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Excellence in Education – How can Petarians Contribute?

Ever since our first Petarian Convention in 2004 which was a thumping success, Petarians have come a long way by participating in welfare, education, healthcare, poverty alleviation and disaster relief programs. Our focus has been Petaro and Petarians as envisioned, but our contribution towards working for Pakistan in general has been truly satisfying. As stressed in the first convention, we are indeed “Petarians for Pakistan”.

The 2012 convention is also expected to be a landmark mega event. It will bring Petarians together and allow us to contemplate on a very important subject – “Excellence in Education” – along with various facets related to education at different levels.

This occasion will also allow us to go back to our alma mater to spend a couple of nights and days for the sake of old times. But more importantly, it will give us another opportunity to reflect on how we as Petarians can contribute towards education in Pakistan – which is lagging behind the rest of the world. It is of utmost importance that we “Petarians for Pakistan” must put our best foot forward to bring about a revolution in education in our country.

Over these decades, Pakistan has been left far behind in the field of education. Our systems of education are archaic – based on rote memorization. Our higher education is without innovation and has no linkage to real life situations. There is very little research and development and Pakistanis have little contribution towards development of new ideas, concepts, thoughts, and inventions. Our universities are not even ranked on the world scene, and most of our degrees have no recognition.  Our educationists are based on tuition classes, and our curricula belong to the dark ages. And then we have the dual education system of the schools and madrassahs which has led to social, economic, political and security problems in this country.

All the advanced countries of the world are exploiting the fruits of technological development. On the other hand, in Pakistan either we lack the skills or our infrastructure limitations inhibit us from exploiting our minds and our efforts for the sake of innovations in technology, science and humanities. 

In recent years, there have been some good initiatives by the Higher Education Commission as well as NGOs that are involved in the field of education. Amongst the Petarians, the Petarian Foundation has done some work by contributing towards the development of 2 schools at Petaro, one at Sarbuland Village in Bagh, AJK and floating the idea of a world class technical university.

Looking back, as a nation we have continued to endure troubled times.  The leadership gap was evident which was compounded by onslaught of natural disasters like the 2005 earthquake, 2009 Atta-Abad lake disaster, 2010 floods affecting riverside areas all over Pakistan and 2011 flash floods devastating Sindh province.  

The socio-political situation of the country, power crises, ill-managed disaster relief and recovery efforts have yet again highlighted the need to rectify and improve the education and literacy needs our nation. This will lead to empowerment of the ordinary Pakistani to understand, plan and take action for individual, community and national needs.  The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan recognises 132 institutions of which 73 are public universities and 59 are private. 127 universities in total are fully functional though.  Out of these 127 “functional” universities, only two are ranked almost at the bottom of “world class institutes”. The others don’t even figure in any list. There is not a single Pakistani institute in the top 100 list. 

Many of our problems emanate from the fact that our literacy rate is very low and we do not have proper education or skill set to be able to take our country forward.

We Petarians are proud to be Pakistanis first. It is thus an obligation on us to feel obligated to contribute towards a resolution of this shortcoming. We need to take up the challenge of building a highly educated, enlightened, developed society like other advanced nations by creating “Excellence in Education”, which is the theme of this convention.

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Registration Fee : PKR 4,500/- only.  This Fee Includes lodging (2 nights), food (6 meals & 4 teas) at Petaro, Souvenir magazine, Convention tie, tips for bearers, bus shuttle service from Karachi and Hyderabad to Petaro and back, hosting cost of our teachers to attend, musical function, banners, signage, and all other costs.

Donation for Education: A practical outcome of this convention would be donation to complete the A.M. Nizamani School at Petaro. Our target is Rs. 10 million. Please donate generously and earn blessings.

Guests of Honour:

Our teachers over the past 54 years will be our “guests of honour”. Their cost for transport, etc is included in the registration fees paid by ex-cadets.

Uniforms:

Each delegate will be provided with special CCP Convention Tie as part of Registration package. Please bring a white shirt and black trousers, black shoes or boots. For evening dinners, you may bring a blazer along. This will be the formal uniform throughout the convention.

Accommodation:

You will be provided a bed in one of the dormitories with a towel. Toothpaste, soap will be available in the bathrooms. Boot polish will be available.

Food:

Food will be served in the Mess. Seating will be according to your house (for all). Senior teachers will be seated at heads of each table to ensure discipline.

Transport:

We will arrange buses and car pools from Karachi/Hyderabad to Petaro as a part of the registration cost. Please check timings on all arrangements with Convention Secretariat.

Publications:

On this occasion, we will publish a Souvenir with details of all delegates. Please furnish your details to be published along with your photo. The “Directory of Petarians 2012” and “Encyclopaedia of Petarians” will also be available for purchase during the convention.

Shields and Souvenirs:

A convention shield with your name on it will be available for purchase if required. Other CCP souvenir items like car stickers, coat pins, T-shirts, college uniform, mugs, etc will be available for purchase.

Sponsors:

We welcome major and minor sponsors for this event. Sponsors will have their names on banners and in publications. They will also be allowed to set up stalls to display their products and services. Please contact the Convention Secretariat for details.

Donation for Education:

An important aspect of this Convention will be the “Donation for Education” on behalf of all the delegates. Our target is to raise Rs. 10 million to complete the A.M. Nizamani TCF Secondary School building.

Photography:

You may bring your own cameras. But we will also arrange for professional photography (still and video) which will be posted on our website and Youtube for downloading. So don’t waste your time shooting photos during sessions if you can avoid it.