FDE teachers package before budget

FDE teachers demand up-gradation before budget
Islamabad, May 30: Teachers of different institutes working under the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) have demanded of the government to implement the teachers package especially up-gradation of BS-16 and above through time scale promotion formula (TSPF) before the upcoming budget.

The teachers' package which included up-gradation, merger of FG and Model set-ups, abolition of evening shifts, enhancement of in-charge allowance and hard area allowance and provision of transport facility was announced by the government last year but not fully implemented yet. The teachers have become frustrated after holding several protests for their genuine right of promotions and are now pinning the hope on the newly appointed Director General FDE Atif Mehmood Kiyani for resolving their issues.

"We are waiting for the promotion letters as the Finance Ministry and the Establishment Division had already approved the decision regarding the teachers up-gradation. However, the matter is now stuck due to lack of will on the part of authorities to implement it," said a group of teachers while talking to the APP.

The teachers' package has been termed a first-ever historical initiative for introducing a unified system of education in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to make it an example to follow by others.

It was reflective of the government' seriousness towards the uplift of education as well as teachers community but it seems that the efforts to get it implemented will go into vain, they said.

Press Secretary Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA) Professor Tahir said the associations and teachers community have launched several protests to get the package implemented and now the file of up-gradation is lying with Establishment Secretary Abdur Rauf Chaudhry after approval from the Capital Administration Development Division (CADD).

Only few days are left in announcement of the budget and the summer vacation will also be started from June 1, Tahir said. According to the package, the federal government and model educational institutions were supposed to be merged but only FG schools have been renamed as model schools.

While the facilities including infrastructure and faculty have not been changed due to which the parents are hesitant to admit their children in renamed institutes, Tahir said.

The new academic year has already begun, but the evening shifts in the model institutes are continuing despite several announcements to abandon the same through shifting the evening students to nearby renamed model schools.

It was a long-standing demand of the parents to end evening shifts in the model colleges as the students were suffering due to odd timings, he said.

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AIOU helpline
Islamabad: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) will soon launch a helpline call centre comprising 200 telephone lines for acquiring information and redressing students' complaints. AIOU Students Advisory and Counselling Services Director Syed Zia-ul-Hasnain Naqvi on Sunday said that AIOU is extending education opportunities to the people at their doorsteps.

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Teachers warn of long march on Islamabad
Lahore: Mutahidda Asataza Mahaz (MTM) Pakistan has warned of a long march towards Parliament House and boycott of census and all kind of non academic activities if the government did not increase salaries of schoolteachers.

In a press statement on Sunday, the Punjab government schools Senior Staff Association (SSA) president Hafiz Abdul Nasir who is also part of MTM said the government teachers were being engaged in non academic activities while the ever increasing inflation had made their lives miserable. He said if the teachers' demands were not fulfilled, they would take to roads. He also criticized the Punjab government saying though annual summer vacation were approaching fast the task of providing free textbooks was not completed yet. SSA president demanded uniform education system in the country saying upgrading Urdu medium government schools into English medium schools was a conspiracy against education system.

Meanwhile, Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Punjab schoolteachers have claimed that the federal government had promised to either revise pay their scales or award 15 to 20 per cent inflation allowance.

In a press statement on Sunday, JAC spokesman Rana Liaquat said the JAC representatives were assured in a meeting with Secretary Finance and Additional Secretary Budget of the above besides considering 15 per cent increase in house rent and substantial increase in medical allowance.

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Rawalpindi Law College students awarded prizes
Rawalpindi: Rawalpindi Law College Chief Executive Pirzada Rahat Masood Quddusi said that Pakistan came into being by the efforts of a lawyer and even today the fraternity is leading the masses for upholding of rule of law and strengthening the principles of democracy in the country.

He stated this while addressing the faculty members and students at the annual prize distribution ceremony of Rawalpindi Law College here on Sunday evening.

Quddusi said Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a lawyer by profession and still the epicentre of nation's hopes was the lawyers. He said after getting the law education, the students could play role in bringing their countrymen out of the period of unrest and mayhem prevailing nowadays.

He said Rawalpindi Law College was established at a time (1989) when there was no other institution to impart the law education. "Whenever I visit the courts in Gujar Kahn, Taxila, Chakwal, Attock and Jehlum, I meet hundreds of the college's students who have established themselves as prominent lawyers.

I always advise them to work hard for the cause of rule of law and advance the basic norms of the democracy," he said.

Principal of the college Shamshadullah Cheema Advocate also addressed the students. Later, Pirzada Rahat Quddusi distributed shields and certificates among the prominent students.

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IUB shines at national exhibition
Ahmedpur East: Islamia University, Bahawalpur shone in the daylong National Conference and Exhibition on "Setting Standards for 21st Century Pakistan Universities Building Economies" organised by the Higher Education Commission in Islamabad.

As many as 30 universities participated in the event including the Islamia University Bahawalpur and displayed and exhibited their ongoing economically beneficial research programmes and products. A team of scientists and students headed by IUB Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Mukhtar participated in the event.

The first project from the IUB entitled "Antifungal properties of the Cholistan Desert medicinal plants," which was an ongoing research work of Prof Mukhtar portraying his care towards the region. The nation

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