VCs appointed after over 2 years

LAHORE:

The appointment of the vice chancellors at 20 public sectors universities, outsourcing of government schools and protests over rumours of a rape incident in a college were the most discussed issues in education sector of Punjab in 2024.

The year began with a number of announcements but the caretaker government's term concluded without any major development in the sector.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz promised to boost the education sector in her first speech after coming to power.

However, 2024 proved to. be an average year with respect to the performance of the government in the education sector as a number of serious issues could not be resolved.

The Punjab government also faced criticism during the appointments of VCs of public sector universities.

However, CM Maryam Nawaz successfully after the completed the appointment of the VCs of 20 universities after the issue had remained pending for two and a half years.

The media highlighted reservations expressed by the Punjab governor about the appointment process pursued by the CM secretariat.

Some professors also expressed their concerns when the top candidates for some universities were ignored.

As a result, Punjab government re-advertised the posts of the VCs of four universities.

Clashes between students at the historic Punjab University and the murder of a student on the premises of the institution caused grief among the pupils as well as students.

In another development, around 70 heads of departments were replaced by the new VC of the university.

The most alarming issue during the year was province-wide protests sparked by rumours regarding an alleged rape incident in a private college.

Punjab government was forced to shut the educational institutions to cope with the situation.

A college security guard died and protesters damaged buildings and equipment, resulting in legal action against students.

Several posts of chairpersons of education boards remained vacant I'm addition to those of the principals of around 100 colleges across the province.

The problem of cheating in exams also kept the relevant authorities on their toes.

The Punjab government began giving motorbikes to students on instalments and launched a scholarship programme.

However, the government could not launch the distribution of laptops OMG the students be the end and of the year.

The most contentious issue in the school sector was the reported move to outsource more than 12,000 goverenment schools, triggering protests by teachers in all districts of Punjab.

Around 100,000 posts of schoolteachers are vacant, but the government did not initiate the recruitment process. Upgrade of science and computer labs also lagged behind the need of the time along with the construction of new schools.

Punjab government also started a project to provide meal to schoolchildren and claimed that 70,000 new students had been admitted as its result.

This year too, the educational institutions were closed for several days due to smog.

Ceremonies to honour the top position holders of matric and intermediate exams were another annual feature that continued.