As the election frenzy grips the country these days, a school afforded its young students (who otherwise cannot poll their votes in the general election) an opportunity to exercise their “right to franchise” in a mock ballot.

The Sanjan Nagar School administration organised mock elections based on Pakistani model this past week in which the students, teachers and staff members actively participated. Days before the actual election, the school created a befitting ambience and the students regaled themselves with canvassing in favour of their political parties.

At a Convention Day for a public debate, all members and dummy leaders of political parties sat together at one platform and propagated their political manifestos. They tried to win voters’ support by answering some ‘compelling’ questions.

The students exercised their “right to franchise” on Election Day by voting for their favourite political parties, which was coordinated by Sharoon Wajahat Attray. Mirza Nauman Baig acted as election commissioner and the duties of presiding officers were performed by Anum Zafer, Muqades Ashraf and Noorul Ain.

The election results were interesting as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz gained majority votes of about 67 per cent. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf stood second with only 16.5 per cent votes and former president Pervez Musharraf-led All-Pakistan Muslim League sprang a surprise by bagging third position, with 14 per cent votes.

Quite startling for some, the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Q lost their identity in the mock election, with 0.02 per cent and zero votes, respectively.

School principal Aliya Ayub stated that such type of activities in school enhanced students’ confidence and sense of ownership about Pakistan. She said the basic purpose of this activity was to create political awareness among students as well as teachers as the upcoming election (on May 11) would play a vital role in the contemporary history of Pakistan.

She wished and prayed for the better and prosperous future of the country with the Power of Vote.

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THE Intel National Science Fair’s 10 finalists, who will represent Pakistan in the upcoming six-day Intel International Science & Engineering Fair 2013 beginning on May 12 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, were praised and encouraged at a ceremony organised in their honour here last week.

The 10 finalists were selected from amongst over 200 young scientists from across Pakistan, who displayed more than 80 science projects at science fair’s national level final competition held in January this year.

The science fair’s 10 finalists are: Fatima Moin Veera, Hania Hasan, Umme Salma Shabbir Gadriwala from Mama Parsi Girls Secondary School, Karachi and Qaiser Ali Shah, Ali Yezdan, Sajid Khan from Agha Khan Higher Secondary School, Gilgit.

The individual winners are: Javaria Nisar from Government Girls Higher Secondary School Singhpura, Lahore, Haris bin Ashraf from Defence Authority Sheikh Khalifa bin Zaid College, Karachi, Isa Bin Qasim from PakTurk International School and Colleges, Peshawar, and Muhammad Ahsan Nawaz from Government Model High School, Mailsi, Vehari.

These lucky students will be showcasing their talent on an international platform for over $3 million in prizes and scholarships.

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IN order to develop low-cost private schools through creating a platform for matching schools improvement needs with quality and financial solution providers in the country, the School Assessment for School Improvement Programme (SASIP), an ILM Ideas initiative, last weekend launched first-ever Education Marketplace.

The marketplace event enabled partner schools to independently explore innovative education and microfinance products displayed by service providers that best suited their unique needs as highlighted by the analytical school assessment reports prepared by the SASIP team.

Punjab School Education Department’s Budget and Planning Deputy Secretary Qaiser Rasheed described marketplace as being an “excellent step in introducing innovations in education for low-cost schools”. Seeing IT-based learning products at marketplace, he suggested that the SASIP must extend its services and methodology to some public-sector schools, which were becoming quality-conscious too.Participants belonging to different private schools said the precise insights about low-cost private schools had equipped them diagnose their needs and negotiate with solution providers that not only include educationists but also other sectors including industries and businesses.

Dr Narmeen Hamid, chairperson Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, said the SASIP Marketplace was a well-person’s clinic with the diagnosis being carried out proactively through systematic assessments and solutions being given well in time. She said this programme would bridge the gap between schools and service providers besides empowering schools to carry out their own negotiations with quality training and financial institutions. She said the Idara would formally launch the SASIP in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on June 5.

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THE Student Council of the Lahore College for Women University has raised Rs1.5 million to set up various scholarships under the banner of the Student Advancement Fund Endowment (SAFE).

The university’s most deserving and meritorious students will be eligible to apply for these scholarships at the beginning of every academic session. After scrutiny of documents and interviews of the applicants, these scholarships will be awarded only for one year renewable up to four years on satisfactory performance.

The “Golden Scholarship” amounting to Rs1 million annually will cover university fee as well as hostel expenses of the selected student, while “Silver Scholarship” offering financial assistance worth Rs500,000 will cover only university fee of the selected student.

LCWU Head Girl Sidra Aziz presented the Rs1.5 million cheque to Vice-Chancellor Dr Sabiha Mansoor at a event held recently. As an autonomous institution, Dr Sabiha said the university needed to generate its own resources to improve the quality of instruction, research work and other services.

Caretaker Education Minister Saleema Hashmi said universities all over the world sought financial support from philanthropists and friends, as well as their alumni to contribute towards financial stability. She assured that the Punjab government would assist to prosper SAFE at the university. – mansoormalik173@hotmail.com