RAWALPINDI, Nov 20: Speakers at a seminar on Thursday blamed lack of vision and practical approach towards devising and implementing education policies for low literacy rate. There had been no education policy for the last ten years in Punjab in real terms that has brought about the decline in high education in the province. The seminar was organised by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) aimed at taking proposals from all the stakeholders to devise a comprehensive education policy.

Though the participants, including Azhar Hussain Shamim Secretary Higher Education Punjab and Hanif Abbasi a local MNA and district chairman education task force, were unanimous in their views over worsening condition of education, they differed over adopting Urdu or English as the medium of expression in the seminar.

A BISE official started the proceedings in English and the subsequent speakers followed the suit. When MNA Hanif Abbasi took the rostrum, he opposed English as medium of discussing the proposals for a new education policy. Notwithstanding the fact that his views were appreciated by the participants, the other speakers opted for English to express themselves.

The MNA said the provincial government had planned to end the contractual system and regularize the contract teachers.

He said the provincial government had decided to set up Potohar University at Murree Road.

The secretary higher education said there had been lack of vision and practical steps towards improving and modernizing the education in the province and said the education department had been given ample financial resources, which would be utilised on provision of the missing facilities in the higher education institutes especially in colleges.

Azhar Hussain urged teachers to control their absenteeism and added the government was pondering over the idea of giving teachers hire and fire powers to the principals of each college. He said some 1600 post of lecturers were lying vacant, which would be filled either through honorary lecturers or postings form other places.

Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA), Rawalpindi president Ilyas Qureshi asked for better facilities for the teachers and fulfillment of missing facilities in the colleges. He underlined the importance of setting up new boys colleges as only one college catering to the needs since Pakistan came into being.

Four different committees recommended changes in the curricula after every three years aimed at enhancing communicative skills and character building of the students.They also recommended inclusion of subjects in the syllabi that inculcate latest knowledge among the students and writing of text books by a panel of writers.

They also recommended that both Urdu and English should be made compulsory languages up to matric level, language teaching should be more practical and functional with less input of literature and computer learning should be compulsory at every level of education.