September 16, 2014

Girls get top positions in humanities group exam

KARACHI: “ I’m satisfied with the current examination system as it is more transparent. Still there is room for improvement in the course and syllabus,” said Ashna Aslam of Federal Government Girls Inter College, who stood first with 918 out of 1,100 marks to get an ‘A-1’ grade with 83.45 percentage in Humanities group (regular) as the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) announced the results here on Monday.

All the top six position holders in the subject category happened to be girls. Ashna was followed by Tarfia Khan (884 marks) of Zubair Public Higher Secondary School and Sania Sohail (883 marks) of DA Degree College for Women, Phase VIII.

Tarfia Khan said she felt that the standard of education of private colleges was far better than that of government colleges. “I also feel that the teachers of government colleges pay little attention on how their students are doing in class due to which there is also drop in attendance at these institutions,” she said while sharing her ambitions of becoming a teacher herself one day.

Sania Sohail, too, said the government should take notice of the falling standards of government colleges. “There are so many government colleges here which don’t even have electricity as it has been disconnected due to non-payment of bills,” she said.

DAWN

September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

Move to promote female education in SWA

PESHAWAR: Civil Secretariat, Fata on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding with a religious seminary to promote female education in South Waziristan Agency.

According to a handout issued here, the MoU was singed by secretary administration, infrastructure and coordination Mohammad Abid Majid and Maulana Taj Mohammad, administrator of Madrasatul Binat, Wana, during a ceremony.

Under the MoU, the government will help the medressah introduce formal education up to master level, including science and humanities subjects. It also envisages construction of a hostel for 400 female students and putting the whole compound of medressah on solar energy.

The government would also upgrade boys’ primary school at Mughal Khel Adda and girls’ primary school, Noor Mohammad Kot, up to high level.

The seminary would ensure formal education (English medium) from KG to master level to female students. It would also share information and provide data whenever required by the Fata Secretariat, and would also allow the officials to monitor educational activities of the medressah.

The MoU further states that in case of any dispute, the decision of the additional chief secretary, Fata, will be binding on both the parties.

DAWN

September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

A gang rape most foul

In a case of extreme abuse, torture and injustice, a young girl has been silenced and forced to drop charges against the men who have stolen her dignity and violated her in the worst possible way. This young girl was gang raped in Faisalabad on Friday and her first reaction was to register a complaint with the police against her rapists. The named accused turned out to be the three sons of a PML-N Member of the National Assembly (MNA), Mian Farooq. The girl said that they were accompanied by five other accomplices in this act of extreme degradation. She even submitted herself to medical tests and it was proved that she had, indeed, been gang raped. In a sudden turn of events, the girl retracted her statement the very next day, refusing to give a blood sample and denying the need for a DNA sample from the accused. In effect, there is now no first information report (FIR) against the accused who would, no doubt, be gloating at this victory against a defenceless, tortured girl. MNA Mian Muhammad Farooq has said that his sons are innocent of this crime and this has been proved by the girl’s retraction of the allegation.

This is a textbook example of how injustice is the staple diet of the weak, poor and marginalised in our society. If you are a woman on top of all this, you may never expect to see any kind of fair play. One does not need to look long and hard at this case to understand what is going on. This girl was raped; her medical examination says so. She was made to take back her statement to the police by the very men who demeaned her. The victim is usually abused and violated again and again in the land of the pure because the aggressor is almost always more powerful and influential. Mian Farooq and his sons have pulled their weight and exercised their brute strength in overpowering this woman physically and emotionally. No doubt they have threatened and intimidated her and her family with dire consequences if she goes ahead with her accusation. Her trauma has been compounded: she mustered the courage to go public with her ordeal by registering a case in a society that stigmatises rape victims and now she will never get justice because she has been silenced into submission.

Where is the government of Punjab? How can it allow this blatant disregard for the law by a member of its own party and parliament? No civilised society can ever tolerate this kind of heinous crime but here we have the progeny of political leaders accused of not just rape but gang rape. Shame on us and shame on the PML-N for tolerating this kind of violation of human rights. *

Daily Times

September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

Women entrepreneurship project launched

Karachi: The Aman Foundation’s centre for entrepreneurship development and Institute of Business Administration (IBA) are collaborating to initiate a programme aimed to support Pakistani businesswomen by global education.

The orientation ceremony of the World Bank-funded programme, named WomenX , was held at the IBA’s main campus in Karachi University.

The first group of 50 enterprising women joined the project on September 12 to go through four months of intensive business training, which aims to support businesswomen via professional education, networking and mentorship opportunities.

Speaking at the orientation ceremony, programme director Dr Shahid Qureshi said a successful entrepreneur one did not necessarily need specialised degrees. The success of the any business depended on an entrepreneurial mind.

He said the programme would be relevant to the spirit of entrepreneurship since it had been formed after in-depth study of successful businesses around the globe.

The trainees will be mentored by specialised faculty of IBA and besides other experts enrolled in the project to help the participants boost their productivity and sales, enter new regional and international markets, identify new profitable opportunities, design effective marketing strategies and develop stronger support networks.

The four-month certificate course blends traditional coursework and experiential and hands-on exercises which have been customised to meet the needs of c.

The subjects include entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial human resources management, communication strategy, entrepreneurial marketing, entrepreneurial accounting and finance, business and legal issues, online marketing, IT and strategic vision management. The programme attendees will also full access to IBA facilities.

The News