Sihala college can finally hire staff
Planning Commission approves PC-4 of college
Planning Commission approves PC-4 of college. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Over a decade after its plans were first presented, the Planning Commission on Monday finally approved the project completion report for the Federal Government Degree College for Boys in Sihala.
The college, which had been operating on staff borrowed from other intuitions for the past eight years, has received the green light to start the process of hiring regular teaching and non-teaching staff.
The Planning Commission approved the PC-4 of Sihala college, recommending that 35 teaching and 30 non-teaching posts should be created for the project. The project will be forwarded to the Finance Ministry for budget allocation.
Work on the college started in January 2007 and it was estimated to cost Rs148.896 million to build over three years. The Punjab Police College also allocated land for building the college and construction began on time in 2007.
But the death of the project contractor and litigation on constructing boundary wall for the college following the illegal occupation of the college’s land by a neighbouring farm-house owner delayed construction of the college by five years and it was finally completed in June 2015.
Despite delays in construction, classes for federal arts, science programmes and a bachelor of arts programmes started in 2009 and students took up space in four classrooms of a local school.
Moreover, the college only employed 13 teachers, of which seven had been borrowed from other colleges to overcome the faculty shortage. Similarly, for meeting administrative demands, only three non-teaching staffers were employed on a regular basis while five were borrowed from sister institutions.
Professor Izharul Hassan Bokhari, the principal of the college, expressed his jubilation over the approval of the PC-4.
“Making the college functional with the existing facilities was a challenging task and the college’s management should be appreciated for undertaking this challenge and making the college functional with limited resources,” Bokhari gushed.
The college is currently affiliated with the Gujrat University. However, Bokhari said that they were working on introducing Bachelors of Studies programmes at the college for the academic year 2017-18 subject to their affiliation with the Quaid-i-Azam University.
Shortages
Though the Sihala degree college got a 16-classroom building in 2015, a number of posts in it remain vacant.
Unfortunately, the story of vacant seats is a common feature in the capital’s colleges where many students continue to suffer from staffing shortages. “If new posts for teachers are created, the issue of teacher shortages in colleges can be resolved and improve the quality of education the balancing the teacher-student ratio,” said a staffer of the college.
Tahir Mahmood, the former president of the Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA), said that the Sihala college was the first degree college in the rural and suburban areas of Islamabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2017.
Over a decade after its plans were first presented, the Planning Commission on Monday finally approved the project completion report for the Federal Government Degree College for Boys in Sihala.
The college, which had been operating on staff borrowed from other intuitions for the past eight years, has received the green light to start the process of hiring regular teaching and non-teaching staff.
The Planning Commission approved the PC-4 of Sihala college, recommending that 35 teaching and 30 non-teaching posts should be created for the project. The project will be forwarded to the Finance Ministry for budget allocation.
Work on the college started in January 2007 and it was estimated to cost Rs148.896 million to build over three years. The Punjab Police College also allocated land for building the college and construction began on time in 2007.
But the death of the project contractor and litigation on constructing boundary wall for the college following the illegal occupation of the college’s land by a neighbouring farm-house owner delayed construction of the college by five years and it was finally completed in June 2015.
Despite delays in construction, classes for federal arts, science programmes and a bachelor of arts programmes started in 2009 and students took up space in four classrooms of a local school.
Moreover, the college only employed 13 teachers, of which seven had been borrowed from other colleges to overcome the faculty shortage. Similarly, for meeting administrative demands, only three non-teaching staffers were employed on a regular basis while five were borrowed from sister institutions.
Professor Izharul Hassan Bokhari, the principal of the college, expressed his jubilation over the approval of the PC-4.
“Making the college functional with the existing facilities was a challenging task and the college’s management should be appreciated for undertaking this challenge and making the college functional with limited resources,” Bokhari gushed.
The college is currently affiliated with the Gujrat University. However, Bokhari said that they were working on introducing Bachelors of Studies programmes at the college for the academic year 2017-18 subject to their affiliation with the Quaid-i-Azam University.
Shortages
Though the Sihala degree college got a 16-classroom building in 2015, a number of posts in it remain vacant.
Unfortunately, the story of vacant seats is a common feature in the capital’s colleges where many students continue to suffer from staffing shortages. “If new posts for teachers are created, the issue of teacher shortages in colleges can be resolved and improve the quality of education the balancing the teacher-student ratio,” said a staffer of the college.
Tahir Mahmood, the former president of the Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA), said that the Sihala college was the first degree college in the rural and suburban areas of Islamabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2017.