SZABIST third convocation : 200 successful graduates
Gilani speaks at SZABIST convocation: Public-private partnership vital for promot education
Islamabad, May 18: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday said that the
government is committed to seeing education, especially higher
education, flourish in the country and would like to encourage private
sector to work side by side with the public sector to invest in
education and promote research and development. Addressing the
third convocation of the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of
Science and Technology (SZABIST) here at the Jinnah Convention Centre,
the prime minister said Pakistan need to respond positively and
responsibly to the challenges of the times to come and it is possible
only when everyone does hard work in real sense of the word. "I
am sure that together (private and public sectors) we can contribute to
the educational, scientific and technological capacity building of our
nation," Gilani said adding in the fast changing and competitive world,
higher education and technology are essential for a dignified survival
and progress of nations. He said there is a need of complete
harmony between the market needs and the quality and standards of
education. He said government wishes to work side by side with the
private sector in promoting higher education in areas of science and
technology. He said any effort made in this direction, either by
public or private sector, was therefore most welcome and the moral and
official duty of the government was to encourage and facilitate such
efforts. "Access of people to advanced knowledge and skills has emerged
as the single most competitive advantage at the global level," the
premier said. Gilani said, "In a knowledge-based economy,
developed nations have made their place in the global community on the
basis of realization of importance of knowledge and they attribute
their success to strategic investment in education, particularly in
science and technology." He said it was unfortunate that
education has been a grossly neglected area in Pakistan. Different
educational policies were made from time to time but never implemented. The
prime minister pointed out that claims of improvement in this vital
sector were made by different governments but in fact education was
never given the attention which it deserved. He said education
also has a great role to play in moral, social and economic development
of a society and promotion of human resources of right kind and
capability. "We have so far invested in general education and there is
a mismatch between what is required by the industry and what is
imparted to our students." Gilani said, "Our target is to
achieve over 90 percent literacy by 2015 and obviously, it is not
possible for the government alone to achieve this target within the
stipulated time period." He said every rupee invested in higher
education brings an exponential return of over 800 percent to the
national exchequer. He said Higher Education Commission (HEC)
has brought a revolutionary change in Pakistan since its formation in
2002. It has increased the number of universities from 98 to 132, and
also tripled the university enrolment, he said, and up till 2002, only
3,000 PhD degrees were awarded whereas more than 3,280 have been
awarded in the last eight years alone. Gilani said the number of
research publications has increased from 815 in 2002 to over 4,000 in
2009 and were still growing by each year, as is the number of returning
PhD scholars. "At present, on HEC scholarships over 2800 scholars are
pursuing their PhD degrees abroad while another 3800 are pursuing it at
home," he said. The prime minister announced a grant of Rs 10
million for SZABIST Islamabad Campus and congratulated Chancellor
SZABIST Dr Azra Fazal, President SZABIST Dr Izharul Haq and the Board
of Trustees of SZABIST for keeping the highest standard of academic
education with commitment. He expressed satisfaction that
SZABIST was contributing effectively to the cause of national building
with a total commitment and hoped that the new graduates will face this
challenge bravely as their potential, dynamism and ability to perform
is second to none. Gilani earlier awarded degrees to over 200
successful graduates. Dr Javaid Laghari, the HEC chairperson, Dr Azra
Fazal Pechuho, SZABIST chancellor, Dr Izharul Haq, SZABIST president
and Syed Asad Hussain were also present during the ceremony. Daily times
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School summer holidays to start on June 18
Islamabad: The Federal Directorate of Education has announced the schedule of summer
vacation for the current year in all schools of the capital from June
18 to August 23. According to the FDE, schools will reopen on August
24. The news
Your Comments
"What a program of summer break.Teachers sitting idle doing nothing in June,besides B.A girls are free and poor little ones would be burning themselves in hot june with energy crises.Atleast we should think before we speak,as ramzan is only for the Baligh and not the innocent.Alongwith energy crises we wil face education crises as if this calender stays new admitted will resume by 10th september near eid."
Name: Prof.Kulsoom
Email: ummekulsoom110@hotmail.com
City, Country: Islamabad,Pakistan
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IIUI stands up for peace and democracy
Islamabad: The International Islamic
University, Islamabad (IIUI) in collaboration with Gujranwala based NGO
'BARGAD' organised a seminar on 'Youth Action for Democracy and
Peace-Building on Campuses' here on Monday. Council of Islamic
Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Muhammad Khalid Masood was the chief guest
on the occasion, while IIUI Rector Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik
presided over the function. CII Chairman Dr Mohammad Khalid
Masood, in his address, elaborated on the concept of democracy in
Islam. He explained how students could benefit from it. IIUI
Rector Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik, in his speech, shed light on the
enforceability of democratic norms at campuses. He stressed the need
for inculcating in youth democratic practices and principles, so that
they could grow up to become true democrats. Iqbal Haider and
Salma Butt of BARGAD explained structure of democracy. "Democracy is a
process, which demands constant input of new ideas," they said. Dean
Faculty of Social Sciences Dr Nazarul Hassan also spoke on the occasion
and appreciated efforts of BARGAD for spreading knowledge relating to
the pre requisites of democracy. Meanwhile, preparations are
underway to celebrate 2010 as IIUI's silver jubilee year. The
university was founded in1985. The celebrations comprise various social
and academic events from the point of view of Islam and will continue
throughout the year. As part of these celebrations, Faculty of
Engineering and Technology (FET) is organising its 'First Open House'
in the Department of Electronics Engineering on May 19 and 20. This
will include displays of R&D projects contributed by final year
students, electronic devices made by students and visits to the
research laboratories of Electronic Engineering Department. The
event will provide students an opportunity to share their technical
know-how with experts on the subject. The event will also provide an
opportunity to various organisations and institutions dealing in
Hi-Tech systems and latest state-of-the-art electronic products to
display their products. Professionals will also be available for
explanations. Entry to the event is open to everyone. Dean
Faculty of Engineering and Technology Professor Dr Ahmed Shuja Syed
described the event as of great significance and beneficial for
students. "The universities provide academic back-up to industrial and
commercial organisations all over the world. This event is an effort of
IIU in the same direction. Many government, semi-government and private
organisations are participating in the event," he added.
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Symposium on environmental physiology at QAU
Islamabad: A three-day national symposium
titled 'Current Trends in Cellular, Medical and Environmental
Physiology' started here on Monday with an aim to bring closer the
basic and medical scientists and provide them with a platform to share
their knowledge and experience in benefiting manner. Organized
by Department of Animal Sciences of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), the
symposium provided the best forum to discuss current issues in pure
physiology and the impact of environment as related to health and
disease. The symposium provided the best forum to discuss
current issues in pure physiology and the impact of environment as
related to health and disease and helped highlighting health related
problems, diseases, basic physiological mechanisms at biochemical level
and to draw attention towards devising state-of-the-art strategies to
dealing with these problems. Department of Animal Sciences
Chairman Prof Dr M Shahab in his welcome address said that in recent
times, physiology emerged as a multidisciplinary subject and has become
more important due to upcoming discoveries at gene level. QAU
Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Masoom Yasinzai addressing the symposium said
that since its birth in 1973, Quaid-i-Azam University has been a
leading research and educational institution in the country as it
provides a rich soil for scientists, scholars, researchers,
technocrats, and social scientists due to its foundations laid in
dedication, hard work, and bold advice to governmental authorities on
core national issues through papers, talks, presentations, publications.
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NEC rejects two holidays, VAT on education
Rawalpindi: National Education Council
(NEC), an elected body of private educational institutions, has
rejected the government's decision of observing two weekly holidays and
proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) on education, said NEC Supreme Council
Chairman Professor Taj Muhammad Karim. Addressing a press
conference here at Rawalpindi Press Club on Monday, he demanded the
government brings load shedding at schools to a halt, so that students
did not suffer. He said since most of the schools did not have
the facility of generators and UPS, it was very difficult for students
as well as teachers to concentrate without electricity in the sizzling
weather," he added. "There are already many holidays in the
country's educational calendar and if we accept two weekly holidays,
then educational institutions would be left with only 168 working days
out of total 365," he added. He said it was not possible to complete syllabuses and impart quality education to students in such a short period of time. He said that schools running second shifts would suffer most on account of two holidays a week. Daily times
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Spring Gala at Beaconhouse
Abbottabad: The first annual spring gala for Beaconhouse School System,
Kindergarten branch, Abbottabad, was held here the other day. According
to a press released, the theme of the day was 'Earth Day.' The oath
taking ceremony was integrated with the importance of environment and
preserving the water and wild life on Earth. Little children
wearing specially designed costumes were looking awesome, while parents
were full of excitement when they saw their little ones marching into
the ground with their teachers for the march past. Aerobic
display by class KG and class I children won a great applause by the
audience. The most eye catching was the tableau by Pre-Nursery and
Nursery children with the rhyme upon a 'Summer Day'. The sack
race, frog race, wheelbarrow and vegetable race from different classes
were the significance of the day. Children participated with great
enthusiasm and exhibited a wonder full energy level. The news
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