CSS exam, 2009 applications for jobs
FPSC invite applications for CSS exam, 2009
Islamabad, Dec 24 (APP): The Federal Public Service Commission, Islamabad has invited applications for recruitment to BS-17 posts in various services/groups through Competitive examination (CSS), 2009.
The last date for receipt of applications is January 1 2009.
All intending candidates are advised to apply on prescribed Application form on or before closing date viz 1.1.2009. Applications received after the closing date will not be entertained, says a press release. App
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"HOW CAN WE FIND THE CSS EXAMINATION FORM ."
Name: S.M.MEHTAB
Email: smmehtab@hotmail.com
City, Country: KARACHI,PAKISTAN
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The School lunchbox dilemma
I happened to fill in for a teacher when school reopened after the summer break to help a friend who is heading a junior branch of a well-established school chain.
Being used to teaching 13 to 16-year-olds, I was in unfamiliar territory when I found myself in a room full of bubbly grade-two pupils. One of the responsibilities I was expected to manage with was to help children have snacks during recess. Time and again I was asked to open up packets of crisps/chips, pizza, marshmallows, chocolates, also to help them manage with noodles, juice packs, fizzy drinks and other such items on a daily basis. No fruits and of course no vegetable, dried fruits or nuts.
One day I was asked to open a packet of a product called achaar pops. Already disturbed by the amount of additives consumed by the young people, I went to find out from the management if I was expected to be a party to this criminal indifference to allow a six or seven-year-olds to have that bag of bittersweet delights. To my utter disbelief, I was told to simply let the children have what they want since they had brought the stuff from home. Upon inquiry about the school policy on the matter, I was informed that there was none. Appalled by the situation I returned to the classroom and did what I was asked to do. My job at the branch was done once the regular teacher returned. But I remain skeptical of the attitude of those at the top of decision making for not having any health awareness policy programme for their school.
Children are often observed to consume more saturated fats than the maximum recommended level for adults. They also add more sugar making it above the suggested adult limits.
Food and drinks containing the additives Sunset Yellow (E110), Carmoisine (E122) Ponceau 4R (E124) Sodium Benzoate (E211) have been shown to cause tantrums and disruptive behaviour, hyperactivity and aggression among some children. They also have a negative impact on sleep pattern which eventually lowers the interest level of a child in the daytime. The consumption of fizzy drinks causes tremendous harm to children and adolescents. It rots teeth and adds to obesity. Studies have also shown that sodium benzoate and other benzoates could make the symptoms of asthma and eczema worse in children who already have these conditions.
The following additives have been found in the items consumed eagerly by our children:
Bubblegum: Tartrazine (E102).
Lollies: Sodium Benzoate (E211).
Flavoured milkshake: Ponceau 4R (E124).
Flavoured yogurt: Ponceau 4R (E124). Biscuits: Sunset Yellow (E122) and Ponceau 4R (E124).
Chips: Sunset Yellow (E110).
Cake: Ponceau 4R (E124) and Carmoisine (E122).
Fruity chews/sweets: Carmoisine (E122).
Carbonated drinks: Sodium Benzoate (E211).
Smarties: Sunset Yellow (E110), Carmoisine (E122) and Ponceau 4R (E124).
Sunset Yellow is often used in conjunction with E123 Amaranth, in order to produce a brown colouring in both chocolates and caramel.
In September 2007, the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued advice on certain artificial food additives, including E110. Professor Jim Stevenson from Southampton University, and author of the report, said: "The results suggest that consumption of certain mixtures of artificial food colours and sodium benzoate preservative are associated with increase in hyperactive behaviour in children.
"However, parents should not think that simply taking these additives out of the food will prevent hyperactive disorders. We know that many other influences are at work but this at least is one a child can avoid."
FSA called for a voluntary removal of the colours but not sodium benzoate by 2009. In August 2008, a proposed EU deal specified that food and drinks containing any of six artificial colourings, including Sunset Yellow, that may be linked to hyperactive behaviour in children will have to carry warnings.
It is expected that hundreds of products containing the colouring are expected to disappear from shops in the period 2008-2010. Following FSA's call for a voluntary ban on food colour use in food products, UK ministers have agreed that the six colourings will be phased out by 2009.
In the US, under an agreement influenced by the former US President Bill Clinton, major soft drink manufacturers including Coco-Cola and Pepsi Co. pulled their sugary drinks out of American schools and replaced them with other products. The companies have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice, low fat milk to elementary and middle school children, while high schools will be allowed diet drinks, unsweetened teas, flavoured water and low-calorie sports drinks.
The goal in the US is to have fizzy drinks out of 75 per cent schools by 2008/09 and all schools by 2009/10. The western countries have moved on with the necessary action. We also need to take appropriate measures relevant to our societal needs to positively influence the eating habits of our children.
To allow a company to deliberately market soft drinks, chips in our schools to innocent children who know no better than to consume the unhealthy food is disgraceful. The question asked here is whether what the schools are doing is in the children's very best interest or not? Parents, community leaders and school officials need to collectively focus on healthier lifestyles for children. Our civil society and the public sector should move together to support the government in placing a ban on the availability of soft drinks in schools throughout the country. Let us save our children from the hazards of soft drinks and fast food.
It is important to understand that children are targeted as consumers and are vulnerable to attractive marketing techniques and repetitive advertising. The marketing pressure is designed to manipulate the child to demand such products. Children keep nagging parents to go to the popular fast food franchises. It is undoubtedly a constant battle to convince children to have what you want them to eat. But the health of our future generations cannot be compromised. By Ayesha Majeed (Dawn)
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Every student's nightmare
Suppose a company wants to hire a new person. While many aspirants stand in the line, you quite logically think it will select the best candidate, one who has an outstanding academic record. That's why you try to out perform others, in the classroom and outside of it, so that you could reserve a place for the job of your dreams … and with it a lifetime of happiness. "You must set a high standard," your parents and peers tell you, because you have to compete with the world.
Your examination results are one of the biggest yardsticks for your ability. Educational excellence after all is judged through high grades and good results in examinations. The more the frequency of upper grades in your educational career, the more the chances of getting a coveted job.
This is why your parents, siblings, teachers and institutions urge you to excel in studies. Your parents want you to be trophy children. Your siblings pride themselves to be related to you. Teachers too expect you to add glory to their names. Schools, colleges and universities go out of their way to accommodate the talented students while rejecting or expelling those who are lacking in performance. You may feel like you are being pushed from all sides to be the leaders.
But let's just face it, not everyone is cut out to be a leader. The weaker and failing students are disliked and maltreated. Not a single day goes by when they are not subjected to derogatory remarks and their nicknames by siblings, friends and teachers.
Their needs, problems, aptitudes and limitations may be neglected but the expectations from them are above their capabilities. The learners, as a result, are overburdened. So, they have to put in an extra effort in order to fulfil the tall ambitions of the others around them. This may lead to their developing psychological disorders, making them reclusive and temperamental. There have been cases of students developing anxiety disorders as well. Some have even been compelled to commit suicide.
The behaviour of parents, peers and siblings towards them is also characterised by extreme stances. Either they are too lenient or too stern. Of course parental attention and cooperation is beneficial. It goes a long way in improving the overall performance of any child. But parents also spoil their children by seeking wrong means to get them ahead such as sifarish.
Attaullah is a student of class eight whose father threatened him of dire consequences by telling him to not bother coming back home in case he failed in his exams. Unluckily for him, he failed. That was when Attaullah fled from home. But he didn't know where to go. However, he reached Kohat and started working there with a local diary farmer. The four months he was there was mental agony for his entire family back home, who didn't have a clue as to where the boy was. Their ordeal eventually came to an end when a villager spotted the boy grazing cattle in Kohat and recognised him. The family was informed and Attaullah was brought home.
On the other hand, Haleema and Sajida, students of class six at FG High School in Mardan say that their parents didn't treat them harshly after they failed. But Altaf Hussain and Mohammad Aziz, two class nine students at the same say that they received a scolding from their parents after failing. Meanwhile, Zakir Hussain recalls how his elder brother boosted his morale and abilities too with his kind and encouraging behaviour. In comparison some students also said that their elder siblings and parents beat them severely after they failed. Gulshed Khan, the father of Atif Khan, a boy who failed his class 10 exams, was so angry that he left his son to his own sweet will. "It's up to him to either carry on or give up his studies," he said. Atif quite naturally went for the latter and is now working as a helper in a shop.
According to Dr Mohammad Farooq Khan, a psychiatrist and well-known scholar, the common behaviour of parents towards their failing children ranges from aggression to dereliction and from indifference to derision. "The parents' initial response is of shock and denial. So shocked are they at finding out that their offspring is a below-average student that they find solace in believing that their children have been failed unjustly. After that, when emotions subside, it is time to analyse the situation. That is when their aggression turns towards the children. It is this aggression that may take the form of physical or mental torture … or both.
"Intelligent and clever parents console and support their children in their hour of need. But there are also some who show indifference. Again, the parents' obsession with their children's future and love for them can provide that much needed support," says Dr Farooq.
He opines that parents are under increased pressure to see that their children as high achievers. "Our cultural values have changed. Love for money, materialism and prestige now matters more than anything else. The parents spend huge sums of money on their children, sending them to expensive schools, getting private tuitions, etc., and they want to reap the fruit. They want their ambitions fulfilled through their children. But when the child fails, they react harshly to the news. The behaviour may prove disastrous for the children and expose them to inferiority complex."
The psychiatrist also points out that there is a huge difference in the way illiterate, poor and rural parents and their educated, rich and urban counterparts behave towards their failing children. "The former by and large behave positively while the latter's behaviour demolishes the child's confidence."
The behaviour pattern of teachers varies too. A few demonstrate indifference, some display unwarranted aggression while passing insulting remarks, some offer individual attention but few offer their support and guidance right away. There are also some who urge their children to give up their studies for some other 'profitable' work. "Either you concentrate on doing well in class or leave the school. In the public sector schools where there is no robust system of supervision over the teachers, some call the failing students names such as 'Raja' or 'Prince' and completely ignore them. These students are not questioned during lessons nor is their homework checked for it is said that they don't or can't understand.
The Greek philosopher Plato says that the child is like a plant which if properly nurtured must necessarily grow into all virtue and if planted in alien soil becomes the most obnoxious of all seeds.
A hardworking, committed and friendly teacher can totally transform a student's life and vice-versa. Dictatorial and unfriendly teachers prove harmful because they generate hatred which affects the friendly atmosphere in class, a must for successful learning. Individual attention from the teachers towards their weaker students is sine-qua-non.
"Some students who failed in English were given individual guidance and help in our school and they improved," says Fazle Mabood, the principal of FG High School, Mardan. According to him, the superior teachers like all children and the inferior ones have favourites.
It is common to see the parents putting the blame for their children's' failure on the teachers. "The teachers work less in class and carry little commitment as they are in the profession not by choice but by chance. But the students see the teachers as role models. What can the students learn from dull and weary teachers? They must instil a yearning for knowledge in their students," remarks Khalil Khan, the father of a student named Aiman, who unfortunately failed last year. He holds the teachers responsible for 90 per cent of the students who fail and opines that students are punished for the wrongs of their teachers.
Failure can also become a source and basis for prosperity and success provided that the right guidance is given to those who fail. Failure can make people push themselves harder in order to prove themselves to all those who saw them fall. It is on, after all, our failures that we base a new and different and better success. But although failure has uplifted the spirits and performance of a few, most have been overrun by the repercussions.
Many believe that the system of failing should be wrapped up altogether. It is not that prevalent in developed countries. Mohammad Haleem, a teacher, says that no child should be made to repeat a class at least up to the 10th grade. "It destroys students' personalities and shatters their confidence, which is responsible for pumping antisocial elements in our children while making them misfits of society," he reasons. By Tahir Ali, tahir_katlang@yahoo.com (Dawn)
