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LAHORE, Aug 11: The governor in his capacity as chancellor has directed all universities not to fix any quota for postgraduate classes for its own students.
Khalid Maqbool was presiding over a meeting of a special committee of consultative group on universities at the Governor’s House here on Friday.
He said the students fulfilling merit criteria from all parts of the country had a right to get admission to the universities of their choice on an equal basis, and they should not be deprived of this right by fixing quotas.
The meeting was informed that the chancellors consultative group led by Dr Riazul Haq had finalised its recommendations for launching the semester system in universities under four-point GPA.
The meeting reviewed the recommendations of the special committee regarding admission criteria, including harmonised test method to grade the students and giving the entrance test a status of `qualifying test’ to replace the earlier system.
The committee recommended that the merit for four-year BSc (honours) should be prepared on the basis of marks in intermediate. But obtaining 50 per cent marks in entrance test must be compulsory to qualify for the admission.
It has also recommended that the achieving 3.0 CGPA in BSc (honours) must be made compulsory for getting admission to postgraduate classes of government sector universities.
The governor agreed to a proposal that synopsis writing skill and intelligence test for admission to postgraduate level were essential in modern days.
COLLEGES REFORM: Punjab Education Minister Mian Imran Masood has said that a colleges reform programme worth Rs2 billion is being launched in the province.
He was talking to journalists after awarding certificates to participants in an HEC’s skill development course at the University of Education here on Friday.
The minister said under this programme, four top colleges from every district would be selected and provided with furniture and all other facilities, besides empowering their faculties to hire teachers from private sector to improve academic standards.
“In this way, we will cover around 210 colleges of all the 35 districts in a year, and within two years, we will reform and improve all the 424 colleges of the province,” he maintained.
Replying to a question, he said this year 60,000 students passed the secondary school examination, whereas there were only 25,000 seats in the public sector colleges, and government had started evening classes to provide equal education opportunities to the students.
Mian Imran said the government also established colleges at tehsil level and was encouraging the private sector to invest in the education sector so that every child had enough options for studies.
Earlier, he said at the ceremony that the government was adhering to improve quality of education. “We do not lag behind in quantity in terms of faculty and infrastructure but quality has become a big challenge for the government.”
The minister said teaching community was the joule of healthy education system, but unfortunately it was being ignored by the past regimes, adding that the present government focused them, and was giving them incentives and other facilities, which they had never enjoyed.
Courses were also being organised in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC) for teachers’ skill development, he added.
Government’s commitment to this vital sector could be well judged from the fact that it had inducted 15,000 graduate teachers so far and would recruit 16,000 more this year, “so that public schools culture should be changed and difference should be seen and felt,” he added.
Provision of free textbooks, stipend to students and addressing all missing facilities in public schools was another hallmark of the government, he added.
Mian Imran said a hefty Rs70 billion would be spent on this sector during current financial year to achieve the objectives of best and quality education.
The HEC’s National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE) established Human Resource Development Centre at the University of Education, which would arrange courses for college and university teachers in one fiscal year.
A batch of 31 teachers from various colleges and universities completed the first course. The course comprised of six modules - Education Psychology; Advanced Teaching Skill; Administration, Planning and Communication Skill; Curricula and Material Development; Research Skill; Education Measurement and Evaluation, with Micro Teaching and Computer Skill as compulsory components.
UE vice-chancellor Dr Ghulam Mustafa Habibullah, HEC Learning Innovation Division’s director general Noor Amna Malik also spoke on the occasion, while UE director Dr Muzaffar Abbas, and HEC programme director Dr Javed Iqbal Awan were also present.
Later, the minister also planted a sapling in a lawn of the university.—-APP
