17th Commonwealth Edu conference | Pakistani students' deportation
Over 800 delegates to attend 17th Commonwealth education conference
Islamabad, May 06: Commonwealth Education Ministers and senior officials will meet in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 15-19 June for their triennial conference to discuss
ways and means to promote and enhance educational facilities and improve
literacy rate in the Commonwealth countries. According
to Commonwealth Secretariat the theme for the 17th Conference of
Commonwealth Education Ministers is "Education in the Commonwealth: Towards and
Beyond Global Goals and Targets". The broad
theme for 2009 looks at education in the Commonwealth, and its work towards
achieving the 'Education For All' and the Millennium Development Goals. Commonwealth Secretary-General
Kamalesh Sharma highlighting the importance of the conference said, "Achievement
of global education goals will depend on progress made in the
Commonwealth." Worldwide,
about 73 million children never even go to primary school, and the majority of
these are girls. He said,
"Although significant progress has been made but still global and national
inequalities persist. Governments need to tackle these inequalities, and donors
need to meet their commitments." The
meeting, which includes parallel forums for teachers, civil society, business,
and others, university vice-chancellors and young people, is expected to attract
some 800 delegates from all over the Commonwealth. This year
also marks 50 years since Education Ministers first met in Oxford, recognising
half a century of co-operation between member states on key educational
issues. The keynote
speaker for the ministerial meeting will be Nahas Angula, Prime Minister of
Namibia. App
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Students contesting deportation seek educational facility
London: The legal team assisting the 10 Pakistani students fighting
deportation is negotiating with the border authorities for providing educational
facilities to the detainees while they await the normally lengthy legal process
to complete. The legal team is also said to be trying to enable those of the 10
who have completed their courses to appear in their final examinations while in
detention. The 10 students were arrested early last month on suspicion of
being involved in plotting terrorist attacks in the UK, but released for want of
actionable evidence and handed over to border authorities for
deportation. The students went into appeal against deportation orders and
are now awaiting their cases to come up for hearing. The UK authorities
are said to have taken the position that out of the 10 only three were genuine
students while the rest were alleged to have obtained student visas on false
documents with no record of admission in any of the registered institutions in
the UK and were found to be working without the valid permission. Sources
close to the legal team of the 10 students said that even if that were true, the
UK authorities had no right to stigmatise them with terror charges for which the
UK government needed to tender a public apology and grant reasonable monetary
compensation to the aggrieved students. The official position of the UK
has not changed since the 10 students were arrested as only on Monday Foreign
Secretary David Miliband while talking to the media after his meeting with
Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi implied that the 10 were
arrested on some concrete evidence which meant that there was evidence of their
involvement in the so-called terror plot but that evidence was not strong enough
to stand in the court of law. However, the students' legal team is said
to believe that the arrests were made on some false tip-off from some dubious
but motivated informant having some personal grudge against all or some of the
arrested students. "If they had even an iota of evidence even remotely
linking them to the so-called terror plot they would certainly have shared it
with the Pakistani authorities and would not have insisted that if these
students were deported to Pakistan they would not be persecuted," said
Sibghatuallah Kadri QC. Dawn
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Students exhibit oratorical skills in French language
Islamabad: Students of National University of Modern Languages (NUML)
enthralled the audience with their excellent oratorical skills in French
language at a speech contest held here on Tuesday. Seven students from
Diploma, Certificate and BAML courses exhibited their proficiency in French
language on different topics. The contest started with a speech and colourful
visual presentation on the topic 'We are a courageous nation' by one of the
orator Major Ehtasham. Other speakers enlightened the participants with
their vibrant views on the topics including 'Men are from Mars and Women from
Venus,' 'Why I am learning French,' 'Money versus happiness,' 'Man has touched
the boundaries of space but not the edge of humanity' and 'France for
me.' Among the contestants, Saba secured first position, Major Ehtesham
came second and Sana Zaheer obtained third position. French Ambassador
Daniel Jouanneau congratulated the students for their extraordinary
presentations and said that the students have gained sufficient competence in
speaking French language. He also appreciated the efforts of the faculty of
university for having special focus on French language. Language is a
strong mode of communication and carries great importance in cultures. Today's
world is the world of linguistics and learning foreign language was essential to
cope with the present day challenges. French language has its prominence
after English language in five continents. French language is widely spoken in
the world after English language and it has gained the status of international
language. This university is contributing a lot in training the global
citizens. In the year 2009, the best choice is to learn English and French
language among all the languages, he said. Rector NUML Aziz Ahmed Khan
said that French Department in NUML was second department to be opened in 1969
when it was just an institute not university. French language is a rich
language and it has produced renowned writers, poets and scholars in the
world. NUML has various MoUs signed with many French universities across
the world and there is ongoing cooperation between NUML and other French
universities.
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Roots School System high-achievers get awards
Islamabad: The Roots School System organised an award distribution
ceremony for high-achievers in the 'A' level examinations, says a press release
issued here on Tuesday. The awards are given to those students who
attain distinction in one or more aspects of the criteria that cover scholastic
ability, successful university admission, academic achievement, high achievement
in 'O' and 'A' levels and Cambridge Examinations UK, leadership,
extra-curricular accomplishment, scientific research or any other creative
talent. This year, 200 Roots School System graduates got placements in
the world top universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, MIT,
Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics & Political Science and many
other Ivy League colleges. Some students have received scholarships of $50,000
per annum for four years. One of the Roots students, Murtaza Murad Rind,
has been awarded the Reach Oxford Scholarship of 200,000 pounds for four years
of study in Oxford University until master's. This is a prestigious scholarship
and a great honour for an institution, student and the counsellor, as it is
awarded to only one student from the whole world. Federal Minister for
Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Babar Awan, the chief guest on the occasion, was
impressed with the excellence of the Roots students and their world-class
achievements. The minister appreciated the school on its success and
congratulated high-achievers by presenting them certificates and mementos.
The chief guest also acknowledged the guidance of faculty members as
well as the school's regional director and student counsellor Chaudhry Faisal
Mushtaq for providing global exposure to students. Earlier, Roots School
System Director Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq gave a presentation on the school's
philosophy. The ceremony was attended by parents of high-achievers. On
the occasion, Muhammad bin Naveed, a student who is accepted by the Duke
University in its undergraduate programme along with a scholarship of US
$51,000 per annum, talked about the transformation and thanked his institution
for providing him the global experience and a multiple disciplinary approach
towards learning. The News
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