Minimum age limit for Matric exam | Colleges teachers training

Minimum age limit for Matric exam under fire
Lahore, May 18: The Inter Board Committee of Chairmen has been criticised for barring candidates below 14 years of age to appear in the Class-9 examination.

The decision that a candidate should be at least 14-year-old for appearing in the examination of the Secondary School Certificate-I (Class 9) was taken by IBCC in its meeting held in March.

However, the stakeholders, especially students and parents, came to know about the decision after the IBCC notified it to boards across the country in April. Subsequently, the boards forwarded the same to the educational institutions to ensure its implementation and the institutions started informing parents about the move following which the public resentment started to appear.

The notification (No FBISE/ REGN/ NOTIF/AGE/SSC-I/1983), issued by Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, a copy available, reads "In pursuance of Resolution No 12 of 123rd IBCC meeting held on 11-12 March 2009, conveyed to the Boards vide letter No F.7-29/ 2008/IBCC/Edu-Sys/ 5809-51 dated 15-04-2009, it has been decided that the minimum age limit of 14 years is prescribed for appearing in the SSC (Matriculation Part-I)."

Students, their parents and teachers expressed concerns over the minimum age limit for Class 9 exam, saying any such decision should not have been made without consulting them.

Jamshaid, father of a student, said his son was declared ineligible for appearing in the SSC Examination 2010 by his school management owing to the minimum age limit. He said: "Why my child should not appear in exam when he is prepared for it," and added that the move was likely to affect the child's creative abilities. He said there were hundreds of such students in schools, adding that the move would deprive them of their right to appear in exams in 2010.

The father of another student said: "This is quite strange and unfortunate," adding: "Instead of recognising abilities of a talented student; he/she is being denied the right to sit in exam."

It is pertinent to mention here that in 2006, the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had recognised the efforts of a student Muhammad Affan Yasin who had passed the matriculation exam at the age of 11. The kid had to quit the school after grade III due to his family's financial problems and did his matriculation as a private student in August 2006. The success story is still available at official website of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), Islamabad.

Talking anonymously, the chairman of one of the boards of intermediate and secondary education (BISEs), said the requirement of the minimum age in order to appear in matriculation exam was in fact a part of the National Education Policy 1998. Giving the rationale behind the age limit, he said a child should not join the college unless he/she had attained physical and mental maturity.

However, BISE Lahore Secretary Haji Muhammad Dogar said that the age limit was likely to deprive students of their rights.

"Why should we bar a candidate who is below 14 to appear in matriculation exam when he/she has done the preparation," he said, adding: "If someone has the talent, it should be recognized and appreciated."

"The BISE, Lahore, is not in favour of the minimum age limit criteria for Matric exam," he added.

When contacted, IBCC Secretary Muhammad Ramzan Achakzai said keeping in view growing concern of students and their parents the committee would review the decision in its next meeting scheduled for June.

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Training plan for 13,000 college teachers
Lahore: The Higher Education Department has prepared PC-I for the training of 13,000 public sector college teachers all over the province at a cost of Rs727 million under the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) 2008-11.

The programme will cater to the need of training of college teachers. The scheme is the first of its kind in the history of the country. Sources told the agency that the programme aimed at capacity building of teachers and education managers as well as the improvement performance of the education sector.

Under the scheme, the private and government companies, like The City School, Agha Khan and the Directorate of Staff Development, have been invited to bid for training master trainers.

The selected firm will prepare training modules as per requirement of the education department and provide training to 500 selected education managers like the DOs, principals and master trainers. These 500 master trainers will later train the 13,000 college teachers over a period of two years.

Third Party Evaluation is part of the programme and Rs1 million have been dedicated for this purpose.

The teachers will be divided into maximum 30-people batches and the duration will not exceed 30 days. It is worth mentioning that the Punjab government implemented many teachers training programmes in selected disciplines in the past but the programmes were confined to the school level. The News

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Balochistan University grant increased
Quetta: The Higher Education Commission has increased the annual grant for the Balochistan University from Rs150 million to Rs200 million.

A delegation of the provincial government headed by Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani had a meeting with Higher Education Commission chairperson Shahnaz Wazir Ali and discussed financial problems of universities working in the public sector. The commission said that other universities would also be provided grants. Dawn

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Khyber Medical University announced MBBS results
Peshawar: The Khyber Medical University has declared results for MBBS first professional (Part-I and II sessions, 2008 supplementary). A total of 178 students appeared in the Part-I and 198 in Part-II exams, out of which 155 and 184 students were declared successful, respectively. In part-I, the passing percentage was 88 while in part-II the passing ratio was 93. The overall passing ratio of KMU (Peshawar) in both the parts was 86 percent, while that of Ayub Medical College (Abbottabad), Saidu Medical College (Swat) and Gomal Medical College (DI Khan) was 86, 99 and 96 percent, respectively.

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Malakand varsity VC shifts office
Peshawar: The University of Malakand registrar Saturday notified that the vice-chancellor

office would temporarily be shifted to the Islamia College University (ICU), Peshawar, from May 18. However, no classes would be conducted at the camp office. The offices of registrar, establishment section, academic section, legal and estate section, examination section and finance section will start functioning at a building of the Islamia College University, provided by Vice Chancellor Ajmal Khan, says a press release.

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Education for All may remain elusive
Lahore: Pakistan has already been placed in a group of countries, which are far from achieving Education for All (EFA) goals by 2015; nevertheless, the prevailing unrest in the country, especially in various parts of the NWFP and Balochistan, has been jeopardising the prospects of achieving the target.

The worst effects of massive displacement caused by the fighting between Taliban and the government forces in Swat, Buner and Lower Dir etc in this connection cannot be ignored too.

The thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) are being provided temporary shelter but nothing solid has been witnessed in connection with provision of education facilities to children of these families. Reportedly, no proper measures are being taken for their education.

The October 8, 2005 earthquake in northern part of the country had not only killed thousands of people but also a mass displacement was also observed afterwards owing to large-scale destruction. The worst consequences of this quake on education can also be never forgotten.

The internationally agreed goals, of which Pakistan is also a signatory, include expand early childhood care and education, provide free and compulsory primary education for all, promote learning and life skills for young people and adults, increase adult literacy by 50 per cent, achieve gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015 and improve quality of education.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan has already missed a goal which was meant to be achieved by 2005.

In April 2000, more than 1,100 participants from 164 countries gathered in Dakar, Senegal, for the World Education Forum. They affirmed their commitment to achieve Education for All by the year 2015. Quite contrary to the government's "efforts" to achieve EFA goals, devastating effects have been witnessed on education sector in Pakistan as not only hundreds of schools had to be closed down in NWFP's troubled areas but the miscreants also blew up dozens of schools especially those of girl students.

Educationists and experts have been quite critical of absence of political will to take steps for improvement and uplift of education sector of the country. They have also been apprehensive over implementation of policies which undoubtedly has been a major challenge. Recently at a seminar, a resolution was passed demanding the federal government to announce the upcoming National Education Policy through an Act of Parliament. The idea was floated by the Punjab University's Dean Faculty of Education Prof Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal.

He was of the view that the enactment of the education policy would help a lot in its implementation. "It will become a law", he said adding, "The violation will be crime

The academic circles are also of the view that the government should have plans to provide education facilities to people in case of any unfortunate situation, adding there is also a need of sensitizing teachers and university students etc to play their role in such crucial times.

An orientation seminar on accreditation of teacher education programmes was held at University of Education Township Campus Lahore last week.

According to a press statement, the seminar was attended by all the principals of Government Colleges of Teacher Education (GCTEs) and Directors of the Teacher Education Departments of public and private universities of the province. ACTE chairperson, Dr Munawar S Mirza who is also the Vice Chancellor of University of Education, briefed the participants about the establishment, composition and scope of the Accreditation Council for Teachers.

She made it clear that accreditation was mandatory for all teacher education programmes being conducted in public and private sector. In the second session of the seminar, ACTE secretary Dr Irshad Ahmad Farrukh made a detailed presentation of the all the accreditation documents, which included, standards for accreditation of teacher education programmes, accreditation instruments and manuals for different phases of accreditation process. -lachvee@gmail.com (The News)

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Envoy meets Pak students jailed in London
Lahore: Pakistan's High Commissioner to London Wajid Shamsul Hassan has met three Pakistani students imprisoned in a London jail, a private TV channel has reported on Saturday. According to the channel, the students complained of mistreatment in the jail and told the Pakistani official that they wanted to return to Pakistan. Daily Times

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