LOWER DIR: Speakers at a seminar held here on Saturday urged doctors, paramedics and pharmacists to improve their research writing skills and produce quality works to help government bring further improvement in provision of better healthcare to patients.

Journal of Pakistan Orthopaedic Association (JPOA), a registered organisation of qualified orthaopedic surgeons of Pakistan, in collaboration with the orthopaedic department of the Timergara Teaching Hospital (TTH) arranged the event on ‘research article writing’.

On the occasion, JPOA chief editor assistant professor Dr Faaiz Ali Shah, managing editor Dr Abdul Haadi, TTH medical superintendent Dr Daud Khan and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Waqar Alam asked the participants to follow the Higher Education Commission’s guidelines set for research writing and avoid plagiarism while writing a research article.

STRIKE CONTINUES: The teachers of government universities continued their strike on Saturday against the Higher Education Commission for delaying their promotions.

The call for the strike was given by the All Pakistan Universities Basic Pay Scale Teachers’ Association (APUBTA).

According to a press release, APUBTA said the HEC had constituted a committee last year to look into the demands presented in a draft by the association for promotion of teachers working in basic pay scale.

However, despite recommendations of the committee for promotions, theHEC removed the provision for the non-PhD teachers from the draft, and sent it to the universities across the country for suggestions, triggering protests by the teachers.

The release said APUBTA members Dr Samiur Rehman and Dr Imtiaz Ahmed met Shaista Sohail and Owais Ahmed, the executive directors of HEC, on Dec 8, where the latter agreed to the right of promotion for all teachers, but no further progress was made.

The main purpose of the nationwide strike was to push HEC to expedite the process of giving service structure to the BPS teachers, which was mandated in the HEC Ordinance, 2002.

Separately, the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), a student wing of Jamaat-i-Islami, on Saturday protested the increase in fees of medical colleges.

A number of students of the Government Postgraduate College, Timergara, gathered outside the press club, chanting slogans against the government for increasing fees of medical colleges.

IJT nazim Rashidul Haq and others asked the government reverse the decision immediately.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2021