Inquiry against govt officials will have to be decided within 105 days, says Shafqat Mahmood
APP
January 20, 2021
ISLAMABAD:
Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood on Wednesday announced major reforms in Civil Service of Pakistan in order to boost the performance of bureaucracy and state institutions across the country.
Shafqat Mahmood, who is also heading the Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms, said addressing a press conference that besides improving the economic condition, the government has also brought reforms in the civil services. Considering the importance of the matter, the Prime Minister’s Office had been directly involved in the process, as it was top priority of the government, he added.
Pakistan urged to hold transparent education consultation
Rights groups, academics call for a process that encourages feedback from a wide range of people
Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood speaks at President House on Dec. 23 on women s education and the way forward. (Photo: Twitter)
A group of minority rights organizations, academics and educational institutions have delivered a letter to Pakistan’s Education Ministry seeking transparent, inclusive and historically informed consultation about the country’s new education policy.
The letter, addressed to Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on Jan. 18, was written by the Working Group for Inclusive Education and endorsed by representatives of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, the Centre for Social Justice, Pakistan Minorities Teachers Association, Lahore Diocesan Board of Education, Church of Pakistan, The Salvation Army Pakistan and St. Patrick’s College, Karachi.
Students upset as universities move examinations on campus
SAAMA 17 January 2021
SAAMA.
“This is downright unfair,” Huzaifa Rana, a student at the University of Lahore told
SAMAA Digital. “The entire semester, we took classes online and all of a sudden they have decided to call us in. Have they forgotten that we are in the middle of a pandemic where cases are increasing every day?” Rana asked.
When the second wave of the novel coronavirus hit Pakistan, the government closed down educational institutions across the country on 23 November, shifting classes online. On 4 January, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood announced that classes nine to 11 would reopen on 18 January, while universities will reopen from 1 February. On Wednesday 13 January, university students took Twitter by storm and complained that their universities were supposed to take finals online in the last weeks of January but they have now shifted the dates to February.
After an announcement on the resumption of classes at educational institutions in the country made by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood on Friday, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani confirmed later in the day that in-class sessions for grades nine to 12 will resume from January 18