Why appoint PhDs as administrators?

Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif recently lamented the lack of research at institutes of higher learning, expressing dissatisfaction over the low number of PhD teachers at the Punjab University.

Giving a proof as to how importanta PhD teacher was for the government, he even announced "If the PU succeeds in getting PhD faculty members' ratio from 35 to 100 percent in coming five-years, the government will provide Rs 100 millions annually to the varsity."

Seen in this context, the appointment of PhD degree holders on various administrative posts by the Punjab government is certainly no less than enigma.

At present, various administrative posts, including those at different educational boards, other autonomous bodies and different wings of education department have been occupied by PhD degree holders. The colleges are no exception as most of these are being headed by PhD teachers.

A few examples of PhD degree holders serving on administrative posts include Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore Chairman Prof Dr Akram Kashmiri, Additional DPI College Dr Tariq Jaleel, Director Colleges Faisalabad Division Dr Farkhand Shakeel, Dr Asghar Chaudhry, the principal of the Government College of Science Wahdat Road, Dr Zulfiqar Ali Rana, the principal of the Government College for Boys Gulberg and Dr Kaleem Ahmed Sipra, the principal of Government Dyal Singh College and many more.

The stakeholders are of the view that PhD degree holders serving on administrative posts are 'wasting' the resources the government had spent on them in term of provision of opportunities of higher learning. "The situation becomes worse if a foreign qualified teacher is posted against an administrative position," they remark.

A college teacher requesting anonymity said: "Administration is undoubtedly different from teaching and one having administrative responsibilities cannot return to teaching in the true sense." He said besides PhD allowance, one appointed on administrative post also received a lucrative salary package. "In this situation, everyone prefers to be part of administration and avoid his/her real job of teaching and research," he said.

There is also another argument in favour of posting PhD college teacher on administrative posts. A group believes that owing to lack of facilities almost no research work is being done at colleges. "Our colleges are devoid of research culture," remarked another teacher. He, however, said PhD faculty members at colleges could be of great help for students by training them about research. "What is use of PhD degree holders if such people are neither teaching nor engaged in research related activities," he questioned.

Academic circles are of the view that the government should form a policy in this regard so that maximum benefit could be achieved from PhD degree holders.

The Higher Education Commission has declared that Dr Farah Malik of Psychology Department, Government College University (GCU) Lahore would receive the Award for the Best University Teacher of year 2008.
She will be presented a certificate and cash prize of Rs 100,000 on the occasion. GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Aftab has commended Dr Farah Malik for achieving the award and has hoped that she would continue enhancing her academic and research activities in the realm of Psychology in future as well. -lachvee@gmail.com (The News)

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Punjab University BA/BSc registration 2010

BA/BSc registration
Lahore, July 20: The Punjab University (PU) on Sunday said July 31 was the last date for registration of private candidates for the BA/BSc Annual Examination, 2010, with double fee, Rs 3,200. In a press statement, a PU spokesman said the candidates must write their addresses on the forms instead of addresses of their private colleges, academies or any friend/relative, otherwise, the forms would be rejected.

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Dr A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE), Karachi

Karachi: In a clean and tidy room in spacious Dr A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE), Karachi, sits Prof. Dr Abid Azhar, a distinguished Pakistani scientist, prominent educationist and Co-Director General of the Institute.

His grayish hair and intelligent eyes behind his glasses give an impressive look as her proceeds to explain the nature of his institute's work. "This institute was established in 2003 with an aim to produce quality research which would be at par with research output of any laboratory of similar nature in a developed country," he said.

"Like any other institution KIBGE too has teething problems. It has to acquire equipments, manpower and infrastructure before it can realize its potential," he said.

"I believe we have achieved it partially. We do have state-of-art equipments. We are in the process of acquiring human resource which is not an easy job and perhaps we have a clear direction of purpose," he said.

Born on March 15, 1955, in Karachi, Dr Azhar did his HSC from City College, Karachi in 1970, B.Sc (Honours) from the University of Karachi in 1973 and M.Sc in Biochemistry in 1974. He has the distinction of bagging second position in M.Sc examinations.

He was offered a scholarship from the prestigious National University, Canberra, Australia from where he did his doctorate in 1994. He also holds a post graduate diploma in Statistics.

As a student Azhar was quite active in progressive student politics and was one of the founding members of Young Writers Forum that was established by left-wing youth in the early 1970s. "You can see a marked difference between today's students and the students of the 1970s. We were not only aware that Chilean President Salvador Allende was assassinated by the CIA because he nationalized copper mines but we also organized public meetings in Karachi to show solidarity with President Allende and Pablo Naroda. Today you will hardly find a student who knows what's going on in Nicaragua," he said.

Referring to the education system as it

existed in early 1970s and today, he said the greatest source of information in yesteryears was the library while today almost all information is available online. "But despite that the education system in Pakistan has registered marked signs of deterioration," he said.

"Previously the best students came from government schools; now only those students enroll themselves in government schools who fail to get admission anywhere," he said.

"You will witness another development: Students simply don't go to colleges and heavily rely on tuitions. The culture has shifted from acquiring education at institutions to tuition centres," he lamented.

He said during the last 30 years the nurseries that provided basic education have seen a marked downward slide and primary education has been totally ignored by the planners.

"You see the problem is not that our students have low IQ; the problem is that they are being taught in such a way that their creativity is never channelised. Neither do they get any career guidance nor are they allowed to question and show their curiosity. Rote learning is the order of the day in Pakistan that is extremely injurious for young minds," he said.

"At KBGE we are focusing on research in agricultural biotechnology, medical biotechnology and industrial biotechnology and are focusing our research on import substitution and enabling the country to earn valuable foreign exchange through export and have made substantial headway," he said.

"We have also started training manpower. Some of our students have gone abroad for higher studies while others are being trained at the Institute. We have regular intakes for MS and PhD programmes. We have over 20 students for MS/PhD programmes and three students have already earned their doctorate," he concluded. The News

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Karachi University Testing Service

KU to start testing service
Karachi, July 20: The University of Karachi's academic council in a meeting held on Saturday unanimously decided that a fully-fledged testing service would be set up, which would cater for the needs of other educational institutions and would also provide them with assistance.

The decision was taken against the backdrop of an admission test fiasco witnessed last year in the university. The poorly organised exercise caused a lot of problems for applicants – many of whom ended up paying double fees. The university had hired a private organisation to conduct admission tests for the MS/PhD programmes.

According to a KU academic council decision, a committee, headed by Prof (Dr) Aqil Burney, chairman of the computer science department, has been formed to look into the matter and explore possibilities for the new testing service.

The meeting also rejected the cases of two students of the Government College of Home Economics and declared the students ineligible for admission.

The meeting also decided that online degrees would only be accepted in cases where they have been issued by public sector institutions which meet the criteria set by KU.

According to sources, members of the academic council also criticised the former pro-vice chancellor, Prof Dr Ikhlaq Ahmed, who had condoned the two students' cases in his capacity as acting vice-chancellor at a time when the VC was on leave. The cases had been rejected by the vice-chancellor before he left abroad some time ago.

The council members said the pro-vice chancellor, now retired, had no authority to make such a decision on behalf of the statutory body.

It may be mentioned here that the College of Home Economics runs a four-year Bachelor of Studies (BS) programme.

According to the criteria set by the college's board and approved by the academic council of the university, students who have done their Intermediate with home economics subjects are required to have at least 50 per cent marks while students from other educational backgrounds need to have at least 60 per cent marks to get admission to the college.

This year, however, two students, who allegedly did not meet the admission criteria, were given admission to the college.

Their cases were first sent to the vice-chancellor, who rejected them. Later, the dean, faculty of science, was approached, who referred their cases to the affiliation committee.

The committee in its report stated that the criteria was set by the college itself and if any change in the rules was needed, then amendments must be approved through a proper channel and could only be implemented next year.

The academic council, in its unanimous resolution, stated that the two students did not meet the eligibility criteria and, therefore, their admissions stood cancelled. A warning letter would be sent to the principal of the college for violating the rules and regulations, the meeting decided. The minutes of the last meeting of the Board of Faculty of Islamic Learning were also approved after a long debate.

Prof Jalaluddin Noori, who has been suspended for alleged plagiarism, had chaired the last board meeting.

The meeting of the academic council was attended by Vice-Chancellor Prof Pirzada Qasim, chairpersons of the departments and directors of the institutes. Dawn

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Fashion & Textile students display exquisite artwork

Islamabad: Dazzling outfits and house decor accessories presenting a unique amalgamation of traditional craft and trendy cuts attracted a large number of visitors to a fashion and textile exhibition held here on Saturday.

Iqra University's Department of Art & Design conducted a two-day exhibition that displayed modern as well as trendy handmade decorative items in exotic colour combinations along with amazing embellishments, prepared by more than 100 students of Textile and Fashion, individually and in groups.

Mariam Zafar, a student of Textile Designing who had on display her superb screen painting work, said that the exhibition is one of the best opportunities to project the students' artwork.

Mariam said people generally are not aware of the sophistication offered in shape of exquisite hand work in this era of machines but such exhibitions help create awareness among the masses to appreciate hand work.

Mariam Mehdi, a student of the University's Fashion Department, while referring to the trendy dresses put on show, said the students take inspiration from different themes in order to come up with formal, semi formal and cocktail dresses. "Each and every step including pattern making, sewing and illustrations are conducted by the students themselves," she said.

Faculty member of the Fashion and Textile Department Muneeza Ahmed apprised that conducting such exhibitions is a regular feature of their department to appreciate and encourage the students. "Every year, we arrange this exhibition where students in groups or individually work on some exclusive project, which is displayed for sale at the exhibition," she said.
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AAUR student Murder case at university cafeteria

AAUR student 'murdered, not killed by muggers'
Rawalpindi, July 19: The episode of mobile snatching incident in which a student of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agricultural University, Rawalpindi, was killed on Friday night turned out to be a case of murder, when a number of students revealed that some students gunned the BSc (Honours) student minutes after a scuffle at the university cafeteria.

On Saturday morning, a group of university students, with the impression that Mohammad Shahzad shot dead when he offered resistance to the muggers snatching his mobile phone near Shamsabad Chowk staged a protest demonstration outside the university premises.

Muhammad Javed Iqbal, son of Abdul Hafiz, a resident of Iftikhar Colony, Ward-6, Nankana Road, Shah Kot, Nankana, lodged a complaint with the New Town Police Station saying that his younger brother Muhammad Shahzad was a student of BSc (Honours) at the Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agricultural University. He said that Rana Safdar, son of Rana Amir, a fellow student of Mohammad Shahzad, told him that he had dinner with Shahzad and Usman on Friday night and later Usman took Shahzad out of the cafeteria at about 10 p.m. "I was told that two bike-riding men gunned Shahzad down in the presence of Usman and fled away."

However, City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi Rao Iqbal said, "It is a clear-cut murder case and not a mobile snatching incident that took the life of Mohammad Shahzad." He said that the investigators have collected the evidences and recorded the statements of eyewitnesses, describing it as murder. He said that the police have registered the case against the assailants on the complaint of victim's brother.

The CPO said that Usman and one of the other students were missing and the police were trying to trace them out, adding that Usman was the prime accused who disappeared soon after the occurrence.

Responding to a question, Rao Iqbal said that dozens of former students of Quaid-i-Azam University and Arid Agriculture University, who were rusticated from their institutions for their involvements in illegal activities, gathered in front of the university on Saturday and created law and order situation.

He said that the police resorted to baton-charge and hurled teargas shells to disperse the protesters, but the angry protestors suspended the traffic by burning tyres. The police, later, arrested 20 agitators and booked them under sections 427/186/353/149/148/341 and 337-H2.

Meanwhile, heavy contingents of police have cordoned off the university premises after searching the hostels while different police parties have been sent to hunt down the prime accused, Usman and his friend. The News

AAUR reopens tomorrow
Rawalpindi: Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) will reopen on Monday after remaining closed following murder of a student in a mobile snatching attempt on Friday, said the university spokesperson. The murder ignited a protest by students, prompting the university administration to cancel examinations. He said the situation had come to normalcy and examinations would be resumed on Monday. He appealed to the students to stay calm. Daily Times
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IT labs in 4,286 schools

Lahore: Additional Chief Secretary Punjab Javed Aslam has said the Information Technology Laboratories in 4286 secondary and higher secondary schools will be set up by November 2009.

He said this while addressing the participants of agreement signing ceremony about provision of IT equipment for these labs. Additional Chief Secretary signed the agreement on behalf of Punjab government while representative of Microsoft, DELL, ACER, HP, Siemens, N-Computing, PTCL and PEL also signed the agreement.

Javed Aslam said that 95% civil work of IT laboratories had been completed while reputed national and international companies had been engaged in project for provision of IT equipment and allied resources. He further said the agreement had been signed with PTCL for installation of internet facilities in these IT labs while TEVTA would provide furniture. Additional Chief Secretary, Javed Aslam further said the Chief Minister Punjab's vision was to bridge the digital divide between private and public sector schools and create awareness in use of latest technology for learning and skill building. He said the training programme for the teachers of IT labs had also been started.

Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary has said all the departments will have to be vigilant for coping with emergency situation in case of terrorism and natural calamity.

He expressed these views while presiding over a meeting regarding defence planning at Civil Secretariat on Saturday. Representatives of federal government and armed forces besides senior officers of Home, Police and other departments also attended the meeting. Briefing was given by Home Department, Rescue-1122, Police, Prosecution Service, Civil Defence, Communication & Works, Transport, Irrigation and other departments. The Chief Secretary said that a practicable plan should be evolved for coping with terrorism and emergent situation in an effective manner which should be implemented in letter and spirit. The News
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IJT defies PU adm, sets up stalls again

Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) chapter Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) once again set up admission stalls at the varsity's New Campus on Saturday.

On Friday, the PU administration had uprooted Jamiat stalls on the ground that no student organization was allowed to set up stalls.

According to a press statement issued by IJT, the student organization set up a number of admission stalls at the Punjab University on Saturday at various places including IBA Lawn, Center for Higher Energy Physics (CHEP) and University Gate No 2, while the main admission stall was set up in front of Faisal Auditorium. A large number of admission seeking students visited these stalls.

Booklets containing information about admission process and last year's merit of all departments were also available at the Jamiat stalls.

PU chapter IJT nazim Qaiser Sharif vowed that Jamiat would continue organizing such positive activities in universities to guide new comers in proper way.

He also demanded PU Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran take a stern action against the guards and administrative staff involved in Friday's incident wherein Jamiat stalls were removed.

He also demanded the VC make a review committee regarding admission policy of university and abolish entry test.
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PU landfill site | IJT defies PU adm

PU landfill site polluting Mustafa Town
Lahore, July 19: Residents of Mustafa Town, a locality on Wahdat Road, are forced to put up with stinking smell and poisonous gasses emanating from a landfill site used by the Punjab University (New Campus) to dump and burn its garbage.

Mustafa Town is located only 200 meters from the university's private landfill site. The site is maintained unscientifically and it had been polluting ground water and environment for the last two years.

Mustafa Town residents said pollution caused by burning garbage had ruined their lives, claiming PU staffers dumped at least three trolleys of garbage at this landfill site everyday.

Residents of the colony said smoke engulfed the entire locality when PU staffers burnt garbage and residents had no option but to breathe poisonous gasses emanating from the burning garbage. People were contracting diseases from these poisonous gasses, they remarked.

"My family now only dreams of breathing fresh air," said Muhammad Amir, a resident of Mustafa Town. "You can not imagine the stench of garbage that invades our nostrils if wind blows from the direction of the landfill site towards Mustafa Town," he said. He said several children in the society had developed asthma from breathing poisonous smoke.

Omar, another resident, said his entire family was suffering from breathing problems. He said his house was closest in the society to the landfill site. He said he had desperately tried to sell his home but no one was willing to buy it due to its proximity to the site.

Mushtaq, another resident of Mustafa Town, said the landfill site polluted ground water of the area during rains. He said despite requests, PU authorities had not stopped disposing of garbage near the colony.

He said the landfill site was threatening to 'bury' the colony under garbage. He warned of protests if PU authorities kept up this practice.

Residents said that they were running pillar to post but neither the government nor the PU was ready to give them relief. "We filed applications with the Punjab governor, the Punjab chief minister's Complaint Cell, the Punjab Environment Department, the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) and the vice-chancellor of the Punjab University. Regrettably, we got a very cold response," Omar said. He said residents had decided to approach human rights organisations and the Supreme Court of Pakistan to get relief.

Naseemur Rehman, a senior officer of the Punjab Environment Department, said that private housing colonies and other organisations were allowed to build landfill sites but only in accordance with specifications and design issued by the Pakistan Environment Protection Department. He said if the Punjab University was operating a landfill site then it should match the department's specifications and design otherwise action will be taken against the varsity. He said the department had not received any formal complaint from residents. He said the department will investigate the issue and will take action to solve problems faced by residents of Mustafa Town.

When contacted, the Punjab University registrar said the issue was not in his notice. He said he will take action if any complainant from the society approached him.
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Internship programme 2009

Lahore: A four-month internship programme 2009 for final year DVM students was inaugurated at the University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences (UVAS) by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Nawaz on Saturday. A five-day orientation workshop was also organised in this connection which concluded on Saturday. Speaking at the concluding session, the VC lauded the efforts made by the Faculty of Veterinary Science in arranging the internship placement for 109 students in the public and private sectors.
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Posting of junior teacher raises eyebrows

Lahore: The recent posting of a BPS-17 lecturer against a BPS-18 administrative post with additional charge of BS-19 post by the Punjab Higher Education Department has raised many eyebrows with some stakeholders accusing high-ups of favouring the incumbent because of his political connections.

The lecturer, Muhammad Afzal, is among those over 90 ad hoc lecturers who were reinstated in March this year on orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Reportedly, the Punjab government had sacked the lecturers who had been serving for almost 14 years from service in 2001 instead of regularizing them.

It is learnt that during this period Muhammad Afzal started taking part in local politics, developed relations with senior leaders of the PML-N and also won elections at Union Council level in Dera Ghazi Khan.

According to sources in the department, as per rules the post of DO Colleges was to be filled from among the teaching cadre, however, the candidate should have been an assistant professor of BS-18. They said similarly the recently created post of Director Colleges at divisional level was meant for associate professor of BPS-19.

They said at present not a single DO Colleges except of DG Khan was of BPS-17 while adding similarly all posts of Director Colleges had been filled except of DG Khan Division.

They even claimed the Establishment Wing of the department was intentionally not filling the post of Director Colleges of DG Khan so that the lecturer kept enjoying 'authority'.

The sources said the department had to face political pressure each time appointment was to be made on administrative posts as such postings were always considered lucrative as they offered various facilities such as official vehicle etc.

When contacted, Muhammad Afzal said his posting had nothing to do with politics adding his posting was ordered by the department secretary. To a question, he said he was verbally asked to look after the charge of Director Colleges.

Additional Secretary (Establishment) of the Punjab Higher Education Department Humayun Maqbool Bhatti claimed that the department had to face problems in posting officials against administrative posts in unattractive areas.

"We have to post even BPS-17 lecturers as principals in unattractive areas", he further claimed.

To a question whether any of the DO (Colleges) from any district of the province was of BPS-17, Bhatti said" "I cannot recall right now". He, however, maintained that the said DO had not been asked to look after the office of Director Colleges.

He said a summary was moved to the chief minister regarding appointment of Director Colleges at DG Khan Division however it was sent back with observations. He expressed hope that a regular incumbent would soon be posted at DG Khan.

Punjab Professors & Lecturers Association (PPLA) President Nazim Hasnain said the posting was certainly disappointing as merit was not observed. He said if the CM claimed supremacy of merit in the province than it should be same for all.
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NLA Machine translation (MT) Urdu software

NLA launches Urdu software to break language barriers
Islamabad, July 19: English is no more a barrier in learning computer and internet technology as National Language Authority (NLA) on Saturday released and Urdu software carrying computing and processing systems, developed by its Centre of Excellence for Urdu Informatics.

Machine translation (MT) software is a big step and now Urdu Data House is ready to replace other National languages on cyber space, NLA Chairman Iftikhar Arif announced in a ceremony.

"Microsoft applications like Windows, Office are now converted into Urdu operating systems. One font and one keyboard for Urdu and other Pakistani languages is also released by NLA," Arif said.

Arif said in a rapidly growing integrated technology, it was inevitable to make Urdu language parallel to developed contemporary languages in usage of computer, internet and informatics. "Unveiling Urdu software is a step forward in development of Urdu language," he said.

He said under this project, Nastaleeq font was developed to support Urdu and all Pakistani languages. "As the font is Unicode, hence all kinds of data processing and computing become possible," he said.

He said with the use of such fonts, Urdu became a language of internet. "Basic letters, dots and diacritics are also separated, on basis of Ghost Character Theory, now registered with ISO and Unicode, whereas, it is not a feature of Inpage Urdu," he said.

He said MT software had been developed to perform automatic translation from English to Urdu. "To develop a software for a general language translation is near impossible. Initially, the scope of this MT software is translate official discourse including budget and finance matters," Arif said.

He said Urdu Database would make language resources available at one click and its application with testing data was ready to be used for data processing with an aim to develop a comprehensive language reference bank not only for scholars, researchers, teachers but also for students and general public.

"This is a post-dictionary work, where one is not forced to share a prior knowledge of work or phrase as a prerequisite of searching its meaning and usage," he said.

Arif said Urdu Style Guide let researchers, authors and publishers to style articles, books and other materials automatically as per international and customised standards. "Applying style manually not only takes extra time but also extra care. With the use of Urdu Style Guide, raw data is formatted just by one click. The first part of this product is a Bibliographer that is being released for writers," he said.

Dr Attash Durrani, Centre of Excellence for Urdu Informatics project director, said, "Survival of the fittest is the rule applied on languages as well in a global village. Only those languages will survive that are available on computer and internet." Daily Times
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Moot on Islamic microfinance on July 21

Islamabad: A two-day International Conference on the 'Emerging Concept of Islamic Microfinance,' organised by Helping Hand for Relief & Development and Riphah Centre of Islamic Business of Riphah International University, will start on Tuesday (July 21), at the Best Western Hotel, says a press release.

It is aimed at exploring emerging concepts for poverty alleviation and economic empowerment in developing countries through Islamic microfinance.

Distinguished scholars and field experts from Pakistan and abroad, including USA, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have consented to participate.

Federal Minister for Privatisation Naveed Qamar is expected to be the chief guest at the event.

Renowned scholars and economists such as Dr. Zahid H. Bukhari, currently working as director, American Muslim Studies Programme at Georgetown University, Washington (USA); Dr. Muhammad Yusop Damit, rector, Islam Sultan Sharif Ali University (Brunei Dar-us-Salam), Sarker Muhammad. Ramzan Ali, secretary, Islamic Aid Bangladesh and Durmus Aydin, Vice President IHH (Turkey) will present their papers on various aspects of Islamic microfinance at the conference.

The participants will deliberate upon related subjects with the objective of consolidating the thematic and operational issues associated with the emerging Islamic Micro Financial Instruments and institutions. The News
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PU Law College lecturer escapes from court

Lahore: Punjab University (PU) Law College lecturer Khujista Rehan on Friday managed to escape from the court of an additional district and sessions judge who cancelled her interim bail in a case registered against her with New Muslim Town police. According to details, Rehan — also the PU girls hostel number 9 superintendent, had gotten a three-day interim bail until Friday. She appeared before the court for confirmation of her bail but the court instead ordered her arrest. However, she managed to flee from the court premises. On July 10, an FIR was registered against Rehan on the complaint of hostel employees for allegedly torturing hostel number 9 warden Dr Farah. Rehan was accused of thrashing Farah and hitting her with a paperweight. According to the FIR, she also issued life threats to the warden and disappeared after the incident. Daily Times
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Dr. Farah named for best U-teacher award

Lahore: Dr. Farah Malik of Psychology Department Government College University Lahore has been declared to receive the Award for the Best University Teacher of year 2008 by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). She will be honoured by Assistant Director (Academics) HEC Asfand Yar Khan and will be presented a certificate and cash prize of Rs. 100,000/- on the occasion. The Vice Chancellor GCU Lahore Prof. Dr. Khalid Aftab has commended Dr. Farah Malik for attaining the award and has hoped that she would continue enhancing her academic and research activities in the realm of Psychology in future as well. F.P report
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Transition of '.pk' domain | Islamic microfinance

Transition of '.pk' domain completed
Islamabad, July 18: The transition of county code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) of Pakistan '.pk'has been successfully completed marking it as the most significant and noteworthy landmark in the internet history of the county.

A press release issued on Friday revealed that in this regard, Chairman PTA, Dr Mohammed Yaseen, visited
Lahore office of PKNIC. PKNIC was the present ccTLD operator for '.pk' domain. The purpose of his visit was to appraise the newly upgraded '.pk' infrastructure, data centre and customer services department in Pakistan.

During the visit Chairman PTA noted that the root server mirroring for '.pk' domain in Pakistan was fully operational. PKNIC had successfully implemented the root server mirroring for '.pk' and tested it with all global root servers from a.root-servers.net to m.root-servers.net.

The new authoritative mirror M-2.PKNIC.NET.pk (203.128.7.123) would enable local resolution of '.pk' websites. PKNIC representatives briefed the Chairman regarding mirroring techniques and provided some testing on new Domain Name Service (DNS) resolution mechanism of .pk ccTLD. Formal inauguration of new PKNIC office should be organized in August.

It may be mentioned that Chairman PTA had a long association with '.pk' transition project and had been working vigorously for the successful transition of '.pk' domain to Pakistan. There had been numerous attempts since a decade to bring .pk operations to Pakistan; however during his efforts for '.pk'transition, Chairman PTA strongly perused and coordinated the whole process resulting in execution of '.pk'local mirroring.

Speaking on the occasion Chairman PTA said that '.pk'domain was a national asset for the country and improvement in its services would boost the local content development; subsequently encouraging enterprises to host their web content under '.pk'and ensuring smooth operations of an important internet resource. A dedicated team at ICT Directorate, PTA under the supervision of Chairman had been working on this significant project for the improvement of local internet industry.

Chairman PTA appreciated the efforts of PKNIC management especially of Ashar Nisar and Imran Anwar for this important accomplishment. He also praised the efforts of PTA ICT Directorate towards the project and commended their role during the transition project. PKNIC management highly valued the necessary endorsement of Chairman PTA in this regard. Daily Times
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Private schools pay less then Rs 6,000 minimum wage

Private schools not paying minimum wage to faculty
Lahore, July 18: Although the government has fixed minimum wage of labour at Rs 6,000, teachers in many private schools have not benefited from this decision.

There are many private schools in Lahore which disregard the government-implemented minimum wage and exploit their teachers. The number of private schools registered with the Education Department is
5,500 in the Lahore district according to available data. According to sources in the Education Department, there are many schools in the city -including those with a large number of enrolled students- that pay their teachers only Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 and complain of few resources and many expenses.

There are also a large number of schools which have charged their students full fees during the summer vacation and have either not paid their teachers or paid them less than their fixed salaries.

Afia Ihsan, a teacher at a private school, said most of the students at this school submitted their fees before the summer vacation. However, the school management paid only half the salaries to the teachers. She said there were many graduate teachers who were paid less than Rs 6,000 in private schools

Shabana Nadeem, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) teacher with years of teaching experience, said her salary was less than Rs 6,000. She said teachers' salaries increased with the passage of time in the government sector, but there was no such mechanism in the private sector. Nadeem said the government should bring private schools under its control and ensure that the minimum wage policy is implemented in private schools.

Inaccurate figures: Lahore Executive District Officer (Education) (EDO) Muhammad Arshad said many private schools in the city defied the minimum wage policy. He said such schools presented inaccurate figures of their teachers' salaries before being registered, and later did not correct these. Arshad said action could be taken against such schools.

All Pakistan Private School Management Association (APPSMA) Chairman Adeeb Jawadani said many schools in the city did not comply with the minimum wage policy. He said inspection teams which visited schools before registration should only register them based on merit and schools comprising two or three rooms should not be registered. "Government schools do not cater to the education requirements of all the children, so private schools are necessary. However, the school inspectors should not take bribes and should register schools only on merit," Jawadani said.
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PU BA/BSc four-year programmes admission schedule

Punjab University admission schedule
Lahore, July 18: The Punjab University has announced admission schedule of BA/BSc four-year programmes according to which entry tests will be compulsory for admission to only three departments.

According to a press statement on Friday, the three departments included Micro Biology and Molecular Biology,
Information Technology (Software Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology) and Clinical Psychology. The entry test would be organised by the Punjab University.

The last of date of submission of entry test forms is July 31.

The departments where entry test is not compulsory are: Space Science, Mathematics, Geography, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Geology, High Energy Physics, Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Botany, Mycology and Plant Pathology, Zoology, Psychology and Applied Psychology, Business and Information Technology, Business Administration, Administrative Sciences, Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre, Hailey College of Commerce, Banking and Finance, Social and Cultural Studies (Sociology), Communication Studies, Philosophy, Physics, Statistical and Actuarial Sciences and Law. The News
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ACCA Pakistan organises career counselling training

ACCA Pakistan recently organised a career counseling and training session for school heads, counselors and faculty which was attended by many well reputed schools and colleges in Karachi.The participating schools included Mama Parsi School, Army Public School, Cordoba School, Foundation Public School, Falcon House Grammar School, Shah Willayat School, Fahim’s School System, Fatimiyah Boys School and Fatimiyah Girls School.This counseling training was arranged as an initiative under the ACCA’s knowledge sharing agenda and aimed to encourage education institutes to build appropriate student counselling expertise for imparting effective guidance to students regarding their career decisions. The key note speaker at the training was Ms Rasheeda Valika, Student Counsellor at Szabist University. Ms Valika highlighted the key role of faculty in personal and professional development of students and emphasised on the importance of career counselling at appropriate stages of student-life. Speaking about the challenges faced by students today, Ms Valika said that there is an urgent need of partnership between academic sector and job market to ensure human talent is channelled in the productive fields.Later, Mr Hassan, Executive Director Auspak International talked the opportunities in the fields of accountancy and finance and highlighted the dynamic role of professional accountants in today’s economic situation. The event was appreciated by the educationist-community who strongly felt that such trainings were significant for their skills development.
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Pakistani ACCA Student Wins Global Award

Muhammad Azhar Azim, a student of ACCA from Lahore, Pakistan, is one of the three successful students who have received the ACCA's Sir David Tweedie Award for 2008. In the prize ceremony held in London - UK this week, Sir David Tweedie in presence of Brendan Murtagh, President ACCA and other dignitaries presented the award to Azhar Azeem and the other two winners, each from Tanzania and the UK. This award is presented to students who score highest mark globally in Paper P2 (Corporate Reporting) of ACCA Qualification. Mr Arif Masud Mirza, Head of ACCA Pakistan, lauded the achievement of Azhar Azeem as "a reason of pride and inspiration for ACCA Pakistan, and a proof of the commitment and hard work of Azhar Azeem supported by his family and teachers".
Courtesy of ACCA Pakistan

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ACCA Pakistan organises career counselling training

ACCA Pakistan recently organised a career counseling and training session for school heads, counselors and faculty which was attended by many well reputed schools and colleges in Karachi.The participating schools included MamaParsi School, Army Public School, Cordoba School, Foundation Public School, Falcon House Grammar School, Shah Willayat School, Fahim’s School System, Fatimiyah Boys School and Fatimiyah Girls School.This counseling training was arranged as an initiative under the ACCA’s knowledge sharing agenda and aimed to encourage education institutes to build appropriate student counselling expertise for imparting effective guidance to students regarding their career decisions. The key note speaker at the training was Ms Rasheeda Valika, Student Counsellor at Szabist University. Ms Valika highlighted the key role of faculty in personal and professional development of students and emphasised on the importance of career counselling at appropriate stages of student-life. Speaking about the challenges faced by students today, Ms Valika said that there is an urgent need of partnership between academic sector and job market to ensure human talent is channelled in the productive fields.Later, Mr Hassan, Executive Director Auspak International talked the opportunities in the fields of accountancy and finance and highlighted the dynamic role of professional accountants in today’s economic situation. The event was appreciated by the educationist-community who strongly felt that such trainings were significant for their skills development.
Courtesy of ACCA Pakistan
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President, PM decide in principle to expand and reshuffle federal cabinet

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have decided "in principle" to expand and reshuffle the Federal Cabinet.

Reliable sources told thatduring the meeting President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have agreed to change portfolios of Interior Minister, Petroleum Minister, Health Minister, Investment Minister, Health Minister and Kashmir Affairs.

It is reported that PPP Senior leader, Mian Raza Rabbani is likely to take charge, as Interior Minister while Naveed Qamar will be appointed as Petroleum Minister after replacing Dr. Asim Hussain.

While current Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Health Minister, Ejaz Jakhrani will be assigned new portfolios.

Sources further added that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani while appreciating the performance of Senator Waqar, Investment Minister and Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme has decided to assign them important portfolios.

Sources added that Prime Minister while expressing his dissatisfaction with the performance of interior ministry has expressed his grave concern on the increasing incidents of terrorists and law and order situation in the country.

It is said that Prime Minister is committed to induct qualified and experience person in his cabinet so that they can effective defend the good polices of government in the parliament.
When contacted with officials in the Prime Minister House, none of the officials confirmed the timeframe for the reshuffle and expansion in Federal Cabinet; however, it is expected in a week.

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Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari to be introduced in Politics

President (Co-Chairman PPP) Asif Ali Zardari has decided to introduce Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari into Politics at strong recommendation of PPPP members.

Sources from PPPP disclosed here Monday that the decision has been aimed to present Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari as
second fiddle of (L) Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and to compete with Fatima Bhutto in National Political platform.

Sources further informed that during the meeting President Asif Ali Zardari also pointed out to the participants that Bakhtawar Bhutto was also taking keen interest in the politics, on which the participants of the meeting backed the President’s idea.

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117 names placed on ECL

Under the charges of corruption and illegal use of authorities 117 personalities including government employees have been banned to travel abroad.

According to details 117 personsname have been included in exist control list including in which more than 25 belong to frontier, according to The National Accountability Bureau report.

According to the report no major case has been pointed and none of former politician or army officer targeted the maximum corruption showed in the report is up to 100 million.

According to report 117 names have been added to ECL in which no political leader or armed forces officer has been included.

Government issued 119 arrest warrants in which 64 belong to Punjab, 10 from Sindh, 10 from NWFP, 3 from Balochistan and 31 belong to Rawalpindi. Almost 65 people have been arrested so far.

Total 168 references have been forward to accountability court and NAB has recovered 48.374 million rupees from 3 cases.
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11 employees of educational department arrested

Security forces have taken into custody11 employees of education department for their alleged support for Taliban.

According to education department official sources security force arrested 11 employees of education department on Saturday, in order to interrogate them for their alleged collaboration with the Taliban.

Sources underlined that these people had been arrested because they had close ties with Taliban and often interchanged secret information, which created problems for security forces operations.

While education department and provincial government has showed their unawareness of the matter.

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Islamabad: Students get tips for seeking job

Experts at a seminar urged the students to never give up and remain consistent while seeking a job until success.

The seminar, which was attended by a large number of female job seekers, was held at the sideline of second day of the Job Fair 2009 here on Wednesday.

They said that the average ratiofor getting a call from an organisation you applied for a job was 10:1, which means that a candidate has to apply in dozens of organisations to get a required job.

The speakers on the occasion described various job-seeking tips to the students and said that each and every aspect starting from the application till the interview must be handled skilfully.

They said that one of the frustrating part of the job search was locating job openings.

“Everyone should have yellow pages which provide detailed information regarding the number and addresses of the offices in the city,” said Faculty of Management Sciences Assistant Professor Shoaib Bin Naeem.

Naeem also suggested that some leading newspapers including ‘The News’ and ‘Jang’ could be lot more helpful in finding job openings. “A person seeking job must have these newspapers on Sunday in order to get the useful information regarding various vacancies,” he said.

He also pointed out the common mistake made by the applicants when they make similar job letter for every vacancy. “The job in which one is interested must be specified in the subject,” Naeem said.

He further advised that a considerable information regarding company must be included in the application as it shows the interest of the applicant in the respective organisation.

“The HR should have an impression as if you are really interested to work in that particular organisation,” he said.

Shifa International HR Manager Ehsan-ul-Haq urged students to be prepared about the various questions that they were expecting during the interview. “One should not mention ones weaknesses in a straightforward manner rather present ones weaknesses as strength,” he said.

Saadia Malik, a manager HR, stressed for the grooming of the applicants as far as their personal appearance was concerned. “The HR manager selects or rejects an applicant in the first 10 seconds on the basis of his personal appearance and manners,” she said.

She suggested various tips regarding the dressing, accessories and makeup of the applicant when called for interview. “One should wear a sober dress with light make up and jewellery,” she said.

Addressing on the occasion Numeratics Managing Director Owaise Anjum said that there were few technicalities involved in filling the job application, which include the proper full name, all dates of employments, all experiences and proper reference. “If there is a blank for salary desired, try to give a salary range or state ‘open’ or ‘negotiable’,” he said.

While describing the various don’t he said that never misspell words, do not omit signature, do not ever be negative and do not make your application a challenge to read.

He said that there are some common questions, which are usually asked by the interviews so a candidate must be prepared to answer them. He said that the most asked questions include the question regarding your strength and weaknesses, your personality, goals and requirements.

Courtesy: The News

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Karachi HSC Home Economics results 2009

Over 60pc Home Economics students clear HSC exams
Karachi, July 17: None of the candidates, including
the position holder students, got Grade A-1 in the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) Part-II (Class XII) Home Economics group annual examinations-2009, the results, announced by the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) on Thursday, show the overall pass percentage is 60.87 per cent.

Of the total 432 candidates who appeared in the exams, 263 were declared passed in different grades. Some 19 students (4.40 per cent) got Grade A, 67 students (15.51 per cent) got Grade B, 106 students (24.54 per cent) got Grade C, 67 students (15.51per cent) got Grade D and, four students (0.93 per cent) got Grade E in the exams.

The Raa'na Liaquat Ali Khan College of Home Economics, being the only college of home economics in the city, bagged all the top three positions in the exams.

Ms Khadija, daughter of Feroz Faizullah (roll no.202152), clinched the first position in the exams by obtaining 942 marks (78.50 per cent) out of the total 1,200 marks.

Ms Maahin Sabir Ali, daughter of Sabir Ali Rehman (roll no.202167), bagged the second position by securing 936 marks (78 per cent) in the exams.

The third position went to Ms A group photo of position holders. Saba Iqbal Advani, daughter of Mohammad Iqbal Advani (roll no.202339). She secured 911 marks (75.92 per cent) in the exams.

Meanwhile, BIEK chairman Prof Anwar Ahmed Zai announced on Thursday that examination results, including those of Intermediate Part-II (Science) Pre-engineering and Pre-medical groups exams-2009, would be announced by mid-August so that candidates seeking admissions to professional medical and engineering colleges could get admissions in time.

Speaking at a ceremony held in honour of the position holder students on the premises of BIEK, the chairman also announced that the new pattern of examinations introduced this year in Class XI exams would be applied next year also to Class XII exams.

Under the new pattern of exams, theory papers would carry 20 per cent objective-type questions, 50 per cent short-answer questions and 30 per cent descriptive-answer questions, he said.

He said that practical exams would be of 15 marks instead of 25 marks while the theory papers, involving practical, would be of 85 marks as against the previous 75 marks. Dawn

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BISE Peshawar Intermediate result

BISE Peshawar Intermediate result on 22
Peshawar, July 17: The result of the intermediate

annual examination held on April 28, 2009 under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Peshawar, will be announced on July 22 at 7.00 p.m.

The announcement in this connection was made by Controller of Examination BISE Peshawar Professor Nasir Ali here on Thursday.

According to him, the copies of the gazette book can be collected from BISE office or camp officer while paying Rs. 1200/-.

The private candidates should obtain their DMCs from the following camp offices. Government Centennial Model School No.2 Peshawar City, Government Higher Secondary School No.2 Peshawar Cantt, Government Higher Secondary School No.1 Charsadda, Government Higher Secondary School Shabqadar Fort, Government Centennial Model School Chitral. App

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Exam fee for Punjab govt schools abolished

Inter & secondary government schools for regular students
Lahore, July 17: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has
finally ordered abolition of registration and examination fees being charged by all the eight boards of intermediate and secondary education from regular students of only government schools in the province.

At a follow-up meeting on Thursday, regarding implementation of decisions taken in the previous meetings, Mr Sharif asked his secretary to immediately approve the summary forwarded by the higher education department.

Acting higher education secretary Ahad Khan Cheema said the department would notify the fee abolition as soon as it would receive the approved summary.

As the chief minister had announced stern action against the colleges showing zero per cent results in the Punjab University BA, BSc examinations on Wednesday, the higher education department has decided to issue show-cause notices to principals of all such colleges.

Mr Cheema said the department would also determine a benchmark for colleges' pass percentage and issue show-cause notices to those principals of the institutions as well that had shown less than the target pass percentage.

At the meeting, the chief minister said it was shocking to know that some colleges in BA/BSc exams had shown zero per cent results. He also called for a separate briefing on the pathetic performance of these institutions.

The CM also asked the higher education department and boards' officials to keep a vigilant eye on activities of 'booti' mafia.

"In case of any irregularity in the affairs of boards, not only chairman, secretary and controller of examinations concerned will be removed from their posts, the higher education secretary will also be held accountable for the lapse."

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Pakistan madrassa reforms | Talimi Basta NGO

Pakistan madrassa reforms in tatters
Islamabad, July 17: The government has
virtually shelved a US-aided, multi-million dollar plan to reform madrassas considered nurseries of terrorism, as it has failed to garner the support of clerics.

The government initiated the project in 2002 in a bid to introduce a more secular curriculum in madrassas.

The project sought to introduce computer skills, science, social studies and English into the overwhelmingly religious curriculum at thousands of madrassas across the country.

Utility: "We had a huge budget of Rs 5,759 million ($71 million) to provide madrassa students with formal education but we could not utilise it," Education Ministry spokesman Atiqur Rehman said.

"The Interior Ministry held talks with various madrassas... but many of them refused to accept the government's intervention," said Mufti Gulzar Ahmed Naeemi, a senior official of the mainstream Sunni clerics alliance, Jamaat Ahl-e-Sunnat.

As a result, the government has failed to meet the target of reforming around 8,000 religious schools within five years.

"We reached 507 madrassas only, spending Rs 333 million and the rest of the [money] – Rs 5,426 million has lapsed," Rehman said.

According to government records, there are at least 15,148 madrassas in Pakistan with more than two million students – around five percent of the 34 million children in formal education.

But officials suspect many more remain unregistered, becoming the only source of education for thousands of impoverished children across the country.

A majority of the madrassas get the required funds from local businessmen and traders, along with religious foundations, charities and Pakistanis living abroad.

The Education Ministry says it introduced the "latest computer technology" to 30 madrassas and paid the salaries of 950 teachers on a three-year scheme.

Expiry: "We will pay these teachers until June 30 in 2010 and then this project will be closed because no more madrassas are being included in the reform project," the ministry spokesman said.

Teachers who participated in the scheme are desperately worried about the future of their pupils if their new lessons are scrapped.

"This programme must be continued. The madrassa students are getting real benefits out of it and are entering the field of formal education and computer technology," one of the teachers said. "I'm paid 3,000 rupees by the government for this job. My contract ends on June 30 in 2010 but I plan to continue this duty. This is really national service," he said.

In Rawalpindi, Syed Haseenuddin Shah recalled one of his students who switched from religious studies to computer science and ended up with a degree.

"There are so many students following him who regularly attend computer classes in the madrassa," Shah said.

Some analysts believe the government's military onslaught against the Taliban could improve prospects for reviving plans to reshape the role of madrassas.

"Any effort by the government at this point will show they are determined to curb terrorism by all ways and means," defence analyst Talat Masood said, calling on Islamabad to re-launch the programme and provide free education. afp

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UAF exam dept throws caution to the wind

Faisalabad: The University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF)
controller of examination office has adopted a novel way of dispatching question papers to examination centres in remote areas by handing over the papers to the superintendents instead of putting them in bank lockers.

The issue surfaced when the Chief Minister's Inspection Team, led by Salahuddin Niazi, had visited the university on Monday last to probe the out-of-course question papers' controversy.

Scores of B.Com students of private colleges affiliated with the university raised the issue when they found their question paper of "Business Stat and Math" out of course. The students tore the answer-sheets and the question papers and protested against the university administration.

The students alleged that the examiner had set out-of-course question papers of "Business Stat and Math" and "Business Taxation" held on Saturday and Monday.

The inspection team held talks with UAF Vice-Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad, asking him about the issue and frustration of nearly 160 students. Sources said that the team members had asked Controller of Examination Dr Tanvir Malik how they ensured security of question papers. They quoted the official as saying that the university had been following a tradition of handing over the question papers to the superintendents prior to the examination. He said the university did not put the papers in any public bank.

The controller had no answer, they said, when a member of the team questioned why National Bank of Pakistan lockers were not being used to keep question papers. Asked how the university would handle the situation if any question paper was snatched or any corrupt official sold papers, the sources quoted the controller as saying that "no such incident has taken place in the past".

The team also learnt that no special training was being imparted to the invigilators being deputed by the university and most of them had been conducting examinations depending upon the experience of their seniors. A few of the invigilators also performed their duties at the Laboratory High School centres without proper training.

Sources said the inquiry committee also held the university administration responsible for not making arrangements for proper security, a lack of imposition of section 144 and failure of the examiner to stop chaos erupted at the examination hall set up at the Laboratory High School. The team also blamed the students for disrupting the papers.

They said the VC had given 10 days to a three-member committee he constituted to submit a report, but withdrew his order soon afterwards. The CM's inspection team directed the VC to wind up the issue within 24 hours in view of the nature of the case. The administration closed the chapter by informing the students that the papers in question had been cancelled.

Sources said the committee also quizzed the security head who admitted having failed to control the mob (students) despite best efforts.

The spokesman for the university said the administration had taken all measures suggested by the inspection team and now the students were taking their examination peacefully. He said section 144 had been imposed by the district administration and the university also had improved security even inside the examination hall.

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KU LLM exams from 25th

Karachi: Universityof Karachi (KU) has
notified to all the students of Law colleges that the annual examination -2009 of LLM (Final & Previous) will commence from July 25. The candidates can collect their Admit Cards and Examination Programme from their respective colleges.
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Farah Dogar case: FBISE employees to face the music

Islamabad: In another move that might
lead to friction if not confrontation between the parliament and the judiciary, a parliamentary committee has decided to punish some government officials for a wrong that a high court had already absolved them of.

Despite Islamabad High Court's ruling in favour of Farah Hamid Dogar, daughter of former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, justifying jacking up of her marks by the federal board, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education has decided to punish board employees who were involved in the controversial action.

An unprecedented increase of 20 marks in intermediate examination of Ms Dogar during rechecking of her answer books had made headlines early this year. The issue remained under limelight until Islamabad High Court decided in favour of Ms Dogar.

In its order, the court also directed board officials to change its rules to provide a procedure for re-evaluation of the answer books.

However, seemingly asserting its supremacy over the high court, the NA standing committee on education headed by PML (N) Ch Abid Sher Ali kept on probing the issue and directed education ministry to investigate whether rules were followed in re-awarding of marks to Ms Dogar.

Federal Secretary of education on Thursday informed the standing committee that former chairman of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education was responsible of ordering re-assessment of Ms Dogar's answer sheets that was not allowed under board rules.

On receiving the report, the committee has constituted a five member sub-committee headed by MNA Rana Afzaal Hussain to further probe into inquiry report of the education ministry and recommend punishments for board officials including its ex-chairman. Ch Abid Sher Ali chaired the meeting.

Mr Sher Ali defied the court ruling, saying, "the committee has never accepted court decision which was made with mala-fide intent, and would go ahead with its constitutional role and ensure the culprits are punished."

When asked once the issue had been settled in the court of law, how could NA committee recommend punishments for board employees, he contended that the committee had the right to do so.

"The decision by the Islamabad High Court was made under the influence of the then Chief Justice of Supreme Court, Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar, a PCO judge, hence, it does not carry any validity with me," Mr Abid Sher Ali responded a query.

What to talk about relaxing reassessment of answer sheets rules, education ministry in its report has recommended making them more strict, Chairman NA committee said in response to another question. Dawn

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Talimi Basta to promote street kids schooling

Karachi: Non-governmental organization Teachers' Resource Center's "Talimi Basta" prepared in consultation with psychologists
has been proving very helpful in promoting education, particularly amongst little students of street schools and street children.

During a survey on Thursday it was learnt that although several street schools are functioning in backward areas of the city, particularly in the limits of Layari, Malir, Keamari and Baldia Towns, but no remarkable development could be achieved so far to get all children of very poor parents enrolled at them.

The TRC views that old conventional teaching system could not bear fruits and as a result a large number of children do not take interest in getting admission to next classes after passing primary class while a number of them used to leave school at the time when they are students of one or two class.

To create interest and zeal amongst children aged three to six year for getting education and attending their classes regularly, the NGO, in consultation with psychologists and under latest research, has formulated a school bag named as 'Talimi Basta'- the educational kit.

The Talimi Basta contains educational training materials-20 number cards, 15 cello fan cards, 146 cut pieces of pictures, 146 color cards, 12 story books in Urdu, 11 story books in English, 35 ABC cards, 26 Alphabets cards, 10 digits cards, five picture puzzles, 10 cards of Urdu words, 10 cards of English words, 150 pearls, 75 buttons, one magnifying glass, one magnet and 76 cards showing pictures of different species of animals and plants, vegetables, fruits, vehicles and domestic articles. TCR has to bear Rs3750 to prepare a Talimi Basta.

Advisor to Sindh Chief Minister Ms. Sharmila Faruqui who along with experts of TCR visited a street school located in Baghdadi, Lyari Town yesterday and distributed Talimi Basta among 30 children aged three to six year, told PPI on Thursday that Talimi Basta prepared under latest child psychology research has been proving fruitful as the learning skills improved in children who were given Talimi Basta at different schools so far.

She further said that to expand the range of the project to more street schools and government and private schools, philanthropists and other NGOs would have to contribute to it as only one NGO could not distribute this costly kit among all students at street schools of the city.

She recalled that she had given Talimi Busta to students at schools in Karachi Jail and Edhi Center. She was of the view that no education could be promoted until you create a zeal amongst little children aged three to seven year for learning education, which is impossible without adopting latest education learning system like that of European countries.

She noted that knowledge of language, mathematics and science is base of a better education and Talimi Basta carters needs of little children in this connection. The Nation

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Punjab University PhD theses

Lahore: A meeting of Punjab University
Advance Studies and Research Board (AS&RB) on Thursday approved 10 PhD synopses, eight reports on PhD theses and three panels of examiners for PhD theses review. A press said the meeting chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran solved the cases of PhD scholars sent for review to the board by PU departments, institutes, colleges and schools. Extension was given to 37 cases while four miscellaneous cases were also discussed.
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Karachi SSC results, Girls Outshine Boys

Girls outshine boys in SSC (Science) Exams
Karachi, July 16: Girls outclassed boys in the Secondary School Certificate (Science) annual examinations (2009) by

securing 8,257 A-1 grades as compared to 4,800 A-Is obtained by boys, though 16,718 more boys than girls sat the exams.

In all, 115,722 candidates (66,220 boys and 49,502 girls) appeared in the exam and of them, 81,066 (43,898 boys and 37,168 girls) were declared passed in different grades.

The results declared on Wednesday by the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) showed that the overall pass percentage dropped this year by 6.94 as it stood at 70.05 percentage points than last year's 76.99.

According to the statistics, the pass percentage of girl students was 75.08 and those of boys 66.29.

The girls also maintained their supremacy in the merit list of the examination as they clinched all the first three positions, although the second position was shared by a boy and a girl.

Sobia Azfer, daughter of Syed Azfer Ahmed (Roll No 501960), topped the examination by securing 798 of the 850 marks (93.88 per cent). She belonged to the Programmer Secondary School, Sector 11-B, North Karachi.

The second position was shared by Shahzaib Khan, son of Shariq Nadeem (Roll No 418307), and Komal Wakeel, daughter of Abdul Wakeel (Roll No 505983), as both of them got 787 marks (92.59pc). They belonged to the SM Public Academy Campus-5 (Secondary), Gulistan-i-Jauhar and the Little Folks School, North Nazimabad Block F, respectively.

The third position was bagged by Afshar Qadri, daughter of Zafar Ahmed Qadri (Roll No 534769). She secured 786 marks (92.47 pc) and belonged to the BMB Toddlers Girls Secondary School, Frere Road.

Of the total 81,066 successful candidates, 13,057 candidates (4,800 – 7.25pc boys and 8,257 – 16.68pc girls) secured A-1 grade; 23,309 candidates – 20.14pc (1,1627 -- 17.56pc boys and 1,1682 – 23.60pc girls) obtained A grade; 23,272 – 20.11pc (1,3261 – 20.03pc boys and 10,011 -- 20.22pc girls) secured B grade; 16,424 – 14.19pc (10,392 – 15.69pc boys and 6,032 – 12.19pc girls) got C grade; 4,909 – 4.24pc (3,732 – 5.64pc boys and 1,177 – 2.38pc girls) secured D grade while 95 candidates – 0.08pc (86 – 0.13pc boys and nine – 0.02pc girls) were placed in E grade.

Deadline met

The BSEK by declaring the results on July 15 met the deadline fixed by the steering committee of the Sindh education department for announcing the results of SSC annual examinations. Last year's examination results of the same group were announced on July 31, 2008.

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50 approved for award of PhD, MPhil degrees

Karachi: The Board of Advanced Studies and Research of Karachi University in a meeting chaired by Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui approved award of 26 PhD and 24 MPhil degrees to candidates in

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HEC website 'misleading' | Scholarship policies

HEC website is creating confusion
Islamabad, July 16: After a meeting of some

Quaid-i-Azam University faculty members with the chairperson of Higher Education Commission, the HEC incorporated some of the demands relaxing categories of HEC-approved journals for another year, but the bureaucracy did it in its own style on the HEC website.

The mishandling of the website by an institution supervising higher education in the country is creating confusion among faculty members. Selections, appointments and promotions of the faculty depend upon the HEC guidelines and this state of affairs would result in utter confusion and frustration among teachers.

According to the HEC website accessed last weekend, the site titled 'Mechanism for Classification of HEC-recognised Journals,' says that it applies on all W, X and Y categories of science journals which are acceptable until June 30, 2010. But on another page for Y category, the year was still being shown as 2009. Not only that, on another page, even X-category is mentioned as acceptable only up to June 30, 2009. Do Y and X categories for science journals are allowed till 2009 or 2010 is anybody's guess?

On a page for 'HEC-recognised Social Science Journals for W, X, Y, Z Categories,' it is stated that W, X and Y are 'acceptable for Tenure Track System up to June 30, 2010'. But this page carries a note at the bottom that only W and X will be acceptable for TTS after June 30, 2009, thereby eliminating the Y category. It will affect social science candidates in a big way as the majority of social science professors and associate professors at the moment is on TTS because of Y category journals.

On a page on multidisciplinary science journals recognised by the HEC as belonging to category 'Z' are 'Pakistan Journal of Science' and 'Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Science' which are labelled as Y and X respectively. It is interesting to note that the latter journal, already indicated as X, according to a list of journals under consideration for upgradation has applied for upgradation from Z to Y category. Which of the three categories for the journal is correct?

Last but not the least, the phone number of Hakim Ali Talpur, Assistant Director, Quality Assurance, mentioned at the website for seeking guidance for any problem turned out to be an invalid one.

Mr Talpur after repeated attempts was finally available for comments on Tuesday on another phone number. He said "Extension of index date by one year is the most recent development and two or three sections of IT work on upgrading the website. Some have done their work while others have yet to do, hence the contradictions." He added that he was thankful for pointing out mistakes and the matter would stand corrected soon. About his phone number, he said that the page contained the old number which was no longer in use and "we will also place the new number on the website."

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Toppers prefer MCQs, objective questions

Karachi: Top position-holders of this year's
Secondary School Certificate (Science) examinations said here on Wednesday that the atmosphere at the examination centres was not congenial as they perspired profusely because of frequent power breakdowns.

"Though we didn't allow the frequent load-shedding to affect our performance in the examinations, we certainly felt uncomfortable while solving papers with sweating hands," they remarked.

All the top position-holders were speaking at a ceremony held in their honour at the Sindh Boy Scouts Headquarters on Wednesday. Karachi University's registrar Prof Rais Alvi presided over the function, where provincial director (literacy) Abdul Wahab Abbasi was the guest of honour.

Sobia Azfer, who topped the examination, said most ills of society could be cured by spreading education in every nook and cranny of the country, adding that by raising the rate of literacy, the nation could overcome a number of problems being currently faced by it.

Replying to a question, she said there was nothing wrong in taking tuitions because by doing so one got additional knowledge of the subject.

Sobia, who intends to become a doctor, said it was for the first time that her school had bagged the first position in the examination.

Both Shahzaib Khan and Komal Wakeel, who shared the second position, said that if the authorities concerned were serious in raising the standard of education, the question papers must contain maximum multiple choice questions (MCQs) instead of questions requiring lengthy descriptive answers.

When asked why boys lagged behind girls in examinations, Komal said probably they were perturbed by the worsening law and order situation in the country.

When the same question was put to Shahzaib, he said boys were unable to concentrate on their studies probably because they took too much interest in movies, the internet and chatting on the phone and the net.

Both second position-holders intend to pursue a career in engineering.

The third position holder, Afshar Qadri, said girls passed their examinations with flying colours because they were more conscious about their studies than boys.

Afshar, who also intends to become a doctor, stressed the need for including more and more objective-type questions in the examinations.

At the outset, all the toppers gave the credit for their grand success to their teachers and parents. Earlier, Prof Alvi and Wahab Abbasi felicitated the top position-holders, their parents and teachers and wished them more success in the future. Dawn

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Pakistani literature into foreign Languages

PAL to translate Urdu works into foreign languages
Islamabad, July 16: Pakistan Academy of

Letters (PAL) will set up a trans-national translation bureau that would aim at translating Pakistani literature into foreign languages and vice versa, said Fakhar Zaman, Chairman, PAL at a book launching ceremony here on Wednesday.

He expressed these views at the launching ceremony of Khalid Iqbal Yasir's long poem 'Rukhsati'. "Pakistani writers are lauded and revered across the globe for their acclaimed works," said Fakhar Zaman PAL chairman.

He denied the perception that young writers were being neglected and had lost fame at the international arena.

"The works of our writers have been translated into different languages at different regions across the globe and they are recognised by the organisations like UNESCO," he added.

Giving the details of the upcoming translation bureau to be launched by PAL soon, Fakhar Zaman said that the bureau would be a vital contribution of PAL towards promoting Pakistani literature abroad and introducing foreign literary ideas here. In addition, he lauded Khalid Iqbal Yasir's book 'Rukhsati' and termed it 'A light in the darkness.'

Fakhar said that different metaphors, similes and other literary terms introduced by the writer exhibited his strong grip over English, Urdu and Punjabi languages and defined his acute sense of observation.

Renowned intellectual Aftab Iqbal Shamim highlighted the technical aspects of 'Rukhsati' and said that the poem did not deviate from the originality of ideas despite being so diverse. Dr Ehsan Akbar said that Rukhsati reflected Khalid Iqbal Yasir's deep study and his power of expression.

Dr Aalmgir Hashmi observed that the book covered various forms, stages and styles of life and depicted their variations.

Shahid Iqbal Kamran opined the writer had not left any social, economic, political, religious, psychological and cultural aspect un-addressed in this poem. He profoundly appreciated Khalid's deep vocabulary.

Some other intellectuals also expressed their views about Khalid Yasir Iqbal's book Rukhsati. The writer thanked PAL for extending active support in launching his book. The Nation

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AIOU plans to waive displaced students' fees

Islamabad: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) Vice Chancellor Dr. Mehmood-ul-Hassan said that the varsity plans to waive off the examination fee of internally displaced students of Malakand Division.

Talking to APP here, the VC said

that scores of students were enrolled with the university from these areas and the all out efforts would be made to facilitate them.

He said that earlier it had been decided to set up examination centres for the student of these areas at their camps to mitigate their suffering. The university staff also contributed generously for the relief of IDPs and one-day salary was also given in relief fund, he added. He said no stone would be left unturned to provide cheap education facilities to IDPs student and the university would continue it efforts till their proper rehabilitation. The AIOU is all set to expand its distance education network to provide access to maximum number of students, particularly living in the far-flung areas.

"The new education policy envisages enrolment of all children in schools for the better future of the country," Prof. Dr. Mehmood-ul-Hassan added.

He said that out of 170 million population, 68 million are under the age of 14 years, adding that out of these only 33 million are enrolled in schools.

He said that the AIOU would recruit as many as 919 persons in various departments and faculties to further expand its distance education system.

"The recruitment would be made merely on merit basis to ensure provision of qualitative and standards education to our youth, Hassan added.

He said that President and Chancellor of the varsity, Asif Ali Zardari has already given approval for recruiting the staff. In first phase, 417 post would be filled purely on merit to strengthen existing departments and opening of new disciplines.

He said AIOU was largest varsity, having 1.9 million students enrolled in various disciplines adding that the number of students was increasing with every passing year.

He said that currently there were 36 departments and four faculties and the varsity has awarded about 1.2 million degrees and diplomas so far.

The university has recently started four-year programmes in microbiology and chemistry while faculty of education would be established next year to offer four years degree course in education. The News
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Research-based skills | Private schools network

Research-based Skills Stressed
Lahore, July 16: The world has become so fast with the

latest information and modern technology that those who want to keep pace with the developed societies have to acquire research-based skills in all spheres of life.

According to a press statement, this was stated by Allama Iqbal Open University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mahmoodul Hassan Butt while addressing a workshop on "Language Skills" arranged by the university regional campus here on Wednesday.

He said the AIOU was the biggest university in the country that had successfully launched new and modern methods of study, keeping in view the international requirements because the students had to compete with those of advanced countries. He said he was proud that the AIOU was producing highly skilled individuals in accordance with international standards, stressing the need for sharing the strength of knowledge with other teachers from the developed countries. He urged the participants of the workshop to study the best literature available so that they could transfer the best knowledge to students.

Dr Mahmood said the AIOU workshops were aimed at producing highly skilled teachers in all fields. He expressed satisfaction over the standard of the workshop and hoped that the teachers, trained by the university, would serve the nation in a befitting manner.

Later, Ajmal Gulzar, a workshop coordinator, thanked the VC for gracing the event with his presence. He urged the participants to acquire research-oriented language skill because it had become mandatory for higher studies. Faculty of Education Dean Ms Rehana Masroor, Regional Director Brig (r) M Zubair Sabir and Deputy Director Malik Tauqir were also present.
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Punjab University BA/BSc result: Only 28 percent pass

Only 28 percent pass annual examination: Girls outshine boys in BA/BSc exams
Lahore, July 16: Girls outperformed boys in

Punjab University (PU)'s BA/ BSc Annual Examination 2009 and were awarded all the top positions in Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BSc).

A ceremony was held at Faisal Auditorium, New Campus to announce the results and to distribute prizes among the position holders. Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif was the chief guest.

No boy was among the students awarded top positions. 27.73 percent of the students passed the exams compared to 26.68 percent last year. 183,350 students appeared in the exams from across Punjab and 50,849 students passed.

Amna Riaz from Punjab College for Women Civil Lines, Gujranwala was awarded overall first position in the BSc examination, scoring 696 marks out of 800. Daniah Tahir of Federal Government College for Women, Islamabad won the second position in BSc by scoring 663 marks. Musavarah Sarwar from the Punjab College for Women Civil Lines, Gujranwala got the third position in BSc by scoring 656 marks.

Umme Habiba, a private candidate from Shahdara Town, Lahore was awarded the first position in BA with 673 marks out of 800. Asia Ashraf, another private candidate from Sheikhupura district won the second position in BA with 650 marks. Saira Laique, another private candidate from Shahdara, Lahore was third with 646 marks.

The girls' passing percentage remained 32.38. 63,812 male students appeared in the examination. Only 12, 135 were declared successful, with the pass percentage at 19.01 percent.

Position holders rewarded: PU awarded Rs 0.1 million each to first position holders, Rs 75,000 each to second position holders and Rs 65,000 each to third position holders in the BA/BSc Annual Examination 2009.

Amna Riaz (First Position in BSc) said she was happy with her success, adding that it was a dream come true. She said she aimed to complete MSc and then wanted to play a role in Pakistan's improvement. She addressed the students saying, "Time is money. Students should just focus on their studies."

Daniah Tahir (Second Position in BSc) said she planned to complete MSc Mathematics. She expressed dissatisfaction regarding the severe load shedding in Pakistan which troubled students during study hours. She said she studied on a daily basis to be a high achiever.

Umme Habiba (First Position in BA), a private candidate, said she studied seven hours daily to be a high achiever. She said she would give the prize money to her parents. She said she wanted to complete an MBA from LUMS. She said if a student worked hard, she could achieve her goal without attending college.

Aasia Ashraf (Second Position in BA) said she was not satisfied with Pakistan's current educational system. She said politics affected the education system and needed improvement to give people a fair chance at quality education. Ashraf said she wanted to complete an MBA from LUMS. She said her hobby was reading books. Daily Times
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Karachi SSC Part II - Class X Science Results 2009

SSC Science Part II Result Announced

Karachi, July 15: The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) announced the result of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Part II (Class X) Science Group annual examination-2009 today.

According to results, Sobia Zafar of Programmer secondary school secured first position with 798 numbers, Shah Zeb Khan of SM Academy Campus 5 and Komal Wakeel of Little Fox School jointly secured second position with 787 numbers whereas BMV Toddlers Girls School's Afshar Qadri grabbed third position 786 numbers.
116,000 candidates appeared in Matric examinations among which 81,066 candidates declared successful. The ratio of successful candidates is 70 percent this year. The News

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BISE's body yet to complete probe into ex-MNA case

Rawalpindi : The discipline committee of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Rawalpindi, is yet to come up with any findings in the impersonation case involving ex-MNA of the PML-N Haji Pervaiz Khan and his nephew.

Bilal Saeed, nephew of Haji Pervaiz Khan, was caught red-handed while appearing in Pakistan Studies paper for intermediate at the Government Gordon College examination centre on March 29, this year. Pervaiz Khan resigned from the National Assembly seat in the light of the findings of a three-member inquiry committee of the PML-N.

The committee had recorded statements of the Rawalpindi board officials, head of inspection committee Dr Naeem Bajwa, Haji Pervaiz Khan and staff of the examination centre.Following findings of the PML-N committee, the Rawalpindi Board constituted its own discipline committee, comprising senior professors from different government colleges.

The committee initiated its proceedings two months back but it is yet to complete its report. "As there is no pressure on the committee, therefore, its proceedings are not time bound and no deadline has been fixed," an official of the board said.

Controller Examination Professor Azam Khalid said as per routine other unfair means cases were being decided before announcement of the results whereas issues like impersonation cases could be decided later on.

The official sources said the proceedings of board's discipline committee had been prolonged as statements of all those involved in the incident and witnesses had not been recorded. The sources said Haji Pervaiz Khan also did not appear before the discipline committee.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court had also rejected an appeal of the nephew of Haji Pervaiz Khan for annulment of the FIR registered against him by Rawalpindi Police. The court while rejecting the appeal directed the accused, Bilal Saeed, to face the court in the same case. The FIR did not mention name of Pervaiz Khan but it includes the roll number which was allotted to him by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education. The News

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Candidates voice concern at exam centre outside Thatta

Thatta: Twelve candidates of MEd have voiced concern against establishing their examination centre at Malir, Karachi. The students, affiliated with Study Centre Government Girls High School Thatta, told reporters here on Tuesday that the examination was to commence from July 17 and they would have to go for eight consecutive days at some academic institution in Malir Karachi.

They said that after completing their four semesters regularly for 18 months at the study centre in Thatta, the examination centre at Malir was unjustified.

They expressed concern over uncertain law and order in Karachi and said expenses of transportation would be unbearable, particularly for the women candidates.

When contacted, Ms Uzma Panhwar, director of the department of distance continuous computer programme of the Sindh University, said that according to the criterion, 35 MEd students were mandatory to establish a study centre. But 31 students had got admission in the study centre and later 11 left for unknown reasons, she said.

Twelve tutors had been employed, four for each semester to teach students, she said and added that for 20 students, the examination of thesis at a small place like Thatta was next to impossible.

But the candidates said Ms Panhwar had made it an issue of her ego to send Thatta students to a far-off Malir college.

They also said only Hyderabad and Thatta centres had been mentioned in the centres manual and not Malir.

They claimed that the examination slip they had received from the department also mentioned Thatta centre.

Students have appealed to the vice chancellor of Sindh University to take notice of their problem and establish an examination centre in Thatta. Dawn

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40PC Pass Marks Recommended - PBCC

Lahore: The Punjab Board Committee of Chairmen (PBCC), a body representing all the eight education boards of the province, has recommended to the government to increase pass marks of matriculation and intermediate exams from existing 33 percent to 40 percent.

The new condition, if approved by the government, would be applicable to the students appearing in matriculation and intermediate annual examinations 2010.

The recommendation was made in the PBCC meeting held at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Gujranwala, on Tuesday. Chairmen/representatives of all the BISEs attended the meeting while chairperson of Bahawalpur Board Mrs Bilquees Akram chaired the session.

The committee also announced examination fee waiver for all the disabled appearing in board exams, besides approving syndicate marking of papers.

The PBCC recommended the new pass percentage to the Punjab government which, after approval, would take up the matter with the federal government for its implementation.

The meeting observed that since most part of a question paper comprised objective type, including short questions, there was a need of increasing the pass percentage from existing 33 percent to 40 percent.

A participant of the meeting said since 20 percent portion of papers comprised objective type, 50 percent short questions and 30 percent of subjective type there was need of rationalising the pass percentage accordingly. He said the meeting agreed to recommend 40 percent pass marks. He, however, said during a recent meeting with officials of various boards, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had also suggested increase in pass marks.

Elaborating the syndicate system of marking, a BISE chairman said it was totally different from traditional marking in which an examiner used to check entire answer book of a candidate of a particular subject. However, under the syndicate marking, each question would be marked by a different paper-checker, he said, giving example that if a question paper comprised of five questions, each would be marked by a different paper-checker to ensure that a candidate might not be at disadvantage owing to "monotonous" mindset of a particular paper-checker. He said the decision about syndicate marking would be implemented from matriculation and intermediate supplementary exams 2009.

A senior official of another BISE was of the view the availability of paper-checkers was a real issue faced by all the boards, saying the boards had to face troubles in this regard every year. He said the government should address the issue.

The Monday's meeting waived off examination fee for all the disabled which was earlier extended only to the deaf and dumb. The meeting also made another important decision according to which examination centres for the disabled would always be set up on ground floor, etc for their convenience.

It is pertinent to mention here that the chief minister had already announced examination fee waiver for the students sitting in exams conducted by the BISEs across the province. However, a final decision is yet to be made in this regard as the move would have huge financial implication for the government each year if the facility is extended to all candidates. The News

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Punjab University BA/BSc result 2009 Announced

PU BA/BSc Result
Lahore, July 15: Punjab University will declared the result of BA/BSc Annual Examinations 2009 today (Wednesday). A special ceremony will be held in the Faisal Auditorium, New Campus at 9:30am. Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif will be the chief guest and he will award medals and merit certificates to the position holders. In this connection, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran presided over a meeting of deans committee here in the committee room of VC office on Tuesday. The meeting was briefed that the parents and teachers of the position holder students have also been invited to attend the ceremony. Deans of all faculties, Controller Examinations Prof Zahid Karim Khan and Registrar Prof Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan were also present during the meeting. F.P.report.
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