Admissions in 50 govt colleges open, no seats for C and D grade students

Punjab education ministry seeks lists of govt schools showing poor results

RAWALPINDI: Colleges have opened for admissions after announcement of matric results in all nine educational boards across Punjab.

However, high merit in up to 50 government colleges has shut doors for students obtaining less than 800 marks.

As many as 50,593 of 91,987 students appearing in Rawalpindi board examinations obtained less numbers than that which is the prerequisite set by renowned government colleges.

The decision by the colleges to enroll students with only top grades has put the future of thousands of students, mostly female students, at stake owing to which they would either be compelled to take admissions in expensive private colleges or they will have to drop out.

Furthermore, every such college, operating with only morning classes, would enroll about 300 to 500 students which is far too less to even accommodate all the student with higher grades.

Underperforming schools targeted

The Punjab Education Ministry has summoned lists of all underperforming schools which have produced zero to 25 per cent results in matric board examinations in Punjab.

A list of all subject teachers deployed in schools across the province has been summoned.

The teachers of schools producing zero percent results would face an inquiry under Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (PEEDA) Act while teachers of schools with less than 25% pass result would be deprived of annual promotion and increments.

The ministry is also seeking to merge all such schools with other nearby schools. However, any final decision in this regard is still awaited.

Rote learning lashed

The position holders of Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education matriculation examination have spoken out against rote learning method and said that students applying the method could only just pass an examination.

Waqas Ahmed, who topped the examination, said that he would continue working hard in the future as well.

A madrasah student, Hafiz Muhammad Najam, said that the current political and education system was eroded.

He added that such a system could only produce clerks not leaders.

Other students who are position holders said that their success was due to the prayers of their parents.

The students expressed that success would never go in vain while hard work was the key to achieving it.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2019.