Women scholarships | Sectarian bias in the textbooks
Women university to get 50 scholarships
Peshawar, Sept 10: The acting governor of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Karamatullah Khan Chagharmatti, has said that naming the
first women university of the province after former prime minister Benazir
Bhutto is a great tribute to the leader, who sacrificed her life for the
country. Addressing as chief guest the inaugural ceremony of the new campus of
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed First Women University at Landai Sarak here on
Thursday, he said that no stone would be left unturned to fulfil all
requirements of the university including provision security, transport and
scholarships.
He also assured the administration of the university of provision of 50
scholarships immediately, said a handout.
The ceremony was also addressed by Provincial Minister for Health Syed Zahir
Ali Shah, MPA Malik Tehmash Khan and Vice-Chancellor Dr Farhana Jehangir.
Dr Farzana in her welcome address highlighted the achievements of the
university as well as requirements of the new campus.
Mr Chagharmatti said that establishment of the new campus of the university
was a dream for the citizens of Peshawar. He said that he himself felt proud of
formally inaugurating it.
"Though maintaining of law and order has remained a big challenge for the
government yet implementation of development projects also continued," he
added.
Earlier, the vice-chancellor said that construction of the campus, spread
over almost 400 kanals, was a big challenge and they felt proud of making it
possible. She said that education and research activities in almost 17 different
disciplines were in progress presently while 13 different institutions were
affiliated with the university. "The university is also affiliated with best
institutions of different countries and 50 research papers have been delivered
by its faculty members at various international conferences and symposia," she
said. Dawn
Post your comments
UoP admission schedule unveiled
Peshawar: The University of Peshawar (UoP) has announced schedule for the admission to the BS
four-year degree programme. According to the notification issued on Friday,
merit list would be displayed at the concerned departments on September 15 at 9
a.m. while merit list of the selected candidates and scrutiny of their original
documents would be held on September 16, 17 and 19. Waiting list would be
displayed on September 20 at the departments concerned while trials for sports
would be held on September 26, 27, 28 and 29. The news
Post your comments
Education experts ask government to remove bias from textbooks
Lahore: Education experts, teachers, writers, intellectuals and civil society urged the Punjab government to remove
hatred, rural-urban bias, cultural bias, gender bias, communal bias and
sectarian bias in the textbooks of Punjab on Thursday. They also asked
the government to instate Punjabi as a subject in primary education at a
consultative meeting titled "What we are teaching our children," held at a local
hotel. Analyst and journalist Amir Riaz presided over the meeting while Lahore
Area Office Manager Daud Saqlain, Punjab Textbook Board Lahore Humanities
Director Shahida Javaid, PTB Curriculum Wing Deputy Director Amar Riaz,
journalist Shafqat Tanveer Mirza, Government Science College Department of
Sociology Head Professor Mustajab Ahmad and representatives of different NGOs
were also present at the meeting. Amir Riaz presented his report on different
mistakes in the textbooks of syllabi of different classes in which he analysed
the education policies of Pakistan in 2007. The report was based on the content
analysis of 34 textbooks of Urdu, English, Pakistan Studies and Islamiat from
class 1 to 10 published by PTB. While speaking at the occasion, Amir
said that the textbooks contained mistakes in dictation and history and were
guilty of misquoting, cultural bias, hatred against minorities and communal
bias. He said that the textbook policy of 2006 was not capable of being
implemented as it invited private publishers to the publish textbooks, who were
not able to do so. Amir said that a change in the syllabus after the war
of 1965 contained tension in Indo-Pak relations in India and Pakistan. He said
that after the war of 1965 and 1971, the stakeholders of both countries signed a
peace agreement as they felt that neither country could beat the other and that
they, therefore, decided to spread hate material against each other through
education, art and cold war. The material could also be found in all countries
of South Asia, which could be removed through the SAARC forum. Amir said
that it was astonishing that rulers of Punjab had no time to even read the
curriculum once as it contained hate material against their party. He said that
in all textbooks, dictators had been praised and that these textbooks were being
published in an era of democracy. Amir also suggested that the Punjab government
involve the civil society, media and politicians in textbook
preparation. Senior journalist Shafqat Tanveer Mirza said that primary
education should be imparted in the mother tongue, as it would help the children
learn easily and would also save the Punjabi culture. He said that annually,
more than 0.1 million students select Punjabi subjects in matriculation
examinations of the Lahore Board but there was not a single teacher available in
the schools of the Lahore district. PTB Humanities Director Shahida
Javaid said that she would try to republish all books that contained biased
material against any minority and misquotation. She also invited Amir Riaz to
present his suggestions to change the syllabus and point out mistakes.
PTB Curriculum Wing Deputy Director Amar Riaz said that textbooks under
the revised curriculum were in the printing process. He said that the revised
textbooks would be available in all schools of Punjab from the next academic
year. He said that the PTB was an autonomous institution and was responsible for
ensuring that textbooks developed in the province broadly followed the approved
guidelines of the Ministry of Education and the government of the Punjab. Daily times
Post your comments
| 
