‘Exam emergency’ in schools to improve results

LAHORE

Punjab School Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan on Saturday announced 'exam emergency' in the province for three months, under which, students will be given additional lectures to perform better in their examinations. 

Addressing a press conference at Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB), the minister said the government was also contemplating revisiting schedule for summer and winter vacation keeping in view the changing weather patterns.  

Rana Mashhood said the Punjab government had increased monthly stipend of girls enrolled in secondary level schools in districts of Southern Punjab from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 to promote girls education in the backward areas. He added that some 400,000 girl students would benefit. 

He said the government had also planned 'School Feeding Programme' in selected four districts of South Punjab under which one time meal would be provided to the students during school hours. 

The minister said that the Punjab government had provided record funds for education promotion since 2008 and added that during the last eight years the school education budget had been enhanced 400 times while the educational budget of School Education Department had been enhanced from Rs 62 billion to Rs 315 billion. 

He said educational models of Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and other countries would be studied to raise the standard of school education according to international level.

He vowed that the teachers would be given a respectable status in society. He said a comprehensive programme of improvement of schools had been launched with an amount of Rs 50 billion.

According to the programme, construction of 36,000 new classrooms and provision of missing facilities, besides restoration of dilapidated school buildings would be done by 2018.

He claimed that ratio of provision of missing facilities to schools, including boundary walls, toilets, electricity, clean drinking water and classroom furniture, had increased from 69 percent to 95 percent. 

The minister said early childhood education rooms as well as qualified teachers would be made available in 10,000 primary schools by March 2018.

He said pre-nursery classes would be started soon to ensure 100 percent enrolment and to decrease dropout. 

Rana Mashhood said Punjab was the only province where students were being taught through computers under a pilot project at 2,000 public schools.

He said the Punjab government had eliminated child labour at brick kilns, and the children of brick kiln workers were being provided with stipends to continue their education.

fact-finding body: A fact-finding committee regarding the allegations of not admitting serious patients in Neurology Department of Mayo Hospital has been constituted on the directions of Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Najam Ahmad Shah and Mayo Hospital Chief Executive Officer Prof Asad Aslam Khan.

According to a handout issued here on Saturday, the committee comprises Prof Akmal Laeeq Chishti, Dr Rana Anjum Mushtaq, AMS and Dr Khalid Bin Aslam, DMS, Mayo Hospital.

The committee would submit its report along with recommendations within three days.

seminar: Punjab University’s Hailey College of Commerce, in collaboration with State Bank of Pakistan, organised an awareness session on Islamic banking and finance on Saturday.

PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir, Faculty of Commerce Dean and College Principal Dr Hassan Mobeen Alam, officers of  SPB, including Javaid Ahmad Bhatti and Huma Mahmood Bukhari; students and a large number people from different fields were present. 

The speakers shed light on the difference between Islamic and conventional banking and shared information about Islamic banking contracts, Sharia compliance growth of Islamic banking in Pakistan and role of SBP in Islamic banking promotion.