27 February 2005	Sunday	17 Muharram 1426

KARACHI, Feb 26: Sindh Education and Literacy Minister Dr Hamida Khuhro on Saturday asked principals of the government-run colleges to play role and use their authority in restoring peace and continuation of teaching process.

Speaking at a ceremony to distribute certificates among principals of local colleges, she said it was the prime responsibility of the principals of city colleges to maintain discipline, academic environment and provide education-friendly atmosphere to students for learning.

Dr Khuhro assured them of the government's full support in this regard.

She asked the principals to remain in touch with the authorities, keep them abreast of all the problems facing them and give suggestions for overcoming these issues.

The minister said the education department was concerned over the state of affairs of colleges and was willing to provide all types of assistance.

Dr Khuhro termed ignoring teachers training as the major cause contributing to the decline in educational standards and said now this important sector was being given due attention and priority.

"In the first phase, over 2,000 headmasters of primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in the province would be given training for handling financial and administrative affairs" she told.

"We are laying emphasis on basic education so that colleges could get better input and more PhDs could be produced in the country," she added.

Earlier, DO Colleges Prof Asghar Khan informed about the training course designed for college principals and apprised the minister of the problems facing city colleges.

Later, Dr Khuhro distributed certificates among the participants of the training course.

Sindh Additional Secretary Education Dr Mehboob Shaikh, EDO Colleges Prof Raees Alvi, and others also spoke.-PPI