Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Prof Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin has said that college education was not up to the mark in the country, as the success rate of students appearing in bachelors’ exams was hardly 30 to 35 percent.  “No country can afford a failure rate as high as 60 percent,” he said while addressing the inaugural session of a five-day training course for 150 principals of public colleges of Punjab at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Tuesday. He said that there was an emphasis on rote learning in our colleges, adding that libraries are kept locked in our institutions or the money is spent on the purchase of irrelevant books. He stressed the need for establishing a teachers training academy on the lines of the Civil Services Academy. Punjab Higher Education Department’s Secretary Irfan Ali on the occasion said that a college is as good as its principal. However, he added, the newly appointed principals lacked knowledge of day-to-day administrative and financial matters and college clerks usually took advantage of this. “They must, therefore, be trained in financial management, audit and governance,” he added. University of Education Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Raufe Azam said that the training of 2,600 newly appointed college teachers had already started, which would be completed before the end of summer vacations. UHS Vice Chancellor Maj Gen (r) Prof Muhammad Aslam and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha also spoke on the occasion.