LAHORE: Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal has said any teacher running a private education institute or academy – wholly or in a partnership – will not be posted as a public college principal or on other administrative posts.

Sumbal was presiding over a meeting of stakeholders for discussing proposals and steps for enhancing education standards of public colleges, at Government Postgraduate Islamia College for Women, Cooper Road. Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association President Dr Zahid Ahmed, General Secretary Tanveer Shah, the higher education additional secretary, DPI Colleges, former University of Gujrat vice chancellor and principals of various colleges attended the meeting.

The HED secretary said the government was planning to formulate a permanent policy to meet educational and administrative requirements of all public colleges and then ask relatively better qualified staff to deliver quality education.

The meeting unanimously decided that research culture in public colleges should be promoted. Instead of rote learning, he stressed teachers should assign research projects to students and supervise them. He said research work should be made a criterion in promotion of teachers.

The meeting also decided that proper funds and Scheduled New Expenditure posts would be given to government colleges on the basis of enrolment. It was informed the second two-week refresher course for professional training of college teachers would begin at the University of Education Lahore at the end of December.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2014