Pakistan
Students, exams and politics!
While writing a column I came across many news ideas. Thought once to pass on a comment on news that Ali Amin Gandapur is distributing cash before Azad Kashmir election and those who are claiming ‘transparency in polls’ are now trying to find excuses after being caught ‘red-handed’.
For me PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s grilling of PML-N was also an interesting topic that forced me to think that didn’t Bilawal recall when and where his party extended cooperation on the whims and wishes of those in power?
Whether it’s the cooperation on letting Sadiq Sanjrani becoming the Senate chairman or is the move to reduce the PML-N seats during the Senate elections, or to seek the government’s help for getting former Prime Minister Sardar Yousaf Raza Gilani elected as Senator- Shah Mahmood Qureshi made Bilawal realized it on the floor of the house. The once again retaliatory tone of PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz during Azad Kashmir election campaign could also be the topic of opinion, but at this point of time the most important topic to me is the future of youngsters and the government’s “controversial” policy and “cold” attitude.
The PML-N walked out of the National Assembly session over exams controversy. MNA Khawaja Saad Rafique said on the floor of the house that Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood was approached with a request to cancel the exams, but the government has yet to respond. “The Opposition must be taken into confidence as to why the government wants to hold supplementary exams 45 days after taking one exam and failing students,” Rafique remarked. Upon this parliamentary secretary education Wajih Akram said exams in Balochistan have already been completed, these are continuing in Sindh so how it’s possible to postpone the ongoing exams? Rafique hastened to add that the government didn’t want to discuss with the opposition the postponement of exams and eventually PML-N and other opposition parties staged walkout from the Lower House.
After the matter was raised on the floor of the house, Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood took to twitter, saying why the nationwide exams should be postponed and why those students who got their exams prepared be punished? He said those students who need more time for preparations could appear in the supplementary exams to be held under all boards after two to three months.
The ongoing tussle between the government and the opposition indicates they both are not willing to sit together, thanks to the new trends in political culture of mounting intolerance. Here a question arises if we have decided to sacrifice the future of Pakistan for the sake of egoism and stubbornness? It is quite painful that no one has taken this matter seriously so far that what’s the real problem of the students? Why they are taking to streets? Are they protesting over not be prepared for exams or they are facing real problems regarding their syllabi?
To understand their problem we take a look back in March last year when the decision was taken to close all educational institutes to contain spread of the coronavirus. More than 300,000 schools faced closure while education in colleges and universities also got affected. The expensive educational institutions in a few major cities including Karachi and Lahore though provided digital platforms to their students. But hundreds of thousands of students were unable to counter the new situation as they lacked smart phones and internet. And those who possessed smart phones could not avail 3G-4G networks in rural areas. The simple logic is Pakistan’s inability to cover the entire country with this technology.
According to a UNICEF report, around 22.8 million out of 70 million children in Pakistan are already out of schools, so access to education was already a problem for us and now in addition to poor-rich disparity the coronavirus pandemic has also created a visible difference as who can avail technological facilities and who can’t. And the same reason forced the university students to protest against online classes.
The biggest problem for online classes has appeared to be dis-connectivity due to poor infrastructure despite internet facility and it’s a continuous issue in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Gilgit-Baltistan. Even the internet speed doesn’t support online classes in rural areas of Punjab. Broadband services are costly and cell phone possession is too not more than 51 per cent of the total population of the country. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, only a million school students have access to digital services.
The government adopted distant-learning system, as 40 million Pakistani kids have access to television, and an education project “Teleschool” was launched with $5 million World Bank grant. But how much effective could be this education learning programme- especially when the parents and students are not well-equipped for this- is not difficult to understand.
The government can easily conduct a survey either by approaching financially-poor families at their doorstep or conducting a survey to check availability of smart phones and use of 3G/4G technology. The information can be collected from those households where four to six kids go to school and only one smart phone is usually in the use of head of the family for official purposes.
The educational institutes are now open and the students are facing extreme difficulties especially those who are about to appear in the secondary and intermediate board exams. While conducting exams without realizing the problems of students, the officials are now defending their stance that the students, who are not prepared, could appear in the supplementary exams. Is participation in the supplementary exam the only solution to facilitate students? The simple answer is that the government neither paid any heed to the students nor listened to the stance of the Opposition.
The Covid pandemic this year could be blamed for causing blow to the education and exams, but at least this is not only a warning for the people at the helms of affairs but also an opportunity to identify core problems in our education system. Nobody can say such pandemic will not strike us or we will not come across any such untoward happening, so we need to improve online and distant learning education on modern lines. We can get rid of ghost schools and untrained teachers only when the education system will be put on the path of latest trends.
This pandemic has taught us many lessons. The respective governments will have to formulate long-term policies to save the education system from the effects of any disaster like Covid in future. Side by side we also have to keep the most important role of teacher intact as the teacher is the only person who could bring discipline to the students as his role to educate them is always central.
In societies like us, majority students are not capable of learning and studying their own. With the advancement in the education system, there is a need to bring teachers at par with latest technology and required resources. The quality of education for better Pakistan should also be among the top priorities!
Pakistan
PM calls for enhancing Pakistan-Turkmenistan cooperation in different sectors
Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atadjan Movlamov conveys the felicitations of the Turkmen leadership to the Prime Minster on his re-election.
Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday stressed the need to enhance bilateral cooperation with Turkmenistan, particularly in the domains of trade, energy and connectivity.
He was talking to Ambassador of Turkmenistan Atadjan Movlamov who paid courtesy call on him in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The Ambassador conveyed the felicitations of the Turkmen leadership to the Prime Minster on his re-election.
The Prime Minister thanked Turkmen President Serdar Berdimohamedov as well as National Leader of the Turkmen People Gurbanguly Berdimohamedov for their congratulatory messages.
He fondly recalled his meetings with them and said he looked forward to continuing these exchanges in the future.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed the significance of longstanding, historic and cultural ties between Pakistan and Turkmenistan.
Cooperation on regional initiatives was also highlighted. In this regard, the Prime Minister stressed that high level exchanges between the two countries needed to be enhanced.
The importance of regular meetings of the bilateral institutional mechanisms was also impressed upon by the Prime Minister.
The Turkmen Ambassador briefed the Prime Minister on the various ongoing bilateral activities.
The Ambassador, who is also the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in Islamabad, expressed his gratitude for the cooperation and support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government departments in the discharge of his functions.
Pakistan
Committee to investigate misuse of power allegations against Faiz Hameed
The sources say that the committee was formed following directives from the superior court and the defense ministry.
Rawalpindi: The Pakistan Army on Wednesday established an inquiry committee to investigate allegations of power abuse against former ISI chief General Faiz Hameed (Retd).
The sources privy to the development said that the committee was formed following directives from the superior court and the defense ministry.
Tasked with examining the accusations against Gen Faiz Hameed (Retd), the probe committee would compile a comprehensive report on the issue.
They said that if the allegations are proven true, the inquiry committee is mandated to provide recommendations against Faiz Hameed.
Gen Faiz Hameed was accused of utilizing his authority in relation to a housing society in Islamabad.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan had held hearings regarding the case involving the former ISI chief.
Business
Federal cabinet decides to write letter to provinces to enhance wheat procurement targets
Attaullah Tarar says the federal cabinet held discussion on the recent visit of Saudi delegation to Pakistan and the expression of interest shown by the Saudi side for investment in different sectors.
Islamabad: Federal cabinet at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Wednesday decided to write a letter to the four provinces to enhance their wheat procurement targets and set a good price for the commodity.
Briefing media persons about the decisions taken in the cabinet meeting, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said this letter would be written by the Ministry of National Food Security today.
The Information Minister was confident that this decision would bring prosperity in the lives of farmers. He pointed out that the country has abundant stocks of wheat and a bumper wheat crop is expected this year. He said this situation will have positive impact on the rural economy.
Attaullah Tarar said the federal cabinet held discussion on the recent visit of Saudi delegation to Pakistan and the expression of interest shown by the Saudi side for investment in different sectors.
Describing the visit of Saudi delegation as highly productive, he said that matters are expeditiously moving forward. He said a high level Saudi delegation will visit Pakistan in the coming months to conclude the agreements. He said a Saudi delegation from private sector is also visiting Pakistan very soon, and their investments and partnerships with Pakistani private sector will have positive impact on the economy.
The Information Minister said delegation level visits from other friendly countries are also expected in the coming days. He said the world financial institutions and journals as well as independent experts are recognizing the steps taken by the government for economic improvement. He said the benefit of this improvement will reach the common man.
Commenting on the political situation, the Information Minister said the gathering of opposition parties in Balochistan was a failed exercise. He pointed out that there are divisions within the PTI and their leader is facing jail on corruption cases. He said the economy is on the positive trajectory and this process will be taken forward for the progress and development of the country.
Meanwhile, the Federal Cabinet approved the establishment of Institute of Modern Sciences in Wah Cantonment.
The Prime Minister directed to form a committee to be headed by Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training to further improve the procedure for establishing new universities and higher education institutions.
The Cabinet accorded approval to Federal Public-Private Policy of Pakistan, 2023-2028. In this regard, the Prime Minister said that economic growth can be accelerated through public-private partnership. He directed all the ministries to submit their proposals under Public Private Partnership.
The Federal Cabinet also approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Qatar's Ministry of Labour and Pakistan's Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development for labour relations, inspections, professional safety and health.
The Cabinet was told that currently three hundred thousand Pakistanis are working in Qatar, who are sending 850 million rupees foreign exchange to Pakistan.
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