Schools winter vacation notification response

Schools give cold shoulder to winter vacation whistle
Lahore, Dec 22: Private as well as semi-government schools and colleges flouted on Monday a Punjab government's notification regarding winter vacation which had stated on Dec 19 that all educational institutions would remain closed for holidays from Dec 21 to 31.

After the dissemination of news from the mass media, a large number of parents did not send their children to schools on Monday. However, they learnt afterwards that almost all private schools were open.

"The government's failure in implementing its orders has resulted in study loss of so many students, who did not go to schools," a parent said.

Surprisingly, the branches of Divisional Public School (DPS) in Model Town and Township remained open despite the fact the school operates under the chairmanship of the Lahore division commissioner and the district coordination officer.

Punjab Education Secretary Aslam Kamboh said the government had abruptly notified winter vacation due to thick fog, Christmas and Ashura.

He said private schools had a valid reason of opening schools on Monday, as they were off on Saturday, when the vacation notification was issued. About intimation of the notification on Monday, he said, private schools were holding their internal examinations and would close in a couple a days.

"The Education Department does not compel the schools to observe winter vacation strictly as in case of summer vacation," he added.

Executive District Officer-Education Dr Arshad said the government had notified the vacation on Saturday afternoon and could not communicate the decision to private schools. He said the information had now been communicated to all schools, including the DPS, as well and they would be closed from Tuesday (today).

DPS Principal Shakoor Butt said the school would be closed for winter vacation from Dec 25 as already scheduled. He said the government had notified winter vacation abruptly and the school was holding its examinations. He said the school was also finalising its candidates' admission for class-IX examinations.

Also, public schools and colleges suspended their ongoing examinations, which would be held next year.

Most of the other private schools, including the chain schools, are also sticking to their plans of holding examinations and closing schools for the winter break.

A private school official said the Punjab government had created embarrassment for itself by abruptly announcing winter holidays. He said the decision should have been taken in a working day and communicated properly. He also said there was no such thing that the government suddenly came to know about fog, Christmas or Ashura. Dawn

We want school
Lahore: The decision of the Punjab Education Department to close down schools for winter vacations before schedule has been criticised by teacher unions, parents and students alike.

The government's decision is likely to aggravate the plight of the students whose schools and universities closed down last month too due to the security threats, especially after the terrorist attack at the Islamic University in Islamabad. Parents and students complained that examinations were drawing nearer and their syllabi were still incomplete.

Punjab Teachers' Union (PTU) chief organiser Allah Rakha Gujjar termed it 'utter mismanagement' on the part of the education department "to close down schools like this when they know it will only add to the troubles of the students whose education has already suffered much due to the prevailing security threats."

However, Punjab Education Department (Secretary Schools) Aslam Kamboh said the decision to announce earlier holidays was taken due to falling temperatures, fog and Muharram.

The Punjab Education Department announced on Saturday that all public and private schools in the province were to be closed for winter vacations from December 21 to 31.

On December 15 a division bench of the Lahore High Court, headed by Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, had dismissed a petition seeking the closure of educational institutions in Punjab in view of the security threats.

The handout issued by the Punjab government does not mention any reasons for announcing winter vacations before schedule. The decision has been opposed and criticised by parents, students and teachers across the province. Private schools, on the other hand, remained open and would only close down for winter holidays starting from December 24.

Allah Rakha Gujjar said it is 'ridiculous' that schools have been closed down earlier as "the government knows very well that students of primary, middle and matriculation are all due to appear for their exams in the coming months."

He said the teachers were not expecting any holidays as the schools had been closed last month as well. He said they were looking forward to completing their syllabi.

Mrs Khalid, mother of an 8th grader said she was troubled by this unexpected announcement. On one hand, private schools were taking extra classes while the government was least bothered about the education of its children. She added that the government needed to revise its decision and look into its consequences for the students.

Director Public Instruction (DPI) Colleges Punjab Abdul Razzaq Cheema said he was unaware of the reasons behind early winter vacations, and he was just following the orders of the government.

Executive District Officer (Education) Dr Arshad said he was planning to take action against all those private schools that remained open on Monday despite the announcement of the government. An official of the Education Department said that the EDO had sent a letter to all private schools to immediately announce winter vacations.

Dr Arshad said the security situation of the province was very fragile and the government's decision was in view of this vulnerability. He confirmed that they were determined to take action against the private schools refusing to close down.

An administrator of a private school said that their school would remain open till December 24 as the students were having their annual tests and examinations.

A Punjab School Education Department official said it was not only the private schools but also the public schools which remained open on Monday due to mismanagement. Daily times

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UoP Syndicate approved promotion of 16 lecturers
Peshawar: The Syndicate of the University of Peshawar (UoP) on Monday approved promotion of 16 lecturers to the post of assistant professors in BPS-19 with retrospective effect from 2007.

Some professors of the university, however, termed the decision a violation of a recent verdict of the Peshawar High Court. The University of Peshawar had advertised 24 posts of assistant professors in 2006 under the new criteria that had not been approved by the university Senate at the time. Some university lecturers had moved the court against the move on the plea that the criteria had not been approved and the advertisement was unlawful.

In the meanwhile, a Syndicate meeting held in 2007 approved the appointment of 24 assistant professors. As the said meeting of the Syndicate lacked quorum, the next meeting of the Syndicate in 2008 cancelled all decisions taken at the previous meeting. The court had also stayed the appointment of the assistant professors against the posts.

On December 15, 2009, a division bench of the Peshawar High Court comprising Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Abdul Aziz Kundi decided the case in favour of the petitioners, Falak Naaz, Arshad Ali and Maimona.

The court decision stated: "The petitions are allowed and both the petitions be considered under the un-amended statutes for appointment in BPS-19 as assistant professors. Keeping in view the consistent principles laid down by courts in services cases, if such decision is taken then the petitioners would be entitled to all the benefits of the posts from the date they were not considered for appointment."

The Syndicate on the other hand approved the appointment of the assistant professors, whose appointment had already been cancelled by the same body and the petitioners were given no benefit of the court decision. "The court decided in our favour and the Syndicate gave its decision against the court verdict. This is a contempt of court," one of the petitioners said.

He said the university had also violated the decision of the 399th meeting of the Syndicate.A jirga constituted by the university administration two years ago had also come up with the decision to end the deadlock on the issue by recommending that the petitioners be given promotion with the other lecturers. The petitioners said this decision too was not honoured.

When contacted, University of Peshawar Registrar Shireenzada Khattak said the court decision had been honoured. He said the court had decided in favour of three lecturers of the university and the Syndicate decided to create posts for them and advertise them at the earliest.

When asked about the approval to the appointment of the 16 assistant professors, he said the minutes of the meeting had not been written and confirmed yet and thus he could not comment on it.

The said meeting of the Syndicate, already termed controversial, had approved appointment of 24 assistant professors in BPS-19. Later, four of them joined Islamia College University and another four were promoted as associate professors. The promotion of the remaining 16 as assistant professors was approved in Monday's meeting of the Syndicate, sources said. The news

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LUMS SDSB acting dean
Lahore: Dr Arif Nazir Butt, associate professor of management in the Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), has been appointed the acting dean of the SDSB with effect from December 18.

According to a press release issued by the university on Monday, Arif takes over from Dr Shaukat Ali Brah, who served as the SDSB dean for two-and-a-half years. Arif teaches Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management in the graduate and PhD programmes at LUMS.

A Dean Search Committee led by Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood, Rector LUMS, would be constituted in the next few days to search for a permanent replacement. The acting dean will oversee the school's academic and administrative operations until the completion of a successful search for his replacement. Daily times

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CM contests prize distribution
Lahore: The prize distribution ceremonies of district level Punjab Chief Minister's Speech and Essay Writing Competitions will be held at all the district headquarters of the province on December 23.

According to a DGPR handout issued on Monday, Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has nominated the members of district monitoring committees as chief guests for the prize distribution ceremonies.

Abdul Razaq Dhillon will be the chief guest of prize distribution ceremony in district Sargodha and in Khusab, Karam Elahi Bandial, MPA, Bhakar, Saeed Akbar Khan Niwani, MPA, Mianwali, Ali Haidar Noor Khan Niazi, MPA, Faisalabad, Abid Sher Ali, MNA, TT Singh, Junaid Anwar, MNA, Jhang, Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Baloch, MPA, Chiniot, Al-Haaj Muhammad Ilyaas Chinioti, MPA, Gujranwala, Imran Khalid Butt, MPA, Hafizabad, Mst Saira Afzal Tarar, MNA, Mandi Bahudin, Waseem Afzal Chan, MPA, Gujrat, Nasir Mehmood, MPA, Sialkot, Imran Ashraf, MPA, Narowal, Awais Qasim Khan, MPA, Sheikhupura, Haji Ghulam Nabi MPA, Nankana Sahib, Rana Muhammad Arshad, MPA, Okara, Yawar Zamaan, MPA, Multan, Rana Mehmood Ul Hassan, MNA, Khanewal, Karam Dad Wahla, MPA, Lodhran, Syed Rafi ud Din Bukhari, MPA, Vehari, Waseem Akhtar Khan Bhahba, MPA, Sahiwal, Pirzada Syed Imran Ahmed Shah, MNA, Pakpattan, Ch Javed Ahmed, MPA, Layyah, Syed Muhammad Saqlain Bukhari, MNA, DG Khan, Sardar Saif ud Din Khosa, MNA, Muzaffargarh, Syed Haroon Ahmed Sultan Bukhari, MPA, Rajanpur, Sardar Sher Ali Khan Gorchani, MPA, Bahawalpur, Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman, MNA, Bahawalnagar, Asif Manzoor Mohal, MPA, Rahim Yar Khan, Muhammad Arshad Khan Leghari, MNA, Rawalpindi, Ch Muhammad Ayaz, MPA, Attock, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, MNA, Jhelum, Muhammad Faiz, MPA, Chakwal, Tanvir Aslam Malik, MPA, Kasur, Haji Naeem Safdar Ansari, MPA and in Lahore Hafiz Muhammad Noman, MPA.

Meanwhile as many as four orators of the Government College University (GCU) Lahore Debating Society made their way to the finals of the Chief Minister Speech Contest 2009-10 by bagging top positions in various categories. GCU Debating Society Assistant Secretary Muhammad Usman Ali stood first at the Division Level English Debates for the intermediate students.

Muhammad Zulqurnain Cheema topped the Division Level English Debates for undergraduate students. Almas Saqib bagged first position at the Division Level Urdu Debates for undergraduate students. However, Saad-ul-Hassan stood third at the Postgraduate Level Urdu Debates.

All these debaters have qualified for the final round of the the Chief Minister's debates which will be held in January 2010.

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School for Sikh children
Lahore: A high level meeting was held at the Governors House on Monday to establish "Guru Mukhi School" for Sikh children in Lahore.

According to a handout issued here, the meeting decided that Guru Mukhi School for Sikh children would be established in Model Town Housing Society. The land would be awarded by the Society and the construction work done by the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB).

Governor Salman Taseer also directed ETPB chairman to renovate Sikh Gurdwara at Model Town Society at the earliest.

Addressing the participants of the meeting, the governor said Islam is a complete code of conduct and it gives priority to the humanity.

"Islam preaches respect for all the minorities", he said, adding "The government is doing its level best to provide best possible facilities to the minorities." He said the minorities in Pakistan were patriotic and had freedom to live according to their faith.

Sikh Parbandhak Committee president Sardar Bishin Singh thanked the governor, the Lahore district nazim, the ETPB chairman and the Model Town Society president. He said the government was making all-out effort to protect the rights of the minorities, providing them maximum facilities.

The meeting was attended by District Nazim Mian Amer Mehmood, ETPB Chairman Asif Hashmi, Sikh Parbandhak Committee President Sardar Bishin Singh along with Sardar Ameer Singh, Sardar Jaswinder Singh and Sardar Atar Singh. The news

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Education in UK
Peshawar: A seminar highlighting opportunities and possible problems in acquiring higher education in the United Kingdom was held on Monday at CONFED Professional Advisers on Overseas Education and Career Building for the HND students of Edwardes College, Peshawar.

Many present and former students have shared their experiences with the audience. The seminar titled "Education in UK: Opportunities and Threats" was attended by a large number of HND students of Edwardes College who were eager to know the benefits of foreign education and the issues that may confront them there. Many seemed interested in acquiring information about future prospects.

The seminar that was arranged by CONFED started with an introductory video that also included the picture of students currently undergoing studies in different disciplines in the UK. The Managing Director CONFED, Najiullah Khattak gave a presentation. F.P Report

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