NED university entry test for 2009-10

Entry test for admission to NED university
Karachi, Oct 1: The entry test for admission to the NED University of Engineering and Technology for 2009-10 batch will be held on October 4.

NED Registrar Engineer Javed Aziz Khan announced on Wednesday that the test would be held at 10am at the Expo Centre near Civic Centre. There are a total of 1,833 seats in 19 disciplines available at the university and the number of candidates expected to appear in the entry test is over 5,500.

The candidates have been asked to make it at around 8.30am and as they will have to walk through the security gates installed at the entrance of the Expo Centre. Necessary security arrangements will be in place.

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Karachi private schools seek action against BSEK
Karachi: The Private Schools Management Association on Wednesday demanded of the Sindh government to take serious notice of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi's demand for exorbitant fee on various pretexts and the inordinate delay in announcement of the science group results of Class IX annual exams.

Accusing the BSEK of demanding exorbitant fees from those appearing in practical exams, office-bearers of the association said that the fee for practical exams mentioned in the board's circular was only Rs55, but each student was being charged Rs820. They said that students appearing in Class IX exams were being charged Rs620 and those taking both Class IX and Class X exams combined were required to pay Rs720.

PSMA's senior vice-chairman Sharfuzzaman and secretary general Mukhtar Ahmed Jafri shared these views with journalists at a press conference.

They also expressed their concern over inordinate delay in the announcement of Class IX (Science) annual examinations-2009 results despite the fact that the current academic year for Class IX students had begun six months earlier and their Class X annual examinations were only five months away.

They further said that the board declared many students failed in arts and humanities groups, marking them as absent in some papers though they did appear in the exams. When their parents approached the board officials, the latter advised them to file scrutiny forms rather than checking the attendance sheets.

The office-bearers of the private schools' association held the BSEK chairman retired brigadier Shafiullah responsible for the maladministration and urged the governor to place a senior educationist in his place to help streamline the affairs of the board. Dawn

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Tutors to get awards on Teachers' Day
Karachi: The Sindh Directorate of Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education will reward two teachers (One Male & One Female), for showing best performance, from each District, with a certificate of appreciation and shield on occasion of World Teachers' Day (WTD), being observed on October 5.

The selection of two teachers out of total of 29,748 teachers from Karachi District has become hard target for the Executive District Officer (Education). A source in the Sindh Education Department said that Director Literacy Abdul Wahab Abbasi had issued letters to all Executive District Officers (Education) to nominate two best teachers (one male and one female) of the respective district for the reward.

Abbasi, in the official letter, said, "We strongly believe that World Teachers' Day should be celebrated with full enthusiasm, sincerity and with a commitment to aware and highlight to the community the contributions of Teaching profession for the development of the nation. It is pertinent to mention here that World Teachers' Day (WTD) is observed on October 5, each year since 1994.

Its aim is to activate teachers, teachers' organisations, mobilize support for them to ensure that the needs of future generation will continue to be met by teachers. World Teachers' Day (WTD) represents a significant awareness, understanding and appreciation displayed for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development of the society.

The source said that the education & literacy department was going to observe the day in collaboration with the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD). On the other hand, officials in EDO Office Karachi are of the view that it is very difficult to choose two teachers (One Male & One Female) out of total 29,748 teachers from the district.

A teacher of the government school, on condition of anonymity, said, "On the said occasion, the education department should realise the problems being faced by teachers nearly in all districts of the province. Teachers are living under the line of poverty; once in a blue moon they receive their salaries on time. Teachers have no health insurance, their children often face starvation due to insufficient pay scale of teachers."

As per article, published by Pakistan Association for Continuing and Adult Education, "The picture in Sindh and Balochistan is quite bleak. Practically, these two provinces have yet to prepare provincial and district plans, earmark adequate funds and work for the creation of appropriate organisational arrangements to start viable literacy programmes.

According to the Ministry of Education as many as six million children are still out of school. The Punjab education minister says that 53 per cent of children joining primary school still drop-out in the first two years. A major reason for this wastage is poor quality of teachers and an unwholesome school environment. More than 52 million Pakistanis above the age of 10 are totally illiterate. Two thirds of them are women. The nation

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First Dow University Health Expo 2009
Karachi: The First Dow University Health Expo 2009 will be held from October 3 to 5 here at the Karachi Expo Centre. Pakistan, Dr. Khursheed Nizam here on Tuesday. He said that event is being organized by the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) whereas the Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan will be the co-organizer of the show.

The Event is being held in collaboration with Ministry of Health, Government of Pakistan; Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association; Health Department, Government of Sindh; Higher Education Commission (HEC); Industries and Commerce Department Sindh; City District Government Karachi and Pharma Bureau of Information and Statistics.

The Dow University Health Expo has been described as another step in the continuous efforts of DUHS to bring together health industry of Pakistan for a common objective of increased health awareness among general public of Pakistan, especially Sindh.There would be some free health activities being offered at exhibition such as:

Dental Checkup

Blood Pressure Checkup

BMI Calculation (Height & Weight)

Eye Testing

Serum Cholesterol & RBS Checkup

Clinics for Constraseption

Counseling on Gyne Problems

IQ & personality Assessment (through Psychological test)

Oral Hygiene Contest

Smile Competition

Simultaneously, different scientific seminars and public awareness programmes are being scheduled with an objective to amalgamate health industry professionals under one roof to share information and discuss collaborative opportunities to better healthcare services to the community which include Neurology/Neurosurgery/IPM&R, Medicine/Psychiatry, Gyne/Obs, Dental, Pediatrics/Peds Surgery, Nursing, Pulmonology, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Surgery / Burns and Plastic Surgery, Liver and GI, DDRL / Transfusion Medicine, EYE / ENT, Preventing Heart Diseases and Stroke, Maternal and Child health and Oral Health etc, Dr. Khursheed Nizam added. APP

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DUHS seminar on awareness about heart disease
Karachi: Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Vice Chancellor Dr Masood Hameed has expressed concern over the lack of awareness about heart disease and its prevention in Pakistan.

He was speaking at a seminar titled "How to take care of your employees' health".

Chairperson Department of Cardiology, Dow Medical College (DMC), Prof Khalida Soomro, said that more than 50 per cent of adult deaths were caused by cardiovascular disorders. "Cardiovascular disorders are also the cause of 30 per cent of all deaths that occur in Pakistan. It is quite an alarming ratio for our country," she said.

She said that the risk of heart attacks could be reduced by exercising, maintaining an appropriate weight, taking a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and fish and low in refined carbohydrates and, last but not the least, by not smoking.

Prof Azhar Farooqui, Prof Abdul Samad and Prof Hamid Shafqat also spoke about prevention from cardiovascular diseases.

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Suicide prevention seminar held at AKU
Karachi: Aga Khan University (AKU) and the Suicide Prevention and Research Interest Group (SPRing-AKU) in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg hosted Pakistan's first national seminar on suicide prevention on September 30.

The host of the seminar, Dr Junaid Patel, Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine kept the atmosphere light with his witty one-liners and made the audience comfortable in asking questions related to this tabooed issue.

A host of doctors and psychiatrists addressed the event. Professor and Chairman of the Psychiatry department, Dr Murad M Khan, said that about a million people commit suicide worldwide while another 10 to 20 million attempt it. "In Pakistan, we used to have a low suicide rate but since the mid '90s it has now increased up to 6,000 to 8,000 suicides a year," he said.

Stressing the need to understand the cultural meaning of suicide, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Dr Haider Naqvi, highlighted the myths attached to it, for instance, that suicide is an unpardonable sin. "Such myths ostracise the family and create hurdles for patients seeking proper health care. Persecution of a person on the basis of an attempted suicide is nowhere in jurisprudence as well as in Quran. It is high time that we stopped treating suicide as a crime and rather encouraged patients and doctors alike to speak about it openly as this can be a great confidence booster for the patient," Naqvi said.

Meanwhile, Assistant Professor Dr Ehsanullah Syed pointed out that suicide is one of the three leading causes of death among young people, adding that factors such as parental separation, divorce, family discord, and child abuse force youngsters to drink and use drugs in order to vent off their anger and depression.

"There's a great need to introduce life skill programs in educational institutions that can teach young people about stress management and healthy living," he said.

Assistant Professor Dr Nargis Asad quoted a study conducted by One World South Asia in June'08 which said that due to inflation and rising food prices 300 women committed suicide last year. She said that women have to play multiple roles in their families and failing to do so, puts them in a stressful situation.

Research in Pakistan has shown that suicidal behaviour is higher amongst young married women than in single ones. "Early marriages, dependency on their spouses, little freedom on choosing their partners and to top it all being pressurized constantly to have children early in the marriage create a great deal of psychological distress for a woman," she said.

After Dr Nargis left the podium, Dr Junaid commented that after almost a hundred years of marriage, his wife has stopped feeling suicidal and wants to kill him for a change to end her misery, which was a positive sign!

Leading human rights campaigner Advocate Zia Awan also spoke on the occasion and called for micro level efforts for better management of suicide patients by establishing suicide prevention centres and telephone hotlines. He also urged the government, NGO's and mental health professionals to work together to reduce suicides in Pakistan.

All the speakers agreed unanimously about the need to sensitise health practitioners and breaking down the mental blocks which creates hurdles in their interaction with the patients. The news

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