Tuition centres mushroom growth
Mushroom growth of tuition centres questions role of teachers
Islamabad, Dec 19: Mushroom growth of tuition centres in twin cities of Rawalpindi
and Islamabad leaves a big question mark over the credibility of education
institutions and the role of teachers being responsible for the country's
future. The tuition centres that can be found in every nook and corner of
the twin cities are having a greater strength of students who after attending
their respective education institutions head towards these
centres. Claiming to have qualified teachers from reputed educational
institutions, these centres guarantee the passing of students in first division
and some also offer the money back guarantee in case of unwanted
results. Just a round of the twin cities reveal that from small posters
to huge banners and signboards have been displayed by the tuition centres to woo
students. Apart from that these centres also use reputed newspapers to market
their services. One of the recent way of marketing the tuition services is the
SMS services where massages promoting some tuition homes are delivered to mobile
subscribers. There could be multiple reasons behind the fast gaining
popularity of tuition homes but could there be any reason to justify the
unprofessional attitude of the teachers who are putting the future of the
country at stake. President Teacher's Association
Professor Qasim Masood said that the main reason behind the mushroom growth of
tuition centres was the lack of facilities to the teachers, which forces them to
look for some other options to earn decent living. "Teachers are having minimal
salaries and facilities which are not enough to make their both ends meet so
they opt for tuition centres as a part time job," he said. Masood
revealed that most of the tuition centres are owned by the teachers and
sometimes the principals. "Students have been often freed from their education
institutions months ago so that they could head toward tuition centres which
would obviously help earning money to the teachers," he said. He said
that the only way to get rid of tuition centres was to increase the salaries and
benefits of teachers so that they could perform their duties efficiently and
dedicatedly. The students attending the tuition homes claimed that it
were the teachers who encourage them to take tuition after college time. "The
teachers say that it is not possible to give individual attention to each and
every student in the strength of more than 60 students so its better to take
admission in some tuition centre where there is relatively thin number of
students," said a student of a government college. Demanding high tuition
fee, the tuition centres are almost 'no go area' for the students belonging to
relatively poor class. "I can't afford the tuition fee which is minimum Rs500
for a subject for a month but teachers in college are least interested to
perform their duties efficiently," said Naveed Ahsan, a student of a federal
government college. Many of the tuition centres were also offering home
services where the tutor visit the students' home and demand a huge some of
money in return. According to information the home visiting tutors demand
Rs5,000 to Rs10,000 for teaching a subject for a month depending upon the time
left for exams. Lack of evaluation and monitoring of teachers'
performance is further aggravating the problem while the government seemed to
have shut their eyes over the deteriorating standard of education in educational
institutions that is forcing students to take admissions in tuition
centres. On the other hand Ministry of Education Deputy Education Advisor
(DEA) T.M Qureshi said that it was not true that lack of facilities were the
reason behind the mushroom growth of tuition centres. "There was a time when
teachers used to perform dedicatedly without even getting salaries," he
said. Qureshi said that it was the moral duty of teacher to perform their
duties efficiently and think beyond the material benefits. "If the teachers
could perform well in tuition centres then why not in the respective educational
institutions," he added. He said that the New Education Policy (NEP) 2009
have stressed upon facilitating teachers besides giving them frequent trainings
in their respective fields. "Reform is required in all areas: pre-service
training and standardisation of qualifications; professional development;
teacher remuneration, career progression and status; and governance and
management of the teaching workforce." the document says.
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Degree colleges for girls to be built in all sectors
Islamabad: Federal Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dr.
Babar Awan said Friday that the government would establish degree colleges for
girls in every sector of the capital. Addressing a ceremony organised by
Islamabad Model Colleges Employees Welfare Association, he urged the
participants to work hard for the country development and
prosperity. Babar Awan said that PPP belies on the dialogue process not
trial of politicians. He said that some elements don't like the bright
future of democracy in the country but they cannot succeed in their
aims. The minister said that government would provide the 13 thousands
jobs to the people of Balochistan besides the five thousand, which was announced
by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. Over 10 thousand Baloch students
would be accommodated in the National Internship Programme for their training,
he added. The news
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IIUI Quality Enhancement Cell set up
Islamabad: The International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) established a
Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) on Friday and appointed Faculty of Basic &
Applied Sciences Dean Dr Muhammad Riaz as its head. IIUI President Dr
Anwar Hussain Siddique took this decision as a requirement of the Higher
Education Commission (HEC). On this occasion, Siddique said one of the
major objectives of every university was to provide quality education. He said
some of the universities had already established the QEC. The QEC role
would be advisory and it would provide support and consultancy services to the
faculties/departments to improve educational standard, said Siddiqui. Daily times
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Students returned home
Islamabad: US Deputy Chief of Mission Gerald Feierstein Friday welcomed
home 57 students and 27 teachers from the ED-Links training and cultural
exchange programme in the United States. Gerald Feierstein hopes that
people to people exchanges will promote better understanding between America and
Pakistan. "I hope you had an opportunity to experience a system of education
that promotes 'learning by doing'," Feierstein said. "We hope this
exchange of ideas will help you develop your own creative ideas to make your
classrooms more interesting and learner-friendly." During their two-week visit
to the US, the students learnt web development, digital photography and video
production, and worked side-by-side with American students to build teamwork and
leadership skills, and increase cultural understanding. The teachers
from Pakistani government schools spent six weeks visiting American schools and
classes, and received training in information technology. These teachers will
conduct seminars and professional forums in Pakistan to share best practices in
education they learnt from this experience. "The Pakistan education
system needs to be more hands on and activity-oriented," Sindh Minister for
Education Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq said. "These teacher and student exchanges will
improve learning in this direction. I consider them a great success."
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Students recycled useless items
Rawalpindi: Students of the Silver Oaks School participated in an activity
to make beautiful items from useless things. The theme of the activity
was 'Cleanliness is next to Godliness' and it merged the reuse of autumn leaves
and plastic cans. Students collected autumn leaves to utilise them in gardens,
as it is very nutritious for the soil. Beautiful handicrafts like jewellery,
photo frames, door hangings, lamp shades were also created from autumn leaves.
Useless oil and plastic cans, which are usually thrown away, were crafted into
beautiful multipurpose containers. Young artisans established a new
phenomenon of utilisation of useless things around us into beautiful artpieces.
The activity was aimed at upbringing the students with analytical
thinking and development of aesthetic sense through creative activities.
The students were told that global warming is triggering through
wasteful materials and if these useless things are utilised in a proper manner
then we can save our motherland from pollution.
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Workshop on vacuum science
Islamabad: The second five-day workshop on Vacuum Science & Technology
concluded at the National Institute of Vacuum Science & Technology, a
constituent directorate of the National Centre for Physics, here on
Friday. According to a press release, the topics like vacuum generation,
vacuum measurement, vacuum control, vacuum leak testing and vacuum applications,
etc, were covered during the five-day proceedings of the workshop from December
14 to 18. An exhibition of vacuum components and accessories was also
arranged during the workshop, attended by a total of 56 participants from
industries, universities and research organisations. Thirteen technical sessions
were conducted along with practical demonstration on each day of the
workshop. Speaking at the concluding ceremony, KRL Chairman Karim Ahmad
emphasised the need for enhancement of participation from local industry. He
said the vacuum science & technology should be introduced as a part of the
curriculum of the universities and collaboration with international institutes
in research activities should also be expedited. Expressing their views,
the participants said the event was very beneficial for them. They suggested
that vacuum-related experiments should be included in the list of experiments
for under/postgraduate level studies through the Higher Education Commission. In
the end, the chief guest awarded certificates to the participants. The news
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Doctors postings, transfers
Peshawar: The NWFP Government has appointed Dr. Iftikhar Ahmad Khan as Assistant
Professor Community Medicine in Gomal Medical College Dera Ismail Khan, the post
he held on adhoc basis till the recent past. Dr. Rafatullah Medical Officer, LRH
Peshawar has been transferred and posted as Assistant Professor Physiology at
Bannu Medical College Bannu on regular basis with immediate effect. This was
officially notified here on Friday. The appointments were made on the
recommendations of the Public Service Commission NWFP. F.P Report
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PAF graduation ceremony
Peshawar: The graduation ceremony of No. 120 Flying Instructors' Course
was held at Flying Instructors' School, PAF Academy, Risalpur on Friday. Air
Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Personnel) was the
chief guest on the occasion. While addressing the graduating Instructor Pilots,
the chief guest said that the arduous task of being an instructor pilot demands
flawless performance, critical analysis, perseverance, the abilities to groom
personalities and be a role model. "Your efforts today will indeed shape the
destiny of the PAF of tomorrow. Your diligence to impart flying instructions
blended with your own professional competence is critical in shaping the
hard-hitting PAF, full of professionally competent and morally upright Airmen.
Through professional excellence, unquestionable integrity and teamwork, PAF
would retain its legacy of excellence," he added. The chief guest awarded
certificates and trophies to the graduating airmen. Squadron Leader
Fazal-e-Rabbi won the Chief of Air Staff's trophy for best all round performance
in the course. The graduating batch of pilots belongs to Pakistan Air Force,
Army and Navy. APP
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