Category Archives: Archive Edition

A principled stand

Archive Edition, Books, Children and Youth, Education

By Zubeida Mustafa

THE FIRST WORLD WAR folk song ran, “Old soldiers never die/ They simply fade away.” For old teachers you can say, they never die; they do not even fade away. They live on and on through the generations of students they teach with such living care and devotion. That is what thousands and thousands of women old and young who have studied in the St. Joseph’s College between 1957 and 1982 – at least 20,000 of them – would say about Sister Mary Emily. Continue reading A principled stand →

Role of private schools

Archive Edition, Education

By Zubeida  Musstafa

THE education policy announced in March devotes one whole chapter to the private sector. Nevertheless, it fails to clarify some basic issues relating to the privately managed schools and institutions of higher learning. The ambivalence which has marked the education sector persists.

More importantly, the policy reflects a love-hate relationship between the government and the private sector. The authorities grudgingly concede that the private sector is  indispensable. Continue reading Role of private schools →

New policy lacks credibility

Archive Edition, Children and Youth, Education

By Zubeida Musta

ONE has to be either a diehard optimist or incredibly simplistic to believe that the education policy announced on March 27 will bring about a moral and social transformation in Pakistan through educational reforms. The major problem in the policy is that of credibility. The government has so far done nothing to establish its bonafides in the promotion of education. There has been a lot of loud talk about the need to enhance the literacy rate and universalize primary education. But is there anything new about that? All the six education policies which have been announced since 1947 have listed these as their basic goals. Yet we have the dubious distinction of being the last but one most illiterate country in South Asia with the lowest primary school enrolment ration in the region. How can one be certain that the present government’s performance will be any different?

Continue reading New policy lacks credibility →

Can it be implemented?

Archive Edition, Children and Youth, Development and Poverty, Education

By Zubeida Mustafa

IT is a strange coincidence that two important documents pertaining to education were released in Pakistan in March 1998 within a span of a few days. One was the report titled Human Development in South Asia 1998: The Education Challenge prepared by Dr Mahbubul Haq and Khadija Haq and published by the Human Development Centre, Islamabad, and the Oxford University Press (Pakistan). The other was the Pakistan government’s education policy prepared by the Federal Ministry of Education.

Continue reading Can it be implemented? →

Listening in

Archive Edition, Children and Youth, Education, Health

By Zubeida Mustafa

THEY were women from three generations, their ages ranging from twelve months to fifty odd years. As they met in the office of Dr Tahira Aleem, the audiologist at the Ida Rieu Centre for the Deaf and Blind, I could see that the infant girl’s future hinged on that crucial session. She was profoundly hearing impaired and since she had never heard any sounds since birth she could not speak either. As she snuggled in her mother’s lap, with an endearing expression in her eyes and quite oblivious to her  surroundings, the infant appeared to be at peace in her own world of silence. But how long would this peace last? Without the capacity to communicate, she would grow up severely handicapped in her shell of utter isolation. Continue reading Listening in →