Private schools flout govt decision by holding exams in April
Karachi, March 22: Several private schools in violation of a decision of the Sindh education department’s steering committee have decided to conduct the annual examinations of their students of Class I to Class VIII in April instead of March, it emerged on Saturday.
The steering committee at its last meeting presided over by Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq directed all the schools to conduct the annual examinations of their students of Class I to Class VIII in March and announce the results of the examinations by March 31.
The decision was taken by the committee to ensure that the new academic session in all public and private schools of the province could begin on April 1, 2010.
The schools which have the Cambridge system of education were permitted to conduct the examinations in August.
However, a number of private schools in contravention of the steering committee’s decision informed the parents of their students that the annual examinations of Class I to Class VIII would be held in April and results would be declared in the last week of the same month.
Criticising the decision of all those schools whose managements had decided to conduct the annual examinations in April, a number of students’ parents who said that such a move not only amounted to an open violation of the education department steering committee’s decision, but would also delay the academic session of their children by a month.
A woman who rang us complained that she had planned to visit her ailing mother in Lahore once the annual examinations of their children were over by the end of March, but she was now unable to do so because of the different schedule of examinations being followed by schools as most of the schools were conducting the exams in March while some in April.
“Such a different policy with respect to annual examinations has upset my plans of seeing my ailing mother as my daughter who is a student of Class VI is nowadays taking her exams while the annual exams of my son who is in Class V in another school are scheduled to be held in April,” she said.
Sources in the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) said that it was mandatory upon all schools to hold the exams of their students of Class I to Class VIII in March and announce the results by March 31 so that schools’ new academic session could start on April 1 across the province.
However, they added that some private schools in their attempt to save their institutions from being selected as centres for the Secondary School Certificate (Class IX and X) annual examinations by the board were deliberately conducting the exams in April.
The sources said that such an act on the part of the private schools was not only against the decision of the steering committee, but also amounted to a violation of the BSEK school recognition rules. However, such schools remained unpunished because of their influence in the education department and the BSEK, they added.
Source : Dawn
PEF set to take over 1006 non-functional schools
LAHORE – Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) is taking over 1,006 non-functional schools of the province; out of which, 107 schools will be taken in the phase-one of the project.
As the schools are non-functional due to various reasons, including unavailability of teachers, students or buildings, therefore, it has been planned to make them functional through PEF mandate of promoting quality education through public-private partnership. A brain storming session was organised by the PEF at a local hotel on Saturday in which Managing Director PEF Mohyuddin Wani briefed the participants about the PEF initiatives to take over the non-functional schools of the provincial government.
Director CPDP Ms Maliha Batool presented the situational analysis of non-functional schools in the province and various suggestions were invited from the participants to explore the possibilities for public-private partnership in education sector to achieve the 100 per cent literacy targets.
According to the briefing, the initially proposed schools to the NGOs include 11 schools of district Mandi Bahauddin, 13 Layyah and seven school of Lodhran district which have their buildings; while, 33 out of 41 DG Khan schools, 31 of 38 Muzaffargarh and 23 of 28 Rajanpur district schools have also necessary building infrastructure.
Meanwhile, 20 of 33 Mianwali schools, 5 of 16 Multan schools, 41 of 52 Nankana Sahib, 6 of 13 Narowal, 38 of 55 Okara, 4 of 7 Pakpattan, 49 of 78 Rahim Yar Khan, 35 of 51 Rawalpindi, 2 of 7 Sahiwal, 21 of 35 Sargodha, 26 of 48 Sheikhpura, 36 of 47 Sialkot, 9 of 13 Toba Tek Singh and 5 of 6 of Vehari schools have also buildings.
It was decided in the meeting that GIS and TNA may be done at the earliest. The interested NGOs was asked to come up with their proposals, as the first phase has to be launched within one month.
It was proposed that organisations may suggest modalities to develop sustainable framework by catering indicators like infrastructure, repair and maintenance, teaching and non-teaching staff recruitment, salaries and training, students enrolment and retention, school management committees’ constitution and their activation, monitoring and evaluation mechanism and roles and responsibilities of PEF and NGOs may be defined accordingly.
According to the plan, the NGOs, entrepreneurs may be taken into partnership to achieve the target. Terms and conditions for partnership may be developed on the basis of needs assessment. The NGOs may turn up with suitable models to be implemented successfully and district-wise sustainability may be ensured by the applicant NGO.
Source: The Nation
New literacy project targets
LAHORE: PUNJAB Minister for Education Mujtaba Rehman has said that illiteracy is one of the main causes of terrorism and every segment of society should play a role for raising literacy rate to curb the menace.
He was speaking at the launching ceremony of the Punjab Literacy Promotion Project (PLPP) under which over the next 10 years 2.6 million, illiterate persons would be imparted education in 524,000 Adult Literacy Centres (ALCs).
The PLPP has been launched with the collaboration of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Mujtaba said PLPP was a long-term programme and to achieve its objectives non-formal basic education centres would be established for out of school children under the age of 15 to make them literate.
“It has also been planed that over next 10 years 5.8 million illiterate out-of-school children shall be enrolled and will graduate from 193,500 non-formal and basic education schools set up by the Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Department,” he said.
Former Secretary Literacy Punjab Haseeb Athar and newly-appointed Secretary Literacy Punjab Dr Allah Bakhsh highlighted the significance of non-formal and basic education, saying Literacy and Non Formal Basic Education Department (LNFBED) had planed to achieve 100 percent literacy rate by 2020. They said the LNFBED schemes would be result-oriented and technical educations would also be imparted in the non-formal schools of the department. The non-formal education would also be imparted on people through regional languages mother tongue and regional languages had been proved more helpful to enhance the literacy rate in the world. PLPP Project Advisor Chiho Ohashi said the JICA would cooperate with the Punjab government to make the PLPP a success story. He said the schemes initiated under the PLPP would combine literacy with vocational training and life skills, adding that coordination would be sought from training institutes like Tevta, Smeda and Punjab Vocational Technical Council.
Source: The News
Education vital to economic uplift
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Friday said that being a developing country Pakistan should go a long way to meet international standards of education and to groom young people to understand the diversity of the global environment.
He stated this while addressing the convocation of the Air University at the Jinnah Convention Centre here on Friday.
The prime minister said that education plays a pivotal role in the development of any economy. “Pakistan needs qualified engineers and effective managers, who can sincerely put in their best efforts to improve the technological and industrial output,” he said.
Gilani said that providing education to every citizen was a mammoth task, and the government is making all out efforts to increase the literacy rate. However, those who are literate must understand their role as responsible citizens who can participate effectively in the formal and informal events of society to increase the social capital of the country.
“The role that some of our institutes of higher learning like Air University are playing to meet these standards is commendable both in terms of maintaining their religious and cultural identity, as well as respecting global values and traditions,” He said: “We must become a self-reliant nation. For this a viable route is to begin by collaborating with advanced countries to develop the technological expertise in our own country. This way we wouldn’t just be cutting down on our expenses, but in the long run will also be able to export this technology to other developing countries.” He added that it is for this reason that the government is collaborating with Chinese friends in various fields, including defence, of which production of JF-17 Thunder Aircraft is an example.
He said that universities impart and create knowledge and today knowledge supplants land, labour and capital. “Knowledge about the latest technologies, about the latest research, and contribution to these sectors, can help Pakistan to move forward,” he said, adding that our reliance on the developed countries for advanced knowledge and technology adversely affects our economy, since major portion of that goes into its import.
He said that the Air University is contributing to the national growth with its 538 graduates in the disciplines of engineering and management sciences. “It is commendable that more than 1,000 students graduated today in contrast with its first convocation in September 2007 in which a total of 468 students were conferred degrees,” he said.
The names of the gold medalists in various disciplines included Salman Jefferi, Mansoor Ahsan, Sana Lodhi, Zeeshan Hameed, Hassan Wajahat Hussain, Hameed Waseem, Mohammad Awaise, Tahir Hussain, Syed Mohammad Husnain Kazmi, Mohammad Shoaib, Naseem Mohammad, Awaise Chaudhry, Mishal Aftab, Payar Ali and Khadija Kanwal.
The silver medalists in various disciplines included Sahar Usman, Kanwal Shahzadi, Hamad Maqsood, Uzma Mushtaq, Sundus Amin, Adil Zaman Babar, Mohammad Ameer Hamza Khan, Tahseen Akhtar, Zahra Nadeem, Syed Husnain Raza and Saiqa Kanwal.
Air University Vice Chancellor (VC) Ijaz Ahmed Malik, on the occasion, presented the university report. He said that it has a current enrolment of 10,977 students, including 10,645 under-graduates. He said that as many as 333 students were studying in the university’s postgraduate programmes, 1,016 were studying in its MS programmes, 108 in MBA, while six were doing PhD.
Highlighting the problems faced by the university, he said that non-availability of proper space for the setting up of laboratories and hostel facilities was a hindrance in imparting quality education to the fullest. The government had announced 78 acres of land in Sector H-11/2 for the establishment of a new campus, but the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is demanding Rs1.5 million for its acquisition. Being a private-public sector academic institution, the Air University cannot pay this huge amount, he added.
Country making strides in education
HYDERABAD, Feb 18: The people of Pakistan do not lag behind any other nation in vision, dedication and will, but may be a bit slow in educational pursuits.
This was stated by federal secretary education Imtiaz Ali Kazi after the inauguration of a hostel at the Centre of Excellence in Arts and Design Jamshoro.
He said that the federal government was striving to strengthen educational institutions and diversify the educational portfolio to meet the needs of the new era.
He said the country was moving in the right direction in the realm of education and the centre of excellence is an evidence of it.
He said that the Jamshoro centre had made remarkable progress but he wished to see it develop into a postgraduate institute.
He paid tribute to Sufi Shah Inayat in whose memory the hostel had been dedicated. He expressed the hope that the dedication would be reflected in the functioning of this centre with selfless work and unwavering determination.
He said the message of Sufi Shah Inayat of Jhoke Sharif was an inspiration to serve human beings without discrimination adding that Sufi Shah Inayat never complained about hardships and led his life according to the discipline he believed in.
Earlier, Vice-Chancellor Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Qadeer Khan Rajput presented the address of welcome.
Source: Dawn Friday, 19 Feb, 2010
Silver jubilee of Dawah Academy
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Islamabad
The four-day silver jubilee celebrations of the Dawah Academy will start on Friday with special emphasis on activities related to the holy month of Rabiul Awwal.
Addressing a press briefing on the celebrations here on Wednesday, Dawah Academy Director Professor Dr. Sahibzada Sajidur Rehman said that a Mehfil-e-Husne Qirat, Mehfil-e-Naat, Rahmatul-lil-Alameen Conference and Seerat Conference would be held to highlight the true teachings of Islam.
He said that prominent personalities would participate in these events, including Maulana Tariq Jameel, Allama Kokab Noorani, Dr. Raheel Abbasi, Muhammad Shifa Najafi, Professor Sajid Mir, Hassan Mohuddin, Hafiz Muhammad Idrees, Dr. Akram Chaudhry and Dr. Muhammad Ishaq Qureshi.
Dr. Rehman said the prominent ‘Naat Khawans’ would also participate in the event, including Abdul Rauf Sufi, Rehan Qadri, Sabir Rehmani, Altaf Kazmi, Ijaz Rehmani, Hafiz Noor Sultan, Rehan Habib, Khalid Hasnain and Dr. Junaid Nadvi.
He said that the Dawah Academy was offering various courses to promote Islamic values among various segments of society, including journalists, medical practitioners and students.
Source : The News
Parents want check on fees in private schools
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Islamabad
Decent education is the right of every child but parents are at a loss when they see private schools becoming money minting machines with no regulatory framework to check fees.
Many schools charge fees, which only the elite can afford. Such schools are charging fees in thousands of rupees and that kind of sums gives a lot of parents anxious nights.
Parents say not only the fees are high but these schools go on extracting money from their pockets on one pretext or the other.
Talking to APP, a mother of a child Zeeshan who is studying in Roots School System said the school administration is charging high fee and there is no relaxation for anyone. Besides, they extract funds for several occasions, which is very hard to manage for the people who hardly bear the fee expenses.
She runs a parlour to make ends meet and has three children.
Sharing her first hand experience, she said that she went to his son’s school to get one-month fee waived off due to tight financial conditions. “The school flatly refused to accept my request,” she lamented.
Shamim, mother of a four children said no parents want to compromise on the education of their children but prevailing price hike has limited the options and one has to look for the institute charging less fee.
Private schools are extracting fees which do not match with the services they provide in term of education and environment and there must be check on the fee charged by these schools. When a parent asked for his comment on the performance of regulatory authority, she said it is good that the government realizes that parents are getting rubbed up the wrong way. But realization of an issue is not enough we want results of government actions, she said.
A mother, whose son studies in Beaconhouse School says she is satisfied with the education that her child is getting. The boy studies in class four and the school charges Rs5500 per month.
It is a fact that vast majority of people cannot afford the fees demanded by the schools as the fees increase by Rs1,000 every year, she said.
The difference between the quality of education and expenses in different private schools create a sense of deprivation among those students who cannot afford to study in better school, she said.
The Islamabad Capital Territory, Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Promotion) Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) is responsible for registration, regulation and promotion of the privately-managed educational institutions.
Talking to APP, PEIRA (Islamabad) Chairman Atif Mahmood Kayani said that the authority was formed in 2006 but the then government did not give it the powers to keep check on the fees charged by the private schools.
Now a committee of the parliament is discussing whether to give the authority powers to supervise the fee structure of schools, he said.
The authority is a welcome sign for parents who feel the financial crunch and want somebody on their side when it comes to decisions on private school fees and the facilities offered by the educational institutions.
According to the National Education Policy approved last year, it is in the government regulations to encourage private schools to offer admission and education services to 10 per cent needy but meritorious students free of cost.
But have you heard of elite schools offering free of cost education to a single student? Contrary to the law, the private schools do not register with the regulatory authorities working under the provincial governments.
These schools do not comply with the regulations rather openly flout them.
According to the national policy document, registered private schools often charge more fees than they are authorised to (the average household annual expenditure per student in a private establishment is reported to be four times greater).
Existence of isolated parallel systems of public and private education in the country is a cause for concern as it creates inequitable social divides.
Source: The News
