DMISSIONS to colleges have entered the final phase as the fresh matriculates have submitted their admission forms to public and private sector colleges of the city.

As the competition is tough, most of the students have submitted more than one admission form, hoping that the lady luck may knock at their doors and they will get admissions either to a higher ranking college or preferred disciplines. Boys are facing tougher competition as the number of boys` colleges are almost half than the girls` colleges in Lahore.

Educationists say the students have got unexpectedly high marks and there will be a little room for the students even with 75pc marl(s to get admissions to the colleges of their choice. Parents and students are running from pillar to post to check the last year`s merit lists.

Many colleges are closing their admissions this week though candidates from other cities are facing problems in coming to Lahore to submit admission forms due to political and administrative turmoil. The relatively low ranking colleges will continue receiving admission forms for a few more days to cater to those who will not be able to get admissions to their chosen colleges.In order to attract the well-to-do class, the private colleges have aggressively marketed their intermediate programmes, offering a wide range of disciplines including, science, humanities, commerce and computer besides incentives in terms of scholarships, fee waivers and discount in fee to attract the top scorers.

Educationists say the rush in colleges explains that there is an acute shortage of higher education facilities as compared to the number of applicants. The government has, however, not come up to make available affordable quality education to the large number of students passing their matriculation examinations.

Explaining their point of view, the educationists says that there are around 50,000 public schools in the province but there were only around 4,600 high and higher secondary schools to cater to the students completing their middle standard examinations. Similarly, they say, the matriculates coming from high and higher secondary schools have only 450 public colleges to get admission to. A fairly large number of students passing matriculation from private schools also try to get admissions to the public colleges that further choke the public sector higher education system.

`Many matriculates leave the idea of getting higher education when they aredenied admissions to public colleges and have no resources to go to private colleges,` an educationist says.

He says the government is not properly taking the burden of imparting quality education to all those doing their matriculation, though it is hell bent on enrolling cent per cent school-going population in schools.

`The children, who get education up to matriculation level, remain unemployed like those illiterate until and unless they learn some skills at private workshops, the educationist said. He added the Punjab government`s technical and vocational education programmes were also not able to cater to even sizeable number of students who pass matriculation examination in the province.

T HE Lahore University of Management Sciences` Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences (MGSHSS) has launched a new initiative of essay writing competition and received a warm response from the university students from all disciplines.

The essays have been written on a variety of subjects, including anthropology and sociology, history, political science and English. After the selection, the essays by25 undergraduates at Department of Humanities and Social Sciences have been chosen as the best essays.

The university hopes to institute this initiative every year as a way of recognising work by students.

R NAEEM Khan, former Punjab University Registrar and professor of zoology, has been awarded the NorFishing Foundation Travel Grant Award for 2014. He is the first person to receive this grant.

The Royal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, Norway, has invited Dr Naeem Khan to attend the International Fisheries Fair & International Aquaculture Fair `NOR-FISHING & AQUA NOR EXHIBITIONS-2014` in Trondheim, Norway, from Aug 19 to 22 as an official guest of the government of Norway.

The official opening of the Nor-Fishing will be an historic event, and H.M. Queen Sonja will represent the royal family on this occasion.

Dr Khan says that Pakistan would greatly benefit from the training, linkages and networking opportunities provided by the Norwegian Exhibitions.

He says the exhibition will help transfer the modern technologies and expertise for sustainable aquaculture and fish-eries development in the country.

M USHARRAF Ali Faroogi, the novelist and translator, held a storytelling session and captivated a large number of students belonging to different schools at the Children`s Library Complex. He earned a roaring round of applause.

Mr Faroogi narrated Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum`s poem `Tot Batot Kay Murghey` and a story `Tot Batot Kay Choohey`. He also narrated his own story `Moochhandar Ki Nirali Moonchhain` The storytelling session was organised by the Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi to encourage children to revive their love with the library complex that offer educational, games and entertainment facilities.

Punjab Schools Education Department additional secretary Ahmed Ali Kamboh, who holds the additional charge of the Children`s Library Complex, admitted that the volume of children`s visits to the library had gone too low during the past one year and the department was looking for the initiatives and proposals to bring children back to the library.

Mr Kamboh lauded ITA director programmes Dr Baela Raza Jamil for taking an initiative and inviting children to storytelling session. mansoormalikl73@hotmail.com