A decision to this effect was taken by senior Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, in the light of a proposal of Sindh director-general (colleges) Prof Nasir Ansar.
It was proposed that since female students were reluctant to get admission to the Government Girls College Nanakwara owing to its location on a congested street behind the Light House Cinema where a large number of hawkers often remain present, the few students currently enrolled there should be given an option to get themselves transferred to nearby colleges and the college building could be used for opening a professional college to introduce BBA, BCS and MBA classes.
A spokesperson for the director-general of colleges, Prof Mohammad Afzal, told Dawn that with the approval of the proposal, all the female students of the Govt Girls College Nanakwara would be given an option to get themselves transferred to any of the four colleges: Govt Karachi College for Women; Govt Girls College, Kharadar; Govt Women College, Frere Road; SMB Fatmia College, Nishtar Road.
These four girls` colleges are said to be located within one-and-a-half kilometre radius of the Govt Girls College Nanakwara. He said that the strength of all the first and second year students currently enrolled at the college was not more than 70.
The spokesperson said that the building of the college following the transfer of its students to other nearby colleges might be used for opening a professional college to impart education in job-oriented subjects and an exercise in this regard was currently under way.
Gulshan college bifurcation
The director-general (colleges) also proposed the bifurcation of the Government Girls and Boys College Block 7 Gulshan-i-Iqbal into two separate boys and girls colleges.
The proposal was being actively considered by the provincial education department in view of an increasing number of complaints that female students of the college were often harassed by their male counterparts.
Sources in the directorate-general (colleges) were of the view that the education department would shortly approve the proposal of the bifurcation of the college into two separate boys and girls colleges.
The sources said that once the proposal was approved, the SNE (sanctioned new establishment) of the Govt Girls College Nanakwara would be transferred to the Gulshan`s Govt Girls and Boys College after its bifurcation into two colleges to meet requirement of teachers at both the colleges.
ADE admissions to 12 colleges from Dec 10
The admissions to the recently-introduced two-year Associate Degree in Education (ADE) programme for the academic session 2012-13 will begin on Dec 10 at 12 government elementary colleges of education across Sindh, simultaneously, with the availability of admissions forms at these colleges.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved the two-year ADE programme which will replace the decades-old Primary Certificate in Teaching (PCT) and Certificate in Teaching (CT) programmes.
The ADE has been launched by the Sindh education department in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Pre-Service Teacher Education Programme (Pre-STEP).
Senior Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq told Dawn that initially 520 students would be given admissions to the ADE programme in all the 12 elementary colleges of the province and the USAID/Pre-STEP and CIDA Debt-Swap Programme funded scholarships would be awarded to the students fulfilling the criterion of ADE scholarship policy of the Sindh education department.
Moreover, all those who would have the Associate Degree in Education would be given a priority in teaching jobs in the public sector schools of the province, the minister added.
Officials said that students seeking admission to the ADE programme could obtain admission forms, each costing Rs200, from the colleges of their respective cities from Dec 10 and submit the same at the same institutions before Dec 28.
The merit list of successful candidates would be issued on Jan 10, the officials said, adding that classes of the fresh entrants would start on Dec 16 in all the 12 colleges selected for the ADE programme.
The sources said that only those candidates who had obtained 50 per cent marks in their Higher Secondary School Certificate or equivalent examinations and possessed Sindh domicile/Permanent Residence Certificate would be eligible to apply for admissions to the ADE programme, besides the maximum age of the candidates should not be more than 24 years on the last date fixed for submitting admission forms.
