Latest news with #DistrictEducationAuthority
Express Tribune
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Schools celebrate Punjab's culture
Punjab Culture Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm in schools and colleges across the Rawalpindi district on Sunday. Many schools presented vibrant scenes of rural life, recreating the essence of Punjab's rural villages and mansions. Students and teachers embraced the day by wearing traditional rural attire. Teachers were dressed in colourful dhotis, long kurtas, and turbans, while also bringing along the cultural specialty of Punjab the hukkah. They lit the hukkah in schools and smoked it gracefully, with some even carrying pipes. Traditional Punjabi delicacies such as green (saag), cornbread, and cold sweet lassi were also served, as teachers sat on mats to enjoy the food together, accompanied by round pillows and colourful village-style beds. Students wore traditional shalwar kameez, kurtas, and khussas, with some tying small turbans on their heads or wearing caps. Female students and teachers adorned colourful braids and traditional attire. Traditional games such as stappo, getian, pithu garam, bandar qila, gulli danda, volleyball, and kok lakh chapaki were enjoyed by the students. Quiz shows, speech competitions, and tableau performances were also part of the day's festivities. Prizes were awarded to outstanding participants. Teachers and school heads delivered lectures on Punjabi culture, and the entire event was conducted in Punjabi. Amanullah, Head of the District Education Authority, emphasised the importance of preserving Punjabi culture, noting that it is essential to promote the use of the mother tongue in homes and public spaces. Presidents of the Educators Association, Akhyan Gul and Basharat Raja, expressed their joy over the success of the day, reflecting on the memories of the past fifty years. A student, Kamil Hassan, shared his excitement about wearing a turban for the first time and playing traditional games, urging the government to promote such games once again in schools.
Express Tribune
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Public schools witness low enrolments
Private schools have once again dominated the admission process for the 2025 academic year. Despite announcements, public schools have yet to begin new admissions, and a large number of parents have already enrolled their children in nearby private schools. Smaller private institutions with fees as low as Rs1,000 have seen an influx of enrolments. Private schools are set to begin their new academic year and classes in the first week of March, while public schools are scheduled to start new classes from April 1, with new admissions beginning in March. Although banners have been put up for new admissions in government schools, the number of enrolments so far has been disappointingly low. Government schools will only begin classes for newly admitted students from April 3, which has led many parents to prefer private schools. Punjab has a total of 42,937 government schools, including 857 higher secondary schools, 8,081 high schools, 7,217 middle schools, and 26,782 primary schools. In Rawalpindi District, the number stands at 1,800. At present, around 12.1 million students are enrolled in government schools, with 700,000 children set to complete their matriculation and intermediate exams by February 28. Private schools in Punjab, numbering around 300,000, cater to nearly 20 million children, while 27 million children in the province are out of school, with many of them being street children. Efforts to bring these children into the education system have largely failed. Last year, the privatisation of government schools and the selling of 5,500 schools, along with teacher strikes and school closures, led to a decrease in student enrolment in public schools. This year, the education department's efforts to increase admissions in public schools appear to be stalling from the outset. Parents typically begin enrolling their children in February, but with the delay in public school admissions, these schools are failing to meet their targets. District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer Amanullah Chhina stated that admissions in government schools have begun, and any student who applies will be admitted. He added that admissions will be conducted in two phases: the first phase will run until May 31, and the second phase will run from August 15 to October 31. Irfan Mazhar Kiani, President of the All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association, shared that private schools are experiencing a surge in admissions, with annual exams already underway and new classes set to begin in March. Muhammad Shafiq Bhalwalia, General Secretary of the Punjab SES Teachers Association, stated that no serious efforts have been made to bring street children into schools, causing their numbers to grow continuously. He warned that without addressing these issues, the number of street children in Punjab could cross 30 million in the next year. He also suggested that all employees and officers from scale 1 to 20 should be made responsible for ensuring children are enrolled in government schools, or else parents will no longer consider enrolling their children in these schools within the next five years.
