Education Thread

[araz]

Sir,

I agree with you oin all points but I'm an optimist and consider the glass here to be half empty.

I'm glad that finally there's a government which is paying serious attention to education which has been shamelessly neglected fior almost six decades.
Considering the pathetic status of our educational system reforms are needed at all levels, you have to start somewhere.

I'd rather provide more funds and quality to higher education to attract, create and eduvate tellent and reduce the amount of drompouts at this moment. Enrolement rate in Pakistan is among the lowest in the world, this needs serious attention.

Offcourse basic education is equally important but we'll take care of it as the economy grows and more funds become available.

Musharraf is willing to allocate atleast 3% of GDP to education.
I wish him well!
:flag:

Dont get me wrong my friend. Any advancement in the educational field is a welcome step. We have long forgotten that we are the Ummah of aProphet(PBUH) who has asked us to acquire knowledge at all costs, even if it means travelling as far as China(No mean feat in those days). But even if you generate Universities , without proper infrastructure and true love for the country, they will only serve as recruitment centre for various other Governments rather than being of benefit to Pakistan.This has always been my gripe. If anybody could take up this issue, This is a Jehad worth fighting for .
Araz

 

[Neo]

Dont get me wrong my friend. Any advancement in the educational field is a welcome step. We have long forgotten that we are the Ummah of aProphet(PBUH) who has asked us to acquire knowledge at all costs, even if it means travelling as far as China(No mean feat in those days). But even if you generate Universities , without proper infrastructure and true love for the country, they will only serve as recruitment centre for various other Governments rather than being of benefit to Pakistan.This has always been my gripe. If anybody could take up this issue, This is a Jehad worth fighting for .
Araz

I agree on all points Sir, just trying to stay optimistic about the progress thats been made in recent years.

 

[Neo]

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Free education for only children

* Govt aims to reduce population growth rate to 1.3% by 2020
* ‘Comprehensive’ family planning introduced in armed forces

ISLAMABAD: The government will offer free education up to the intermediate level to a single child of parents to reduce the present population growth rate from 1.8 percent to 1.3 percent by 2020.

Population Minister Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain told reporters on Saturday that the prime minister had directed the Education Ministry to launch the free education programme as an incentive to promote a small family culture in the country. He said the National Institute for Population Studies, an autonomous research body, had surveyed the country’s population growth rate and found that it had reduced from 1.9 percent in 2005 to 1.8 percent in 2006. He said the government was set to bring the population growth rate to 1.6 percent in 2012 and to 1.3 percent by 2020.

In his speech during a seminar on public-private sector collaboration in reproductive health and family planning before the press, the minister said many initiatives had been introduced to stabilise the population growth rate.

These initiatives included new techniques of de-federalisation, the provision of reproductive health services to provinces, the devolution of population welfare programmes to the district level and transformation of the national trust for population welfare into an autonomous body.

The minister said his ministry had initiated a public-private partnership scheme to encourage the male work force to adopt family planning measures. Over 100 ‘memoranda of understanding’ (MoUs) had been signed with big private sector bodies with a work force of at least 500 people each to promote family planning, he said, referring to the initiative as a “major breakthrough.”

The ministry and provincial welfare departments would support private organisations in capacity building for the provision of medical and reproductive health services and contraceptive materials to the work force, he said.

Population Secretary Shahzado Sheikh told Daily Times that a comprehensive reproductive health and family planning programme had been launched in the armed forces. Under this programme, 35 family heath centres and four reproductive health service centres had already been set up at different locations for army personnel.

He added that besides the 100 MoUs signed with private firms, 30 MoUs were in their final stages with many big organisations including Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Armed Forces, Pakistan Ordnance Factories Wah, Water and Power Development Authority, Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Limited, All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association, All Pakistan Textile Manufacturers Association and Pakistan Sugar Mills Association.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\14\story_14-1-2007_pg11_1

 

[Neo]

Monday, January 15, 2007

245,682 schools operational in Pakistan: census report

* Punjab tops the list with 115,311 schools
* ICT has 1,348 institutions — 44% public, 56% private

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has 245,682 educational institutions, out of which 164,579 (67 percent) are in the public sector and 81,103 (33 percent) are private sector institutions, according to a National Education Census (NEC) report.

The Ministry of Education, Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM) and the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) jointly conducted the census in 2005. Data was collected from the entire country including FATA, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the Northern Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. All types of educational institutions, including government, private and madrassas, were visited and enumerators recruited particularly for the NEC census also collected information via questionnaires.

The census indicated that out of the total, 115,311 (47 percent) were in Punjab out of which 66,770 (58 percent) were public schools and 48,541 (42 percent) were private institutions. Sindh has 59,312 (24 percent) schools out of which 46,738 (about 79 percent) were public and 12,574 (21 percent) were private institutions. 40,706 institutions (17 percent) were in NWFP, out of which 29,430 (72 percent) were public and 11,276 (28 percent) were private institutions. In Balochistan, there were 11,492 (4.7 percent) institutions of which 9,742 (about 85 percent) were public and 1,750 (15 percent) were private sector institutions.

In ICT, there were 1,348 (0.5 percent) institutions. Out of this 598 (44 percent) were public and 750 (56 percent) were private institutions. In FATA, there were 5,344 (2.2 percent) institutions of which 4,704 (88 percent) were public and 640 (12 percent) were private institutions. In the Federally Administered Northern Area, there were 4,366 (1.8 percent) institutions out of which 1,505 (34.5) percent) were public and 2,861 (65.5 percent) were private. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, there were 7,803 (3.2 percent) institutions out of which 5,092 (65.3 percent) were public and 2,711 (34.7 percent) were private institutions.

The report also said that private sector institutions were growing rapidly in Pakistan, from 36,096 institutions in 1999-2000 to 81,103 in 2005, an annual average increase of 25 percent.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\15\story_15-1-2007_pg11_8

 

[Neo]

Experts asked to look into standards of legal education

By Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD, Jan 10: The Supreme Court while ruing the falling standards of education due to commercialisation of law colleges has asked a group of experts to look into the matter.

A three-member bench comprising Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk and Justice Jamshed Ali constituted a seven-member committee to evaluate the standard of legal education in the country on a petition filed by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).

The PCB, in its petition, sought a declaration from the Court that the federal government, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), all provincial governments and universities should adopt and implement the "Affiliation of College Rules" framed by a committee of the Council.

The Council also sought to restrain further issuance of charter or no objection certificate (NOC) to any institution, college or individual to establish Law College in Pakistan without compliance of the affiliation of the prescribed rules.

Led by Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid, the committee will examine the existing courses of law prescribed by universities, improve and update the syllabus and submit its report to the Pakistan Law Commission within six months for consideration.

Other members of the committee comprise Vice Chairman of the PBC as ex-officio, Prof Ghafoor Ahmad, former Vice Chancellor Peshawar University and Principal Khyber Medical College, Humayun Ehsan.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/11/top18.htm

 

[Neo]

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Shaukat calls for modern education

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz stressed on Saturday the need for a stronger, more vibrant and modern education system based on sound foundations in order to successfully compete with the world.

“The modern world has witnessed unprecedented advances in science and technology, therefore our education must keep abreast of these developments,” he said, speaking as the chief guest at a ceremony held at Governor House for the foundation stone-laying of an extension in the existing building of the Institute of Business and Technology (BIZTEK).

Aziz said that the country’s educational system had a generalist orientation and needed to gravitate towards vocational training to equip students with technical and managerial skills. This would help create the necessary linkages between educational attainment and the job market. “We are paying particular attention to the governance and management aspects of education, particularly by involving communities,” he said. The thrust of the government’s strategy was to improve the quality and accessibility of higher education, particularly science and technology, as it was a direct contributor to economic development, he stated.

Pointing out that today, Pakistan did not have a single world class university or one that was ranked among the top in the world, the prime minister said that the government had embarked upon an ambitious plan of establishing nine world class universities in collaboration with highly advanced countries such as Germany, Sweden, France, Austria, Japan, South Korea and Italy, and said that they wanted the private sector to play a pivotal role in these efforts.

He termed people as the biggest asset of Pakistan and said that the Pakistani mind was as competitive and productive as any other in the world. He laid special emphasis on investing in knowledge and said that the government was investing in education to transform the country into a state that was ready for future needs. The curriculum and syllabus must conform to the present and future needs of the country and teaching of English should start from grade one.

Aziz said that the government was looking after the needs of the industry and market. Referring to the shortage of trained drivers and hotel workers in the Middle East and other countries, he said that trained people from Pakistan could meet the demand.

“Today,” he said, “I give a challenge to the director of BIZTEK to further develop his institute and bring it among the top ten business schools of Asia and the world.”

Referring to the need for gender balance in education, he said it is yet another area requiring focus as the country could not progress unless women were given due opportunities. He said that a good number of students were being sent abroad for their PhD and Masters in the world’s best universities and upon return, they would be a valuable human capital.

BIZTEK Chancellor Noman Lakhani highlighted the present and future programmes of the institute while the board of governors vice chairman Col Tahir Hussain presented the welcome address. app

Engg uni with French assistance to start by September

KARACHI: A world class engineering university is being set up in collaboration with the French government. The university would start functioning by September 2007, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Saturday. Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the expansion of BIZTEK held at the Governor House, Aziz said that the French-supported university would have a total enrolment of 5,000 students and would be set up on 150 acres of land belonging to the Pakistan Marine Academy.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\21\story_21-1-2007_pg12_1

 

[Neo]

Education top priority says Pakistan Prime Minister

Sunday January 21, 2007
Karachi, Jan 21 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Saturday his government was committed to promoting education in the country under a comprehensive strategy aimed at improving access to quality education as well as overcoming gender, rural-urban and regional imbalances, reports Online.

'We are also paying particular attention to governance and management aspects of education, especially by involving communities in school management and devolution of powers and functions', he said at the foundation stone laying ceremony of a business school here.

Aziz said the government had embarked upon an ambitious plan of establishing nine world-class universities in collaboration with Germany, Sweden, France, Austria, Japan, South Korea and Italy.

He said the existing universities were being strengthened by recruiting qualified faculty, investing in research and development, and forging linkages with industry.

Calling for removing gender disparities, Aziz asked the teachers to play their role as agents of change, reform and progress.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/070121/43/6bd8y.html

 

[Neo]

January 26, 2007 Friday

‘Education to get 4pc of GDP’ :thumbsup:

By Khawar Ghumman

ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: The government has decided in principle to increase spending on education to 4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the next financial year. Education spending currently stands at 2.7 per cent.

This was stated by Federal Education Minister Lt Gen (Retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi while talking to students of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, who called on him on Thursday.

Talking to Dawn an official of the ministry said both President Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had given the green signal to the education minister for the increase. “There can be some final adjustments during budgeting but in principal it is agreed that somewhere near 4 per cent of the GDP would be allocated,” said the official.

The government, at international forums, feels embarrassed for not meeting the Unesco’s minimum requirement of four per cent of the budget sanctioned to the education sector.

Despite commitments, successive governments have failed in providing education sector its share resulting in poor-quality education.

According to the Unesco, Pakistan is second after Nigeria in the world with the highest number of `out-of-school’ children. According to details there are 6.5 million out-of-school kids wherein, 80 per cent were never enrolled, 10 per cent dropped out, while the remaining could get to school at some later stage.The ministry has taken all on board in the ongoing curriculum review in reference to the NWFP and Balochistan provinces, said Javed A. Qazi.

Students also inquired the government’s initiative in FATA and as to how it was providing educational facilities with the prevailing unrest in the region.

The national curriculum is free of any biases, hate and sectarianism, while medical technology and computer science have been introduced to make it compatible with the rest of the world, the education minister said.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/26/top9.htm

 

[Neo]

More money for education

A PROSPEROUS Pakistan will remain an illusion until all its citizens are equipped with the skills needed to become productive members of society. Much of the malaise currently afflicting the country can be traced to illiteracy or inadequate education, itself the result of the cyclical poverty that holds one generation after another down. These shackles of material and mental backwardness can be broken only through education and socio-economic opportunities, as well as the rounded world view that proper schooling affords. Uplift on the national level will not be possible if a large segment of the population continues to lack access to education. No amount of effort will project a “soft” image of the nation if its citizens, essentially because of a lack of education, remain easy prey for the bigoted and the criminal.

In this connection, it is heartening to note that the government has decided — “in principle” — to increase spending on education to four per cent of the GDP, up substantially from the current allocation of 2.7 per cent. This welcome boost could go a long way towards putting children in school and on the right track in terms of securing a future of their own. Across the border with India, similar moves are afoot to raise the education budget from roughly four per cent to six per cent of the GDP. Money, however, will not by itself improve the state of education in Pakistan. An enhanced allocation for salaries, for instance, will be meaningless if the required number of qualified teachers are not available. Similarly, funds for the construction of schools must be monitored with due vigilance to ensure that they are properly utilised. Otherwise, a bigger budget could be little more than an invitation to corruption. Priorities too ought to be set right, with the focus firmly on primary education.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/27/ed.htm#3

 

[Contrarian]

Neo, this is the Education thread. So can i post Indian education related reports here, or is this just for Pakistan?

 

[Neo]

Neo, this is the Education thread. So can i post Indian education related reports here, or is this just for Pakistan?

Malay,
This is a dedicated thread for Pakistan, you can create a new thread for India in the Indian section.

 

[Contrarian]

Malay,
This is a dedicated thread for Pakistan, you can create a new thread for India in the Indian section.

Roger that mate

 

[Neo]

Oki doki!

 

[Neo]

January 29, 2007

Educators for end to disparity

GUJRANWALA, Jan 28: The educators association has given vent to its disquiet for not regularising them in Grade-14 like BA English teachers and called for the education department to put an end to the disparity.

At a meeting held here on Sunday presided over by association president Ashfaq Anjum, the participants said that the education department had appointed BA English teachers as headmasters of primary schools at a monthly salary of Rs11,000.

On the contrary, they said, that educators teaching almost all subjects in educational institutions were being paid only Rs4,200 per month which was unjustified.

NO CLUE: Despite the Supreme Court’s orders, the police failed to recover the two sisters abducted from their house some two years back in Lallapur village, Naushera Virkan.

While the police on Sunday enhanced a cash prize from Rs100,000 to Rs500,000 for providing information about the whereabouts of the two sisters.

Reports said that both sisters, `S’ and `H’, were present in their house when some unidentified men had abducted them. The police had registered an abduction case, but failed to make any headway in the recovery of the two sisters.

Taking a suo motu notice, the apex court had summoned senior police officers in court and ordered them to recover the two abducted sisters immediately.

KILLED: A woman was killed while some dozen other passengers sustained injuries when a wagon rammed into a stationary truck on Alipur Chattha Road here on Sunday.

Reports said that the wagon was on its way to Gujranwala from Alipur Chattha when the incident occurred. As a result, Rashidan Bibi died on the spot while four children were among the injured. They were admitted to the local DHQ Hospital in serious condition.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/29/nat40.htm

 

[Neo]

Friday, February 02, 2007

National Language Authority meeting: End prejudices against Urdu, make it official language, says Durrani

* ‘Urdu should be optional language in FPSC exams’

ISLAMABAD: The Urdu language is facing a number of prejudices that need to be eradicated and it should be adopted as the country’s official language, said Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani on Thursday.

Speaking during a meeting held at the National Language Authority (NLA) to review the recommendations for adoption of Urdu as official language, he said,

“Despite the fact that Urdu is our national language and it also reflects our national integrity, it is facing prejudices that need to be eliminated.”.

He said that Urdu should be used during all national and international diplomatic ceremonies. He said that the NLA’s final recommendations regarding the issue of making Urdu an official language should also include a time frame for adopting Urdu as official language, adding that similar recommendations in the past could not be implemented because they contained no time limit.

Durrani suggested that foreign language terminologies being used in subjects of science and mathematics should be adopted in Urdu, as new terminologies could confuse students.

Minister for Law and Justice Wasi Zafar, who is also the convener of the committee, said that most of the recommendations of the NLA had already been implemented. He said that Urdu should be simultaneously adopted in all the official ceremonies of the government, the armed forces and other departments.

He said that the Urdu language should also be adopted in courts, as most of the laws had already been translated into Urdu. “Urdu and English should be optional languages in the Federal Public Service Commission examinations as this has been recommended by all four provinces,” he said.

Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman said that more Urdu software was needed to facilitate the adoption of Urdu as the official language.

Federal Education Minster Zobaida Jalal said that English should be taken as a “secondary” language, optional for students in academic institutions, while Urdu should be given the first priority.

NLA Chairman Dr Fateh Muhammad Malik briefed the meeting about the authority’s recommendations regarding making Urdu an official language.

Dr Atash Durrani gave a presentation on preparation of an Urdu software in the meeting. He told the meeting that the NLA had signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft for developing Urdu software.

Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Rasool and Joint Secretary Malik Tahir Sarfraz also attended the meeting.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\02\02\story_2-2-2007_pg11_7