LAHORE: The Government College University (GCU) Press has started publishing academic journals and other university publications.

During its first year, it published scholarly journals in the disciplines of English, History, Persian, Punjabi and Psychology. It has also published the university’s prospectus and other similar documents.

The GCU Press is a not-for-profit organisation and the university is now considering diverting a portion of research funds to its press to commission innovative academic monographs by scholars.

GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi said establishing a press was the need of the hour. He said the GCU Press was modeled after Cambridge and Oxford university presses, which published works of scholars across the globe.

“As a university, it is our obligation to publish research that shapes the ideas which can make human lives better,” he said.

An official associated with the press said more than 65pc of the academics of the university were holding PhDs or postdocs and fellowships from the leading universities and they could prepare excellent manuscripts for publication.

“We also have a strong network of seasoned scholars around the world who can serve as referees. The faculty of languages at the GCU provides us with experienced copy editors. The Fine Arts department has excellent graphic designers and photographers. The library staff and the Directorate of Information Technology will take care of online publications. The Management Studies department has good marketing skills,” he added.

Prof Zaidi said the authors required a network of professionals for publications and the GCU had the requisite academic resources.

TEVTA: Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Chairperson Ali Salman Siddique says the board of governors of the authority had been reconstituted in order to transform it on international lines.

He said the new board consisted of top industrialists, best academicians and professionals.

The newly established 14-member board includes MNA Andleeb Abbas, MPA Sumera Ahmed and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Director Teaching and Learning Center Mahreen Noon, Planning and Development Secretary Imran Sikandar Baloch, Industries Secretary Wasif Khurshid, Finance Secretary Iftikhar Ahmad Sahu and Tevta Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Secretary Board Rai Manzoor Nasir, Aptma patron-in-chief Ejaz Gohar, Atlas Honda CEO Saqib H. Sherazi, Izhar Construction Chairman Ayub Sabir Izhar, Garment City Chairman Rehan Naseem Bharera, University of Management and Technology (UMT) Director General Abid Sherwani and Senior Business Strategist Saadat Ejaz.

Mr Salman said the government had helped them in making some basic changes to Tevta in a short span of time. He said Tevta was being updated as per the demands of the modern era.

PTU: The Punjab Teachers Union (PTU) demanded the government give the teachers a disparity allowance; otherwise, it would hold a protest outside the Civil Secretariat after Eidul Fitr.

The PTU office-bearers made the demand in a meeting in which its president Chaudhry Sarfraz, Syed Sajjad Akbar Kazmi, Rana Liaqat, Saeed Namdar, Tariq Ziaid, Nadia Jamshed and others were present. They said Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had constituted a committee for giving disparity allowance to the teachers and the committee had submitted its recommendations in this regard. They said that according to the promise, the government had to issue the allowance notification before the Eid holidays but it did not do so.

They demanded issuance of a notification for providing them with the disparity allowance; otherwise, they would launch a protest campaign against it on May 20. They warned that they would also further devise a strategy to reach Islamabad to protest outside the parliament over non-provision of the disparity allowance.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2021