Education Thread

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Educational breakdown ​

By Fareeha Zafar

Proliferation of private schools and tuition/coaching centres shows public response to system failure. In comparison with other countries, private basic education in Pakistan enrols more students than in all countries in the region

The EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008 — ‘Education for All by 2015: Will we make it?’ — is an eye opener. Pakistan missed the gender parity goal set for 2005 and continues to trail behind. We have the lowest scores in South Asia in primary net enrolment and in the net enrolment of girls. And the literacy gender gap has widened since 1972 from 19 percent to 25 percent. At 120, we are at the bottom in the EFA Development Index, ranking not surprisingly with the lowest allocations to education as a percentage of the GNP in terms of the public expenditure on education.

Gender inequalities and geographic disparities epitomise Pakistan’s global standing in education. Claims of overall literacy rate increase from 65 to 67 percent (10 years and above population) are overshadowed by the fact that Pakistan has failed to increase the literacy rate among females, today stagnant at 42 percent.

Whether literacy is calculated on the 10+ or 15+ age group, Pakistan remains at the bottom. Compared to boys, more girls have been enrolled in primary schools during the last few years but not at middle and high school levels. Overall, gender inequalities in education have increased and are the highest in Balochistan, followed by the NWFP, Sindh and Punjab.

The quality of education achieved through several years of consistent policies and teacher training has declined in NWFP, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and FATA over the last few years.

In the NWFP and FATA, girls’ education has been specially targeted by religious militants. Schools have been burnt with threats to students and teachers attempting to find alternate venues to hold classes. The impact of the devastating earthquake whose victims included thousands of schoolchildren and school buildings in AJK is still visible. With an ongoing low-grade war, education in FATA is at best sporadic. Many settled areas not doing much better.

It is futile to keep track of schools in rural Sindh; they materialise and vanish with donor-funded projects. Centuries of entrenched wadera and sain power structures are impervious to people’s empowerment with school-going age girls given in exchange for crimes committed by men. Beyond an initial breakthrough in the nineties, the community has not been able to transform the educational landscape in an increasingly tribal Balochistan, one that condones killing and live burial of the female sex for the sake of male honour.

In addition to socio-cultural norms, inadequate facilities, poor governance, politicisation of the education system, inadequate capacity, ad-hocism and piecemeal approach in planning and weak donor coordination emerge as the major challenges to education in Pakistan, including Punjab, currently the beacon of hope.

Even with better educational indicators the pace of change in Punjab is slow, as every time the government changes so does the policy. The exercise of power is concomitant with transfers, dismissals and new appointments. This includes teachers and officials of the education department.

Education is on the move, going nowhere. The recent changes in the school year are an example in point. The school calendar was changed from April to September in 2005 when students found themselves out of school for five months and taking their annual exams in the hottest month June. With the school year reverting to its earlier spring date, schools have reopened after the summer vacations in September this year and annual exams are scheduled for March. For teachers and students, this translates into completing the year’s syllabus in six months interspersed with two Eids and Ramadan. Furthermore, teachers upgraded from primary schools in November last year have yet to be replaced. The impact on education and learning can only be negative.

Eight years of schooling forms the base of the education pyramid in most countries, even the Constitution of Pakistan ensures provision of free and compulsory elementary education to all citizens. Yet for 3.7 primary schools there is only one middle school catering to classes 6-8. So only one-third children or 5.6 million girls and boys who complete primary education enter class six.

Furthermore a Gender Parity Index of 0.7 shows that roughly only two million girls are likely to receive eight years of education. Gender disparities are also more in rural as compared to urban areas at all levels. With the level of disparity rising with each level there are twice as many boys as girls in rural secondary schools. In FATA, less than half of the enrolment in primary is female.

Proliferation of private schools and tuition/coaching centres shows public response to system failure. In comparison with other countries, private basic education in Pakistan enrols more students than in all countries in the region or in most other countries.

The National Education Census (2005-6) found 31 percent enrolment in the private schools. In urban centres these have outstripped the public sector. Sadly even here quality is highly compromised. Schoolchildren spend the better part of the day in schools, coaching centres or doing homework, and yet the results are abysmal. Approximately 20 percent of students who entered Class 1 reach grade 10, and less than a quarter of students appearing in the matriculation examinations this year have been successful. Low transition rates reflect the inefficiency of the education system.

Given a population of 5- to 9-year-olds of some 19.5 million, seven million children still remain out of the education system. Government enrolment drives show a sharp increase in children in the first two years of primary school — including pre-primary — but the fact that only about half transit to Class 2 (555 out of every 1000) shows the inability of the system to retain them.

What is achieved is short-term political mileage, sustaining the gains requires additional inputs in terms of teachers and teaching learning materials. Currently, teacher shortage is a key area of concern, one that affects the quality of education on offer. The shortfall runs into thousands in every province and at each educational level.

Only one out of two children can continue their education from primary to secondary for lack of facilities. And, one out of four children of the relevant age group wishing to study to upper secondary level have this opportunity.

Countries making significant progress towards UPE have generally increased their spending as a share of GNP. To improve its rating, Pakistan has to move from the one- or two-room two-teacher school concept; build in accountability and transparency mechanisms; depoliticise education; increase planning, monitoring and financial capacity at sub-provincial levels; and develop a sector-wide approach in planning and work towards coordinating donor inputs. For the new government, a heavy mandate carries a heavy obligation.

Dr Fareeha Zafar is Director, Society for the Advancement of Education (SAHE), Lahore

 

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Universal Primary Education: Pindi schools enroll 17,000 children
in a fortnight​

By Terence J Sigamony

RAWALPINDI: The government schools of Rawalpindi district enrolled 17,000 school-age children between August 14 and 31 under Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme.

Of these children aged below nine, 8,400 were boys and 8,600 girls, District Officer (Monitoring) Muhammad Awais told Daily Times on Wednesday.

Awais said teachers deployed in rural area schools put names of the newborn babies into a register maintained at union councils under the UPE programme.

He said government had launched the programme in 1987 with the help of UNICEF. He said National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and NGOs had been mobilising parents to send their children to schools.

Awais said the Education Department had been trying to enroll all children below nine in the province in line with Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s instructions.

He said it’s for the first time that the department had engaged teachers for enrollment of school-age children. He said the teachers’ involvement had resulted in massive enrollment of children under the UPE programme.

Punjab Teachers’ Association, Rawalpindi, President Saghir Alam said registering students in schools was as important as reducing high dropout rate in the district.

He appreciated the provincial government for providing poor students with free education, free books, free stationery etc.

He said in some backward areas, people were given Rs 200 per head for sending their daughters to schools.

He said these initiatives had increased school enrollment in the province in general and in Rawalpindi district in particular. “These steps will greatly improve literacy rate in the district,” he said.

Bilal Abbasi, a social worker, said it was seen that many children left schools due to parents’ disinterest in their studies.

He said in most of the cases, poor people preferred work to education for their children.

He said frequent migration was another reason of children not receiving formal education.

Abbasi said children stayed away from schools when their teachers remained absent from schools. He said absentee teachers deserved stern punishment.

Punjab Education Secretary (Schools) Nadeem Ashraf expressed concern that 38 per cent people in the Punjab didn’t send children to schools every year. He said teachers could discourage dropout rate of 30 percent among schoolchildren by performing their duty diligently.

He said the education budget for 2008-09 had Rs 10 billion extra funds for the welfare of teachers and students.

EDO (Education) Chaudhry Muhammad Yousaf said the department had been trying hard to increase enrollment in Rawalpindi schools. He said things at schools would considerably improve by the end of next month.

 

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FPCCI holds seminar on 'Impact of Literacy on Life' ​

KARACHI (September 16 2008): The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has organised a seminar at its premises on the topic of, "The impact of Literacy on Life", in collaboration with FPCCI Standing committee on literacy and non-formal education here on Sunday.

Zufair Tufail Acting president FPCCI while addressing the seminar said that these institutions are playing a vital role in educating the unprivileged masses. He appreciated all the work being carried out in this connection by the association such the Citizens Foundation, Nazaria-e-Pakistan, Behbud Centre, APWA and Garage Schools, which are doing this tremendous job of providing education to the adults and even those in jails.-

 

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Rs 2.25 billion for NWFP education sector​

Islamabad: The European Commission (EC) has provided an amount of $20 million (equivalent to Rs 2.25 billion) for the NWFP Education Sector Reforms Programme.

The financing agreement for this grant has been signed with the Economic Affairs Division, the Government of Pakistan. The Charge díAffaires of the delegation of the European Commission (EC) to Pakistan, Frank Hess, said on Wednesday that the European Commission was committed to providing support to the education sector in Pakistan and feels that education is the only way to sustainable development.

However, the Commission views with grave concern the unabated spate of bombings of schools in the NWFP. He said the Commission believes that these bombings and ultimatums to school-going girls negate the basic human values and are totally unacceptable.

"We encourage the Government of Pakistan to take all possible measures for ensuring the safety of children and protection of their fundamental right to education," he added. Frank Hess said the grant was provided in the context of the EC-Pakistan Development Co-operation Programme, under which the EC now has current grant commitments to Pakistan totalling over Rs 24.75 billion.The overall objective of the EC's current contribution is to support the NWFP government in implementing the reforms outlined under the Education Sector Plan.

 

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Foreign universities set up plan finally abandoned ​

Plan to set up foreign varsities shelved
Islamabad, Jan 02: The government has finally abandoned the visionary programme of four world-class foreign universities that were to be established in partnership with foreign countries, learnt reliably.


It is a great pity that this program of huge national significance has been abandoned at this stage since consortia of top foreign universities have already been formed in Germany, Italy, Austria and China. In the case of the Pakistan-China University even the rector and senior Chinese faculty members have been selected. It will also be the source of a major international embarrassment if we withdraw at this late stage.

The establishment of Engineering, Science & Technology Universities in Pakistan (UESTP's) brought enormous criticism to the former chairman of Higher Education Commission, Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman for envisaging this programme without understanding the various aspects of the programme.

Pakistani parents spend about Rs 80 billion annually to send their children abroad to obtain quality higher education. Thus over 11,000 visas were granted last year by the British High Commission for students to study in British Universities. This program would not only have saved much of this huge drain on our foreign exchange but also attracted many students to Pakistan from the Middle East, as they would have been able to get degrees from top foreign universities without ever going abroad.

The hearts of these universities were the technology parks. About half the area of each university had been set aside for the technology parks. Arrangements had been made with the foreign partners to establish the R&D Centres of their top companies in the technology parks of these universities.

Projects of the establishment of 4 world-class universities in partnership with consortia of top universities in Germany, Italy, Austria and China were approved by ECNEC in February 2008 at a cost of about Rs. 160 billion. These universities of Engineering, Science and Technology would have offered BS, MS and Ph.D. courses and degrees of the foreign universities would have been awarded in Pakistan.

This visionary program would have allowed Pakistani students to obtain world class foreign education without going to foreign countries. Approved by ECNEC in February 2008, the projects were again presented to the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on May 12, 2008. The Prime Minister approved the implementation of this program and gave necessary directions.

The Prime Minster was pleased to agree to the implementation of the four ECNEC approved UESTPs including Pak-China, Pak-German, Pak-Austria and Pak-Italian Universities in accordance with the phasing approved by ECNEC. On May 19, however, the Cabinet froze the program and decided to form a four-member committee comprising Begum Shehnaz Wazir Ali,. Salman Farooqui Former Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Jahangir Bashar ,Secretary Education and Hina Rabbani Khar. The Cabinet Committee recommended to the cabinet that the program should be implemented but at a reduced cost of 72 billion instead of the original cost of about 160 billion with a correspondingly reduced number of students. The Cabinet has however not so far taken any decision in this matter but instead decided in its meeting in Lahore that the provinces should also be consulted. The provinces have already allocated several billion worth of rupees of land and have strongly supported the establishment of these universities.

Pakistan has not succeeded in establishing a single international R&D Centre during the last 60 years, whereas India and China have hundreds. Through this programme, each of these universities would have had 15-20 R&D Centres of top foreign companies like Siemens, Eriksson and many others had agreed thereby bringing us to the forefront of new technology development.

These universities were therefore being set up not just to educate Pakistanis and produce more engineering graduates although these are desperately needed, we produce only engineering graduates annually as compared to 420,000 produced by India, but to engineer Pakistan.

One of the main criticisms against them was that these universities were extremely expensive. The costs of each project were comparable the costs of setting up a Pakistani university such as NUST. There were no "luxuries", the construction costs were those normally accepted by Planning, ranging from Rs. 1500 per sq ft to 2500 per sq ft, depending on the nature of the building. The Nation

 

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Highs & lows of higher education during 2008​

The promise of the education sector​

Karachi, Jan 03: Having witnessed the highs and lows of higher education during 2008, educationists remain confident of a prosperous 2009. The hope for a thriving year is premised upon the addition of several new departments, institutes and centralised laboratories in the public sector universities in 2008, especially in the University of Karachi (KU) and NED University of Engineering & Technology. Numerous conferences, seminars, workshops and symposium, both national and international, were also held during the past year, and helped ushering in optimism and increased confidence amongst teachers and students in the higher education sector.

The KU Pro Vice Chancellor, Dr Akhlaq Ahmed, regarded the past year as fruitful for the KU, as the Department of Mass Communication moved into its new building and Food & Science Technology is to follow the suit. "About 3,500 students and teachers from various universities were sent abroad for higher education. They have yet to return to their respective institutions. Hopefully their return will usher the universities to the era of higher educational standards accompanied by good discipline," claimed Ahmed.

"The KU currently has 150 to 200 PhDs. We need more and hopefully the 200 lecturers, who were inducted in the university, will be groomed to assume the mantle as university teachers. We have begun the grooming. Two workshops were held in 2008 and we intend to increase the number in coming years," he said.

The VC of Federal Urdu University for Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST), Dr M. Qaiser, said that the institution was concentrating on improving the standard of education at the institute and getting used to operating as a university rather than a college.

Despite the optimism, there remain a number of critical issues regarding the sector. For starters, the Ministry of Education increased the percentage of education budget to 2.5 per cent from the meagre two per cent. "We need at least four per cent of the GNP to pull out the messy educational system to minimum acceptable standards," says Ahmed. "We need more if we want to be at par with other nations," he asserted.

Critically, the higher education sector in the country has also been threatened by new policies of the present government. Nearly 59 public sector universities are suffering from monetary crisis after the refusal of the federal finance ministry to release the Higher Education Commission's fourth quarterly installment of development and recurring grant worth over Rs8 billion for 2007-08. According to an HEC official, the government's step to withhold the HEC grant has created hurdles for public universities to carry on their projects.

"Grants and funds have however been provided to all higher learning institutions of the country for various projects as well as the payment of salaries to employees. The fourth quarterly installment was due in April, but not a single penny had been released on account of the grant so far. This will aggravate the situation at the public-sector universities. In the regard, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has also been approached, requesting him to intervene and get the grant released," a senior HEC official from Islamabad confided, who requested anonymity.

The withholding of HEC grants has affected major public-sector universities to a great extent. The KU is waiting for Rs220 million, the FUUAST is also to get its share of Rs70 million from HEC. Thus, the decision of the government to deprive the higher education sector from its required grants is being highly criticised in education circles of the country. Former HEC Chairman, Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, lamented the intrusion of politics into the educational sector which is eradicating good work done by selfless people.

Furthermore, the financial crunch of the HEC has created enormous difficulties for students who had received HEC scholarships to study abroad. The continuous fall of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar is also contributing to the hardships being inflicted on the students.

Another issue that needs to be redressed in 2009 is plagiarism at higher learning institutions, including KU and University of Punjab (PU). Such cases were ignored by the universities and plagiarists continue to occupy the chair of their departments in universities, unashamed and unrepentant.

There also remains a need to increase the overall standard of education. While the lack of commitment from many teachers in universities added to the decline of educational standards and culture of apathy and disinterest among the students, Dr Akhlaq Ahmed also urged the government to divert its attention towards the primary and secondary education sector. "Students from schools hardly achieve the required standard of education. The same students reach colleges and universities, attain their Masters degrees but their standard is abjectly poor. How can we expect to enhance the educational standards if we continue to get such students?" he questioned.

Regardless, KU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Pirzada Qasim, is hopeful that the institute will manage to overcome the prevalent financial crunch in the industry, and believed that increased research patterns will form the basis of lifting the sector out of its slum. The new year will hopefully herald the dawn of a new beginning.

 

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New Zealand university to collaborate with Punjab University​

Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) and Waikato University, New Zealand, will collaborate in the field of tourism and hospitality management and various other areas of mutual interest.

According to a press statement, Tim Lockyer and Brett Muir from the Waikato University called on PU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran and visited various departments of the university on Monday.

PU Director External Linkages Prof Dr Najma Najam and College of Earth and Environmental Sciences Principal Prof Dr Iftikhar Hussain Baloch and Prof Dr Muhammad Asad Mohsin were also present.

Dr Mujahid Kamran briefed the delegation about the PU history, services, achievements, distinctions and research work. Later, the delegates visited various other departments of PU and separately met Faculty of Science Dean Prof Dr Jamil Anwar Chaudhry, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences Dean Prof Dr Muhammad Ehsan Malik, Faculty of Education Dean Prof Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal, Faculty of Oriental Learning Dean Prof Dr Muhammad Saleem Mazhar, Faculty of Life Sciences Dean Prof Dr Shahida Hasnain and Faculty of Faculty of Arts and Humanities Dean Prof Shaista Sonnu Sirajuddin.

The Waikato University is also interested in having collaboration with the PU in the field of chemistry, business administration, life sciences and some other disciplines and currently both varsities are doing paper work to take a final decision and will sign a memorandum of understanding.

 

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Beginning of the Urdu renaissance?​

Karachi: The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science & Technology (FUUAST) has decided to launch the 'Implementation Urdu Programme' to highlight the negligence of Urdu and to emphasise the need to adopt Urdu for everyday use while trying to envisage a methodological solution to the problem.

FUUAST Vice Chancellor, Dr Muhammad Qaisar, said "The university has arrived at this decision because no concrete steps were being taken to adopt Urdu in offices, schools, colleges and in our everyday life." The FUUAST now teaches arts, science, pharmacy among other subject in Urdu, while it has also published text books in Urdu to facilitate students who want to adopt the language as their medium of instruction. "Now we want to create awareness about the importance of the national language to the country; we have to prioritise and learn to love our language," he said.

Expressing surprise over scepticism of the programme, the VC cited the successful examples of Usmania University, Hyderabad (Deccan), which was established in the 19th century and the Maulana Azad National Urdu University which was set up in 1998, also in Hyderabad (Deccan). Maulana Azad National Urdu University has been a great success and it has opened its regional offices (for distance learning) in every major city of India. "Though it is located in Andhra Pradesh where majority of people speak Telugu, still the university is flooded with students who want to learn through the medium of Urdu," he added.

Dr Tariq Rahman, a distinguished national professor at the Quaid-e-Azam University, said: "Urdu, presently the national language of Pakistan and a symbol of identity for Indian Muslims, is also associated with Islam in South Asia. This association was forged during the British colonial rule. During this time, Urdu was disseminated by networks of education and communication in colonial India. It became the medium of instruction in Islamic seminaries (Madrassahs) and the language of religious writings. It also became part of the Muslim identity and contributed, next only to Islam, in mobilising the Muslim community to demand Pakistan, which was carved out of British India in 1947."

The language is also a source of communication in the wider region, as it is also associated with the Muslim community in India. Urdu is not considered sacrosanct in itself because it is not Arabic, even though it is written in the script of Persian (Nastaliq), which in turn, is based on Arabic (Naskh). It also has a number of words of Arabic origin though, for that matter, it has even more words of Persian and some of Turkish. For all these importations of Muslim lexicons, it is a derivative of Hindvi or Hindavi, the parent of both modern Hindi and Urdu.

Dr Aslam Farrukhi, noted Urdu author, critic, poet, linguist, scholar and broadcaster appreciated the programme and hoped that Urdu would soon be adopted as a tool for education, business, poetical expressions and of course as a language of communication. "The main reason, as I understand, is the capitulation of the society to English. The Western civilisation – English being its tool in Pakistan, is spreading its tentacles while our society is in the final stages of losing its own identity including, our beautiful language. We have to provide protection to our civilisation that has been forced upon us from outside along with a miniscule section of our society."

University of Karachi (KU) Registrar, Prof. Rais Alvi, a distinguished poet and writer himself, appreciated the idea and said that it is time for all those who love the language to step forward and help the FUUAST in its endeavours.

"Urdu is the language of communication in the subcontinent. Even in those countries where Urdu Diaspora has reached, the language is the lingua franca among immigrants from various countries. The language should get the recognition it deserves," he added. The News

 

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SSUET students developed a Braille system​

SSUET students develop device for visually handicapped​

Karachi, Jan 10: The students of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology have developed a Braille system that works on the basis of micro-controller. The Microcontroller-based Braille system is a tactile communication mode that uses the mobile and other mechanical devices to enable visually handicapped children or adults to read from a portable device.

According to details revealed, the system's component parts include a Portable Braille Pad, a control unit and a Mobile.

The system developers claimed that current cell technology is expensive but their project researched less costly alternatives resulting in the development of own cell using solenoids.

They said the main concern for their project is how a blind person read SMS from his mobile and for this purpose, they have designed a Braille Pad in which 8 Braille Cells have been connected in parallel on which a blind can read words one by one with a button given for next and previous word. App

 

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Sindh University students developed robots​

A remote vehicle control and monitoring system and an enterprise planning system​

Hyderabad, Jan 14: Students of the Institute of Information and Communication Technology (IICT) have developed robots that can pick and place objects in places dangerous for humans, a remote vehicle control and monitoring system and an enterprise planning system for Thermal Power House Jamshoro besides many other projects using advance technology.

The students of the final year had put on display their projects at an exhibition, which was inaugurated by the vice-chancellor of the Sindh University, Dr Mazharul Haq Siddiqui on Monday.

A group of students, Mohammad Sohail, Aisha Mehmood Ali, Syeda Arsala and Abdul Qayoom Palijo developed projects on remote-controlled robotic manipulator, which could do pick and place jobs in environments where it was too dangerous for human to work.

The students informed the vice-chancellor during briefing that the project could do the job of parts transfer and pick and place for industrial purposes and general purposes as well.

BS electronics students, Ameer Bux Khoso, Ghulam Akbar Memon, Hamza Shabbir and Fahad Ali Memon had developed an autonomous mobile pick and place robot under the supervision of Prof Dr Abdul Wahab Ansari.

The robot could be used in biscuits industry. It was capable of picking a tray of unbaked biscuits, placing it into the furnace and then taking it out of the furnace after the biscuits were baked.

Mohammad Umair Shaikh, Mohammad Saleem, Sikandar Ali Dhiloo and Ms Tanzeel Babar had developed a project under supervision of Dr Imdad Ismaili on security system based on wireless communication in RF technology (CBSBW).

The project, the students said, would be helpful in providing security at the residential areas and monitoring the security system.

Bushra, Mehrina, Sawak Ali and Sehrish Memon prepared online time table management system. They said that the system would help in utilising resources optimally as the timetable tool would make it simple for the students to plan availability of human resources, physical resources and rules applicable to each class.

Other students had put on display projects on remote vehicle control and monitoring system, enterprise planning system for Thermal Power House Jamshoro, radio base station, monitoring and controlling, design electronic matrix unity for Arabic characters based codes, safe movement of trolley in factory plants, voice and video over Internet protocol and computer-based wireless robotic vehicle for monitoring and measurement.

The vice-chancellor praised the ingenuity displayed by the students in the development of such projects and urged them to serve society with their knowledge. He said that half the past century was dedicated to information and communication technology and the 21st century was defined as the century of biotechnology.

He said that despite facing financial constraints the university was trying to provide all required facilities to its students. The Higher Education Commission had provided funds liberally to the universities during last seven years for filling the gap in higher education, he said.

The director of IICT, Dr Imdad Ali Ismaili, said in his presentation that students of different disciplines had developed projects on various subjects, which would be helpful to many institutes, organisations and industries of the country.

He said that BS Information Technology students had developed 24 projects, BS Software Engineering 19, BS Telecommunications 14 and students of BS Electronics had prepared 14 projects.

He said that the IICT was covering areas like web-based application, hardware design, E-commerce application, information systems, navigation systems, security systems, communication systems, software re-engineering and multimedia.

A total of 71 projects displayed at the exhibition were developed by 249 students under the supervision of 16 faculty members, including Dr Abdul Wahab Ansari, Dr Imdad Ismaili, Dr Asad Shaikh, Prof Arifa Bhutto, Prof Shahid Larik, Prof Raza Shah. The News

 

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New building at SU opened​

Hyderabad: The Sindh University has completed construction of an additional building comprising four laboratories and classrooms for the Centre for Pure and Applied Geology at Allama I.I. Kazi campus in Jamshoro.

The vice-chancellor of the university, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, inaugurated the additional block of the centre on Friday.

The vice-chancellor appreciated progress of the centre and said that this centre was one of the best in the country and added that the university had provided maximum facilities for research in the related area to cater to the needs of the country. He congratulated the faculty members and students on having an additional facility of laboratories and classrooms.

Director of the centre Dr Parveen said that the additional block of the centre comprising four labs and classrooms would help facilitate enhanced enrolment in the centre that had gone up from 240 in 2005 to 580 in 2008 while during current academic year enrolment had also increased.

She said that additional block was constructed at a cost of Rs7 million and the amount was saved from the university's mega project funds.

She said that from the savings the centre had also purchased a vehicle for field work for faculty and students. Dawn

 

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Education ministry has yet to finalise a new policy​

Jan 19: The Pakistan Coalition for Education and Action Aid have done well to draw the government's attention to the need for prompt action to finalise the education policy it has been working on since 2005. The problems that beset the education sector have been discussed ad nauseam. It is therefore strange that the education ministry has yet to finalise a new policy. The 2008 draft was presented in February and one of the reasons given for initiating the reform process in 2005 was that "new international challenges like Millennium Development Goals and Dakar Education For All principles as well as globalisation have gained greater momentum" and are compelling reasons for revision in policy. With the ministry dragging its feet on input from other stakeholders - especially civil society - it will not be surprising if, by the time the final draft is announced, the authorities are overtaken by many events again. One cannot question the importance of a participatory process which in the final analysis is as important as the policy itself, as pointed out by the author of the 2006 White Paper. An inclusive approach is essential to ensure the cooperation of all stakeholders on whom depends the successful implementation of any policy. But the process cannot go on endlessly as that would prove to be unproductive too. The need is to strike a balance between the time given to the dialogue and the finalisation of the policy. Failure to do so implies a lack of commitment on the part of policymakers.

The 2009 draft drawn up with the help of a Canadian consultant sponsored by Unesco gives an excellent assessment of the flaws in Pakistan's education system. It starts with the problems of inaccessibility, inequity, gender challenge, rural-urban divide, poor quality and resource constraints, and goes on to groan about the contradictions between the private and public sectors in education. It calls for a paradigm shift in the approach to education - a move from the policy objective of serving the interests of policymakers to one benefiting the students. All this is commendable but without spelling out what the interests of the students are perceived to be, one can only expect a confusing document to emerge with every stakeholder giving his/her own interpretation of what the education goals are. Similarly, the policy speaks in sweeping terms of the 'implementation gap', that has been the bane of every programme conceived in this country. One cannot be certain that it will be overcome in this case either. One reason why the best of policies have run aground when it comes to implementation is pervasive corruption. Yet the policy puts emphasis on resource mobilisation without addressing adequately the problem of corruption. Will it prove to be successful?.

 

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5,000 students to get scholarships: Education Endowment Fund​

Lahore: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said 5,000 talented students will be given scholarships from the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) from March this year and 100 of them will be enrolled in foreign universities.

Speaking at the launch of the fund at Alhamra Art Centre on Saturday, Sharif said the fund had been instituted with a seed money of Rs2 billion to help talented and resource-constrained students continue their education.

Another Rs2 billion would be added to it next year. The chief minister said the fund would provide education opportunities to the children of the poor cultivators and labourers who could not otherwise pursue their studies.

He directed the fund to give scholarships to 5,000 students instead of 2,000 next year. He said talented students of backward areas would be enrolled in Aitchison College and other leading educational institutions where only the children of the elite were studying.

He said position holders would be sent to prestigious universities of Europe for studies. He said 100 male and 100 female students from Punjab would be enrolled in Malaysian universities.

He said quota for students from backward areas of Punjab in the fund would be doubled and students studying in social security and other institutions would also have their share in the fund.

He said talented students from all four provinces as well as Azad Kashmir could benefit from the fund.

Sharif said the oppressive system of the country created such a situation that only a particular segment of the society had the right to all facilities.

Earlier, PEEF Vice-Chairman Dr Amjad Saqib said brilliant and deserving students of public schools and colleges would be given scholarships in the first phase. The scope would be extended to private schools later. Students would be given scholarships at their doorstep and no applications would be needed for the purpose.

He said 20 per cent quota had been allocated for orphans, special children and children of widows, minorities and grade 1 to 4 employees and five per cent quota had been reserved for the students of other provinces and Azad Kashmir. Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mian Muzaffar Ali donated Rs1 million to the fund. Dawn

 

[Neo]

Whither quality education at government schools?​

Primary education in public schools has always been substandard
Karachi, Jan 20: The first ten years of schooling typically build the foundations for a bright professional career of an individual. High quality education up to secondary level therefore merits the attention, investment and high priority of the government. However, in our education system, primary education imparted at the majority of government and public schools has always been substandard.

Whatever may be the reasons but the poor standards of school education have compelled parents to work get their children educated in private schools. Consequently the market for schools where the Cambridge system of education is in place has been thriving while parents are not even afraid to work overtime to meet the financial requirements of an expensive education.

Yet only a segment of society, most likely those with finically sound backgrounds, are able to avail this facility. Moreover, this dual standard of secondary and intermediate education is also creating a class difference where the rich can get quality education both locally and abroad but the poor can't even get good education locally. In fact, the ever increasing inflation coupled with high tuition fees of private schools has compelled people to undergo a great deal of hardship to bear the education expenses of their children.

The poor standards of our education system are exposed when students are required to take international exams like IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, GMAT etc. While those educated through local examination boards struggle to even pass these exams, students of Cambridge System and top private schools do exceptionally well in these exams. Be it English, Math or any other subject, school education plays a vital role in the career development of individuals and thus is of key importance.

Under the given conditions, the SMB Fatima Jinnah Government Girls Secondary School, Nishtar Road, Garden is a ray of hope for every child who wants to get quality education for free. One and a half years ago, the school was a typical government school where stray dogs wandered in class rooms and posed a threat to students. There was no discipline or sense of education, while mismanagement was at its peak. Visitors used to describe the apathetic learning environment and infrastructure, while even teachers would not admit their children in the same school because of pitiable standards.

Luckily, Zindagi Trust in Collaboration with Book Group adopted the school and converted it into a model school that could be compared with the best private schools of the city. Some 1500 girls, mainly from poor families, are now enrolled at the SMB School.

The coalition government in Sindh also has no option but to support what they collectively termed as a successful project. In fact everyone who visited the aforesaid school did not believe that the SMB was a government school because of the improved conditions.

What is even more important at this stage is that SMB School alone cannot educate all the children who dream of and deserve to get the best education. It is the responsibility of both the Sindh Government and the City District Government Karachi to replicate the model of SMB School in all government schools in the city and the rest of Sindh. By supporting the project the government will be able to help millions of children acquire quality education, which would increase the literacy rate. Moreover, the local and provincial governments should also hire volunteers or competent teachers for managing the affairs of government schools which are following the model of the SMB School.

However, it is most unfortunate to note that some sections of society do not want the volunteers to continue. The same elements have also raised objections and expressed reservations about the aforesaid NGO for reasons best known to them. In fact, it is these elements who should be questioned as to why they are against a project that poses no obvious threat. Why don't they support people who are helping the government to improve education standards of government schools?

The adage "actions speak louder than words" will eventually prove who the real advocates of universal quality education are, and which interests are more likely to hinder progress made in this regard. -farooq.baloch@thenews.com.pk

 

[slugger]

Peaceful Pakistan inside university's iron gates

The students of the University of Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province at the Pakistan border with Afghanistan know only too well what image people have of them in the West: terrorists, extremists, supporters of the Taliban and oppressors of women.

Dawn News is on the television at the guesthouse of the University of Peshawar, for the latest intrigues in Pakistani politics. The electricity could crash at any moment. Power cuts of up to 12 hours a day are regular occurrences so the air-conditioning is on full blast to build a buffer against the sticky heat. The mobile phone is charging. It is almost half past seven when a message comes in: “We are not terrorists. Terrorists are those who kill our Muslims in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and Kashmir. OK? We, all Pakistanis, know for sure that the Taliban are not Muslims. OK?” I don’t recognize the number, but five minutes later another text message appears: “Please, tell us the secret of your soft pink skin! Asma, Mina & Sakina.” They are the girls I met in the afternoon at the Islamic study centre. In the classroom they barely uttered a word and, contrary to many other girls in the university, many of them were in full niqab with only their eyes showing.


The students of the University of Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province at the Pakistan border with Afghanistan know only too well what image people have of them in the West. Terrorists. Extremists. Supporters of the Taliban. All the men oppress the women and therefore all the women are victims. Even in other parts of Pakistan people have this image of them. A friend from Karachi, a megapolis with an estimated population of 18 million thinks the homeland of the Pathans is a scary place. “These bearded men, the way they treat their women. They’re retarded”.


The university's vice chancellor, Azmat Hayat, knows all about prejudices. When we visit his home he wipes the sweat from his big bald head: “Whenever I go to a party or function in Islamabad and tell people I am from Peshawar they look as if I’ve thrown a grenade into the room”.

War on Terror

Islamia College was the area’s first school, built by the British at the beginning of the twentieth century. Today over 14,000 students are studying for their masters or bachelors degree. There are 48 different departments, from Archaeology to Zoology, Chemistry to Islamic Studies, Persian language & literature to Pashto, the language of the majority of Pathans (or Pashtun) in this part of Pakistan. Most students come from the North West Frontier Province, including the infamous tribal areas reputed to be incubators of extremism, Al Qaeda and Taliban, according to Nato generals.

The number of air strikes from Afghanistan on these tribal lands has increased sharply over the past year. The continuous cross border attacks led by ‘insurgents’ - for want of a better word - are drawing American ground forces into the tribal areas, and thus the borderlands are fast becoming the new focal point of the War on Terror. The university seems a tranquil oasis with its manicured lawns and well-kept gardens; immune to the violence, corruption, power politics and poverty that plague the lives of ordinary Pakistanis outside the wrought iron gates.

Appearances are deceptive. “Everything has changed. No, shattered!” Najeeb a student of sociology, states emotionally amidst a group of his fellow students on the top gallery of Hostel no.1. The others nod; shattered, yes that is the right word. Najeeb continues: “You people think that you have to destroy us and you think we are barbarians, but that is all propaganda. We are a respectable nation and all we want is to protect ourselves from our neighbours”. Zaheb from Bannu, just outside the tribal areas, explains where some of the frustrations lie. “We can hardly study abroad anymore. Most countries have become xenophobic and are afraid of Pathans”. This is so unjust, the young men say: “Pathans are very hospitable and especially well educated people won’t harm you if you don’t try to destroy them”. Fellow student Kashef adds: “The problem is that foreign nations interfere with our internal affairs. They disturb our borders. They kill our people and support our dictators. The army is fighting a war against their own people, on behalf of another country”.

Refugees, weapons and drugs

That ‘other country’, the US is trying hard to make a good impression on the top floor of the university museum with an exhibition about Islam in Detroit. Lynne Tracey, the ‘principal officer’ of the American consulate is opening the exhibition together with the vice chancellor. The basic message is America doesn’t hate Muslims or as Tracey puts it: “We are pleased to be able to bring this to Peshawar so people have a chance to see that the United States of America welcomes people of all religions and offers a place where everyone can live together”.


There have been close ties between the US and Pakistan for decades but not without problems. The US supports the government and army and thus keeps its tabs on South Asia. But the Pakistanis don’t trust the Americans. In the 1980s Pakistan and the US – along with the Gulf States – supported the Afghan uprising against the Soviet invasion and channelled billions of dollars into the struggle. But when the Soviets retreated the Americans disappeared too, leaving Pakistan sitting pretty with millions of refugees, an arms and drugs culture and a raging civil war next door.


That Pakistan does not offer its full, wholehearted support to the War on Terror is hardly surprising. Pakistanis are convinced that the Americans as well as the other Nato partners will conveniently absent themselves sooner or later. The perception of the country as little more than a rogue state causes a great deal of hurt inside Pakistan. “We feel so isolated”, says doctor Farooqi, principal and dean of the Islamia College. “We would really like to build relations with other universities. Could you help us please?”

Corrupt politicians

Journalism student Daoud has no time for considerations and understanding: “We are sick of the bearded men and mullahs,” he says when we walk over to the restaurant for a quick bite. “They are spreading terrorism and extremism, but the people here want progress. They want to be part of the modern world”. According to Daoud this is why the secular ANP (Awami National Party) won in the last local provincial elections.


The students of Hostel no. 1, our almost daily pit stop, have no high expectations about the main players in Pakistan’s democracy; ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari -Benazir Bhutto’s widower and now Pakistan’s president. “Zardari?” scoffs one of the students, “He was in prison for years. What can we expect from someone who is known and proven to be corrupt?” With a mixture of jealousy and admiration MBA student Sikandar compares his own country with India: “Over there Manmohan Singh made it to become the prime minister despite his modest background. That wouldn’t be possible over here. It revolves around the same old families: the Bhuttos, the Chaudrys, and the Sharifs. They get to be president and the prime minister and no one else gets a look in. There are elections every five years and the next wave of corrupt government comes to power.”


If, as the students have claimed, the well educated are peaceful, then this offers little comfort in Pakistan. Only 43 percent of the population can read or write, and according to Unicef the government invests only 1 percent of the national budget into state education. Other indicators are worrying too; mortality rates for children under five years old are more than 10 percent, and a third of the population lives below the poverty line.

Rally

In the Institute for Management Studies director Shah Jehan is rummaging through a drawer to find the death threat letter he received half a year ago. He reads: “In this university boys and girls sit together and they dance and sing. This has to stop. We are telling you this now gently, but it is very easy for us to kill someone. If you don’t understand us we will blow up the building and everything in it”. The university has provided a guard for Shah Jehan. “He is a nice guy, but just take a closer look at his glasses”, Shah Jehan says. “His lenses are so thick he can barely see the difference between a cigarette and a pen”.


The students’ text messages keep on coming until late into the night. “Hi Ma’am, how was your day!” and “Hi. Really sorry for the late message. I heard there was a blast in Islamabad. Are you back already? Answer! I’m worried”. We receive a text from the Islamia Jamia Taleba, the student wing of a hard-line religious party. The IJT operates within the law but shares many points of view with militant groups. It’s an invite for Takbir Night. Takbir means ‘God is great’, but in Pakistan Takbir Day celebrates the greatness of the atomic bomb. This year is the tenth anniversary of the first successful atomic tests, thanks to Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan who learnt his trade (illegally) while working for Urenco in the Netherlands.


“Our rally starts at 20.00 hours from New Hostel. Hope all is well with you?” The rally kicks off after some delay, as there is a skirmish between supporters and opponents. A few embarrassed students try to send us away: “They only represent a very tiny minority of the students”. The Jamiati students are not very popular anyhow; they gate-crash parties demanding that the ‘unislamic’ music is turned off and make it impossible for men and women to even meet each other outside classes. No more than a hundred and fifty students are taking part in the rally. Carrying torches they walk along the hostels and faculties. “Shame, shame” they cry, protesting against the house arrest of Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan when his smuggling network of nuclear paraphernalia was uncovered. “Hero, hero! Doctor hero!”

Leap forward


Today education is still an escape route from poverty and oppression in Pakistan. “Don’t forget”, it says in the student’s brochure, “that your families have made great sacrifices to allow you to study for an education”. Hardworking students spend the entire summer preparing for their autumn exams. In Peshawar dozens of commercial agencies are offering help to students who want to study abroad, lavishly touting ‘Cambridge’, ‘Oxford’, ‘Harvard’ and other important universities as rash promises.


On a Tuesday afternoon a few students trickle in to the shiny lobby of Peshawar’s only five star hotel, the Pearl Continental. They have come for personal advice from HR Consultants, one of the agencies offering brokering services for higher education. Zulfiqar Ali from Parachinar in the Kurram tribal area has just come out of his interview. He doesn’t want to show his disappointment but the advice he got boils down to nothing; forget it. “The bank balance is not good enough”, says Zulfiqar. “For three years of studying in the UK you need at least 48,000 pounds in your account.”


Click on image to start slide show.

It’s particularly the women of the North West Frontier who have made a huge leap forward. Almost half the students are female and in some departments such as Psychology, they have such a large majority that quotas are being introduced to ensure that men get priority placement. For young women more so than for men, their choice of study is a family affair and not just about individual choices. MBA student Homa has a beautiful voice and dreams of a life as a pop star: “But that’s just a daydream”, she says. It will never happen. “We have a word: ‘dam’. It means something like vulgar. Singing and dancing are ‘dam’ and are just as bad as working as a stripper because in our culture you are not allowed to show yourself in public”. Homa’s greatest role model is Benazir Bhutto who was murdered in December 2007. “Maybe she was corrupt, but whatever she did, she was the strongest woman in the country and a big influence on all women in Pakistan”. Every time she saw Benazir on television Homa wondered: “What is the difference? We are all from the same country but why is she there and I here?” Homa answers her own question: “The difference is she was strong and I am weak. I will not challenge the system”.

Her fellow student Fatima objects that there has been progress nonetheless. “My elder sister wanted to go for her masters in Peshawar University ten years ago, but it was not possible for women at the time. Now this has become quite normal so in a short time there has been a lot of improvement.” It is not obvious everywhere else. Outside the classrooms it is hard to spot many women. When the weather cools down a little hundreds of male students occupy the lawns to play football, cricket or to go for a run, but there are no women. Lema, student of economics, daughter of an Afghan mother and a Pakistani father, is the exception. With two of her female friends she is sitting in one of the gardens during a break. “Nida and Mishi come over every month”. Her friends have both graduated but none of Lema’s female classmates dares to sit outside. “They don’t want to be seen with men”. This is nonsense according to Lema: “They are already in the same class with these boys”.

Extremists have threatened attacks if they see men and women together in the parks or the internet cafe, but Lema doesn’t let them scare her off. “I have asked my friends to come to the university and keep me company. I arrange my own life and I am always happy”. Nida and Mishi don’t have jobs despite their degrees, but they don’t really mind. They are waiting for a wedding proposal. Lema was brought up quite differently; she rolls her big eyes expressively: “I want to get married so badly! Oh my God! Just ask my friends, but my mother is not marriage-minded. She is an engineer and has always worked, also in Afghanistan. She says that study and career have to come first for girls too; because those are things you can work on yourself. Finding a partner depends on luck and that is up to Allah.”

Breaking unwritten rules

In the latest commercials and product advertising for credit cards and insurance the marketing strategists’ current ideal sales images are evident: clean shaven young men in western dress with slim young women, their hair uncovered, and a dupatta modestly draped across their chest. The ideal family has two young children romping around in the garden, while grandpa, still dressed in traditional shalwar kamiz, looks up benignly from behind an English language newspaper. There are adverts with labradors running through the grass, boys playing guitar, women wearing jeans and of course adolescents sending endless streams of text messages via Mobilink ‘Ladies First’, Zong, Ufone and other providers. They drink Pepsi, Coca Cola or the fluorescent green Mountain Dew. In talk shows Pakistanis feature in all manner of dress; traditional or ‘western’, veiled or unveiled. And on the Pathan Khyber TV channel you can gape open-mouthed at female wrestling, imported from the US.


For the future of Pakistan and the North West Frontier the question of whether the armed forces can beat the militants may be less relevant than whether the seismic cultural changes that are taking place can be halted by mullahs and other conservatives.

But Lema is not the only one breaking the unwritten rules. A few days later, right in front of the London Book Store in the centre of Peshawar two couples both in their twenties are passing by. The young men wear T-shirts and low-slung jeans, barely hanging off their hipbones. The women are also wearing jeans but with long tunics over them, and their hair is covered. So far, nothing too shocking. But I am astounded by something I’ve not seen anywhere before in Pakistan. They are holding hands.