ISLAMABAD, July 19: Appointments in federal government educational institutions, upgradation of schools, provision of infrastructural facilities to capital's schools, changes in curriculum, quota of the armed forces
, madressahs and other issues related to the education ministry echoed during the question hour of the National Assembly here on Monday.
The education minister Ms Zobaida jalal said 812 vacant posts in the federal government institutions would be filled after an appeal pending with the Federal Ombudsman against some alleged irregularities in the appointment procedures are decided.
She said 330 vacant posts were advertised some months ago but due to litigation on the issue, the appointments are pending. The remaining 482 posts would be filled in during the year 2004-05 subject to the decision of the appeal, said the minister.
In response to a question about upgradation of federal government schools and colleges, the minister said out of 400 schools, two were upgraded last year. The minister said no college has been upgraded recently but upgradation of a few colleges during the current year is on the cards, she said.
Buses for schools: The minister said a decision would be taken within a month to provide buses to Islamabad Model College for Boys I-8/3 and Islamabad Model College for Girls I-8/4. She said improvement in science laboratories of the schools is also on the anvil.
In response to a supplementary question by Zafar Ali Shah if the buses would be provided to schools in other provinces, the minister said the provinces have to approve the project for buses and bear the recurrent costs.
The education minister, tried to give replies to a number of hot issues as her ministry was put in the dock mainly by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNAs during the question hour. The speaker asked the MMA leadership to follow the rules if they believed the education minister did not give factually correct position on the floor of the House.
The speaker intervened after MNA Samia Raheel Qazi questioned the veracity of a statement given by the education minister in response to a question by MNA Rana Asif Tauseef who asked if the marks fixed for the portion of Quran and Sunnah in the paper of Islamiat compulsory for class XI had been reduced from 20 to 12, and if so, the reasons for the decision.
The minister in her reply said the marks had not been reduced. Ms Samia Raheel Qazi, daughter of MMA's president, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, said as a teacher she was aware that the marks had been reduced and alleged that the minister had given a misleading answer.
A visibly angry Ms Jalal retorted back with a counter question if a government employee could also be a member of the National Assembly. The speaker over ruled the supplementary question and did not give the floor to Ms Qazi prompting her father, Qazi Hussain Ahmed to rise on a point of order.
The MMA president said the speaker had allowed the minister to ask a counter question on a point of personal explanation but denied another woman parliamentarian the same opportunity.
To control the brewing rumpus, the speaker said he would take action if a wrong answer was given and if the MMA wanted to agitate the matter they should follow the procedure in this regard.
Responding to a question by MNA Gayan Singh about compulsory teaching of Islamiat to non-Muslim students and its effects on them, the minister said a discussion has been initiated on developing alternative books for the non-Muslim students.
Earlier, the minister gave the credit for curriculum change in the course of Islamiat for classes IX and X to the government of Nawaz Sharif. Replying to a question by MNA Fauzia Wahab about inclusion of Surah Ahzab and Surah Tauba in the IX and X Islamiat books, the minister said they were included in the curriculum on the recommendations of the National Review Committee. The Suras were incorporated in the textbooks of Islamiat in 1999.
In reply to a question by MNA Mehnaz Rafi about any proposal to incorporate the text of Quaid-i-Azam's speech of Aug 11, 1947, in the curriculum, the minister said the government was looking into the issue.
Answering a question by Qazi Hussain Ahmed if only the famous 11th August speech of the Quaid would be included or all the other speeches, the minister said the government has decided to reactivate history as a separate subject. Draft curriculum are being examined by a committee to decide which speech to be included at different levels.
Madressahs: Replying to a question by Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, Ms Jalal said the consolidated position of registered Madressahs is not available with the education ministry as the institutions were not under the control of the federal government.
She said incentive package amounting to Rs1 billion had been formulated for reforms of some 8000 Madressahs. The minister said the exact figures for the total number of Madressahs were not available with the education ministry because of a ban on registration of new madressahs imposed in 1994. She said the interior ministry had now lifted the ban and the new figures would be sought.
