Why appoint PhDs as administrators?

Lahore: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif recently lamented the lack of research at institutes of higher learning, expressing dissatisfaction over the low number of PhD teachers at the Punjab University.

Giving a proof as to how importanta PhD teacher was for the government, he even announced "If the PU succeeds in getting PhD faculty members' ratio from 35 to 100 percent in coming five-years, the government will provide Rs 100 millions annually to the varsity."

Seen in this context, the appointment of PhD degree holders on various administrative posts by the Punjab government is certainly no less than enigma.

At present, various administrative posts, including those at different educational boards, other autonomous bodies and different wings of education department have been occupied by PhD degree holders. The colleges are no exception as most of these are being headed by PhD teachers.

A few examples of PhD degree holders serving on administrative posts include Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore Chairman Prof Dr Akram Kashmiri, Additional DPI College Dr Tariq Jaleel, Director Colleges Faisalabad Division Dr Farkhand Shakeel, Dr Asghar Chaudhry, the principal of the Government College of Science Wahdat Road, Dr Zulfiqar Ali Rana, the principal of the Government College for Boys Gulberg and Dr Kaleem Ahmed Sipra, the principal of Government Dyal Singh College and many more.

The stakeholders are of the view that PhD degree holders serving on administrative posts are 'wasting' the resources the government had spent on them in term of provision of opportunities of higher learning. "The situation becomes worse if a foreign qualified teacher is posted against an administrative position," they remark.

A college teacher requesting anonymity said: "Administration is undoubtedly different from teaching and one having administrative responsibilities cannot return to teaching in the true sense." He said besides PhD allowance, one appointed on administrative post also received a lucrative salary package. "In this situation, everyone prefers to be part of administration and avoid his/her real job of teaching and research," he said.

There is also another argument in favour of posting PhD college teacher on administrative posts. A group believes that owing to lack of facilities almost no research work is being done at colleges. "Our colleges are devoid of research culture," remarked another teacher. He, however, said PhD faculty members at colleges could be of great help for students by training them about research. "What is use of PhD degree holders if such people are neither teaching nor engaged in research related activities," he questioned.

Academic circles are of the view that the government should form a policy in this regard so that maximum benefit could be achieved from PhD degree holders.

The Higher Education Commission has declared that Dr Farah Malik of Psychology Department, Government College University (GCU) Lahore would receive the Award for the Best University Teacher of year 2008.
She will be presented a certificate and cash prize of Rs 100,000 on the occasion. GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Aftab has commended Dr Farah Malik for achieving the award and has hoped that she would continue enhancing her academic and research activities in the realm of Psychology in future as well. -lachvee@gmail.com (The News)

Punjab University BA/BSc registration 2010

BA/BSc registration
Lahore, July 20: The Punjab University (PU) on Sunday said July 31 was the last date for registration of private candidates for the BA/BSc Annual Examination, 2010, with double fee, Rs 3,200. In a press statement, a PU spokesman said the candidates must write their addresses on the forms instead of addresses of their private colleges, academies or any friend/relative, otherwise, the forms would be rejected.

Karachi University Testing Service

KU to start testing service
Karachi, July 20: The University of Karachi's academic council in a meeting held on Saturday unanimously decided that a fully-fledged testing service would be set up, which would cater for the needs of other educational institutions and would also provide them with assistance.

The decision was taken against the backdrop of an admission test fiasco witnessed last year in the university. The poorly organised exercise caused a lot of problems for applicants – many of whom ended up paying double fees. The university had hired a private organisation to conduct admission tests for the MS/PhD programmes.

According to a KU academic council decision, a committee, headed by Prof (Dr) Aqil Burney, chairman of the computer science department, has been formed to look into the matter and explore possibilities for the new testing service.

The meeting also rejected the cases of two students of the Government College of Home Economics and declared the students ineligible for admission.

The meeting also decided that online degrees would only be accepted in cases where they have been issued by public sector institutions which meet the criteria set by KU.

According to sources, members of the academic council also criticised the former pro-vice chancellor, Prof Dr Ikhlaq Ahmed, who had condoned the two students' cases in his capacity as acting vice-chancellor at a time when the VC was on leave. The cases had been rejected by the vice-chancellor before he left abroad some time ago.

The council members said the pro-vice chancellor, now retired, had no authority to make such a decision on behalf of the statutory body.

It may be mentioned here that the College of Home Economics runs a four-year Bachelor of Studies (BS) programme.

According to the criteria set by the college's board and approved by the academic council of the university, students who have done their Intermediate with home economics subjects are required to have at least 50 per cent marks while students from other educational backgrounds need to have at least 60 per cent marks to get admission to the college.

This year, however, two students, who allegedly did not meet the admission criteria, were given admission to the college.

Their cases were first sent to the vice-chancellor, who rejected them. Later, the dean, faculty of science, was approached, who referred their cases to the affiliation committee.

The committee in its report stated that the criteria was set by the college itself and if any change in the rules was needed, then amendments must be approved through a proper channel and could only be implemented next year.

The academic council, in its unanimous resolution, stated that the two students did not meet the eligibility criteria and, therefore, their admissions stood cancelled. A warning letter would be sent to the principal of the college for violating the rules and regulations, the meeting decided. The minutes of the last meeting of the Board of Faculty of Islamic Learning were also approved after a long debate.

Prof Jalaluddin Noori, who has been suspended for alleged plagiarism, had chaired the last board meeting.

The meeting of the academic council was attended by Vice-Chancellor Prof Pirzada Qasim, chairpersons of the departments and directors of the institutes. Dawn

Fashion & Textile students display exquisite artwork

Islamabad: Dazzling outfits and house decor accessories presenting a unique amalgamation of traditional craft and trendy cuts attracted a large number of visitors to a fashion and textile exhibition held here on Saturday.

Iqra University's Department of Art & Design conducted a two-day exhibition that displayed modern as well as trendy handmade decorative items in exotic colour combinations along with amazing embellishments, prepared by more than 100 students of Textile and Fashion, individually and in groups.

Mariam Zafar, a student of Textile Designing who had on display her superb screen painting work, said that the exhibition is one of the best opportunities to project the students' artwork.

Mariam said people generally are not aware of the sophistication offered in shape of exquisite hand work in this era of machines but such exhibitions help create awareness among the masses to appreciate hand work.

Mariam Mehdi, a student of the University's Fashion Department, while referring to the trendy dresses put on show, said the students take inspiration from different themes in order to come up with formal, semi formal and cocktail dresses. "Each and every step including pattern making, sewing and illustrations are conducted by the students themselves," she said.

Faculty member of the Fashion and Textile Department Muneeza Ahmed apprised that conducting such exhibitions is a regular feature of their department to appreciate and encourage the students. "Every year, we arrange this exhibition where students in groups or individually work on some exclusive project, which is displayed for sale at the exhibition," she said.

AAUR student Murder case at university cafeteria

AAUR student 'murdered, not killed by muggers'
Rawalpindi, July 19: The episode of mobile snatching incident in which a student of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agricultural University, Rawalpindi, was killed on Friday night turned out to be a case of murder, when a number of students revealed that some students gunned the BSc (Honours) student minutes after a scuffle at the university cafeteria.

On Saturday morning, a group of university students, with the impression that Mohammad Shahzad shot dead when he offered resistance to the muggers snatching his mobile phone near Shamsabad Chowk staged a protest demonstration outside the university premises.

Muhammad Javed Iqbal, son of Abdul Hafiz, a resident of Iftikhar Colony, Ward-6, Nankana Road, Shah Kot, Nankana, lodged a complaint with the New Town Police Station saying that his younger brother Muhammad Shahzad was a student of BSc (Honours) at the Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agricultural University. He said that Rana Safdar, son of Rana Amir, a fellow student of Mohammad Shahzad, told him that he had dinner with Shahzad and Usman on Friday night and later Usman took Shahzad out of the cafeteria at about 10 p.m. "I was told that two bike-riding men gunned Shahzad down in the presence of Usman and fled away."

However, City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi Rao Iqbal said, "It is a clear-cut murder case and not a mobile snatching incident that took the life of Mohammad Shahzad." He said that the investigators have collected the evidences and recorded the statements of eyewitnesses, describing it as murder. He said that the police have registered the case against the assailants on the complaint of victim's brother.

The CPO said that Usman and one of the other students were missing and the police were trying to trace them out, adding that Usman was the prime accused who disappeared soon after the occurrence.

Responding to a question, Rao Iqbal said that dozens of former students of Quaid-i-Azam University and Arid Agriculture University, who were rusticated from their institutions for their involvements in illegal activities, gathered in front of the university on Saturday and created law and order situation.

He said that the police resorted to baton-charge and hurled teargas shells to disperse the protesters, but the angry protestors suspended the traffic by burning tyres. The police, later, arrested 20 agitators and booked them under sections 427/186/353/149/148/341 and 337-H2.

Meanwhile, heavy contingents of police have cordoned off the university premises after searching the hostels while different police parties have been sent to hunt down the prime accused, Usman and his friend. The News

AAUR reopens tomorrow
Rawalpindi: Pir Mehr Ali Shah-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) will reopen on Monday after remaining closed following murder of a student in a mobile snatching attempt on Friday, said the university spokesperson. The murder ignited a protest by students, prompting the university administration to cancel examinations. He said the situation had come to normalcy and examinations would be resumed on Monday. He appealed to the students to stay calm. Daily Times

11 employees of educational department arrested

Security forces have taken into custody11 employees of education department for their alleged support for Taliban.

According to education department official sources security force arrested 11 employees of education department on Saturday, in order to interrogate them for their alleged collaboration with the Taliban.

Sources underlined that these people had been arrested because they had close ties with Taliban and often interchanged secret information, which created problems for security forces operations.

While education department and provincial government has showed their unawareness of the matter.

Islamabad: Students get tips for seeking job

Experts at a seminar urged the students to never give up and remain consistent while seeking a job until success.

The seminar, which was attended by a large number of female job seekers, was held at the sideline of second day of the Job Fair 2009 here on Wednesday.

They said that the average ratiofor getting a call from an organisation you applied for a job was 10:1, which means that a candidate has to apply in dozens of organisations to get a required job.

The speakers on the occasion described various job-seeking tips to the students and said that each and every aspect starting from the application till the interview must be handled skilfully.

They said that one of the frustrating part of the job search was locating job openings.

“Everyone should have yellow pages which provide detailed information regarding the number and addresses of the offices in the city,” said Faculty of Management Sciences Assistant Professor Shoaib Bin Naeem.

Naeem also suggested that some leading newspapers including ‘The News’ and ‘Jang’ could be lot more helpful in finding job openings. “A person seeking job must have these newspapers on Sunday in order to get the useful information regarding various vacancies,” he said.

He also pointed out the common mistake made by the applicants when they make similar job letter for every vacancy. “The job in which one is interested must be specified in the subject,” Naeem said.

He further advised that a considerable information regarding company must be included in the application as it shows the interest of the applicant in the respective organisation.

“The HR should have an impression as if you are really interested to work in that particular organisation,” he said.

Shifa International HR Manager Ehsan-ul-Haq urged students to be prepared about the various questions that they were expecting during the interview. “One should not mention ones weaknesses in a straightforward manner rather present ones weaknesses as strength,” he said.

Saadia Malik, a manager HR, stressed for the grooming of the applicants as far as their personal appearance was concerned. “The HR manager selects or rejects an applicant in the first 10 seconds on the basis of his personal appearance and manners,” she said.

She suggested various tips regarding the dressing, accessories and makeup of the applicant when called for interview. “One should wear a sober dress with light make up and jewellery,” she said.

Addressing on the occasion Numeratics Managing Director Owaise Anjum said that there were few technicalities involved in filling the job application, which include the proper full name, all dates of employments, all experiences and proper reference. “If there is a blank for salary desired, try to give a salary range or state ‘open’ or ‘negotiable’,” he said.

While describing the various don’t he said that never misspell words, do not omit signature, do not ever be negative and do not make your application a challenge to read.

He said that there are some common questions, which are usually asked by the interviews so a candidate must be prepared to answer them. He said that the most asked questions include the question regarding your strength and weaknesses, your personality, goals and requirements.

Courtesy: The News

BISE Peshawar Intermediate result

BISE Peshawar Intermediate result on 22
Peshawar, July 17: The result of the intermediate

annual examination held on April 28, 2009 under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Peshawar, will be announced on July 22 at 7.00 p.m.

The announcement in this connection was made by Controller of Examination BISE Peshawar Professor Nasir Ali here on Thursday.

According to him, the copies of the gazette book can be collected from BISE office or camp officer while paying Rs. 1200/-.

The private candidates should obtain their DMCs from the following camp offices. Government Centennial Model School No.2 Peshawar City, Government Higher Secondary School No.2 Peshawar Cantt, Government Higher Secondary School No.1 Charsadda, Government Higher Secondary School Shabqadar Fort, Government Centennial Model School Chitral. App

KU LLM exams from 25th

Karachi: Universityof Karachi (KU) has
notified to all the students of Law colleges that the annual examination -2009 of LLM (Final & Previous) will commence from July 25. The candidates can collect their Admit Cards and Examination Programme from their respective colleges.

Farah Dogar case: FBISE employees to face the music

Islamabad: In another move that might
lead to friction if not confrontation between the parliament and the judiciary, a parliamentary committee has decided to punish some government officials for a wrong that a high court had already absolved them of.

Despite Islamabad High Court's ruling in favour of Farah Hamid Dogar, daughter of former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, justifying jacking up of her marks by the federal board, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education has decided to punish board employees who were involved in the controversial action.

An unprecedented increase of 20 marks in intermediate examination of Ms Dogar during rechecking of her answer books had made headlines early this year. The issue remained under limelight until Islamabad High Court decided in favour of Ms Dogar.

In its order, the court also directed board officials to change its rules to provide a procedure for re-evaluation of the answer books.

However, seemingly asserting its supremacy over the high court, the NA standing committee on education headed by PML (N) Ch Abid Sher Ali kept on probing the issue and directed education ministry to investigate whether rules were followed in re-awarding of marks to Ms Dogar.

Federal Secretary of education on Thursday informed the standing committee that former chairman of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education was responsible of ordering re-assessment of Ms Dogar's answer sheets that was not allowed under board rules.

On receiving the report, the committee has constituted a five member sub-committee headed by MNA Rana Afzaal Hussain to further probe into inquiry report of the education ministry and recommend punishments for board officials including its ex-chairman. Ch Abid Sher Ali chaired the meeting.

Mr Sher Ali defied the court ruling, saying, "the committee has never accepted court decision which was made with mala-fide intent, and would go ahead with its constitutional role and ensure the culprits are punished."

When asked once the issue had been settled in the court of law, how could NA committee recommend punishments for board employees, he contended that the committee had the right to do so.

"The decision by the Islamabad High Court was made under the influence of the then Chief Justice of Supreme Court, Justice Abdul Hamid Dogar, a PCO judge, hence, it does not carry any validity with me," Mr Abid Sher Ali responded a query.

What to talk about relaxing reassessment of answer sheets rules, education ministry in its report has recommended making them more strict, Chairman NA committee said in response to another question. Dawn

Punjab University PhD theses

Lahore: A meeting of Punjab University
Advance Studies and Research Board (AS&RB) on Thursday approved 10 PhD synopses, eight reports on PhD theses and three panels of examiners for PhD theses review. A press said the meeting chaired by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran solved the cases of PhD scholars sent for review to the board by PU departments, institutes, colleges and schools. Extension was given to 37 cases while four miscellaneous cases were also discussed.

Karachi SSC results, Girls Outshine Boys

Girls outshine boys in SSC (Science) Exams
Karachi, July 16: Girls outclassed boys in the Secondary School Certificate (Science) annual examinations (2009) by

securing 8,257 A-1 grades as compared to 4,800 A-Is obtained by boys, though 16,718 more boys than girls sat the exams.

In all, 115,722 candidates (66,220 boys and 49,502 girls) appeared in the exam and of them, 81,066 (43,898 boys and 37,168 girls) were declared passed in different grades.

The results declared on Wednesday by the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) showed that the overall pass percentage dropped this year by 6.94 as it stood at 70.05 percentage points than last year's 76.99.

According to the statistics, the pass percentage of girl students was 75.08 and those of boys 66.29.

The girls also maintained their supremacy in the merit list of the examination as they clinched all the first three positions, although the second position was shared by a boy and a girl.

Sobia Azfer, daughter of Syed Azfer Ahmed (Roll No 501960), topped the examination by securing 798 of the 850 marks (93.88 per cent). She belonged to the Programmer Secondary School, Sector 11-B, North Karachi.

The second position was shared by Shahzaib Khan, son of Shariq Nadeem (Roll No 418307), and Komal Wakeel, daughter of Abdul Wakeel (Roll No 505983), as both of them got 787 marks (92.59pc). They belonged to the SM Public Academy Campus-5 (Secondary), Gulistan-i-Jauhar and the Little Folks School, North Nazimabad Block F, respectively.

The third position was bagged by Afshar Qadri, daughter of Zafar Ahmed Qadri (Roll No 534769). She secured 786 marks (92.47 pc) and belonged to the BMB Toddlers Girls Secondary School, Frere Road.

Of the total 81,066 successful candidates, 13,057 candidates (4,800 – 7.25pc boys and 8,257 – 16.68pc girls) secured A-1 grade; 23,309 candidates – 20.14pc (1,1627 -- 17.56pc boys and 1,1682 – 23.60pc girls) obtained A grade; 23,272 – 20.11pc (1,3261 – 20.03pc boys and 10,011 -- 20.22pc girls) secured B grade; 16,424 – 14.19pc (10,392 – 15.69pc boys and 6,032 – 12.19pc girls) got C grade; 4,909 – 4.24pc (3,732 – 5.64pc boys and 1,177 – 2.38pc girls) secured D grade while 95 candidates – 0.08pc (86 – 0.13pc boys and nine – 0.02pc girls) were placed in E grade.

Deadline met

The BSEK by declaring the results on July 15 met the deadline fixed by the steering committee of the Sindh education department for announcing the results of SSC annual examinations. Last year's examination results of the same group were announced on July 31, 2008.

50 approved for award of PhD, MPhil degrees

Karachi: The Board of Advanced Studies and Research of Karachi University in a meeting chaired by Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui approved award of 26 PhD and 24 MPhil degrees to candidates in

HEC website 'misleading' | Scholarship policies

HEC website is creating confusion
Islamabad, July 16: After a meeting of some

Quaid-i-Azam University faculty members with the chairperson of Higher Education Commission, the HEC incorporated some of the demands relaxing categories of HEC-approved journals for another year, but the bureaucracy did it in its own style on the HEC website.

The mishandling of the website by an institution supervising higher education in the country is creating confusion among faculty members. Selections, appointments and promotions of the faculty depend upon the HEC guidelines and this state of affairs would result in utter confusion and frustration among teachers.

According to the HEC website accessed last weekend, the site titled 'Mechanism for Classification of HEC-recognised Journals,' says that it applies on all W, X and Y categories of science journals which are acceptable until June 30, 2010. But on another page for Y category, the year was still being shown as 2009. Not only that, on another page, even X-category is mentioned as acceptable only up to June 30, 2009. Do Y and X categories for science journals are allowed till 2009 or 2010 is anybody's guess?

On a page for 'HEC-recognised Social Science Journals for W, X, Y, Z Categories,' it is stated that W, X and Y are 'acceptable for Tenure Track System up to June 30, 2010'. But this page carries a note at the bottom that only W and X will be acceptable for TTS after June 30, 2009, thereby eliminating the Y category. It will affect social science candidates in a big way as the majority of social science professors and associate professors at the moment is on TTS because of Y category journals.

On a page on multidisciplinary science journals recognised by the HEC as belonging to category 'Z' are 'Pakistan Journal of Science' and 'Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Science' which are labelled as Y and X respectively. It is interesting to note that the latter journal, already indicated as X, according to a list of journals under consideration for upgradation has applied for upgradation from Z to Y category. Which of the three categories for the journal is correct?

Last but not the least, the phone number of Hakim Ali Talpur, Assistant Director, Quality Assurance, mentioned at the website for seeking guidance for any problem turned out to be an invalid one.

Mr Talpur after repeated attempts was finally available for comments on Tuesday on another phone number. He said "Extension of index date by one year is the most recent development and two or three sections of IT work on upgrading the website. Some have done their work while others have yet to do, hence the contradictions." He added that he was thankful for pointing out mistakes and the matter would stand corrected soon. About his phone number, he said that the page contained the old number which was no longer in use and "we will also place the new number on the website."

Toppers prefer MCQs, objective questions

Karachi: Top position-holders of this year's
Secondary School Certificate (Science) examinations said here on Wednesday that the atmosphere at the examination centres was not congenial as they perspired profusely because of frequent power breakdowns.

"Though we didn't allow the frequent load-shedding to affect our performance in the examinations, we certainly felt uncomfortable while solving papers with sweating hands," they remarked.

All the top position-holders were speaking at a ceremony held in their honour at the Sindh Boy Scouts Headquarters on Wednesday. Karachi University's registrar Prof Rais Alvi presided over the function, where provincial director (literacy) Abdul Wahab Abbasi was the guest of honour.

Sobia Azfer, who topped the examination, said most ills of society could be cured by spreading education in every nook and cranny of the country, adding that by raising the rate of literacy, the nation could overcome a number of problems being currently faced by it.

Replying to a question, she said there was nothing wrong in taking tuitions because by doing so one got additional knowledge of the subject.

Sobia, who intends to become a doctor, said it was for the first time that her school had bagged the first position in the examination.

Both Shahzaib Khan and Komal Wakeel, who shared the second position, said that if the authorities concerned were serious in raising the standard of education, the question papers must contain maximum multiple choice questions (MCQs) instead of questions requiring lengthy descriptive answers.

When asked why boys lagged behind girls in examinations, Komal said probably they were perturbed by the worsening law and order situation in the country.

When the same question was put to Shahzaib, he said boys were unable to concentrate on their studies probably because they took too much interest in movies, the internet and chatting on the phone and the net.

Both second position-holders intend to pursue a career in engineering.

The third position holder, Afshar Qadri, said girls passed their examinations with flying colours because they were more conscious about their studies than boys.

Afshar, who also intends to become a doctor, stressed the need for including more and more objective-type questions in the examinations.

At the outset, all the toppers gave the credit for their grand success to their teachers and parents. Earlier, Prof Alvi and Wahab Abbasi felicitated the top position-holders, their parents and teachers and wished them more success in the future. Dawn

Punjab University BA/BSc result: Only 28 percent pass

Only 28 percent pass annual examination: Girls outshine boys in BA/BSc exams
Lahore, July 16: Girls outperformed boys in

Punjab University (PU)'s BA/ BSc Annual Examination 2009 and were awarded all the top positions in Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BSc).

A ceremony was held at Faisal Auditorium, New Campus to announce the results and to distribute prizes among the position holders. Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif was the chief guest.

No boy was among the students awarded top positions. 27.73 percent of the students passed the exams compared to 26.68 percent last year. 183,350 students appeared in the exams from across Punjab and 50,849 students passed.

Amna Riaz from Punjab College for Women Civil Lines, Gujranwala was awarded overall first position in the BSc examination, scoring 696 marks out of 800. Daniah Tahir of Federal Government College for Women, Islamabad won the second position in BSc by scoring 663 marks. Musavarah Sarwar from the Punjab College for Women Civil Lines, Gujranwala got the third position in BSc by scoring 656 marks.

Umme Habiba, a private candidate from Shahdara Town, Lahore was awarded the first position in BA with 673 marks out of 800. Asia Ashraf, another private candidate from Sheikhupura district won the second position in BA with 650 marks. Saira Laique, another private candidate from Shahdara, Lahore was third with 646 marks.

The girls' passing percentage remained 32.38. 63,812 male students appeared in the examination. Only 12, 135 were declared successful, with the pass percentage at 19.01 percent.

Position holders rewarded: PU awarded Rs 0.1 million each to first position holders, Rs 75,000 each to second position holders and Rs 65,000 each to third position holders in the BA/BSc Annual Examination 2009.

Amna Riaz (First Position in BSc) said she was happy with her success, adding that it was a dream come true. She said she aimed to complete MSc and then wanted to play a role in Pakistan's improvement. She addressed the students saying, "Time is money. Students should just focus on their studies."

Daniah Tahir (Second Position in BSc) said she planned to complete MSc Mathematics. She expressed dissatisfaction regarding the severe load shedding in Pakistan which troubled students during study hours. She said she studied on a daily basis to be a high achiever.

Umme Habiba (First Position in BA), a private candidate, said she studied seven hours daily to be a high achiever. She said she would give the prize money to her parents. She said she wanted to complete an MBA from LUMS. She said if a student worked hard, she could achieve her goal without attending college.

Aasia Ashraf (Second Position in BA) said she was not satisfied with Pakistan's current educational system. She said politics affected the education system and needed improvement to give people a fair chance at quality education. Ashraf said she wanted to complete an MBA from LUMS. She said her hobby was reading books. Daily Times