PAKISTAN Education Centre (PEC) is the largest Pakistani educational institution in Qatar. It is affiliated to the Islamabad-based Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education and offers excellent educational facilities to boys and girls upto intermediate level. Nargis Raza Otho, who has a rich teaching and administrative experience, joined the institution as its principal on September 9, 2011.
Earlier, she was a professor at University of Sindh, the second oldest university of Pakistan. The institution, having over 3,000 students, witnessed tremendous growth recently thanks to the keen interest of Pakistan’s ambassador HE Muhammad Sarfraz A Khanzada, who is chairman of PEC’s Board of Governors, as well as the dedicated efforts of the principal. In an interview with Qatar Tribune, the principal spoke about the major issues faced by the institution and the efforts made to further improve the standards. Excerpts from the interview.
Q: What plans are in the pipeline to upgrade the existing facilities of the institution? A: In order to facilitate more students, we are constructing new classrooms besides an examination hall that will also be used for purposes like parent-teacher meetings, seminars and debates. Upgradation of the science club will be carried out in collaboration with Qatar University to produce robots so as to bring our students to the level of students of other institutions.
What are the major issues facing the PEC? We need more students from the educated families whose children are studying in other schools. Academically and structurally our school has undergone a huge change. We have improved our curriculum and incorporated more interactive activity into it. Students now have a lot of opportunity to nourish their creative writing skills. We are also focusing on their reading skills and striving to improve it by acquiring new books.
How much do you think has the interaction of parents with the school authorities helped improve running of the school? Interaction with the parents proved to be very fruitful because they have come to know about their children’s progress through teachers. Initially, there was a slow response from them but later on it kept on increasing rising up to 1,100.
Now we have launched a vigorous campaign to attract more parents. We have also set up a media committee to show them what we have and what we have achieved.
What is your message for the students and their parents? PEC is a not-for-profit community school which is proudly and successfully catering to the educational needs of the students of all the segments of the Pakistani community. As the school aims to attain its cherished goals of academic achievements, we deem it imperative to seek parents’ support and backing.
We are committed to imparting top quality education to the students and grooming them into more vibrant and productive individuals.
PEC has produced excellent results in the recent Federal Board examinations. What are your plans to achieve even better results in future? We arranged additional teaching classes for all the classes (IX – XII) on a regular basis in which the syllabus was covered well in time. Now we have enough time for revision. We are conducting the monthly test besides the regular class tests on the Federal Board pattern which will help the students to improve their skills of attempting the paper and secure more marks. We hold parent-teacher meetings on a regular basis in which the progress of the students is discussed with the parents and strategies are made to help the students make up their deficiency in any subject. In this regard, the improvement of maximum attendance of the students in the classes is ensured.
Every possible help and guidance is provided to students regarding their studies.
We hope to produce even better results in future.
Do you offer fee concession or exemption to students? If yes, how much fee concession has been given in year 2012? Yes we do. In 2011-12, QR35,000 fee concession was given to the deserving students of PEC and in current year 2012-13 QR50,000 has been approved and given to 14 families. 50 percent concession is also being provided for all students with special needs starting from this year. A special discount of 25 percent and 50 percent has been given to the third and fourth children of a family studying in PEC, respectively. 50 percent discount is also given to the children of PEC staff members every month.
You have recently overhauled school uniform design and colour scheme. What was the reaction of the students and parents in this regard? Most of the parents state that they are pleased with the school’s new uniform.
They have supported the uniform in a positive way by considering it to be a decent and well-designed dress. The colours have also been appreciated by them. The change is based on the belief that the way we wear, affects how we feel and behave. We need to strike the right balance between practicality and formality in line with life and work outside school. The uniform is available at the school in all sizes. We hope that this change is widely accepted by the parents and the community. During the whole process of costing and designing, multiple companies were contacted for price details and designs. Change in uniform brings several effects on students. It can also help students focus by drawing attention back towards schoolwork and away from fashion. Students have virtually no need to even think about their clothing, allowing them to streamline their daily activities. Maintaining a neat appearance is advantageous to the students for several reasons. It develops habits of neatness and cleanliness. It requires discipline and teaches them about the importance of their personal appearance. Uniform gives students a sense of belonging and encourages them to take pride in their school.
Do you think co-curricular and curricular activities are important for proper upbringing and grooming of a child and what efforts are being made by your institution in this regard? All work but no play makes Jack a dull boy, reads the proverb which carries a lot of weight. Hence in educational institutions, the students must not be part of the academic world only; rather they must be encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities. It might happen that some children might not be good in academics but has a lot of potential in other activities. So it is the responsibility of every educational institution to encourage children to marshal their skills by allowing them to participate in the extra-curricular activities that they are good in. Extra-curricular activities must be made a mandatory part of the curriculum as it enhances the all-round development of a child. A child’s growth depends upon many factors and one such factor is his participation in co-curricular activities. Schools must have these activities in order to promote healthy learning on the school premises and for each child to understand and know his strong points.
PEC management knows very well the importance of extra-curricular activities. Therefore, the Arts and Culture Department (ACD) has been established in order to provide students with the right opportunities. We manage these activities under different banners such as literary, sports, creative, science and field trips. We are also committed to developing and nurturing the various skills of students which will help them emerge as better human beings and professionals. These skills include learning time management and prioritising, getting involved in diverse interest, learning about long term commitments, making a contribution, raising self esteem and confidence and building interpersonal skills. We greatly support the initiatives taken by Qatar government to promote extra-curricular, sports and other healthy activities.
These steps ensure the vision of the government to have a healthy society in Qatar.
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