Set of encyclopedia books : National writing contest 09-10
Education department under fire in NWFP Assembly
Peshawar, Oct 2: Following objections from lawmakers, Acting Speaker of the
NWFP Assembly Khushdil Khan Thursday referred to an assembly committee
the Education Ministry's directive asking the primary and middle
schools to purchase a set of encyclopedia books. The explanation
by Minister for Higher Education Sardar Hussain Babak couldn't satisfy
the opposition members and mover of the adjournment motion. PPP
parliamentary leader Abdul Akbar Khan earlier drew the attention of the
House towards the Education Ministry's directive to primary and middle
schools in the province to purchase the encyclopedia, which he felt
would benefit a few people instead of students. "The government
is concentrating on improving schooling. It has authorised the Parents
Teachers Council (PTC) comprising five to six people to purchase
equipment for libraries, laboratories according to their own
requirements," the minister replied but the mover was quick to remind
the minister that they had no objection to it but why the government
had issued letters to schools binding them to purchase the encyclopedia
set. Saqibullah Chamkani supported the mover and suggested to
his own party's minister not to make purchase of precious encyclopedia
compulsory, but instead provide teachers to schools that lack staff.
JUI-F's Mufti Kifayatullah made a similar demand. Former chief
minister and PML-N parliamentary leader Pir Sabir Shah claimed that 90
percent of school funds were being misused, particularly in his native
Haripur district. He demanded investigation into the matter. PML-N's
Inayatullah Jadoon suggested purchase of a computer with encyclopedia
software instead of wasting millions of rupees on purchasing the set of
books. The Acting Speaker, Khushdil Khan, who belongs to the
ANP, said he had also received a letter and copies of the books and
asked the minister to explain the need to purchase the encyclopedia and
whether it was authored by a particular writer from Punjab. Elaborating,
Minister Sardar Babak reminded the differences between PTA and now PTC,
saying that by improving teachers' skill and training, the department
wanted to improve the educational standards of students. Keeping
in view the silence of the mover, the chair asked Abdul Akbar as to why
he was confused over his own motion. "It's now the property of the
House," said the mover. The chair put the issue before the House for
voice vote, which was supported with "ayes" and the matter was referred
to the committee concerned. PML-Q lawmaker Zahir Shah's
adjournment motion, seeking debate on the miserable condition of IDPs
in his area, was admitted for discussion. PML-N's Pir Sabir Shah,
independent lawmaker Fazlullah, JUI-F's Gulistan Khan and PPP-S'
Sikandar Sherpao supported the mover, asking the government to register
IDPs and provide them the same facilities given to others. Independent
MPA Javed Tarakai and Yasmin Zia did not press their call attention
notices after getting assurance from ministers. Javed complained the
government was harassing his supporters by transferring them to the
far-flung areas. The minister said such practices would no
longer continue and relief would be provided to all those who had been
transferred. Yasmin Zia demanded reopening of 54 girls schools in her
constituency. The news
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NBF to hold national writing contest 2009-2010
Islamabad: National Book Foundation (NBF) would award Rs 1.2 million to
the best writers of kids' literature in 'National Writing Competition
2009-10'. Afshan Sajid, Assistant Director NBF told this news agency that
writers can send before October 31 three copies of their writing material in
English, Urdu and regional language alongwith their CV. The writing
competition is aimed at promoting kids literature, developing reading habits,
increasing harmony among children, parents and teachers and creating children
interest in additional reading material and textbooks, she informed. Giving
details of the competition, the director said, those books which were part of
any competition of NBF, would not be eligible for entry again. Fresh and new
writings will be given preference. Afshan said that the detailed
advertisement carrying criteria for the competition has been published through
print media last week. A total of 48 awards in various categories would be
given to winning writers. The first winner would bag Rs 40,000, second Rs
30,000, third Rs 20,000 and the fourth would get Rs 10,000 respectively.
Under the competition, books for children aged between four to sixteen years
in three different categories would be included under topics of science and
technology, social sciences, social values and pictorial stories. Science
and technology group include the category of everyday sciences, health and
nutrition, earth and atmosphere, environmental issues and its solutions,
preparation against calamities, games and quizzes. In Social Studies group, the
categories are Pakistan - its geography, places and people, travelogue, children
poems, novel, regional folk and short stories, drama and national heroes. The
categories in the social values group include women role in society, peace and
tolerance, ethics and values. In the pictorial stories group, the categories are
picture stories, humorous stories, poster and charts. The Assistant Director
said that the awards will be given to those writers who would author best books
on different topics of kids' interest. Through this scheme, the children
literature would be promoted to great extent and ample books would be available
for them. The foundation would provide 500 copies of the top books of the
competition to the school libraries. To make the market accessible for
writers and publishers, the foundation would play its role to create
opportunities, she added. The foundation is striving to promote reading
habits among children and making studies interesting. The results announced by
NBF will be final and cannot be challenged in any court. The nation
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GCMS students protest
Mardan: The students of Government College of Management Sciences
(GCMS) Saturday staged a protest demonstration against the University
of Peshawar (UoP) administration for eliminating the semester system in
the UoP-affiliated colleges. Talking to reporters, the students
said they had taken admission in the GCMS because of the semester
system. But the UoP administration had scrapped the system in the
affiliated colleges arbitrarily. Criticising the university
administration for the decision, they said only one semester had been
completed so far, while they were awarded admission in September 2008.
They demanded of UoP Chancellor Owais Ahmed Ghani to re-introduce the
semester system in the college. The news
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