Construction of paramedical school discussed

LAHORE: A meeting of governing body of Punjab Medical Faculty (PMF) was held under the chairmanship of Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education and president of the faculty Saqib Zafar on Monday.

Important decisions were taken in the meeting including approval of PMF annual budget 2018-19. The matters relating to the construction of new office, examination centres and state of the art paramedical school of Punjab Medical Faculty came under discussion and it was also vigorously decided to send the feasibility of this project to the Punjab government for final approval. Vice President PMF Dr Shahid Salman, CEO Mayo Hospital Asad Aslam Khan, representative members of PMF Dr Irfan Ahmed, Prof Dr Seema Imdad, Dr Ahmed Nadeem, Dr Irfan Ahmed, Dr Muneeb Ashraf, Microbiologist Khadija Ismail, Private Member Dr Khalid Lateef and others attended the meeting. The meeting approved to constitute two different committees for issuance of new courses for anesthesia technicians as well as increase in the registration and courses fee under CEO Mayo Hospital, Asad Aslam Khan. The meeting also proposed to regulate public and private institutions under Punjab Medical Faculty according to population rate whereas approval was granted for the Service Rules of PMF as well. The meeting also approved to publish mandatory approve Refresher Training Curriculum for the Allied Health Professionals for their four step promotions. Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Saqib Zafar directed the officers concerned to hold governing body meetings of different health faculties on regular basis.

The meeting was informed by the Additional Secretary Technical Dr Shahid Salman that PMF has issued more than 90,000 certificates and diplomas to the students of different courses till today. Under current schemes, courses comprising public health, medical laboratory, radiology and medical imaging along with operation theatre, physiotherapy, renal dialysis, ophthalmic and nuclear medicine are also being conducted by PMF. He apprised the meeting that as many as 13,210 seats are allocated for different courses including dispensers and technicians categories in public and private sector.

In the year 2018, as many as 65 new institutions have applied for their affiliation with PMF this year, he concluded. Whereas enhancement of seats of all categories and introduction of more new courses are the salient features on ongoing reforms made by Punjab Medical Faculty. Secretary SHC&ME Saqib Zafar stressed the need for standardisation of Allied Health Science Education, recognition and regulation of training institutions and conducting of examinations on regular basis.

dues to teachers: United Teachers Council (UTC) Punjab has expressed concerns over non-payment of remuneration to hundreds of teachers, by UNOPS Pakistan, who performed duties as master trainers to train staff for general elections 2018.

In a press release issued here on Monday, the UTC Punjab office-bearers said these master trainers performed their duties for several months but they were still not compensated which had caused serious concerns among them in particular and teaching community in general. They said, similarly, teachers who performed duties as data entry operators and assistant returning officers were yet to be compensated.  

The UTC Punjab has demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take notice of the delay and provide relief to the teachers.