LAHORE: The Punjab government on Tuesday ordered all the chief executive officers of District Education Authority (DEA) in the province to enter the religion field for students of public schools for the teaching of the Holy Quran till Jan 14.

Under the Programme Monitoring and Implementation Unit of Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme (PMIU-PESRP), all the education CEOs have been directed to enter the religion field for students of public schools in School Information System (SIS).

The notification available with Dawn states that the Punjab Compulsory Teaching of the Holy Quran (Amendment) Act 2021 binds the teaching of the Holy Quran as a separate compulsory subject for Muslim students in all educational institutions (public sector, private sector and madressahs) of Punjab.

Accordingly, a separate field regarding religion (Muslim/Non-Muslim) of students has been included in School Information System (SIS) application by PITB.

It states the data of 1.62 million out of 11.92m students has been entered in SIS application till Jan 10.

It further states that PMIU-PESRP is in dire need for the enrolment data of Muslim students for placement of printing order for Tajweedi Qaida for class-I and translation of Holy Quran for students of class VI-IX for the academic session 2022-23.

Moreover, data of Non-Muslim students (grade I-X) is also required for placement of indent for printing of subject Ethics for the forthcoming academic session.

Earlier, the Punjab government made Naazrah Quran compulsory for classes I-V for schools across the province.

Chief Minister Usman Buzdar also approved the appointment of 70,000 Arabic teachers for compulsory teaching of the Holy Quran across the province.

SEMINAR: The Punjab University Centre for South Asian Studies has organised a seminar on “CPEC, and the geo-strategic impact of Gilgit-Baltistan: Challenges and prospects”.

Karakoram International University Department of International Relations’ Assistant Professor Dr Mir Waheed Akhlaq was the keynote speaker while Director CSAS Prof Dr Umbreen Javaid, faculty members and MPhil/PhD scholars attended the event.

In the lecture, the guest speaker highlighted the core aspects of China-Pakistan relations and the impact on regional integration.

The speaker also highlighted the centrality of CPEC in shaping the regional and global political environment and alignments.

They reiterated the need to resolve the longstanding issues pertaining to Gilgit-Baltistan.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2022