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BY STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: A private member resolution demanding a permanent ban on DJ, dance parties and musical nights in all educational institutions across the province was passed by the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday.

The resolution presented by Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Sheikh Ijaz Ahmed of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was unanimously passed against “DJ Nights” in education institutes.

“It is a conspiracy to promote the western culture that is spoiling our students in educational institutions and is also against our own culture and the ideology of Pakistan,” he said in his resolution.

Demanding a ban on such activities, the resolution added that the youth should be rescued from immorality over which the education authorities were silent.

Source : pakistantoday.com | Marh 14,2018

Jeans, mobile phones banned in schools
across Punjab

Cell phones, jeans banned for Punjab teachers

LAHORE - Authorities have imposed a ban on teachers wearing jeans and using mobile phones in classrooms across Punjab.

The District Education Authority has issued new rules and regulations for school heads and staff. It has been made mandatory for Grade IV employees to wear black dress on duty. Every classroom must have a dust bin.

Moreover, schoolteachers won’t be allowed to write a letter to any authority. Teachers will be allowed to go to pilgrimage only during holidays. School heads not complying with these rules and regulations will face strict action.

Also, the education authority has said no child will sit on the ground. The school head cannot suspend a grade four employee.

A few days earlier, the Punjab School Education Department (PSED) had placed a ban on dance performances by students in all private and government schools in the province.

The ban extends to performances on occasions of prize distribution, parents' day, teachers' day and other events, PSED Chief Executive Officer Zahid Bashir Goraya had told a news outlet. He added that the education department would suspend the license of any school that allows or forces children to dance at any school event.

Goraya said that the decision was taken after the department received complaints that children were being made to dance on Pakistani and Indian songs at school events.

In light of the recent increase in the reports of sexual abuse of children, some critics are of the opinion that making kids dance leads to their sexualisation.

An attempt to ban dance performances and classes was also made in Sindh in 2016, when one of the three Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers in the 168-strong Sindh Assembly, Khurrum Sher Zaman, allegedly objected to the inclusion of dance classes in some private schools and wrote to the provincial education minister to take “appropriate action”.

However, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had ordered the withdrawal of any such notification, saying that the provincial government believes in preserving and promoting culture and heritage as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.

"Action is being taken against any notification issued to ban dance in schools and those responsible will be taken to task," Shah had said.

Source : The Nation | March 13, 2018

Punjab dance ban

Editorial DAWN.COM

THE project of dismantling arts and culture by a 1,000 cuts continues this week in the form of a ban on dance announced by the Punjab School Education Department.

When a similar attempt was floated in Sindh in 2016, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah reacted swiftly to quash it. The provincial government, he said, believed in preserving and promoting culture. “It will not be dictated [to] by isolated extremist elements and will not allow its progressive agenda to be hijacked at any cost. Dance and music are integral parts of a liberal society.”

Over the decades, similar attempts to narrowly redefine our identity have been made. None have fully succeeded because, inevitably, we show our true stripes: diverse, tolerant and defiantly joyous. This is reflected in our shared kinetic energy, whether through the boisterous bhangra, the elegant Kathak or the transcendental Sufi raqs. Yet, each time, the habitually out-of-step fringe concocts a new straw man, such as the selective fear of ‘alien culture’, to exploit society’s existential anxieties.

While not explicitly stated, it seems that the proscription du jour is a cynical, misguided appropriation of a pressing issue, recently foregrounded by the rape-murder of little Zainab and all the abuse allegations that have since followed: how do we keep our children safe?

As is regrettably the case with systemic violence, a particularly unproductive response emerges. Sexual abuse, it is argued, is something that can be rationalised and avoided provided a potential victim behaves appropriately — dress and act just right, and you won’t be a target, the logic goes — stopping just short of suggesting that victims, even children, are morally responsible for being abused.

Such thinking should be resisted at all costs. Surrounded by poverty and violence, Pakistani children are already forced to grow up too soon. They won’t be better off, or safer, for being forced to forgo simple, earnest displays of expression. We should be holding perpetrators accountable, not abetting in the broader crime of stealing childhoods.

Source : Dawn.com | March 14th, 2018

Use of mobile phones by teachers banned

Kashif Abbasi

RAWALPINDI: The education department Rawalpindi has banned use of mobile phones in schools, creating problems for the teachers.

To ensure implementation of the ban, headteachers and principals have been directed to collect mobile phones from all teachers in the morning assembly and return them at the end of school hours.

“Yesterday, our headteacher told us that we are not allowed to use mobile phones in the school. She collected the mobile sets from us in the morning and returned them later in the day,” said a teacher of Government Girls High School Dhoke Hassu.

When contacted, Executive District Officer (Education) Zahoorul Haq confirmed the ban.

“Yes, we have taken the decision as there were reports that teachers were wasting time on mobile phones during school hours. The decision has been taken in the best interest of students. The violators of the ban can face suspension.” The EDO said in the past the department had tried to check the use of mobile phones in classrooms but majority of the teachers did not take the directives seriously.

“To ensure that the ban is implemented, we were left with no other option but to direct the head teachers to collect mobile sets from the teachers at the assembly time.”

He said in case of an emergency teachers can use their mobile phones with the permission of the headteachers.

“We agree that mobile phones should not be allowed in classrooms, but teachers should not be stopped from using them outside classrooms,” said Hamid Ali Shah, the president of the Punjab Teachers Union Rawalpindi.

“There should be a ban on the use of mobile phones in the classrooms but asking teachers to deposit their mobile phones with the headteachers every morning makes no sense. Teachers can decide when they can use a mobile phone,” said Raja Shahid, a schoolteacher.

An area education officer, wishing not to be named, said a majority of teachers used mobile phones in classrooms and did not pay attention to their classes.

“There has to be some administrative means to check teachers from using mobile phones during teaching hours.”

He added that the violators of the ban can face suspension under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability Act.

In reply to a question, the official said there was already a ban on the use of mobile phones by students in classrooms.

“Usually, students of government schools don’t possess mobile phones. In case someone is found using a mobile phone in the class, we are directed to reprimand and warn them,” he said.

Source : Dawn.com | December 8th, 2014

Punjab Bans Mobile Phones in Schools /
Colleges

by Mehwish Khan

Punjab Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution banning the use of mobile phones in schools and colleges, which may result into a blanket ban of mobile phone devices in campuses throughout the province.

The resolution was moved by Raheela Khadim Hussain, a PML-N MPA from Lahore, and was passed unanimously in the House.

Provincial Assembly pressed Punjab Government to restrict girls and boys from using mobile phones in their schools and colleges.

Raheela Khadim Hussain maintained mobile phone is a necessity but students remain busy in texting their friends during classes and hence don’t concentrate on their studies.

Raheela Hussain told the house that there is already a law in the country regarding the ban of mobile phones in educational institutes, which is not being implemented. She said that she moved the bill to make sure that already available law is implemented at least in province of Punjab.

Students, especially in urban areas, largely use mobile phones and are often found utilizing SMS and hourly call packages.

It is unclear so far when this directive will be issued to educational institutes of the province. We are yet to ascertain the penalties, if any, for violation of this ban.

A mixed reaction is expected from portents while students will evidently protest the decision.

It maybe recalled that for the better future of youth, Punjab and KPK Assemblies had demanded federal government to ban night packages, which federal government never listened to.

Source : propakistani.pk | 2012/01/04