Karachi colleges admission forms submission date

New date for college admission
Karachi, Aug 27: The last date for the submission of forms for admission to first year (Class XI) classes in the city's government colleges has further been extended up to August 29.

This was announced by Director-General of Colleges Prof Dr Rafiq Ahmed Siddiqui on Wednesday.

The decision, he said, was taken in view of the demand from candidates and their parents, as well as to facilitate the admission process.

Post your comments

Biology topic leads to controversy
Karachi: The issue of a topic of biology in the curriculum of Class VII in a school has opened a 'Pandora's box'.

The Sindh government would find it difficult to overcome this issue in the coming days and as a result, it would lead to a major controversy in the education system.

The administration of Dawood Public School, one of the reputed private public schools in the city, once again found itself in the midst of a controversy as according to the sources the mother of two children studying in the school complained to the school administration against the inclusion of material addressing the issue of 'secured and insecure sex and pregnancy' in the biology book of Class VII on Tuesday.

The mother was of the opinion that the material was immoral and would create complication in the minds of children.

On Wednesday morning, the children whose mother had earlier complained about the inclusion of the controversial material in the books were told to leave the morning assembly session, eyewitnesses said.

Naveed, a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, who was present on the occasion and later on joined the protest carried out by parents against the misbehaviour of the school administration and the inclusion of 'controversial material in the books' said that the school administration was indecisive about what to do and what not to.

"Such subjects should not be taught in the earlier classes," Naveed said and added that it would be appropriate that such topics be taught in the senior classes.

Regarding the claims of the school administration that the pages of the books containing controversial material have been stapled together he asked, "What about the index that contains words like condom, vagina and abortion?"

He quickly added, "At least I would not like my children to utter these words anywhere."

There are some parents who oppose the inclusion of such topics and there are some who support them. Faizullah Jan, an academician is all for the inclusion of such topics.

"Children, especially girls, in Class VII are a good audience for such topics," he said. "We would have to teach them all these processes in a logical manner."

It is better that they learn it systematically instead of learning through other means, he added.

Whatever the parents say and wherever they want their children to study, one thing is clear that all the private schools in the city, in collaboration with the Sindh government, need to clarify their curriculum to the parents and let them decide what they want their children to learn.

If they continuously keep their curriculum uncertain such controversies would likely arise.

The scribe contacted the administration of Dawood Public School, but it refused to offer any comments. Daily times

Post your comments

Sex-education course draws parents' ire
Karachi: A private school located next to Pakistan Television Station on Stadium Road incurred the ire of parents of students enrolled in higher secondary classes after the inclusion of birth control and sex education in the syllabus.

Commenting on the incident, Naveed Zuberi, adviser to Education Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, said that they would not allow any school to teach such courses, saying: "This is not USA or Europe, this is Pakistan and our culture does not allow us to teach these things at school". The parents also complained that the name of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) had been written without affixing "PBUH" after his name, besides a "sketchy picture" was also being displayed against his (PBUH) name in various chapters.

According to parents, the issue started when a new chief executive officer took over the school affairs and started making changes in the syllabus, particularly in the Islamiat subject. When the parents lodged their complaint at the school on Tuesday, the management shut down the main doors and allegedly did not allow the students to go home. However, parents forcefully opened the doors, after which the school administration rusticated many students from the school.

Meanwhile, Zuberi has said that books have been seized to check their material and till then these books would not be used.

The Directorate of Private Institutions, Sindh, has ensured the parents of the rusticated students that their children would resume their regular studies at the school from Thursday. The education department has directed the school principal that it would verify the material of all course books and till then teaching of this course at the school would remain suspended. However, school Principal Mrs Waqar said that they did not include such chapters in their course outline, adding, that the book, in which the 'objectionable' chapters were included, was being used by many other schools. The news

Post your comments