawar and Bolan Medical College in Quetta
soon had themselves elevated to the status of medical universities.
With
so many universities across the land, one hoped everybody was satisfied, but
that has not been the case. A demand has recently been aired through the
national media to grant a similar status to Chandka Medical College in Larkana,
and to rename it the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University.
Given the
present political environment, nobody would be too surprised if the proposal
gets the official green signal soon. And when that happens, a third such
university will also emerge in Punjab where the Nishter Medical College in
Multan would be the most likely choice. It is not only among the better medical
colleges in the public sector and has a sprawling campus, it is also situated in
southern Punjab which is the constituency of the incumbent prime minister and
the provincial chief minister. The HEC cash cow will only be too willing to be
milked once again.
Indeed, medical education in the country has become a
longwinded tale of political expediency and vested interests. To have such a
large number of medical universities is beyond comprehension, especially in a
country where not a single medical college in the public sector happens to be a
fulltime teaching institute.
Even when they were colleges, they were
basically producing glorified MBBS quacks in enormous numbers because of the
lack of teaching focus and the inexplicable reluctance to update the course
content. Instead of upgrading the syllabus, our governments have found it much
easier to upgrade colleges to university level.
It is time the new
government took serious note of the happenings and reviewed the entire structure
of medical education. A system should be there to benefit the patients and
students, not to provide perks and privileges, both in cash and kind, to
part-time medical faculty.
It is neither practical nor advisable to undo
the entire proceedings of the past few years and to initiate investigations
regarding money spent on the construction of buildings and the purchase of
expensive but useless equipment. But it is, indeed, possible to convert all
these medical universities and colleges in both public and private sectors into
fulltime teaching institutions, just as they are in the large majority of
countries.
Even if we initiate the process today, and make it
merit-based, accountable and transparent, it will be a decade later when we may
finally have quality medical education system in the country. But that should
not deter us from taking the initiative. A beginning has to be made. Why delay
it further?
By Dr Shershah Syed (Dawn)
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| Education News | | Updated: 25 May, 2012 |
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