By Zubeida Mustafa
ASER sheds light on how the Covid-19 pandemic and the intermittent lockdowns have impacted severely on education in Pakistan. It confirms what the Federal Ministry of Education had conceded last year. The crisis has “magnified the risks and vulnerabilities of an already weak education system”.
Continue reading What a fallBy Zubeida Mustafa
TWITTER has emerged as the new platform for announcing public policies to ensure maximum publicity. But a tweet without action on the ground has no credibility. Hence, Minister of Planning Asad Umar’s recent tweet calling for Pakistan to prioritise population growth reduction will raise expectations of plausible official measures.
Continue reading We and theyBy Zubeida Mustafa
RECENTLY, I had a deeply satisfying experience that gave me hope for our children. I attended five lectures as an observer in a five-week course for teachers’ assistants sponsored by the Pakistan Montessori Association, Karachi. This ‘return to school’ exercise reinforced my faith in the future of our children who alone can save Pakistan.
The lectures prompted some soul-searching. I could understand how we are failing our children and thus our country. It was William Wordsworth who wrote “The Child is father of the Man” in a poem. But state and society are destroying the spirit of our citizens of tomorrow.
Continue reading Follow the childزبیدہ مصطفیٰ
حال ہی میں مجھے ایک بے حد اطمینان بخش تجربہ ہوا جس سے بچوں کے حوالے سے مجھے امید ملی۔ میں نے پاکستان مونٹیسری ایسوسی ایشن کراچی کے تعاون سے پانچ ہفتے کے ایک کورس میں بطور مبصر پانچ لیکچرز میں شرکت کی۔ ’اسکول واپسی‘کی اس مشق نے ہمارےبچے کے مستقبل پر میرا اعتقاد مضبوط کردیا کیونکہ صرف بچے ہی پاکستان کو بچا سکتے ہیں۔
Continue reading بچے سے رہنمایٰ حاصل کیجےBy Zubeida Mustafa
THE ongoing school and college examinations across the country mark the advent of the cheating season. As expected, the national discourse is now focused on the malpractices of both candidates and examiners. Also under discussion are the incompetency and corruption of the examination boards which not only tolerate this ugly feature of our education system but actually facilitate it.
Continue reading Culture of corruption