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

Load-shedding a never ending story... by Talha Mehboob

Pakistan is a third world country that is currently facing all kind of problems. Energy Crises is one of the major reason that is keeping the country from advancing. The shortage of power has led to many social and economic crises in Pakistan. Electricity is needed in every sector of modern life. The working of railways, hospitals, industry, farms entirely depend on electricity. It is unfortunate that the production of such a vital thing is insufficient in Pakistan. The production of electricity is far less than the growing needs of our farms, hospitals and industry. Electricity crises have caused immense problems for the textile industry of Pakistan. Electricity shortage has resulted in reduced capacity of textile production by up to 40% which is the highest in any industry. The industry is facing problem in achieving production targets which is putting a negative impact on exports for textile goods, which was considered a major foreign exchange earner for the country. Pakistan is the 8th largest exporter of textile products in Asia the contribution of this industry to the total GDP is 8.5%.In a short period the exports of the textile industry have suffered a sharp decline by up to 14%. Although, alternates like generators are available for the industrial sector but that only increases the cost.

 Like textile, many other sectors have been severely hit by the worsen power crises. Homes, markets, hospitals, offices, and educational institutions the wheel of all comes to a standstill without electricity. The unscheduled blackouts have affected the people in their domestic as well as commercial lives because of the fact that the electricity has become an urgent need for the survival  In the 5 year tenure of the PPP government many promises were made and many deadlines were given to put an end to this misery, but in those 5 years the shortage of electricity has only increased to up to 10000 mega watts, all the efforts directed towards reducing load shedding have come to nothing which can only be marked as a failure of the former government. In order to solve this problem the upcoming government should focus on building dams which will be a long-term project stretching from 3-7 years. However government can also initiate Wind power projects which take lesser time to be established.
These steps are necessary to drag Pakistan out of the Dark Age.

     Author: Talha Mehboob   

Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals

One of the damaging stereotypes about blindness is the belief that the blind are limited to a specific and finite "list" of jobs that "blind people can do." Even when we hear about a blind person who is doing something new  we either discount it (she is the exception) or we just add one more "job that blind people can do" to our list.  Seldom do we rethink our inaccurate assumptions about blindness

KMC (Karachi Metropolitan Corporation) Administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed said the number of sightless people in Pakistan had crossed the 16 Lac mark. 

The administrator on this occasion expressed concern over the regular increase in the number of people with visual impairment. He said it sounds good that the blind people too want to earn their livelihood respectfully by not putting any burden on the society. He also asked the private institutions and multinational companies to provide jobs to blind people in their offices and factories so that they could earn livelihood for their family. He said that these people were gifted with extra capabilities by Almighty Allah.

People who are blind or visually impaired can perform almost any job you can imagine: lawyer, artist, accountant, secretary, customer service representative, food service worker, factory worker, financial analyst, teacher, medical transcriptionist, day care worker, counselor, computer programmer, cook, salesperson, clerk, and more. We cannot count the number of different jobs people who are blind or visually impaired are engaged in today or will be in the future. The possibilities are tremendous.

Legislative and societal changes have reduced discrimination toward visually impaired workers as attitudes toward people with disabilities generally have improved. Employers, especially in midsized and large businesses, routinely follow equal employment opportunity practices and have diversity and disability-accommodation processes in place. Available assistive technology makes it easier for people who are visually impaired to perform many jobs that they never could have before. Proper training, appropriate tools, the ability to sell oneself, and a willing attitude on the part of employers constitute a winning formula.

Yet in Pakistan, even with all the technology and legislative changes only a handful of the visually impaired are being employed.  The government’s quota of hiring 2 percent of the visually impaired is not enough.  The government also needs to enforce some laws for the multinationals to hire the visually impaired individuals to support the cause and make the organizations give the proper accommodations the visually impaired individuals require.

Accommodations to the work environment or an individual's work situation can be made that enables a person with disabilities to perform work duties as well as (but not always in the same way) as his or her co-workers without disabilities. Accommodations that have proven effective and affordable for workers with visual impairments include Glare reduction and adjusted lighting. Voice or e-mail messages instead of handwritten notes. Desk or laptop computers adapted with screen-reading (synthesized speech), screen magnification, and/or optical character recognition (OCR) software. Scanners, larger-than-average monitors, and/or braille display devices can be added as peripherals. Large print, tactile, or talking calipers, scales, tape measures, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, calculators, money identifiers, and cash registers. Aids to mobility for people who are blind or visually impaired include long canes, dog guides, electronic travel aids, special telescopes to read signs, use of public transit, and carpooling.

Islamabad learning center broadens horizons for blind people - Video Dailymotion

Written by Daniyal Nadeem