SGPC to run women’s college
Tribune Reporters

Ludhiana, March 7
“Women are not being given their due place and respect in society and concerted efforts are needed for the emancipation and empowerment of women. The first and foremost step needed in this direction is higher education and economic independence of women,” said SGPC President Kirpal Singh Badungar today during a tour of the educational institutions being run by the SGPC in the Koom Kalan Assembly constituency.

Focussing on the increasing need to educate girls, he said only those subjects should be taught in schools and colleges which had relevance in this technical age. He said the standard of education of women had to be improved. He called for collective action by all sections of society against female infanticide, dowry and use of intoxicants. “One way to save the young generation from most of these evils is to strengthen their bonds with religion and to give them religious education,” he said.

Machhiwara: The Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College for Women, Jhar Sahib, will be run by the SGPC from the academic session 2003-2004. This was announced by SGPC chief Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar at a function at the college on Thursday.

Professor Badungar said the SGPC would prepare a Rs 2-crore project for the construction of the new building of the college. He was on a tour of educational institutions being run by the SGPC. He later visited the Nankana Sahib Public School, Fatehgarh Jattan, where he laid the foundation stone of a new wing of the school and announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh.

Professor Badungar also visited the Nankana Sahib Senior Secondary Public School, Kotgangu Rai, where he accepted the demand of the management for a girls college adjoining the school premises. In his address, he suggested that in girls’ colleges, emphasis must be on job-oriented courses. He said the SGPC would open an institute in Chandigarh to provide coaching for civil services examinations.

Deficit in grant-in-aid hikes dropout rate
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 7
More than 10 per cent students drop out from colleges in the city due to their inability to pay the tuition fees of the colleges. In half an hour this correspondent saw 20 students requesting fee concession with from Ms Harmeet Kaur, Principal, Ramgarhia College, Miller Ganj, here.

Mrs Harmeet said, ‘‘The total grant allocation is Rs 37. 35 lakh’’. As many as 280 students have applied for fee remission, said the principal.

The sources said that fee remission further compounded the financial problems of the colleges. The government was to grant 95 per cent funds under grant-in-aid scheme. But it had backed out on that with the result that the teachers were not even being paid salaries.

She said,‘‘ We have to keep seeking donations and sometimes raise tuition fees to meet the rising expenditures. It has become vicious circle. On one hand, we want the students to continue their education but due to apathy of the government the colleges face financial crunch and the fees have to be raised. But what other options are there,” she added.

Help from corporate houses and good Samaritans eases the financial crunch marginally, said Mrs Harmeet Kaur. She said there were certain people who believed in true charity and never disclosed their names.

Paper not from syllabus
Our Correspondent

Sahnewal, March 7
The computer exam of Class X held on Wednesday by Punjab School Education Board was not in accordance with the book prescribed by the board, according to the Principal of Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School, Doraha.

The Principal said, “A few questions were out of syllabus and the rest were not from the book. Questions regarding STR and MID$ function were not in the syllabus. The question paper was also not according to the pattern set by the board as there was no internal choice in five marks questions.”

According to a lecturer of a post-graduate computer science college, affiliated to the PTU, who said the paper should have been for undergraduate classes and not for metric class. These marks are going to be added with that of other subjects.