Sunday, March 21, 2021
Opinion: On Covid Relief, Democrats Deserve a Victory Lap
By The Editorial Board March 10, 2021
A giant aid package is what the country badly needed and what voters wanted.
Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department using new pressure tactics against families of disappeared Baloch
Since the coldblooded murder of five Baloch youth in a staged encounter by the CTD (Counter-Terrorism Department) of Pakistani forces, more Baloch families have complained that the department has been using pressure tactics to coerce them into changing their statements and withdrawing their cases.
Several families of disappeared Baloch complained that the Intelligence Agencies and CTD called them and threaten them to withdraw the cases of the disappearance of their loved ones.
According to Hani Baloch, who has been searching for her abducted fiancé Mohammed Naseem Baloch for the past several months, first, People called families of disappeared Baloch on withheld numbers and threaten them to stop perusing the cases of their loved ones. Now the state forces are attacking them.
Hani Baloch another with her fiancé Mohammad Naseem was abducted from Karachi. She was later released but her fiancé is still in the custody of Pakistani forces. She has been struggling for Naseem Baloch’s recovery like other family members. The Pakistan forces instead of recovering and releasing her fiancé are pressurising her to withdraw the case and stop looking for him.
Recently on March 11 2021, Hani Baloch had an accident in Karachi and as a result, she sustained injuries on her face but remained safe.
Hani Baloch argues that the state (Pakistan) was pressuring her to withdraw the case of her fiancé Naseem Baloch but she refused. ‘Now the state is trying to kill her.’
It may be recalled that recently, another Baloch social and human rights activist Hooran Baloch also received threatening phone calls from the intelligence agencies.
She had made it clear that if anything happened to her the state would be held responsible.
Meanwhile, the family of abducted Rashid Hussain Baloch has also reported similar pressure tactics by the CTD of state forces.
The family in a statement claimed that they were summoned by Airport Police Station on Monday, March 15, ‘locked up in a room and threatened’ to signs a misleading statement about the disappearance of Rashid Baloch and in case of refusal to sign their loved ones will be harmed.
The family of Rashid Hussain was asked to sign a pre-written statement by the Counter-Terrorism Department on behalf of Mr Hussain’s mother which read that he has not been forcibly disappeared by UAE intelligence agencies but he was sent back by the company that had employed him to Dalbandin Balochistan.
It was also written in CTD’s false statement that Rashid Hussain had gone missing from Dalbandin and not in Karachi.
It is pertinent to note that Rashid Hussian was arrested by UAE intelligence agencies on the 26th of December 2018 and was handed over to Pakistan after six months of illegal confinement in UAE.
Pakistan media at that time quoting Pakistani officials had confirmed Hussian’s arrested in UAE and his extradition to Pakistan.
https://balochwarna.com/2021/03/18/pakistans-counter-terrorism-department-using-new-pressure-tactics-against-families-of-disappeared-baloch/
#Pakistan - #Balochistan - Education of Hundred Thousand Children at Stake
By Yahya Reki -Shabbir RakhshaniRukhsana Bibi is a part of the educational system in the remote village of Tehsil Jhao. Where 142 girls and boys are also linked up and girls are in majority. The children are going to this school for education which foundation laid by their teacher Rukhsana! She is the first women teacher appointed from her village and performing her duties in the education department for the last 5 years. That’s why the girls got confident whom elders were afraid to send them to school. This educational system can wrap its board any time when Rukhsana will be compelled to leave school. Causes exist which had been also addressed. Instead of performing her duty, Rukhsana is deprived of salary for 7 last months. She was appointed as “Junior Vernacular Teacher” (JVT) in 2015, due to the “Global Partnership for Education” project. Government has to continue the maintenance and administration of said schools. Schools were handed over to the Balochistan government as to the contract/Deal. They extended the contract of Teachers and paid salaries for 2 years but the case of regularization and salaries of teachers is hanged since July 2018. It had been gone through cold storage after sent to the Chief Minister of Balochistan twice. This situation has not only created financial hurdles for Rukhsana but also affected her 2 brothers’ educational system who be dependent on their sister’s monthly salary. 1493 teachers of the “Global Partnership for Education” (GPE) project along with Rukhsana facing the same situation. They came to the provincial capital in December 2020 and staged a protest camp in front of Quetta Press Club. They sat down in front of the Balochistan Assembly during the session on December 30, 2020. Almas Qadir is also one of these protestors who traveled from Naal to Quetta to communicate to the authorities. Almas spent many days in protest camp along with her 4 months child. She is telling “whenever our issue was not resolved for a long time we compelled for the procession. We were not paid salaries for a couple of months but we haven’t closed schools because children are ours but need to run the house”. Global teachers have started a sit-in on 28th December 2020 led by Fazal Ilyas. His wife was also there in affected teachers. He was arrested on the first day of agitation and shifted to “Bijli Ghar Thana” along with his 2 friends and then released. He is telling “Provincial Minister for Education Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind and Deputy Speaker Balochistan Assembly Babar Musakhail came to their camp in the evening and assured to draft summary and forward it to CM Balochistan to resolve the matter and if not, they will be separated from the government. And they postponed protest”. The protest was continued for 10 days where women teachers and other family members were present along with children. The government has formed a committee that has to make recommendations on the matter and report CM Balochistan. however, the committee has died without any progress. Last information summary has been moved to Chief Secretary Balochistan Table. World Bank in collaboration with European Union, has initiated the GPE project in 2015-16. Pakistan is in these countries which were agreed on it. The main purpose of this education was to introduce a gender-free education system among countries and deliver it from village to village. 709 new schools were made in Balochistan under the network of this project. Due to the contract, 95 government Middle and 20 High schools were mentioned in the said project. It was the main objective to pay salaries to the teachers as well establish schools on modern lines. The ratio of girl’s education improved in front of boys due to this project. Due to the report provided by the GPE project when these schools were shifted to the government 25, 404 boys and 65, 578 girls were enrolled in 709 primary schools. The government of Balochistan has announced 9, 433 vacancies through National Testing Service (NTS) to fulfill the lack of teachers in education. But not completing the pattern of NTS candidates was not succeed which deprived the educational system in Balochistan. on the other side, the silence of the government could increase in the educational crisis. The government should think about it because this crisis will affect the education of lac children. https://balochistanvoices.com/2021/03/education-of-hundred-thousand-children-at-stake/
#Pakistan - What students think
PAKISTANI universities are not contributing enough in the areas of research and development or to the knowledge-based economy. The reasons are not difficult to comprehend. For one, the environment of educational campuses is not conducive to intellectual pursuit, and in the lecture halls critical discourse is virtually considered a sin. The problem is that state and society demand too much from our education system that is purposeless. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s words amounted to nothing more than wishful thinking as he addressed a seminar of the National Security Division recently, saying that universities can contribute to developing a national security paradigm in Pakistan. The prime minister is well aware of the state of higher education in Pakistan and has himself established an educational institute in the hopes of generating graduates. He must be aware of the state of academic affairs and the level of intellectual capacity in our universities. It would have been better had he recommended building up the dwindling intellectual capacity at our universities as critical to the country’s national security priorities. Pakistan ranked 98th in 2020 on the Good Country Index, which measures the contributions of nations to humanitarian well-being. On the same index, Pakistan’s score in ‘science & technology’ was 91, which cannot be termed satisfactory even by South Asian standards. This is not only about public-sector universities; private educational institutes are also producing graduates of the same quality even if their attire is different and their communication skills better. After all, their thinking pattern is hardly dissimilar. At the other end, madressahs have their own sets of problems in terms of education, research and critical discourse. Private universities have become money-minting enterprises and they adopt all possible marketing tactics to attract students of privileged classes. For them, knowledge production is not a priority. They promote an apolitical atmosphere on campus that includes not only a complete ban on political activities but also encourages certain political and social narratives, which suit the security establishment. When a university in Lahore expelled two students for a proposal followed by hugging on campus, it reflected a mindset that was concerned more about its ‘reputation’ and the prospects of attracting business rather than ensuring freedom for its students. The state desires to control the thoughts of its citizens. The state desires to have control over the thinking process of its citizens to instil in them a submissive attitude. Power elites deem politics, especially dissent, a negative trait for the youth and prefer ‘depoliticised’ individuals who don’t question their power and might. With this goal in their sights, they do not bother much about how the controlled environment at the campuses kills creativity and intellectual capacity. Recent interaction with educated youth in Punjab, Sindh and KP made it clear that the absence of critical discourse and an apolitical atmosphere on campuses are not only creating anxiety and insecurity among the youth regarding their future but also inculcating in them a sense of victimhood. The youth have ambitions for their careers but they don’t have a plan and are not prepared for life’s challenges ahead. This uncertainty leads to visions of a nightmarish future, and most of them blame their teachers and the poor quality of education they receive for this. In particular, they are not satisfied with the scholarship and expertise of their teachers. Many youths complained that their teachers hardly update their own knowledge of the subjects they teach and also discourage students from asking questions or voicing criticism inside the classroom. The youth are developing a narrow worldview, one which is mostly based on skewed and irrational narratives they absorb from the social and mainstream media. The proportion of those who train their minds to think critically is very low. In the absence of any critical or interactive educational practice, the sense of victimhood is only enhanced — something that lends itself to believing in conspiracy theories. State-led propaganda and constant glorification of the past only makes matters worse and leads them further away from the path of critical thinking. Indeed, our leadership itself has often been seen to encourage ‘self-pity’ through promoting dramas that are based on fictional depictions of historical characters. The youth blame the ruling elites of the Muslim world including Pakistan for the loss of Muslim glory. A number of students from the tribal districts of KP and Balochistan have a bitter opinion about the establishment and religious groups and parties. The reasons are understandable, as they have suffered the consequences of extensive conflicts in their regions. A good number of educated youths have moderate views about religion and don’t agree with the agendas of radical groups, but faith still shapes their worldview. For them, religion is an issue of identity and they believe that the Muslims are suffering because of their ignorance and that glory can be achieved through practising a moderate version of Islam. Alternative views are missing on campuses and among many students there is a craving for perspectives which can broaden their horizons. However, those who are inclined towards radicalism and extremist groups have power and their links with like-minded teachers help them to control the narrative. Nobody can challenge or disagree with them. The radical segments think of themselves as the custodians of Pakistan’s ideology and identify with establishment narratives. Not content with their current strategy, they have more radical ambitions for achieving ‘glory’ and for defeating the ‘enemies’ of the Muslim world. This is a frightening scenario as it indicates that human resource for extremist and militant groups is still available on our campuses. An aptitude for or interest in research is sorely lacking in the teachers and students in universities. This is quite evident as the research publications of many private and public universities simply don’t qualify to be presented at academic fora. The prime minister’s wish for our universities to contribute towards developing a national security paradigm is nothing less than asking for the moon.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1613746/what-students-think
#Pakistan - The challenge of “learning poverty”
Dr Lubna Naz
The government should invest in devising strategies that can prevent dropouts before students reach high school.
In Pakistan, school-age children make up 30-34 percent of the population. Amongst the 65 million school-age children, 22.8 million are out of school (OOSC). The high number of OOSC pose numerous challenges, ranging from weakening of the economy to making social cohesion fragile.
According to a World Bank research in 2020, learning losses may contribute up to $67-155 billion losses to Pakistan’s economy. The unschooled children are more likely to join the unskilled labour-pool, implying an increase in unemployment.
A majority of OOSC belong to the poor and vulnerable communities, i.e, migrants, daily wage labourers and beggars, which furthers economic inequality and social stratification.The pool of out-of-school children (OOSC) includes children who have never enrolled in a school and those who have attended school but left before completing high school. Educationists have studied the causes and consequences of the phenomenon and proposed a raft of measures to remedy the situation.The most noticeable causes of poor schooling outcomes are extreme poverty, early marriages, unemployment of adult working family members, and parents’ disinterest in education. The reforms have aimed at increasing school enrolment through informal education, flexible school timing, provision of stipends and school meals.
The prime focus of current policies seems to be children who have never attended school. They include full-time workers at workshops, domestic help and beggars.
In education sector planning, little attention has been given to address retention and school dropout issues. According to the Annual Status of Education Report-Pakistan (ASER 2019), 26 percent of the children aged 11-16 in a rural region dropped out before completing school, while 16 percent in the same age group never attended school.
The report shows higher dropout rates among girls (9 percent) than boys (7 percent). A greater number of girl dropouts can have severe implications for the economy, for instance, lower female labour-force participation, early-age-marriages and higher fertility rates.
Academic researchers should ponder on why children leave school before completion and if they leave mainly due to school-related factors, would any effort to bring them back in school be successful unless schooling system is overhauled?
Pakistan has a highly polarised schooling system, including government schools, elite private school, low-cost private schools, seminary schools or madrassas, and NGO-run schools. The ASER 2019 showed that 2.1 percent children were enrolled in madrassa, and 20.6 percent in private schools. Only 0.5 percent children were found in other schools.
More than three-fourth of school-age children are enrolled in government schools. Therefore, the need is to assess the government school preparedness in improving retention rates. School readiness depends on a host of factors, including school physical infrastructure, structured school activities, parents’ engagement, community-school linkages and learning methods.
After the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the curriculum, policy, syllabus, planning, and the standard of education fall under the domain of provincial governments. According to Wilson Report 2016, provincial governments spend 17-28 percent of their budget on education. Interestingly, the amount spent on education by provinces far exceeds the UNESCO-recommended 15 percent of budget spending on education by the countries.
Despite significant provincial budgetary allocations, the dilapidated conditions of public sector schools raise concerns about the effectiveness of the utilisation of education budget. According to ASER 2019, only 56 percent of schools have electricity connections, 61 percent have safe drinking water, and 59 percent have toilet facility in rural government schools.
There is a need is to consolidate primary, middle, and high schools to maximize the benefits of existing infrastructure and provide catalytic funds to support implementation of early childhood care and education reforms in provinces. These figures do not shed light on the quality of basic facilities available in government schools. Most schools in rural areas frequently experience an interruption in water supply and long power outages. Furthermore, as per ASER 2019, there are noticeable regional disparities in school infrastructure. Schools (primary, middle and high) in Balochistan, for example, have 3-5 rooms, 25-59 percent schools have electricity, and only 4 percent an internet connection, while in rural Punjab government schools have 5-12 rooms on average, 95-98 percent of schools have safe drinking water, and 12-63 percent have an internet connection.
The irony is that most high schools have better infrastructure as compared to primary and middle schools. The need is to consolidate the primary, middle, and high schools to maximise the benefits of existing infrastructure and provide catalytic funds to support implementation of early childhood care and education reforms in provinces, particularly in disadvantaged areas. This will help improve the retention rate of children at school, especially for girl students who drop out after primary school for lack of access to a middle school in their village.
The teacher absenteeism, under-qualified teachers, and surplus non-teaching staff are common in government schools. According to the Wilson Centre report 2016, 70-80 percent of provincial education budget is spent on teachers’ salaries. When teachers do not show up (20 percent in the Punjab and 30 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), these expenditures represent inefficient utilisation.
In consequence of recently initiated early childhood care and education reforms (ECCE), the Punjab and the KPK have strengthened monitoring mechanisms for public schools through assistant education officers (AEOs) stationed at the district level. Further, the learning data is being collected through a monitoring application based on MELQO, developed by the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Programme Monitoring, and Implementation Unit (PMIU).
The constant monitoring and installation of biometric system have improved teachers’ attendance in public sector schools. Sindh and Balochistan need to invest in workforce training, district-level delivery, and governance structures to avert the deepening learning crises. In both provinces, as per ASER 2019, school dropout ranges between 30 and-51 percent among children aged 11-16.
The current schooling system relies on the traditional method (knowledge-based-abilities) of teaching, which, unfortunately, fails to inculcate employable skills among students. Moreover, the overstructured school system lays stress on completing a pre-defined syllabus without instilling the knack for exploration, and assessments are generally based on reproducing the material memorised by the students, usually without any understanding.
According to the World Bank Report 2019, 74 percent of children in Pakistan are unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10. The children who do not learn at primary school fail to deal with the curriculum as they progress to higher levels. These children either leave school before completing education or accomplish eight or 10 years of schooling without basic knowledge and skills, whether they be formal skills (reading and writing), cognitive skills, technical skills, reasoning or critical thinking.
The World Bank has coined the term “learning poverty” to refer to this problem. Compared to Pakistan, several countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh have almost eliminated learning poverty at the same level of economic development. Pakistan needs policies specific to acquired skills, job market placement and learning outcomes, rather than a focus on inputs like curricula, school hours and funding.
There are currently many social protection programmes, such as Waseela-i-Taleem, to improve enrolment of the children of low-income families, particularly girls. These demand-side interventions are useful to address the affordability-related constraints. However, it is the school quality that determines the retention rate and learning outcomes of children.
The government needs to invest in devising strategies that can prevent dropouts before students reach high school and set up early warning systems to detect students who are more likely to drop out. The academicians need to investigate types of school dropout and pathways to dropping out and suggest doable measures to avert learning crises in Pakistan.
School attainment should not be taken only to promote productivity, and subsequently output or income. Education has social value. In this respect, it is an end in itself rather than a means for achieving other ends.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/807250-the-challenge-of-learning-poverty
#Pakistan #PPP stakes claim to the slot of opposition leader in Senate, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf
