LAHORE, Feb 12: Punjab University's board of the faculty of education has rejected a proposal for restructuring the faculty and decided to continue the existing faculty with the Institute of Education and Research and special education department as its components.

Sources told Dawn that the decision was taken at a board meeting on Thursday. The sources also claimed that some other departments currently working under the science and arts faculties had also rejected the proposal. The board of science faculty is scheduled to meet on Saturday (tomorrow) to take a decision on the proposed restructuring.

For the faculty of education, the PU had proposed departments of early childhood education, elementary education, English Language Teaching, secondary education, technical education, Islamic education, business education, social education, curriculum studies, research and assessment and special education.

The PU has proposed to restructure the existing nine faculties into 14 - including the four mono-disciplines of law, pharmacy, engineering and technology and medicine and dentistry.

The proposed faculties are earth and environmental sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, behavioural and social sciences, management and information sciences, commerce, arts, culture and modern languages, Islamic and oriental studies, education, law, pharmacy, chemical technology, medicine and mathematical, statistical and computer sciences.

The PU administration has taken stance that the existing nine faculties have grown to an unmanageable size due to diversification of subjects, creation of new departments, increased enrolment and introduction of self-support programmes.

The proposal drew a strong reaction from the PU faculty members, which prevented the university administration from taking a decision on its own. The university administration early last month referred the case to all the nine boards of faculties to discuss the matter and submit their recommendations within a month.