Category Archives: Human Rights

Budget and education:  Shortfall in outlay despite Iqra and other incomes                                                   

Archive Edition, Economy, Education, Human Rights, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa

 WHILE the federal and provincial budgets announced in June have shown an increase in the allocations for the education sector as in previous years the government has failed to display the political will, social commitment and economic capacity to promote education sufficiently in a country where 74 per cent of the population is illiterate.The fact is that, increase in funds notwithstanding, Pakistan is still a long way from the goals the framers of the Sixth Five-Year Plan had laid down in 1983, which would have boosted literacy to 48 per cent and primary school enrolment ratio to 75 per cent. Continue reading Budget and education:  Shortfall in outlay despite Iqra and other incomes                                                    →

Where does Pakistan Stand? World Bank study on school quality

Archive Edition, Children and Youth, Constitution, Development and Poverty, Education, Environment, Human Rights, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa

ACCORDING to a recently jublished World Bank study, the slowdown in the :rash expansion of the school system in Third World countries, and the decline in the investment capital available to them, lave caused policymakers to turn their attention to the quality of education.

It is now being realised that low levels of student achievement are hampering economic development. Moreover, poor school quality means that in many cases education is not cost-efficient. Continue reading Where does Pakistan Stand? World Bank study on school quality →

Health care for all: empty slogan

Archive Edition, Development and Poverty, Health, Human Rights

By Zubeida Mustafa

“Healthcare for all” s been proclaimed to be the focal point of the Prime Minister’s five point programme. The Government claims that by i990 every Pakistani will be provided access to health facility so that none will have to undergo needless pain and suffering should he fall ill.

No one would dispute the nobility of this goal. But given the present trends one feels sceptical whether the government will succeed in achieving its objective. The hurdles are numerous and the efforts not substantial enough.

Take the case of Mohammad Khan. His experience shows we still have a long, long way to go in providing healthcare for the rural areas. This is what he has to say: Continue reading Health care for all: empty slogan →

The social sector: What the budget was likely to achieve

Administration, Archive Edition, Children and Youth, Development and Poverty, Economy, Education, Health, Housing, Human Rights, Labour, Population, Social Issues, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa

THE Federal Finance Minister has described Budget 1986-87 as being designed to provide relief to all sections of society in need of it.

Although there is greater emphasis on the social sectors and on welfare measures than before — their allocation having risen from 12 per cent of the budget in 1982-83 to 20 per cent in 1986-87 — the increase has been less than what was envisaged in the Sixth Plan. Continue reading The social sector: What the budget was likely to achieve →

Women’s rights: Greater awareness than before

Archive Edition, Culture and the Arts, Education, Human Rights, Islamisation, Media, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa

IS the International Women’s Day on March 8 to be dismissed as one of those occasions for the annual round of rituals and rhetorics which come to nought? The cynics are quick to point out that fiery speeches notwithstnding, the plight of women continues to be as dismal as ever.

True, the struggle for equality of status and the emancipation of women in Pakistan still has a long way to go. Women have not be accorded the basic rights or given the social recognition that are their due as human beings. They have not been integrated in the mainstream of national development. Hence Continue reading Women’s rights: Greater awareness than before →