All posts by Raza Jaffri

So your child will be starting school – what language will he learn?

Children and Youth, Education, Language

By Zubeida Mustafa

When your child is old enough to go to school and you are planning the start of a new adventure in his life and your own, you would do well to learn something about the role of language in learning. His success in life would depend on that. As the school-going age becomes younger and younger and the demand on nursery pupils and pre-schoolers increases, the quest for knowledge about language has acquired a new urgency.

What is most surprising is that parents weigh all the pros and cons that have a direct bearing on their child’s formal education and his future but they remain so misinformed about language acquisition. They look into the school environment, its pedagogy, the teachers’ approach, teaching aids used, etc. However when it comes to language, they just want to be sure that English is the language their child will be taught. Continue reading So your child will be starting school – what language will he learn? →

The battle must go on

Constitution, Politics, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa

SUCH are the paradoxes in Pakistan’s politics, that at a time our politicians are locked in a grim power struggle in Islamabad, the same gentlemen joined hands to pass unanimously the women’s commission bill last Thursday.

Whether this show of unity on a matter concerning women should be interpreted as an act of chivalry or a demonstration of ‘woman power’, it will be widely welcomed. One must, however, admit that it was the clout of the women’s caucus and the determination of the speaker — also a woman — to get the treasury and opposition benches to forge a consensus that ultimately carried the day. The bill is expected to have a smooth sailing in the Senate. Continue reading The battle must go on →

Science at the grass roots

Children and Youth, Education, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa

IN an article ‘Neutrinos and Angels’ he wrote for a national daily, Prof Pervez Hoodbhoy, one of Pakistan’s leading scientists, quotes the late Carl Sagan, America’s well-known astronomer, astrophysicist, and science communicator.

Sagan told Bible Belt Americans: “Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we agonise about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us — then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls.” Continue reading Science at the grass roots →

Won’t we be counted?

Economy, Population, Women

ACCORDING to Pakistan’s Population Census Organisation’s website, enumeration of the population should have been completed on Sept 27, 2011. This has not been done.

Even the house-listing operation that precedes the head count has run into road blocks. One can therefore only make wild guesses about the size of our population. According to the government, the population of Pakistan today stands at 177.1 million. The growth rate, as claimed by the Pakistan Economic Survey 2010-11, stands at 2.05 per cent per annum.

This is cause for serious concern as last year’s Survey had quoted the population growth rate to be 1.51 per cent. Continue reading Won’t we be counted? →