PEF demands release of funds for schools

LAHORE:The 74th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) was held here on Thursday which took up important issues, including non-release of funds to the foundation by the Punjab Finance Department.

The meeting chaired by PEF Board of Directors Chairman Sardar Aftab Akbar Khan was informed that funds to PEF partner schools could not be released for the last three months because of non-release of the funds to the PEF by the Finance Department. The meeting demanded the Finance Department release Rs5 billion to the PEF as early as possible so that payments could be made to the partner schools

Sardar Aftab Akbar said the fees of partner schools had not increased for the last six years while the rate of inflation had increased and added the teachers of PEF schools were producing excellent results.

The board members agreed with the proposal of the PEF chairman to increase the fee by Rs50 for primary schools and Rs100 for elementary level schools per child and decided to send the matter to the Finance Committee. PEF MD Asad Naeem also attended the meeting.

library: A one-day seminar for introducing digital library tools of Consortium of Science & Technology and Research & Development Libraries of Pakistan (CSTRDLP) like Cloud-based Library Management System (PASTIC Koha Cloud), Digital Repository of indigenous scholarly literature and Union OPAC of Pakistani Libraries (PakCat) for librarians of Punjab University (PU) was held at the Hailey College of Commerce. PASTIC Project Coordinator Syed Habib Akhter Jaffri was the resource person of the seminar organised by the PU Library in collaboration with Executive Training & Development Cell (ETDC), Hailey College of Commerce (HCC) and Pakistan Scientific & Technological Information Centre (PASTIC), Islamabad.

PU Faculty of Management Sciences Dean Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood, Chief Librarian Dr Muhammad Haroon Usmani and HCC Principal Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ahmad were also present.

A large number of librarians attended the seminar. Syed Habib Akhter Jaffri briefed the participants about the working of PASTIC Koha Cloud, digital repository and PakCat. He demonstrated the major features of the tools. Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood said resource sharing was very important and had become a need of the hour. He said that the libraries could provide better reading and learning opportunities by sharing their resources.

BISE head: The newly-posted Chairman of the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore Dr Mirza Habib Ali held a meeting with the board employees on Thursday. Talking to the employees, Dr Mirza Habib Ali said that Lahore Board was mother board and it should be an exemplary board for all the examination boards. He urged the employees to play their part in the betterment of the organisation. He also expressed his desire to improve the working of the Board and get ISO certification. Later, he also attended a ceremony held in honour of a retiring clerk of the board. It is pertinent to mention that Dr Mirza Habib Ali has previously served as Director Research and Member Finance at Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF).