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Why education needs reform PM has announced educational emergency to bring 26 million out-of-school children back to classrooms A representational image showing girls attending a class at a school in Lahore. — AFP/File All over the world, educational institutions are well-resourced both academically and administratively, enabling them to keep pace with the advancement of society. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1700472799616-0'); }); However, in Pakistan, a chain of unprecedented, speedy, and ever-echoing challenges has almost failed to rouse the political and bureaucratic offices to bring about radical changes in the outdated education system. This failure has been observed in all four tiers of education: primary, secondary, higher secondary, and university education. Primary education in state schools across the country – we must be bold enough to accept – has declined to such a level that even the middle class, with scant resources, hardly opts for them for its children. This decline stems from academic, administrative, and infrastructural disasters these institutions of basic education have been facing for decades. A significant number of state schools are being run without sufficient, qualified, and trained teachers, with extremely poor building infrastructure and inadequate financial resources to meet basic institutional needs. Consequently, most government-owned schools, particularly in urban areas, are severely under-enrolled, while overcrowded private schools educate children without any oversight by the state regarding their curriculum, especially in terms of social and moral education. In rural areas, many schools are either ghostly structures or operate with one or two teachers covering all subjects. In this dismal scenario, the prime minister has announced an educational emergency to bring 26 million out-of-school children back to classrooms, but pragmatic steps from state organs are still awaited. Even if this goal is achieved, schools without qualified and trained teachers, operating in shabby buildings and subject to feudal mindsets in rural areas, cannot equip students with the latest education needed to grow as promising youth. Similarly, secondary and higher secondary educational institutions are also lagging due to the same governmental neglect, indifferent ruling elites, and the lack of will to uplift them. If not on par with international standards, they should at least match private educational institutions. According to a World Bank report published in September 2023, 40 per cent of the country’s population lives below the poverty line. In this context, 52.2 per cent of students across all levels are enrolled in state-owned institutions, while 43.8 per cent attend private institutions. This clearly reflects public perception, as only 8.4 per cent of Pakistani families above the poverty line choose state schools, colleges, and universities for their children. his trend underscores a widespread belief that promising youth are nurtured only by private educators, while those educated in state institutions will struggle to compete with their privately educated peers in the future. This public perception has developed even though a great number of scientists, bureaucrats, intellectuals, judges, and generals were educated in public schools, colleges, and universities in the past. This stark contrast highlights the deteriorating state of public education while growing awareness among the public strengthens their belief that only modernised education can guarantee a promising future for their children. The consequences of this bleak picture of state education include the rapid growth of private educational institutions, which operate as profit-driven edu-industries. These institutions make it increasingly difficult for middle and lower-middle-class families to afford education, define their own social, moral, and cultural boundaries, and pay little attention to the guidelines set by religion or the state. Equally concerning is the deepening class divide in society, a concept widely rejected globally, which is being entrenched in Pakistan. Graduates from state institutions will rarely be able to compete with those from private institutions. This divide may exacerbate frustration, which is globally acknowledged as a root cause of crime and even terrorism. There is also a growing perception that the state is gradually abdicating its responsibility for education, shifting the burden to NGOs, businessmen, and other private entities. This is a clear deviation from the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which states: "The state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law" (Article 25-A). The current state of ‘free and compulsory education’, coupled with the neglect of ‘quality’, has plunged the nation into severe social, economic, and moral crises. In this context, the prime minister’s announcement regarding the return of 26 million children to school is no more than the first drop of long-awaited rain. However, this initiative could be derailed by political anarchy, bureaucratic red tape, and the giant of corruption. The dilemma of state schools, colleges, and universities is further compounded by the typical mindset of teachers, students, and non-teaching staff, which reflects the general national approach of government servants. This mindset needs to be abandoned immediately to slow the deterioration of state-owned educational institutions. The vast land and extensive building infrastructure of these institutions should also be utilised effectively, as is commonly witnessed in private organisations. This would make them financially self-sustaining while ensuring the efficient and transparent use of funds. Finally, a complete administrative restructuring of these institutions is crucial. This includes implementing utility and quality checks on the performance of all employees, both teaching and non-teaching staff. Without these reforms, state education will continue to decline, leaving millions of Pakistani children without the tools they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive and knowledge-driven world. The writer is an educationist. He can be reached at: prof.mashraflhr2@gmail.comSilent Tragedy: The Deadly Indifference to Preventable Accidents and Killings in Afghanistan
NASH.VILLE, Tenn (AP) — Nico Iamaleava threw for 257 yards and four touchdowns rallying No. 7 Tennessee from a 14-point deficit within the first five minutes to rout in-state rival Vanderbilt 36-23 Saturday. The Volunteers (10-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference; No. 8 CFP) needed a big victory to impress the College Football Playoff committee enough to earn a home playoff game in December. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a weekParty City to close its stores as company files for bankruptcy LOS ANGELES (AP) — Party City announced that it's going to “wind down” its retail and wholesale operations as it prepares to shutter nearly 700 stores nationwide. The company said Saturday it has also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection "to maximize value for the benefit of the company’s stakeholders.” The New Jersey-based retailer said it will keep more than 95% of its 12,000 employees to help with the process of closing down. Customers have flocked to Party City for Halloween costumes, favors for children’s birthday parties and decorations for New Year’s Eve celebrations for nearly 40 years. It has faced growing competition from Walmart and Target and from occasion-based pop-up stores such as Spirit Halloween. A million taxpayers will soon receive up to $1,400 from the IRS. Who are they and why now? Approximately 1 million taxpayers will automatically receive special payments of up to $1,400 from the IRS in the coming weeks. The money will be directly deposited into eligible people’s bank accounts or sent in the mail by a paper check. Most people shouldn't get their hopes up about receiving the cash. The IRS says it’s distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns after missing one of the COVID stimulus payments or receiving less than the full amount. The IRS says most taxpayers eligible for the federal stimulus payments received them. Bluesky finds with growth comes growing pains — and bots Bluesky has seen its user base soar since the U.S. presidential election, boosted by people seeking refuge from Elon Musk’s X, or wanting an alternative to Meta’s Threads and its algorithms. The platform grew out of the company then known as Twitter and was eventually intended to replace it. While this is still very much a pie in the sky, Bluesky’s growth trajectory could make it a serious competitor to other social platforms. With growth, though, comes growing pains. It’s not just human users who’ve been flocking to Bluesky but also bots, including those designed to create partisan division or direct users to junk websites. 'Sonic 3' bests 'Mufasa: The Lion King' at the box office NEW YORK (AP) — In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office. The results came just ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters. According to studio estimates, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend. “Mufasa,” however, was humbled in its opening weekend, coming in notably shy of expectations. It returned just $35 million in domestic ticket sales. Amazon and Starbucks workers are on strike. Trump might have something to do with it Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract. Strikes during busy periods like the holidays can help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or garner support from sympathetic consumers. One expert says he thinks workers at both companies are “desperate” to make progress before President-elect Donald Trump can appoint a Republican majority to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at Starbucks, Amazon and some other prominent consumer brands are fighting for their first contracts after several locations voted to unionize. Farmers are still reeling months after Hurricane Helene ravaged crops across the South LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Farmers in Georgia are still reeling more than two months after Hurricane Helene blew away cotton, destroyed ripened squash and cucumbers and uprooted pecan trees and timber. Agribusinesses in other Southern states saw costly damage as well. The University of Georgia estimates the September storm inflicted $5.5 billion in direct losses and indirect costs in Georgia alone. In rural Toombs County, Chris Hopkins just finished harvesting his ravaged cotton crop and figures he lost half of it, costing him about $430,000. Poultry grower Jeffrey Pridgen in Georgia's Coffee County had four of his 12 chicken houses destroyed and others badly damaged. Farmers say more government disaster assistance is needed. Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI’s strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products. But he grew disillusioned with the company and told The Associated Press this fall he would “try to testify” in copyright infringement cases against it. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge shows price pressures eased last month WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. Prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices also ticked up just 0.1%, after two months of outsize 0.3% gains. The milder inflation figures arrived two days after Federal Reserve officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, rocked financial markets by revealing that they now expect to cut their key interest rate just two times in 2025, down from four in their previous estimate. Albania to close TikTok for a year blaming it for promoting violence among children TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister says the government will shut down video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teenager following a quarrel that started on TikTok. Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said TikTok “would be fully closed for all. ... There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama says the ban will begin sometime next year. Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according to domestic researchers. Stock market today: Wall Street rises to turn a dismal week into just a bad one NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to turn what would have been one of the market’s worst weeks of the year into just a pretty bad one. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% Friday to shave its loss for the week down to 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 500 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. A report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than expected. It’s an encouraging signal after the Fed shocked markets Wednesday by saying worries about inflation could keep it from cutting interest rates in 2025 as much as earlier thought.
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