Christian-Muslim Theological Dialogue: The Case of Catholic Universities of East Africa

Christians and Muslims interact on a daily basis but as far as their beliefs and practices are concerned, there is a general mutual apprehension, suspicion, stereotyping, mistrust, insulting and even physical confrontations. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to examine how Catholic universities in East Africa can help Christian students and others to rethink their attitudes towards Muslims in view of the official teaching of the Church. The findings from the reviewed formal Christian and Muslim statements show that theological dialogue is valid and necessary for fostering peaceful relations. It therefore urges Catholic universities and other learning institutions to assist students to know more about their own religious traditions and those of others through formal theological training, seminars and provision of reading materials in order to participate effectively in this kind of dialogue.

Development of an Evaluation Model for Bs 4 Years Program at University Level

During the recent years, rapid advancement in the field of science and technology has demanded changes in the existing curricula for degree programs currently offered by various universities of the country. The trends in education have changed rapidly over the few years on the international scene. The government of Pakistan has shown a keen interest in making rigorous changes in degree programs to remove all discrepancies with the international standard. BS (Bachelor of Studies) 4-Year was therefore established in 2002 in accordance with the recommendations of the higher education commission and the national curriculum revision committee. BS 4-Year program was therefore, established in 2002 in accordance with the recommendations of the Higher education commission and the national curriculum revision committee. BS 4-Year is an absolutely new program, initiated with the aim of preparing the students of Pakistan to compete with other students at international level. Most of the universities in Pakistan are offering BS 4- Year Program in the disciplines of basic sciences, social sciences and languages. Still far as no study has been done to evaluate BS 4-Year Program, the researcher selected this particular topic. The present study was delimited to BS 4-Year Program in the subject of Education. The main objective of the study was to develop an evaluation model for BS 4-Year Program in the Subject of Education. The sample of the study comprised four (4) public universities of the Punjab, where the BS Education program was functional at the time of commencement of the present research work. The majority of permanent university teachers fifty three (53) (male & female) from the Department of Education and three hundred and twenty-nine (329) students (male & female) studying in different semesters of BS 4-Year program in Education from the sample universities were taken as the sample. The Students’ sample was selected by using Stratified random sampling technique. As research tool, questionnaires for teachers and students were prepared separately and administered to the respective samples and analyzed. Moreover, an opinionnaire for teachers about instruction, teaching practice and assessment components was also designed, administered and analyzed. The collected data were analyzed by using percentages, means, z–test, product-moment correlation and factor-matrix. The researcher also carried out document analysis for the review of curriculum content. As far as the conclusions of the study were concerned, it was found that on maximum components of the rating scale (Questionnaire), teachers and students showed their satisfaction. However, on a few points regarding dissatisfaction were also observed. So, after evaluating the components of BS Education 4-Year Program, an evaluation model for BS 4 Year program in education was designed by keeping in view Stufflebeam CIPP evaluation model.