Pakistan Education Network

Thousands of students in England are still facing delays to loans and grants weeks after the start of term, according to the latest figures.

According to the Student Loans Company there were 132,000 “applicants who have not received first maintenance payment after approval” on October 25th.

This total will include applicants who failed to take places – but at least 60,000 are still being processed.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson criticised the delays on Tuesday.

The loans company had assured students that all payments would be processed by the end October – and the next update on figures next week will show whether this has been achieved.

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Popularity: 31% [?]

Travel agents tempt students seeking UK visas
Lahore, Oct 25: Following the recent relaxation in the UK’s rules for issuing student visas, “travel agents” have started advertising their services to attract students wishing to obtain visas, while a British High Commission (BHC) spokesman has said it is working closely with Pakistani officials to address migration/visa-related issues.

“Travel agents” throughout the city have displayed banners and posters at prominent places to attract students seeking visas. These agents, claiming 100 percent success rate, offer to help the students obtain all the documents required for a visa in exchange for an exorbitant commission. They claim the students do not need to sit the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to obtain a visa and maintain that age is not an issue. Some agents even claim they would arrange every single required document for a fee of Rs 40,000 to 50,000, while others claim they have contacts in the British embassy that will guarantee a visa.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

Education is must for elected officials
Peshawar: According to a Gilani Research Foundation survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, majority of all Pakistanis believe education is extremely important for elected officials and that people without proper education should not hold public office; 70% of all respondents claimed that the government is doing wrong by eliminating the requirement for a Bachelor’s degree for people running in the election, 29% favour the decision and 1% gave no response.

In response to another question, 48% said both good education and relevant experience is necessary to be in the government, 34% said only good education matters, 17% believe only relevant experience counts and 1% gave no response. A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the country were asked “Recently, government has decided to withdraw the requirement to have a bachelor’s degree for participating in the elections.

In your view is this decision right or wrong?” Twenty nine percent (29%) think it is the right decision, where as 70% believe otherwise. One percent (1%) of the respondents gave no response. It is notable that a slightly higher percentage of urbanites (31%) as compared to their rural counterparts (28%) are in the favour of this decision.

In a follow up question the respondents were asked “In your view, in order to run good government is it more important to have good education, relevant experience, or both education and experience?” Thirty four percent (34%) prefer highly educated people to be elected in the government, 17% said relevant experience matters the most, whereas 48% believe both good education and experience count. One percent (1%) of the respondents gave no response. The findings reveal that a proportionately higher percentage of ruralites believe being highly educated (36%) and having relevant experience (`8%) is more important to run the government where as a higher percentage of urbanites believe it’s a combination of both good education and relevant experience which counts.

A significantly higher percentage of ANP voters (81%) think both education and experience are important. The study was released by Gilani foundation and carried out by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International. The latest survey was carried out among a sample of 2765 men and women in rural and urban areas of all four provinces of the country. F.P. Report

Popularity: 9% [?]

HEC effort under Dr Atta-ur-Rehman was not convincing
Islamabad, Aug 19: Dr Muhammad Waseem from Lahore University of Management Sciences has said that Higher Education Commission (HEC) is promoting quantity at the cost of quality.

Dr Waseem was addressing the 3-day “Teaching and research methodology skills workshop for teaching faculty and PhD students”, hosted by Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, in collaboration with Higher Education Commission that concluded here Tuesday. (more…)

Popularity: 47% [?]