International Education Expo | GCU students protest
Students throng Education Expo
Lahore, Apr 30: Hundreds of students thronged the International Education Expo 10 on its concluding day at a local hotel here on Thursday. The
two-day event organised by the HR Consultants (Pvt) Ltd with the media
partnership of the Jang Group which kicked off on Wednesday attracted
hundreds of students and people from different walks of life. Representatives
from dozens of top ranking universities of Australia, New Zealand, the
US and Canada had set up stalls in the expo where the visitors were
given free of charge information on the spot. The students
showed keen interest in the expo and expressed satisfaction with
presence of professionals in the field of foreign education. They held
detailed discussions with the representatives related to studying
abroad. They were briefed on admission requirement, fee structure and
visa related matters. The foreign universities were offering
vast range of courses in the fields of Engineering, Fashion Design,
Business, MBA, Computer Engineering, Public Health, Health Services and
Medicines and many more. A number of
visitors welcomed the initiative, saying such events should be
organised on a regular basis as they were of great help for those
planning to study abroad. A visitor, Shiraz Ahmed, said the expo
helped the students seeking educational opportunities abroad with free
of charge information and guidance. "The event has added to my experience," he said, adding, "Such events should be held on a regular basis." Abdullah Farhan, another visitor, said it was great to have representatives of top Australian universities here in Pakistan. "The
expo is quite helpful as information about dozens of universities is
available and that too under one roof," he maintained. A visiting
student, Fatima, said that the opportunity of direct interaction with
representatives of foreign universities was a great service. "One
can get information through the internet but guidance and support
extended to the visitors in the expo are more helpful and interesting,"
she said. One Maryam said that besides admission-related matters,
information about visa was very helpful for her and many other visitors
like her. One of the directors of the HR Consultants (Pvt) Ltd,
Hamid Rauf, said that though Australian universities were focus of the
expo, universities from New Zealand, the US and Canada also
participated in the event. Hamid Rauf said the HR Consultants
was a trusted partner of Australia since 1993, adding that it was a
matter of honour that the firm was official representative of many top
Australian universities in Pakistan. He said a similar two-day expo
would be organised at Islamabad starting from May 2, 2010. Janet
Mountseer, Marketing Consultant, Melbourne Institute of Technology,
Australia, said the expo was a good experience which provided the
students with an opportunity to come and know about universities of
Australia and other countries as well. Muhammad Nauman, a visitor, said the event provided individual counseling sessions for students which was certainly a good job. The
major participants of the International Education Expo 10 included the
Australian National University, Murdoch University, University of New
Castle, Deakin University, Swinburne University of Technology, Central
Queensland University, University of Wollongong, University of
Wollongong (Dubai), La Trobe University, Griffith University, Kangan
Institute, NMIT, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, TAFE NSW, Melbourne
Institute of Technology. The universities which participated
from New Zealand in the expo were the Lincoln University, University of
Waikato, University of Massey, WINTEC, WELTEC, MIT, UNITEC and PIHMS,
from Canada Simon Fraser University and University of Manitoba while
from USA the universities included Western Kentucky University,
University of Massachusetts, Lowell, University of Massachusetts
Dartmouth and University of Massachusetts Boston. The news
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GCU students protest
Lahore: Dozens of students and their parents on Thursday
protested against the Government College University (GCU)
administration for withholding their admissions to appear in
intermediate examinations 2010. The protestors told the
reporters that the GCU administration had displayed the list of the
dropped candidates on April 29 while the Intermediate Annual
Examinations 2010 would start from May 8. They alleged that the GCU
administration had tried to spoil the students' future by declaring
them ineligible to take the exams. It is learnt that a total of 18
students had been restrained from appearing in the intermediate exam. Meanwhile,
in a press statement, the GCU spokesman said that a few intermediate
students of the university had been restrained from appearing in the
annual examination 2010 under the rules and regulations of the Board of
Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Lahore. He said that
according to the BISE, Lahore, rules, a student was bound to attend
minimum 75 percent of the delivered lectures, otherwise, he/she was not
be allowed to sit in the annual examinations. GCU Director
Intermediate Studies Anjum Nisar said that only 87 of 2000 GCU
intermediate students fell short of the mandatory requirement of the
board. However, he said, these 88 students also included those who had
migrated to other universities or had left the university for other
reasons. He said "the board required the educational
intuitions to send an undertaking to it that the students have attended
minimum 75 percent of the total delivered lectures. If any student
fails to attend 75 percent lectures, the board requires the educational
intuitions to intimate this to it minimum 14 days before the
commencement of the examination. He said that the GCU would have no
objection if board changes or relaxes the rules for the students," the
statement concluded. The news
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90 Intermediate students barred from appearing in examinations
Lahore: Several students of the GCU along with their parents protested
outside the university main gate on Thursday against the university
decision of declaring several students ineligible to appear in the
annual exams. Students from the intermediate classes were
holding placards inscribed with their demands, while their parents
raised slogans against the "rude" attitude of the university
administration. The protestors also staged a sit in, blocking any kind
of traffic to the main university road. The GCU administration
wrote to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) not
to allow nearly 90 intermediate students to appear in the annual exams
because of short attendance. There are nearly 15 part I and 72 part II
students who have been declared ineligible by the university
administration for not fulfilling the 75 percent attendance criterion.
The administration claimed to have informed parents about the decision
before declaring them ineligible. However, parents maintained that the
university administration only notified them after declaring students
ineligible and did not "bother" to intimate them beforehand. They
demanded that the administration should show the correspondence to the
media if they were in the right. Father of a
student said the administration accepts that students were regular in
classes before January and the attendance shortage started only
afterwards. He said students had to miss classes at times because of
the security situation. "Students should not be persecuted for missing
just a few classes…the decision will cost students one full academic
year," he said, adding that these demands were falling on the "deaf
ears", as the attitude of administration with parents was very "rude".
He alleged when parents asked the vice chancellor to bring the
correspondence to the media, he plainly refused to do so. Talking
to reporters, Intermediate Studies Director Professor Anjum Nisar said
these students have been declared ineligible because they did not meet
the 75 percent attendance criterion set by the BISE. He said the
university administration has been informing students from time to
time. To a question on informing the parents, he said the
administration was not bound to intimate parents. Daily times
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Medic's suicide bid after viva failure
Lahore: An MBBS student of the Fatima Memorial Medical
College-cum-hospital suffered injuries when he jumped from the second
floor of hospital's building in an attempt to commit suicide in Shadman
on Thursday. Awon Muhammad, 21, a student of third professional, got dejected after he could not pass the supplementary exam. Quoting
witnesses, the Ichhra station house officer said Awon of the EME
Housing Society, Chuhng, jumped from the second floor of the Fatima
Memorial Hospital. The SHO said Awon failed in a subject and
appeared in the supplementary exam. He topped the written paper, but
failed in viva with one mark. He apparently took the step in extreme
disappointment. He said the hospital administration had
suspended from service his teacher, Dr Shahnaz, who also did not pass
her daughter in the exam. Dawn
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