Schools spreading extremism | QAU teachers stage demo
'School texts spreading more extremism than seminaries'
London, May 19: The texts used in state-run schools of Pakistan foster religious
extremism in a less blatant but more widespread way than the Wahhabi madressah,
says a report (The threat of Pakistan's revisionists texts) in the The Guardain
on Monday. If the Pakistani government truly wishes to fight the
extremist threat within its borders, it must begin at the roots, warns Afnan
Khan, the author of the report. The report also said that Pakistan's
minorities were being written out of school textbooks while the government
conveniently looked the other way. Mr Khan quoted historian Professor
Mubarak Ali as saying that the Pakistani establishment taught their children
right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion –
that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe out
all of them. This strategy lays the blueprint for a fascist state, the
professor said, adding: The logical conclusion of this line of thinking is a
very narrow definition of who a real Pakistani and real Muslim is. Once
minorities are out of the picture, they turn on other sects. Mr Khan
also quoted a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor which pointed out
how deep the rot went. Learning outcomes in social studies for nine-year-olds
still include ideas such as "acknowledge and identify forces that may be working
against Pakistan", "make speeches on jihad", "collect pictures of policemen,
soldiers and national guards" and "India's evil designs against Pakistan".
He said the policies of General Zia were continued by those who followed
him: Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and General Pervez Musharraf.
According to Mr Khan, non-governmental organisations and independent
educationists have attempted to address the subject, but have so far failed.
He quotes a most recent systemic survey on the topic conducted among a
group of high-school students and teachers. Their report, he said, found
disturbing themes in social sciences and history such as "Pakistan is for
Muslims alone", "the world is collectively scheming against Pakistan and Muslims
and Islam" and "Muslims are urged to fight jihad against the infidels".
The report, he added, noted that the textbooks routinely engaged in
historical revisionism and placed questions designed to portray Hinduism as an
inherently wicked religion: "There is no place for equality in Hinduism.
Right/Wrong." He quoted Father Francis Nadeem, of the National Council
for Inter-faith Dialogue, saying that such efforts were marginalising minorities
and making them feel like strangers in their own homes. "It is an
intellectual way of segregating the minorities from the society and it gives
them an impression that they were not part of the nation at all. The way
extremism is being instilled in the minds of people during the past few decades
shows that there were some forces working in the country who wanted to eliminate
the minorities from Pakistan," he said. According to Mr Khan it is this
sort of indoctrination that sows the seeds of extremism in the minds of the
people and opens the door to further brainwashing. Dawn
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QAU teachers stage demo for rights
Islamabad: The Academic Staff Association of Quaid-i-Azam (QAU) on
Monday held a protest demonstration on the varsity campus on Monday for their
rights. A large number of teachers took part in the protest demonstration
to press the government for acceptance of their demands like making contract
employees permanent, promotion of teachers on a regular basis. The
demonstration started amid slogans from the Central Library up to the Admin
Block against the administration. The staff association made it clear that if
their demands were not fulfilled then they will stage a protest on Wednesday and
call for a formal strike for acceptance of their legitimate demands. online
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27 students caught for blocking road
Rawalpindi: Waris Khan police on Monday took into custody around 27 students of
a local polytechnic institute for blocking Benazir Bhutto Shaheed (BBS) Road for
an hour during a protest rally taken out against management of their
institute. Over 100 students of the institute, located on Tipu Road near
Motti Mehal, took out a protest rally and blocked BBS Road in protest against
raise in fee and fine on leaves by Muhammad Azam, managing director of the
institute. They said it was impossible for many students to pay inflated
fines and fee. They also accused the institute management of not
releasing to them roll number slips, which were mandatory to sit examination.
Condemning the police action, the protestors said the police took into custody
their many fellows, though they had not created mess. Waris Khan Police
Investigation Officer (IO) Yousaf Butt said around 27 students had been taken
into custody for pelting two vehicles with stones and blocking the main
Rawalpindi artery. The students will be booked for taking the law into their own
hands, he said. Daily Times
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AIOU dispatches roll number slips
Islamabad: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has dispatched the roll no. slips, scheduled of final
examination semester Autumn 2008. According to the Hafeez Ullah, controller of
Examination, (AIOU) the Examination has been started from May 25 in all over the
country simultaneously, says a press release here on Monday. Roll no.
slips of PTCL, CT, ATTC, B.Ed, Matric, Intermediate and Bachelor programmes have
been dispatched to the eligible students at their given addresses by postal mail
service. Students who will not receive the roll no. slips on or before 20 may
are advise to contact their concerned AIOU regional offices. Roll no.
slips along with date sheet has also been placed on AIOU website address is
(www.aiou.edu.pk) for the convenience of students. Roll no. slips to the
students of programmes will start from June 4. All AIOU students are also
advised in their own interest to read the instructions mentioned on roll no.
slips carefully before entering into the examination centre.
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Confusion over increase in teachers' emoluments
Rawalpindi: Confusion prevails among teachers over the matter of increase
in their emoluments as whenever they approach officials at the office of
executive director (education) they get a different reply. Teachers Association President Saghir Alam said the
in-charge of the Chief Minister's Task Force on Education had recently stated
that Mian Shahbaz Sharif was sincere in announcing a good package for government
schoolteachers in accordance with those enjoyed by federal government teachers.
According to him, the next day it was learnt through EDO Education
Ashraf Malik that the provincial government has decided to pay a special grant
of Rs1,000 to only 20 per cent of schoolteachers producing good results in the
education board examinations. He said "It is unjust and unfair. The
Rs1,000 special allowance must be given to all teachers, irrespective of any
influence or recommendation. Moreover, as announced earlier and confirmed by the
in-charge of the Chief Minister's Task Force on Education, a good package will
be announced for teachers in the forthcoming budget." Referring to other
issues and demands, Saghir Alam said both federal and Punjab governments had
announced an increase in their education budgets. However, he regretted, till
now the decision has neither been implemented nor included in the document of
the new education policy, he added. According to Saghir Alam,
representatives of teachers under his leadership met the Punjab education
secretary on his visit to Rawalpindi recently and submitted their demands to him
for approval. "The secretary had assured us that he would arrange a meeting of
representatives of teachers with the Punjab chief minister on May 16 (Saturday)
for submitting their demands and getting them approved by him. However the
meeting could not be arranged," he said. Sagheer Alam said that now
representatives of teachers have forwarded their demands to the Punjab chief
minister through the education secretary. The demands include allocation of
group insurance maturity benefit to teachers, upgradation of teachers along with
their promotions, increase in their emoluments by at least 50 per cent in the
forthcoming budget and move over in teachers' scales according to their
seniority. "A special meeting of the Punjab Teachers Association
executive body members will be held in Lahore to discuss all issues and draw a
line of action to be adopted in case of failure of the acceptance of our demands
by the government at both federal and provincial levels," he announced. The
strategy will be announced before the announcement of the national budget in
June, he concluded. The News
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Beaconhouse sets Rs 25m target for IDPs
Islamabad: The Beaconhouse School System (BSS) launched a relief operation
for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the IDP Camps in Mardan, said a
press release on Monday. Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, former foreign minister and
a BSS Director, initiated the humanitarian work during his visit to the IDP
camps along with Danial Mahmud Kasuri, Executive Director BSS. Khurshid Kasuri
lauded the efforts of the Beaconhouse teachers who are voluntarily working along
with the school Management at the Beaconhouse Campus in Mardan. Senior BSS
staff members Shagun Irfan and Brig (Retd) Hassan Shah coordinated the efforts
of 120 volunteer teachers who started humanitarian work at the camps on Monday,
while numerous others who had turned up for support were requested to assist in
the coming days. The male faculty members helped IDPs at Sheikh Yasin Camp in
Mardan while the female teachers visited eight government schools lodging IDPs.
The Beaconhouse teachers will identify heads of displaced families and then will
identify and ascertain their needs, and offer relief accordingly. Kasuri
said that the activities were targeted around providing assistance to anywhere
between 3000 to 5000 families in five to six weeks. Cash, medicines, sleeping
mats, pedestal fans and hand fans, dry food, water coolers and shoes were
distributed among the IDPs. The Beaconhouse aid group also provided
financial assistance and necessities to about 250 Christian IDP families
sheltered at the Lutheran Church in Mardan. Beaconhouse chairperson Nasreen
Mahmud Kasuri, had earlier requested the entire Beaconhouse staff to donate a
day's salary for the Swat IDPs. Beaconhouse hoped to raise more than Rs 2.5
crore. Kasuri said the displaced persons were fighting the war for Pakistan,
and people from all over Pakistan have pledged their support for the IDPs. The Nation
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Jack & Jill School celebrates Mother's Day
Rawalpindi: Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May but
celebrations go on for a few days afterwards as well. In this connection
the Jack and Jill Montessori and High School held a function at the school which
was attended by the mothers of children studying there. Educationist Najma
Shahid was the guest of honour. The function was held outdoors where a stage had
been set up and had a backdrop with appropriate words which read, "Mother plays
the most important role in the family." Before the proceedings began guests were
presented with paper hearts, a sign of love and affection from the students.
The programme began with the anchor person for the morning, Mina Arif
welcoming the guests and quoting the words, "It is often said and truly so, that
a mother can take everyone's place but no one can take the place of a mother,"
followed by Shaban Shabbir reciting some verses from the Holy Quran, translated
by Basit Wali. Mina then went on to say, "Mothers Day is a day to pay
tribute to the only person in the world whose love, affection and concern are
selfless, the only person who doesn't ask for an interest on the investment,"
and announced the first item of the morning, which was a poem in Urdu recited by
Fatima Amjad followed by students of class four and five singing a sweet
lullaby. Then Aleena Bashir recited a poem, as did two younger children, Zaeem
Khalid and Mahnoor. The performance concluded with a tableau highlighting the
changing trends in the attitudes of parents and children towards the elders in
their family. Titled 'Rehmat ki Barsat,' it portrayed the vicious cycle that is
the outcome of one generation's behaviour towards their elders, who in turn
suffer the same fate when they get old. Speaking on the occasion, Najma
stressed that parents should be careful about how they behave and react to a
situation because children learn by example and are quick to pick up both right
and wrong behaviour. Adding that it was the duty of the school as well
as the parents to inculcate a caring attitude in children because neither could
do it alone, she quoted incidents and personal experiences that surely gave food
for thought to those who were listening - very intently, it could be
seen! Principal Tehmina Malik also emphasised the 'by example' lesson,
which is an important aspect in teaching children how to behave, especially
towards their elders. She acknowledged the wisdom of her father - who, by the
way, was also present - in this respect and concluded by thanking the mothers
for attending the celebrations. The News
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