FDE teachers' just package

Teachers demand 'just package'
Islamabad, Oct 25: Teachers have termed the package, which was to be announced on 'Salaam Teachers Day,' unjust and urged the government to upgrade pay-scales of those having lower grades than those who are already enjoying top ones.

Federal Government Teachers Association of Pakistan (FGTAP) Adviser M A Shahid said that teachers would not accept the package, as it was an effort to facilitate those who are already enjoying perks.

"Our demand is to upgrade all teachers from grade 9 to 16 who are working in their respective grades for two decades. Those who were working in grade 17 ten years ago are now enjoying the status of grade 20, which is an injustice," he said.

He said that there were around 6,000 teachers working between grade 9 and grade 16, but their demands were seldom met despite the fact that they actively participated in every campaign. When it comes to the promotion, the status of those who are already enjoying good position is elevated. "We have sent our demands to the Federal Directorate of Education and Ministry of Education to rationalise the package and provide relief to those who have never been considered by the government," he added.

M A Shahid termed the package, which was to be announced by the government, an unnecessary financial burden on the government. "The one scale upgradation of teachers working between the scale of 17 and 20 would double the financial burden. These teachers have been getting upgradation beyond their expectations," he said.

He said that this time teachers, who have been facing illogical and biased attitude of the relevant authorities for last many years, would not sit idle and use every possible option to get their due rights. "We have been asked by FDE Director General Shaheen Khan to wait for two weeks. She assured that our problems would be resolved but if our demands are not met then we would come out on roads and streets to fight for our rights," he said.

He said that they have also sent a proposal regarding the segregation of teachers having lower grades and higher grades while announcing a package, "but we are not sure whether this demand would be met or not." "Once again the privileged ones are making efforts to get their names included in the package and the chances of their inclusion are quite visible," he said.

M A Shahid said that teachers were already perturbed over the cut in their house rent. This package appeared to be a ray of hope for them, however all their hopes dashed to the ground when the government postponed the event as well as the package.

FDE Director General Shaheen Khan said that they had already moved a summary regarding the upgradation of teachers' scale and were hopeful that the issues of teachers would be resolved in two weeks. "We have moved the summary in which we have proposed that those working in scale 9 should be promoted to scale 14, those in scale 14 should be promoted to scale 16 and those in scale 16 should be promoted to above scales," she added.

When told about the teachers' reservation with regard to increase in the scale of teachers in grade 17 and above, she said that it was unfair to upgrade only scale 9 to 16 teachers, as many of those working in higher grades were also working for two decades. The news

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Female teachers beat colleague
Rawalpindi: Five female teachers thrashed one of their colleagues over a petty issue in a school here, police said.

Rubina Iftikhar, a physical education teacher at Government Noor Islamia Girls High School, told Women Police that Headmistress Munawar Sultan had assigned her the job to keep vigil on students and teachers as well.

She said she was on a rou tine checking on Wednesday when she observed nursery class students shouting and their teacher Abida absent. She said she located the teacher and asked her to go to her class.

On this, she alleged, Abida misbehaved with her. Later, when Rubina went to the principal office to lodge a complaint, Abida reached there and started quarrelling with her. "Abida pulled my hair and beat me in front of the principal. However, the issue was resolved at that time."

The complainant said Abida along with four other teachers intercepted her on Friday and beat her in front of the principal and students. The police have registered a case against the accused.

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Varsity reverses decision on senator's degree
Islamabad: The University of Sindh has reversed its decision of declaring fake the graduation degree of a PPP senator, sources in the Higher Education Commission said on Saturday.

The name of Senator Gul Mohammad Lot was on the list of around 60 lawmakers whose degrees were declared fake or invalid by the HEC. But the commission has now received a fresh communication from the university withdrawing its earlier decision.

The sources, however, said the vice-chancellor of the university had been asked to justify the reversal of the decision and to clarify as to how the degree had been declared fake and how it had become genuine now.

They said Mr Lot's name appeared as "Gul Mohammad Memon" on his apparently fake degree.

Mr Lot, who is currently serving as chairman of Senate's Standing Committee on textile industry, could not be reached for comments as he is currently out of the country.

The sources said that the HEC had forwarded to the Election Commission the copy of an order passed by the Azad Kashmir High Court calling for maintaining the status quo about three lawmakers – Mohammad Riaz, Iftikhar Ahmad Khan and Javed Latif.

The three lawmakers, whose degrees had been declared fake by the AJK university, had challenged the varsity's decision. The AJK High Court issued pre-admission notice to the university to file objections.

Meanwhile, the HEC has given clean chit to another 23 lawmakers, including Senator Ammar Ahmad Khan, brother of Privatisation Minister Waqar Ahmad Khan and MNA Farah Naz Ispahani, wife of Pakistan's Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani. Ms Naz is currently serving as the president's media coordinator.

The rest included 18 members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly, two of the Punjab assembly and one of the Sindh assembly. The sources said the HEC had so far verified 627 degrees. With the addition of these 23, the number of lawmakers declared to be holding genuine degrees in all respect has swelled to 568. Dawn

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AIOU entry tests
Islamabad: Entry tests for the admission in Commonwealth Executive MBA/MPA programme of the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) will be held today (Monday).

These tests would take place in the main campus of the university, as well as in Abbottabad, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Rahim Yar Khan, Sahiwal and Sargodha simultaneously.

Call letters have been sent to all eligible students for participation in the entry test. However, those who have yet not received letters, are advised to contact the nearest regional office of the university or the department of Commonwealth MBA/MPA Programme Room No.102 Block No. 11 personally, or on phone numbers 051-9250090 or 051-9057840, 9057249.

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English language teachers training concludes
Islamabad: The 26th 3-day annual training for 500 English language teachers across the country concluded here on Sunday at Fatima Jinnah Women University.

The Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT) organised a series of 3-day conferences in Karachi, Lahore and Multan.

The event in Islamabad was participated by over 500 participants and English language teachers' professionals including seven foreign and 48 national.

The theme of the conference 'ELT: Mapping Unmapped Territories' exhorted the participants' pedagogical attitude beyond the ethnic, cultural and regional boundaries.

A variety of English Teaching related topics were discussed in the conference. The panel discussion in the concluding session entertained the participants questions.

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Pakistani student wins accolade in US
Islamabad: When young Pakistanis excel at home and abroad it makes Pakistan proud as well as negates the impression that we are a land of terrorists and losers. Sadia Irfan is a brilliant Class 10 student of SLS Montessori and School and she has done her country; her school and her parents proud by being a very successful 'cultural and goodwill ambassador' to the United States.

SLS Montessori and School is a member of the International Education and Resource Network - Pakistan (iEARN) and for nine consecutive years the school has been providing opportunities to its 9th and 10th class students to study in the US on full scholarship through iEARN's Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Programme. In 2009 after an initial evaluation, Sadia was short listed for the Secondary Level English Proficiency (SLEP) test held in Karachi, which she cleared - and the subsequent interview - with flying colours and was among the top scorers. She says getting selected for the YES scholarship -- a one-year programme to live and study in the US for free - was a dream come true. "It was a privilege," she said, "to be part of a prestigious programme where the level of competition was so high that only a few students from all over Pakistan got the opportunity to get selected."

Talking about her experience Sadia said her journey from Pakistan to the Untied States was as thrilling as a roller coaster ride with some ups and a few downs, but generally very exhilarating. The warm welcome and kind attitude of everyone in the US made her adjustment phase very easy. Prior to her departure she had prepared herself to be the "cultural ambassador" of Pakistan, a position, which she considered exciting. However, thousands of miles away from her home she realised that this was no small responsibility, yet she was not intimidated and got involved in various co-curricular activities such as playing soccer, Nordic skiing, tennis, cheerleading and acting, along with being an active member of several clubs. She maintained her good grades and was privileged to be in the "A Honours Role". She was awarded several awards and certificates while getting recognised by Villa Rica High School (VRHS) Georgia for being "the student of the year," as she maintained her G.P.A of 3.8 throughout. She was also given the opportunity to participate in the convocation where she received her degree. Sadia was awarded a shield for being on the school tennis team and playing at University level. Upon completion of this successful year she was given a certificate by the US Department of State for being an exchange student.

After her return, Sadia is working as SLS Representative for Youth Affairs and is energetically involved in different programmes to share her experiences of iEARN. Her recent achievement includes being selected to represent iEARN-YES Alumni Pakistan at the International Youth Conference and Festival from December 6-9, in Islamabad, which is being organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs in collaboration with Miradore Productions and Young International Club. About three hundred participants will gather from more than twenty countries and attend sessions and activities designed for capacity building regarding the following four themes: Role of Youth In Peace Building; Disaster Management; the role of Sports and Culture in Bridging Gaps and Drugs and General Health Issues Among the Youth. "I am thankful to my parents, my school, iEARN Pakistan and all those who believed that I was capable enough to be a part of the responsibility of being an "ambassador" of my country and getting the opportunity to spend a year in US," she says with a smile.

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Roots director wins two awards
Islamabad: Roots School System Director Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq has won two awards in the categories of 'Young CEO Excellence Award' and 'Education Industry Excellence Award'. Faisal Mushtaq won these awards in the 1st Global Management and CEO Excellence Awards 2010 ceremony organised by the Global Media Links (GML). Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Naveed Qamar was the chief guest on the occasion. The award ceremony was attended by a number of distinguished professionals from corporate, business, industry and service sectors. It was an interactive forum with a dynamic presence and participation of the audience hailing from different walks of life. The news

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Beaconites captivate poetry lovers
Islamabad: A large number of primary students got accumulated at Beacon house Margalla Campus to participate in a delightful group poetry recitation competition. Students in this event represented their classes before a panel of 4 judges from the BMI A Level Literature Society that comprised of Noormah Jamal, Amina, Nadir Ali and Muhammad Hamza Butt.

The competition was classified into categories based on age groups and classes. The audience was captivated by the young announcers, also from the Primary Branch. Haya Adnan, Ahmed Hadi Shehzad, Momina Zara, Zara Ahmed and Ali Akram managed the stage confidently. First positions were won by the class 4th and 5th students. The Beacon house Margalla Campus Principal, Admiral Nashat Raffi and Primary Branch Head Mrs. Rukhsana Shehzad proudly introduced the young bards to all present at the occasion.

In a cricket match organized by Beacon house students at Margalla Campus Islamabad. Daily times

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AMC hospital gets new CE, MS after months of tussle
Abbottabad: The four-month long tug of war between the chief executive and management council of Ayub Medical Complex (AMC) hospital has ended with the removal of chief executive and medical superintendent from their posts and termination of management council by Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti.

New appointments have been made to all the posts and new setup will likely take over the affairs of the complex on Monday.

Senior-most professor of the AMC Dr Shamim Anwar has been appointed as its chief executive and Dr Jan Muhammad as medical superintendent.

Also, a five-member management council has been named which include Dr Nizakat Begum, Dr Gul Muhammad, Dr Aziz Awan, ex-nazim of Abbottabad Col. (retired) Mustafa Khan Jadoon and Shamsuddin. Sources said that all these appointments are a part of ad-hoc arrangements to streamline working of the hospital, which would be in place till permanent appointments were made.

PDA Abbottabad chapter president Dr Sajjad Ahmed Khan, meanwhile, called off the five-day old strike of AMC doctors after a meeting, which was also attended by Ayub Medical College Teaching Staff Association and Hazara Doctors Association.

Though the AMC doctors had started the strike on the call of Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) for service structure and pay raise for the house job doctors, on top of their demand list was the removal of the AMC CE.

The AMC matters were repeatedly taken up in the provincial assembly and the chief minister had also appointed two inquiry committees whose recommendations were finally implemented on Friday night.

Dr Umer Khitab, President Hazara Doctors Association, Dr. Sajjad Ahmed and Dr Nisar have thanked the chief minister and health minister Syed Zahir Shah for accepting the demand of the AMC doctors and people of Hazara. They had demanded action against the officials for their alleged involvement in misuse of funds.

The sources said that in previous management council (MC), which ensures smooth affairs of the complex, some political appointments were made which had badly affected its creditability..

The now ex-CE of AMC Shehzad Naeem and MS Dr Iftikhar and other MC members had filed cases against each other.

In one case, the MC recommended the increment of 32 doctors, but they were denied promotions and increment by the CE and salaries of the doctors were also stopped. Also, the public had been complaining the poor service delivery and non- provision of lifesaving drugs and other medicines in the hospital.

The former CE took several decisions, including closure of burns unit, shifting of wards and OPD, which were opposed by doctors as majority of the departments' heads complained that they were not taken into confidence on the AMC re-organisation and restructuring.

Peoples Doctors Forum provincial president Dr Nisar has demanded of the provincial government to appoint true professionals to the key posts as earlier the CE was not from medical profession and had miserably failed to run the AMC affairs. Dawn

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