J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Resource persons from UK, state education dept not clear about modalities
English training project takes off sans groundwork
Jalandhar, May 28
Even as the project on English teacher training for secondary classes of rural schools was formally started at the Government Senior Secondary School Khambra.

UK MP Pat McFadden was in Jalandhar to sign a pact between the Punjab government and University of Wolverhampton on English training. 

Canadian squads to crack down on fake marriages
Nawanshahr, May 28
Now it will not be easy to get Canadian immigration on the basis of fraudulent marriage as the Canadian government has decided to crack down on phony marriages.

E-filing of taxes not practical: Engg industry
Batala, May 28
A meeting of industrialists was held here in the office of Northern India Engineering Association over the issue of compulsory e-filing of various taxes.

Gujjars take to streets, disrupt traffic
Hoshiarpur, May 28
Activists of the local Gujjar Maha Sabha blocked traffic for more than one-and-a-half hours at Ram Colony Camp on the Hoshiarpur-Chandigarh road today in support of Rajasthan Gujjars.

2 held with fake currency
Hoshiarpur, May 28
With the arrest of two persons here today, the police claimed to have busted a fake currency racket operating in the town. The police seized fake currency notes amounting Rs 50,000 from the accused.

Resource persons from UK, state education dept not clear about modalities
English training project takes off sans groundwork
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 28
Even as the project on English teacher training for secondary classes of rural schools was formally started at the Government Senior Secondary School Khambra here on Wednesday, the officials from the education department and even the resource persons from the University of Wolverhampton were quite unclear about the modalities that would be followed.

‘Do teachers use cane in UK?’ During an interaction of the students of Khambra school with the UK delegates, a girl student put forth an interesting question, “Ki otthe adhiyapak bachian nu baint naal kutde hai? (Do the teachers in UK punish the children by wielding sticks?) The question made everyone, including an interpreter with the delegation, have a hearty laugh. The MP said, “No” while asking, “Do they do it here?” A teacher, however, replied, “No, corporal punishment is banned in India”. There were other interesting questions asked by the students including choice of subjects, number of languages taught and others. However, many students could not directly put up their questions for for fear of making mistakes while speaking English. They preferred using Punjabi and an interpreter translated the queries in English, clearly indicating the level of English communication even at the secondary levels.

The basic idea of the whole project was quite ambiguous to the minds of the participating teachers and the resource persons who are to begin the exercise tomorrow morning at the Cambridge International School for Girls. Vice chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton Caroline Gipps said two teachers, Veronica and Catherine from schools there, would train the teachers taking secondary sections here.

But when asked how it could help when the fundamentals of teaching for the primary students would not be clear, she replied, “Well, that’s a valid point”. Even the Wolverhampton MP Pat McFadden was not very clear on the matter as he said, “You need to talk to the VC on the issue. All I can say is that we wish to take on the project in Punjab for the community represents 15 per cent of the population in Wolverhampton”.

The MP was also unclear about the duration of the project. “The teachers would keep on coming for holding workshops. There is no fixed time period for the project as of now,” he said. Most teachers attending the event said there was a huge gap in the English teaching patterns being followed in rural Punjab schools and those taught in the UK.

“We were not aware about any such plans. We just received a call last evening to attend the programme. It was here that he got to know something regarding it. Let’s see what happens in the workshop tomorrow,” they said, expecting the workshop to be focused on phonetics and grammatical problems. Two teachers from rural schools of each of the 20 districts of the state have been taken as master trainers who would go on and impart the same skills to other teachers in their respective districts.

The delegates took keen interest in the live presentation on Punjabi rituals in the school by the students. All of them were presented phulkari shawls. A pact in this regard was signed later in the evening in the presence of chief minister Punjab Parkash Singh Badal and education minister Dr Opinderjit Kaur at a hotel.

Global warming

The initiative also aims at promoting school-level understanding of climatic changes occurring in the UK and Punjab. For this purpose, local schools, including Cambridge International School for Girls, MGN Public School and Police DAV Public School collaborated with the UK faculty and students. A group of students of classes VI to IX, under the banner of ‘Earth’s friends’, accomplished a study on the basis of their recent industrial visits and the alarming changes occurring in the environment owing to pollution. “They plan to present the result of their study tomorrow ,” said principal Deepa Dogra.

1,000 English teachers recruited

Secretary, education department, KBS Sidhu, today said as many as 1,000 teachers had been selected for teaching English for recruitment in government schools across the state. He said the teachers would be joining their respective schools on July 1 when the schools would open after the summer vacation. 

Immigration Frauds
Canadian squads to crack down on fake marriages
Parmod Bharti

E-filing of taxes not practical: Engg industry

Batala, May 28
A meeting of industrialists was held here in the office of Northern India Engineering Association over the issue of compulsory e-filing of various taxes.

Mohinder Singh, president of the association, said the Central Board of Direct Taxes through Income Tax (fourth amendment Rules-2008) has inserted a new rule wherein electronic payment of taxes (including interest and penalty) has been made mandatory. “While making it mandatory, the board has forgotten the practical difficulties being faced by persons doing businesses in small towns and villages. Not everyone can understand the system of electronic payment. All banks in India have not yet come under the internet banking system. These businessmen may not know the basic procedure of making such kind of payments. Add to it the long unscheduled power cuts which will greatly hamper the operations,” said Mohinder. — OC

Gujjars take to streets, disrupt traffic
Our Correspondent

2 held with fake currency
Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, May 28
With the arrest of two persons here today, the police claimed to have busted a fake currency racket operating in the town. The police seized fake currency notes amounting Rs 50,000 from the accused.

SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said the CIA staff raided the residence of Kulwinder Kumar and seized 100 notes of Rs 500 denomination from Kulwinder and his accomplice Kapil Sehgal.

The police also seized a computer along with a scanner and a printer which were being used for preparing the currency. During preliminary interrogations, the duo revealed that they used to print currency with the help of the computer.