Who Should be blamed - System or the People

An Insight to the Education System

Of all the wealth that one can accumulate in a lifetime,

the most valuable is education. Education that comes
through a structured learning system can refine one’s thinking, perspective and vision. Only education helps
us separate the wheat from the chaff. Education is the
bedrock of social and economic development.Throughout history, philosophers like Aristotle and Plato recognized the importance of education.It is only through sound education that we can hope to eradicate social evils. Education is considered as the cheapest defence of a nation but the down trodden condition of education in Pakistan bears an ample testimony of the fact that it is unable to defend its own sector.Though 64 year have been passed and 23 policies have been introduced yet the educational sector is waiting for the arrival of a saviour. In Human Development report Pakistan is placed at 136^th position for having just 49.9% educated people. The main factor behind such a continuous failure is the educational incongruity amongst different cities and even amongst different institutes lying adjacent to each other. There is difference in educational standards of various private, public and local institutes on a huge scale

Today it has become a business to run private institutions. In every street a school or institute is opened in homes having no playgrounds and other facilities which are alarming. Furthermore, private institutes or academies are a trend now-a-days which is being followed by majority of the students. The government school teachers who are employed in academies display a biased character towards their duty in government schools, they intentionally leave grey areas so that the students might join in order to acquire complete curricular knowledge, in return the teachers are heavily paid. This is the major cause of stratification on educational grounds.

Another dilemma worth mentioning is education in Pakistan has become grossly commercialised, it is a very sorry state of affair. Now the rising cost of colleges and universities in Pakistan threatens to put higher education, rendering low-income students absolutely unable to afford college or university. Our education system is passing through a very bad phase and is regarded as amongst the poorest in the world. Cream of Pakistani brain is either becoming idle due to non-availability of ever rising cost of education or going to other countries. Merit is a mere joke in Pakistan and now increasingly looked upon as tradable commodity. In the process the quality of education is absolutely eroded. Studying in college or university is now an expensive investment. Tuition fees have a disincentive effect on the poor middle-income students. The prevailing situation of uncertainty and disrespect for the people who are not considered as the members of semi-rich or elite class has pushed a lot of youngsters to flee from country in search of jobs and further education with long term plans to get settled abroad where they get more respect despite their status of a third rate citizen. Education has now been made a profitable business, those who could afford to study from top of the line and prestigious universities are more likely to end up having good jobs up their sleeves. On the other hand, more talented and promising people who have studied from slightly lower rating institute struggle to get a good start. It is about time that we go for a collaborative effort to channelize and focus the energies of our youth by providing them equal opportunities in all fields. People and the institutions are busy in profit-making and are least bothered about the quality and standard of education which they are providing to the students. The public institutions which offer education at low a low fee, are not of a good standard and they do not provide the student with helpful education. Also, private tuitions have become a fashion and the people all around the globe; have adopted it as a necessity. The government policies regarding education are not satisfactory, and the ones which are adequate are not being implemented. This is a chaotic situation and needs our special attention. Thus, to get rid of all the problems and to give education its status and position back, the psyche of the people has to be changed plus the government needs to review its policies and new laws should be imposed which can help our society to enjoy the real fruit of education. This will help our society to flourish and prosper well.
 






Aurthor: Khaula Aasim

Turn on the lights!!!

Developing countries have had extremely limited options for safe waste disposal, especially for used and/or contaminated sharps (lancets, blades, syringes or hypodermic needles with or without attached tubing; broken glass items such as Pasteur pipettes and blood vials, and other invasive devices) that can cause injury and that are associated with significant risk of infection if indiscriminately disposed.

(Infectious waste can also include non-sharps, e.g., materials that have been in contact with blood, its derivatives, or other body fluids, e.g., bandages, swabs or items soaked with blood.) While generally less than 10% of health-care waste is considered infectious, many countries have poorly developed waste segregation practices. This complicates waste management since commingling sharps and other infectious waste with non-infectious waste will increase the amount of waste considered infectious that requires special treatment for safe treatment and disposal.

Resources are extremely limited in many countries, especially in remote areas. Consequently, open pit burning is still widely practiced for health-care waste including sharps, though this practice is objectionable due to emissions, the incomplete disinfection and destruction of the waste, and community complaints.

The volume of health-care waste varies by the size and activity of the clinic/hospital/provider. Small rural clinics may generate relatively small quantities of infectious waste, e.g., 1 to 10 kg of sharps per month. Quantities can be orders of magnitude greater at large urban clinics and hospitals. Quantities can greatly increase during immunization campaigns, e.g., the 2001 measles mass immunization campaign in West Africa (covering all or part of six countries) vaccinated 17 million children and generated nearly 300 tons of injection-related waste. Throughout the developing world, WHO estimates that routine immunizations of children under one year and immunization of women of childbearing age with tetanus toxoid accounted for over one billion injections in 1998, while measles control/elimination activities and disease-outbreak control operations accounted for another 200 million injections in the same year (WHO 1999). These 1.2 billion injections are estimated to produce 12 000 to 20 000 tons of infectious waste. Additional immunizations are anticipated as new vaccines appear and for the poorest countries where vaccines are needed most.

Safe waste disposal options are needed to deal with these quantities, as well as the wastes generated by routine health-care provision.

Incineration has been used for many years. Incineration can destroy or inactive infectious waste, provide significant (>90%) mass and volume reduction of the waste, and render materials (syringes, etc.) unusable. Moreover, it generates enough electricity to carry the burden of one district at a time. Incineration plants provide thermal recycling of refuse fuels. In particular waste and garbage from the following are burned: Waste from private households, Local waste, and Industrial waste. Due to rising amounts of garbage, as well as a stronger environmental awareness, waste incineration is of an ever greater importance. Garbage in many countries was and is still disposed of by simply throwing it on to garbage dumps or in landfills. The decomposition of this garbage on the dumps creates a dangerous mixture of toxic effluents, gases and chemicals, which can endanger the groundwater. By burning the garbage in combustion plants, this danger can be avoided and the energy created in the burning process can be captured and re-used.

Everywhere, where population, industry and prosperity grow, waste incineration can represent safe disposal of waste. Incineration plants are from a process point of view comparable to conventional coal-fired power stations. Many plant components are the same. The capacity or size of an incineration plant is however limited to the garbage amounts which can be burned per year. A medium size plant will burn on average 200,000 tonn of garbage per year.

In developed countries, recent regulatory initiatives have significantly changed the utilization, design and operation of incinerators. In developing countries, controlled air incineration using low cost engineered small-scale facilities has been promoted by national governments and UNICEF and is currently used in a number of countries, often with external support. Small-scale incinerators may be built on-site, locally constructed, fixed and/or portable. Units typically operate for 1 to 6 hours per week or month in a batch or intermittent mode to destroy sharps and other health-care waste. For example, the brick incinerators, designed at De Montfort University by JD Pickens, have been introduced into both remote and urban areas in several countries, e.g., West and East Africa, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, etc. When new and appropriately operated and maintained, these high thermal capacity incinerators can achieve relatively high operating temperatures (700 to 800 C), largely destroying the waste and helping to reduce production and emissions of dioxins and furans in stack gases and ash. 

Khawlah Raja

Love the way I'm..

I am polite, loving, confident and affable. But like every person, I have some imperfections. I am at the same time, a little short tempered and I try to impose my personal will and decisions on others. I am very bold which leads people to develop misconceptions about me.But I don’t really care about what they say because that’s totally not me. I am very tolerant but the only thing that I cannot bear is lie.

I am not arrogant, I am not rude but I am just not clever enough to judge people so I stay away from them because, for me, being alone is far better than being with someone who is not loyal with you and doesn’t know the simple ethics of being someone’s friend.
For me the only thing that matters is the afterlife. I do whatever I want to and I don’t like to give explanations for it to anybody. Because, I believe, only He (Allah) deserves my justifications as He is the only one who will stay by my side when no one else would help me.

My family and my friends have always been my top priority. I am very attached with my grandfather. He always stands right beside me whenever I need him.
I like going out of the way for the people I love and fulfill their expectations. For me, being selfless is better because it gives you that happiness which nothing else can give. At times, when I am completely helpless and depressed, I try to stay strong, be patient and try to solve my problems rather than running away from them. I am totally satisfied with my life because Alhamdullilah I have everything that I need rather I have more than it.

To a better Pakistan....Cleaner Pakistan

We talk about progress - we talk about changing the world, we talk about changing our idealogy, but in a world where we ourselves cannot take action - where would we find the strength and the unity required for change?

In a country where you cannot walk two streets without spotting some sort of mess on the side of a road - or maybe next to a dumpster... where you can be rest assured that throwing a juice box or a soda bottle out of your luxurious car won't earn you a fine - progress can only remain an illusion.

A nation's power stems from its people, and Pakistan's reality is that it is racked with filth... not the filth that is contained within the hearts of its inhabitants but the filth that surrounds us 24/7 - this is something that the people of Pakistan can take proper action on but refrain from doing so - only because it seems a trivial matter to minds that are apparently capable of bringing about a wave of much more influential change, ironically however ignoring the first thing that gives off the impression of a powerful country - it being a neat and clean abode.

 

People ask – what can I do alone as one man? What difference would one man make? But Rome wasn’t built in a day, an army isn’t formed in one minute and surely a nation can’t be saved in a matter of seconds. It requires the united efforts of all sectors of society – it requires the personal efforts that extend from the very confines of our own home... taking out the trash in a proper manner than in the way we do now. Maybe refrain from throwing junk out of our car windows, have garbage trucks regularly make trips to make sure the trash isn’t lying around... stop oneself from throwing everywhere around the trashcan and try throwing garbage inside it. Not only that but one can also assist in picking up the trash from the roads and streets – it’s our home, we need to take action. A little action spurs a chain reaction that reverberates through generations at times. A spark can ignite a flame – so even if you’re alone today, you’ll be leading a group of trendsetters tomorrow.

So get to it – to start toward an alternate Pakistan, a better Pakistan... a CLEANER Pakistan!

 

Start implementing or Jehanzeb Noor Uddin will eat you alive!

 

Let's get a proper education system!

Getting education is every man and woman’s right. Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. It is the sole basis on which the world is progressing.

Secondary education in Pakistan begins from grade 9 and lasts for four years. After end of each of the four school years, students are required to pass a national examination administered by a regional Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (or BISE). The first two year course is locally termed as 'matriculation certificate' or 'matric' for short. Students then enter an intermediate college and complete grades 11 and 12. Upon successful completion of these examinations, students are awarded the Higher Secondary (School) Certificate (or HSC). This level of education is also called the FSc/FA or 'intermediate'. An alternative qualification in Pakistan is also available but is maintained by a foreign examination board instead of BISE. This alternative qualifications is known as the General Certificate of Education (or GCE), where SSC and HSC are replaced by Ordinary Level (or O Level) and Advanced Level (or A Level) respectively. These examinations are conducted under the pretext of Cambridge Board which has its main headquarters in Britain.

 The syllabus used in BISE is very old and no significant changes have been made to it whatsoever. Students who want to pursue degrees in medical and engineering can go along with this old syllabus but students who want to go for business, law or media have to study an updated course. CIE is an internationally recognized board with updated courses and thus is helpful for students. Students who pursue O/A’ Levels find it difficult to score good marks in medical and engineering entry tests. This is because the entry tests for engineering and medical universities are made entirely from the syllabus of Fsc. A’ Level students have a maximum of two months to prepare for it. Furthermore, O/A’ level grades are converted into FSc/FA equivalence marks which lowers the marks of O/A’ Level students and also reduces their chances of getting into a good university.

Hence it can be concluded that CIE is a better board and far superior in quality when compared to BISE. But students who wish to pursue a degree in medical or engineering in Pakistan should most definitely opt for BISE. This is because it will help them in the university entry tests. Other than that, students who can afford it or are willing to pursue any other degree or wish to go abroad should most defiantly opt for CIE.

The difference in these boards is creating differences among students. Discrimination is taking place and dividing our youth. Thus the government should take steps to improve the working of BISE to root out this discrimination problem. They should bring their books up to date with the present. More subjects should be introduced to enhance the creativity skills of students. Examination system should be improved upon i.e. exams should be taken in better examination halls and steps should be taken to avoid cheating. In this bring way BISE can be on the same level as CIE and our youth can be on the same wavelength to bring about a change in the country. 

PLAY YOUR PART. By: Hiba Mazhar

It was a fine Sunday morning ruined by the visit of my father’s cousins from abroad. Before I knew they were going to pay a visit, I had planned to spend the day at home studying for my Marketing quiz. They wanted to visit the Shalimaar Gardens and as an order from my father, I had to be their tour guide. I had no idea what to do about my quiz’s preparation. Being an obedient daughter, I drove my guests to the historical garden.

Culture and Changing Trends

Stepping in the garden filled with beautiful old walls and trees, we were mesmerized by the view of more than 400 fountains rising from the canal and the basin which threw up water back into the marble reservoirs. It is one of the best preserved Mughal buildings standing as it was for the last 400 years. A line of fountains in a water channel stretching  a long way making the sounds of nature more soothing to the ears, we were in a very peaceful aura. The care-takers of the gardens told us that the fountains go through a full maintenance program before every Spring. We all went crazy over the place and started taking loads of pictures. The passion for photography at one end and the exploration of ancient beauties at the other, It really was beautiful.

Being a Pakistani citizen, just try and play your own individual part. Blaming one another is the easy way out. You are only answerable to your own deeds. These buildings need a lot of attention. The maintenance costs are increasing and the government revolutionaries refuse to allot the justified share to this side. A little contribution towards this cause can make wonders. I am doing my part by writing this article and informing you about a breathing view you might want to experience. Why? Because I want our next generation to be lucky enough to see it. ARE YOU PLAYING YOUR PART?

-Author: Hiba Mazhar.

Saving Pakistan

It’s a tale of sixty five sad years, a story of dismay, disloyalty and disparity. So many innocent lives were sacrificed to make the Islamic Republic State of become independent and sovereign. But as the time went on, slowly and gradually, joys of freedom became sorrows of slavery, dreams of prosperity became nightmares of poverty and selfishness, greed and injustice took its place

For four times the constitution has ripped apart by the notorious army dictators. When democracy was given its turn the corrupt and incompetent politicians looted the country’s wealth.

 However the hope is still not lost. Pakistan still has lots of potential to stand up again and let the world know that we are to be considered a nation with pride, a nation with honor and a nation with self esteem. We have the ability to become of the great nations ever existed and it’s not some fairy tale I am talking about its quite possible but we have to take considerable actions to do so.  

In our country the system which going on is a parliamentary system and it is an obstacle towards the wellbeing of our country. It has given the right to the wrong doers to take control and rule

the masses. We need uniformity in our system through which we can treat every province and every state equally. The decisions have to be the same all over the country and with so many different political parties working at the same time for different interests it is not possible.

The party would intend to bring equality and justice to all, in the country. Resources will be equally divided. There would be no class difference, everyone will have equal and rightful share in the state.  As an Islamic state, Pakistan, the ruling governemt will follow the guidance of Holy Phrophet (P.B.U.H) and the way he ran the Islamic State. 

- Hamzah Sohail

Revival of Culture and Arts?

While most of the nation are sharing their opinion over the fact that how media has a major influence in changing our Cultural trends not many have noticed the efforts of those who have helped in keeping our cultural  vein alive. The fact that organizations such as Rafi Peer theater  Institute for preservation of art and culture, Kuch khaas have been working hard to revive music, arts and culture, in a country that has lost its entire sub continental ethos; is going unnoticed. These organization have been working for a long period now, emphasizing on our Sufi roots and bringing in puppeteers, artists, talents from all across the globe with hardly any support from Government or any other authority. While being alleged of creating poison in to the minds of our society for bringing in dances, music and festive these organizations have brought platforms too many of the famous artists known across the globes. Speaking of culture, our nation has one of the most diverse societies. Inside these cultures we had amazing Sufi poets like Waris Shah, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai etc. These organizations helped promote their compositions, their poetry and thought provoking saying that has been passed on for ages. These compositions were experimented many times and the songs have also been performed in the modern pop genre as well. These associations have given their immense support to the young talents of Pakistan by providing those platforms to express their abilities in theater  music, poetry and even puppetry.

The question to be asked is that will their effort be every noticed by the masses of Pakistan or will they always be ignored and considered as a part of society alleged for influencing the general public negatively. These people have worked their entire life for the upbringing of entertainment industry in Pakistan (Rather what is left of it). They need to be supported and appreciated for keeping us in touch with our own cultural identity.

Pakistan as a nation is a developing country and consequently faces a wide array of social problems: educational, economical, political, religious and a number of internal ethnic conflicts. However I believe that it is more important to address small issues first and then work towards the annihilation of the larger ones.

 After all small steps lead to big changes and transformations. Child Labour is a social issue within Pakistan and is considered a violation of human rights by the United Nations. Pakistani society is such that, a poor child can quite conveniently be deprived of basic education, only to feed the rest of his family members. Anyone up to the age of 18 is a child and his basic right is to receive education and proper upbringing rather than use his hands to destroy his own bright future. 

Children are especially exploited in the third world countries as they are a cheap source of labour and Pakistan children are used as labourers in the Sports Industry, Carpet Industry and the Footwear and in glassware production. According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics of Pakistan, 3.3 million out of 40 million children are working in various industries, although child labour is strictly prohibited by law.

 Child Labour is a serious social problem within Pakistan because the future and progress of any country depends on an educated and enlightened youth and if a child is not properly socialized then he/she will not be able to grow as confident and literate Pakistani citizens. There are various reasons for exploitation of children within the economic sector of Pakistan and such causes are directly related to the major social problems of Pakistan. Sociological Variables as the Causes of Child Labour in Pakistan: The factors that generate child labour within Pakistan are parental poverty and illiteracy; an irresponsible political system; social and economic pressures; lack of education. Social attitudes in Pakistan due to which a child is considered an adult at quiet an early stage due to biological changes, also are a cause of exploitation of children below 18 years. 

Poverty is a major social issue within Pakistan and as a result children are made to work in various industries in order to support their financially poor parents. The status of the family directly influences the choices available to a child and obviously if a family is extremely poor with comparatively less resources then consequently, each member, be it a child or an adult will be required to work and bring in money in order to survive. The economic and family status in the rural areas of Pakistan id quite low and as a result children are forced to work in various manufacturing and tertiary industries and are also over-exploited.61.2 % of Pakistan is illiterate and poor education resulting in limited exposure to human rights is a major cause of child labour.


 Education is a sociological variable and is of extreme importance because it emancipates a person from the grip of ignorance. However most people in the rural areas have no access to educational institutions and thus a child learns the tricks of trade from his father and instead of gaining education he chooses to work as a labourer or is at times forced by parents’ due to their own lack of basic knowledge. Pakistan does not have sound educational system under which a child can be adequately socialized into becoming a productive member of society. Education is not treated as a priority and inevitably child exploitation continues within our nation. 

Girls and boys are forced to work as domestic servants in the homes of the upper middle class or the richer elite. Thus class divisions become more prominent with the exploitation of the poor by the rich and this leads to an inequitable distribution of wealth and income. Pakistan is going through a serious social stratification problem and the rich continues to get richer whereas the poor continues to get poorer. Girls are exploited within the rich households, are paid less and are often physically harassed by the male owners. This leads to further sex and gender related issues and thus child labour needs to be strongly curtailed.

Pakistan needs a strong government and political structure to address the issue of child labour. However President Musharraf’s government is a military dictatorship which considers a nuclear programme a priority but banning child labour is not a serious issue for them. There are loopholes in the political structure of Pakistan and a weak government is a main cause of the denial of rights of the citizens of a country. Therefore children’s rights are largely ignored and deliberately avoided. For a positive change a democracy is needed which will fight against child labour through reformative action and laws and regulations. In Pakistan 7% of children working suffer from health problems and are physically abused as well by their owners. These are all structural problems within the social agencies of Pakistan which not only accelerate the rate of child labour but also set a precedent for other developing nations to follow.

EDUCATE THE YOUTH, EDUCATE A NATION..

It sends down shivers down my entire body when I see how my country is lacking behind the entire world just on the basis of being an "illiterate nation". In the Human development Report Pakistan is placed at 136th position for having just 49.9% educated population. Aren't these statistics just mind blasting? Do we not need to CHANGE this. Do we not need education. Do we just want to stay here and see the world moving a hundred steps ahead of us. I believe we're just so demotivated, we just want to sit back and watch the outer world raising fingers upon us. Creating a joke out of our illiterate nation, presenting it to the entire world that we're a nation of illiterates. 

It is not just the lack of resources, but even the quality of available resources, the dearth of motivation and the absence of better job security that have left a enormous chunk of Pakistanis illiterate. The education system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education is different in both, public and private sector. This creates a sort of disparity among people, dividing them into two segments. Such a distraught infrastructure is a basic cause of high illiteracy rate in Pakistan and high drop out rates in rural areas and public school.

Another major issue when it comes to education in Pakistan is that of gender discrimination. The current primary school ratio of boys and girls is 10:4, which is a cause of huge concern. The lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the education policy that has never been focused before. Therefore, less technical people means low standard of education.There are no trained teachers, and infact they're not even motivated to get themselves trained due to the lack of monetary assistance and financial rewards.

The allocation of funds for education are very low. It is only 1.5 to 2.0 percent of the total GDP. It should be around 7% of the total GDP. At that budget allocation, the illiteracy rate in Pakistan would not decrease but rather increase. The federal and provincial governments need to cut down their expenditures in other areas and spend a bigger proportion of income on education.

 

 

  

In developed countries such as America, Europe, the emphasis of the states is on developing virtual education systems i.e. provision of education through online networks. The idea of online education is gathering momentum and many online institutions have been set up which offer online courses and online degrees. The Higher Education Commission and Education ministry need to focus on developing a strong online education network so that students through out the country can benefit. Universities such as Harvard, Berkley and MIT are offering online courses and degrees. It reflects the importance of online education in today's modern high tech world.

 

 

In today's world the benchmark for excellence is education. Moreover, if a country has a weak academic infrastructure, the chances to survive in current competitive world are less. The illiteracy rate in Pakistan is alarmingly high which calls for critical attention. The federal and provincial governments need to work  together towards elimination of flaws of education system in Pakistan.

Author: Nabeeha Gazelle Amer

 

The Conflict Between What It Is and What It Should Be..

The Conflict Between What It Is and What It Should Be..

The day Pakistan came into being as an Islamic Republic on the 14th of August 1947, the country has been undergoing a state of transition. The society of Pakistan is dynamic and therefore it is ever changing. Its patterns are transforming from time to time. No department of life – be it economic, cultural, religious or recreational – has been free from the effect of this great transformation in progress.

If I talk about my society, consider the sorry state of our morals where even the day designated to express love for the Prophet turns into an occasion for  looting, burning and killing. The natural disasters that have occurred in our country have not brought in any sort of changes in our humanity but in fact we've become more professional buglers. There is a common thread in all these behaviors that we have. Our notions of right and wrong have been scrambled long time ago. Our moral clock is set at a different time and we've lost social order. We are in a state of confusion about values and ethics. Therefore its true that we lack the ability to control our society's reactions towards the change, we've forgotten the difference between what is right and what is wrong.

 We describe ourselves through different tags ('shia' 'sunni' 'villager' country man' 'modern' 'paindu'), its a shame to say, but we're not united. The sectarian differences are very much prevalent in our society, every individual in the society considers himself to be on the top. Shia sunni conflicts, conflicts to earn better, conflicts arising on something that's superior. To say it in a nutshell we've become more of the materialistic nature, we believe material things will lead us to the top. Material aspects of culture are its technology, instruments of economic production, consumption and household goods. Non-material are beliefs, values, norms, laws, symbols, religion, literature, arts and folklore, and morals. For example, a car is an item of material culture but it carries with it non-material norms of driving skills, traffic rules and ethics of road behaviour. Pakistan’s traffic chaos is a symptom of its lagging non-material culture.

Socially and morally, we're not the nation that we were in the past, For example Pakistan is no-more an agricultural country. We have become an urban country with most of our population living in the urban areas.  Pakistan has taken to material modernization readily. The cellphone culture has boasted in the past few years. The households in villages are now laden up with the high tech technological items such as TV's, DVDs etc. 

However after all the changes, we're still the same. The human nature hasn't changed to a positive side but a negative one.  In times of rapid cultural and social change, the balance between material and non-material aspects of culture is breaking down. Here lies the dilemma:  Pakistan’s material culture is modernising but becoming more extremists which is against islamic values. The result is that the values and norms that we adopt, offer little guidance leading us to  a state of moral conflict. This situation yields in a cultural shock drowning the values of Pakistani society. 

This situation is indeed very disturbing and solid steps need to be implemented on a regular basis by our government to preserve Pakistan’s cultural and moral values. And chalk out the reasons that are creating confusions and disparity among the people.  

 Author: Nabeeha Gazelle Amer

Child Labour isn't the main problem?

Pakistan as a nation is a developing country and consequently faces a wide array of social problems: educational, economical, political, religious and a number of internal ethnic conflicts. However I believe that it is more important to address small issues first and then work towards the annihilation of the larger ones.

 After all small steps lead to big changes and transformations. Child Labour is a social issue within Pakistan and is considered a violation of human rights by the United Nations. Pakistani society is such that, a poor child can quite conveniently be deprived of basic education, only to feed the rest of his family members. Anyone up to the age of 18 is a child and his basic right is to receive education and proper upbringing rather than use his hands to destroy his own bright future. 

Children are especially exploited in the third world countries as they are a cheap source of labour and Pakistan children are used as labourers in the Sports Industry, Carpet Industry and the Footwear and in glassware production. According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics of Pakistan, 3.3 million out of 40 million children are working in various industries, although child labour is strictly prohibited by law.

 Child Labour is a serious social problem within Pakistan because the future and progress of any country depends on an educated and enlightened youth and if a child is not properly socialized then he/she will not be able to grow as confident and literate Pakistani citizens. There are various reasons for exploitation of children within the economic sector of Pakistan and such causes are directly related to the major social problems of Pakistan. Sociological Variables as the Causes of Child Labour in Pakistan: The factors that generate child labour within Pakistan are parental poverty and illiteracy; an irresponsible political system; social and economic pressures; lack of education. Social attitudes in Pakistan due to which a child is considered an adult at quiet an early stage due to biological changes, also are a cause of exploitation of children below 18 years. 


Poverty is a major social issue within Pakistan and as a result children are made to work in various industries in order to support their financially poor parents. The status of the family directly influences the choices available to a child and obviously if a family is extremely poor with comparatively less resources then consequently, each member, be it a child or an adult will be required to work and bring in money in order to survive. The economic and family status in the rural areas of Pakistan id quite low and as a result children are forced to work in various manufacturing and tertiary industries and are also over-exploited.61.2 % of Pakistan is illiterate and poor education resulting in limited exposure to human rights is a major cause of child labour.


 Education is a sociological variable and is of extreme importance because it emancipates a person from the grip of ignorance. However most people in the rural areas have no access to educational institutions and thus a child learns the tricks of trade from his father and instead of gaining education he chooses to work as a labourer or is at times forced by parents’ due to their own lack of basic knowledge. Pakistan does not have sound educational system under which a child can be adequately socialized into becoming a productive member of society. Education is not treated as a priority and inevitably child exploitation continues within our nation. 

Girls and boys are forced to work as domestic servants in the homes of the upper middle class or the richer elite. Thus class divisions become more prominent with the exploitation of the poor by the rich and this leads to an inequitable distribution of wealth and income. Pakistan is going through a serious social stratification problem and the rich continues to get richer whereas the poor continues to get poorer. Girls are exploited within the rich households, are paid less and are often physically harassed by the male owners. This leads to further sex and gender related issues and thus child labour needs to be strongly curtailed.

Pakistan needs a strong government and political structure to address the issue of child labour. However President Musharraf’s government is a military dictatorship which considers a nuclear programme a priority but banning child labour is not a serious issue for them. There are loopholes in the political structure of Pakistan and a weak government is a main cause of the denial of rights of the citizens of a country. Therefore children’s rights are largely ignored and deliberately avoided. For a positive change a democracy is needed which will fight against child labour through reformative action and laws and regulations. In Pakistan 7% of children working suffer from health problems and are physically abused as well by their owners. These are all structural problems within the social agencies of Pakistan which not only accelerate the rate of child labour but also set a precedent for other developing nations to follow.
    Tayyab Shafiq

Balance of Power

Why is atomic power portrayed to be all that is rooted to be evil in the world? Various international efforts have been working for the abolition of nuclear bombs for the last couple of decades, their cause is correct. To safe guard human rights and human lives but there is a lot more to the atomic game then actually physically using it. 

When we completely shut out our minds and merely look at history, the first thing that comes to mind in world war and Japan. And then we remember the horrific events at Nagasaki and Hiroshima where the death toll rate was in hundreds and thousands from direct killings and radiation. But for a country like Pakistan we need nuclear power.

Well, let’s look at it this way, a developing nation like ours with the strategic geographical placement that it has in Asia; our neighbors are not exactly our best friends. Then there is the current war on terror, the USA wants our head on a platter for their own agenda. So when I say we need nuclear power I mean to say that we need them as a deterrent and nothing more. Nuclear is a brutal form of war, thus before someone decides to launch a missile they’ll think twice.  

The world hegemony, i.e. The USA constantly banters at the countries that are non-signatory with the non-proliferation treaty; funnily enough they are the only ones in history that have used it in the last century killing thousands of civilians. Currently, the USA has a problem with Iran and North Korea and whether they have nuclear or not, while ironically on the side at the same time Israel continues to be a non-signatory and keeps building nuclear without having anyone to answer too.

So we should ask ourselves is it really a bad thing to protect our country in a world where there is no understanding of sovereignty and statehood. Just look at what happened to Iraq and Afghanistan; they didn’t have the right defense mechanism to ward off intruders.  Whereas Pakistan maintain that balance of power through the nuclear program.

Nuclear power is also multipurpose, it is not only a strategic military tool but it is a great way to produce heat and electricity which Pakistan really needs. Thus any further R&D in atomic power can only be good for us.

-Minahil Rana