Higher Education department facing shortage of 7,000 lecturers in Punjab: minister

Provincial Higher Education Minister, Syed Raza Ali Gillani has said that the Higher Education department is facing a shortage of 7000 lecturers in different districts of the province. In order to fill these seats without further wastage of time, the chief minister would be requested to make separate arrangements in the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) to deal with education related recruitments.
Moreover, Punjab is also facing a shortage of 5000 PhD teachers. In order to fill the backlog, work on Lahore Knowledge Park project was being done speedily so that Pakistani students could access high quality research and educational facilities at subsidised rates. International universities would also extend their co-operation for providing world-class education in this innovative park which is first of its kind.
Meanwhile, it has also been decided to keep teacher-students ratio at 1:30 in higher education institutions so that teachers could attend to educational needs of every student easily. He was addressing the oath taking ceremony of newly elected office-bearers of Lahore Education Reporters Association (alliance) at the auditorium of Arfa Karim Software Technology Park on Wednesday.
The function was organised in collaboration with Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC), whose chairman Dr M Nizamuddin attended the ceremony as guest of honour. The students of Mass Communication department of a local degree college also attended the ceremony and put up different questions to the minister.
Raza Gillani said that holistic approach has been adopted to develop the overall quality of higher education sector, and added that different projects are underway to improve the capacity building of teachers as well as introduction of research related activities. "I have given 14-point educational roadmap to the public sector universities' vice chancellors to elevate their universities' standards." We want our universities to act as engines of innovation and research in ever-changing era of knowledge economy, he added. He said we have planned to set up faculty development institutions in five major cities of the province, including Lahore.
"I wish that these training institutions should also be set up at the district level so that a continued process of teachers' development is initiated for improving intellectual ken of the faculty members." Chairman PHEC Dr Nizamuddin told the audience that besides establishment of Rasool University of Technology and University of Home Economics, a plan of providing systematic training to twenty thousand teachers has been chalked out. Similarly, 500 faculty members will be provided PhD scholarships through a merit based criterion. Out of these, hundred scholarships will be given this year. He said that 72 community colleges have been planned in different districts of the province from next year. Four community colleges have already been set up to give market based quality education to the students.
He further said that besides providing assistance for holding of 1100 educational conferences/public seminars, PHEC will also give 35 post-doctoral scholarships this year. It is hoped that the PHEC will help to maintain international standards in the higher educational sector. President and general secretary of Lahore Education Reporters Association also spoke on the occasion. Earlier, Raza Gillani took oath from the office-bearers of the association.