ESSAY ON EDUCATION DOWNPLAYS BAD SIDE OF THE NEWS

From the Newspaper | Mansoor Malik | 1st April, 2013

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DEPARTMENT for International Development`s (DFID) special representative on education in Pakistan Sir Michael Barber last week launched his essay on education reforms in Punjab presenting good side of the news. It undermines the enormity of problems currently being faced by the Punjab school education department ranging from low-enrolment, high dropout rate, multi-grade teaching to low learning outcomes.
The essay The good news from Pakistan launched at Lahore University of Management Sciences in collaboration with the DFID discussed Punjab Schools Reform Roadmap and explained improvement in access, raising learning levels and enhancing the governance and accountability of the delivery system. The essay, written by Sir Michael in his personal capacity, has tried to paint a rosy picture while ignoring ground realities. At occasions, he has admitted, The task I had come to do was still to be done. Pakistans education emergency was, in economic terms, the equivalent of a permanent flood. The essay presents rising graphs in every sector based on the data provided by respective districts on monthly basis. He, however, himself admitted at the launch that different districts did supply exaggerated or ill-informed data to the Roadmap team. Citing an example, Sir Michael said, The EDO (Education) in D.G. Khan reported that there was no out-of-school child in a remote village but our team during a visit to the village found 80 out-of-school children. Sir Michael must have faced a similar situation of receiving misleading information based on a local mentality All is well when he reports in his essay that 90.9 per cent of government schools have all facilities including functioning electricity, drinking water, toilet and boundary walls. He also claimed that 92 per cent schools would be provided with all missing facilities by the end of March 2013. Besides extensive surveys, random visits to about 100 schools in rural as well as urban areas out of over 55,000 schools could challenge this claim and reveal the appalling facts on ground.

Sir Michael, however, is right in saying that the students and teachers attendance rate has increased from 82.8 per cent and 80.7 per cent in August 2011 to 92.1 per cent and over 90 per cent in December 2012, respectively. Stating that these figures mean one million extra students are attending their schools every day, Sir Michael added that these improvements were largely a result of much-improved management. Sir Michaels essay reports that 15 districts have over 90 per cent enrolment of 5-9 years of age children, while 12 districts have children enrolment from 86 per cent to 90 per cent, five districts have 80-85 per cent childrens enrolment while only four districts in South Muzaffargarh, D.G. Khan, Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpur have school-going age children ratio standing at 77, 72, 72 and 60 per cent, respectively. In 2013, he stressed that the Punjab school education department should focus on South Punjab, rural areas and girls in particular. With regard to enrolment drive, Sir Michael said the situation was too critical in terms of universal primary education and claimed the December 2012 Nielson data showed Punjab had made progress. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) Punjab 2012 survey, which is available to the media, reports that the prevalence of out-of-school children in Punjab continued to stand as high as 16 per cent in 2012 as survey reported in 2011. It may be mentioned that the school education department would never be able to check the dropout without building new schools. At present, there are 43,000 primary schools while the number of middle and high schools were as low as 7,900 and 4,500, respectively. With regard to teacher quality, Sir Michael stated that it was central to the roadmap and was most difficult to shift as they had ingrained habits and cultural norms that were very hard to change. He said teacher quality was monitored by 4,000 District Teacher Educators (DTEs) and announced that by April 2013 (beginning of new academic session) teachers would have revised and much improved textbooks aligned to lesson plans and a monthly coaching session with a trained DTE. This lays the foundation for continuous improvement in teaching quality which was previously eluded in Punjab, he said. At essays launch, Punjab school education secretary Aslam Kamboh gave a sweeping statement that the PML-N government led by Shahbaz Sharif recruited all teachers purely on merit, while the respective governments during the last 10 years prior to Shahbaz Sharif government did not recruit teachers on merit. Both statements were doubtful, different launch participants said. The prevalent quality of teaching could be gauged from the fact that the Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) announced the Class-V and VIII results on March 30 declaring all those

students pass, who secured at least 20 per cent and 25 per cent marks in each subject, respectively. The Class-V students were also given a concession and declared all those candidates passed, who were not able to attain even 20 per cent marks in one subject. While the world is raising pass marks benchmarks, the PEC supervised by the school education department has tried to hoodwink all stakeholders by showing 93 per cent and 86 per cent results, respectively. This situation verifies the ASER Punjab 2012 survey report that a large number of schoolgoing age children, who possess extremely low learning outputs, are progressing and studying in higher classes in the province. The survey had reported that almost 49 per cent of Class-IV students were not able to read Class-II level story in Urdu, while almost 43 per cent Class-III students could not even read Class-II level sentences. Almost 73 per cent Class-III and 39 per cent Class-V students could not read Class-II English sentences. Similarly, 44 per cent Class-V, 32 per cent Class-VI and 24 per cent Class-VII students could not do Class-III level three-digit division. The Sir Michaels essay has also conveniently ignored the serious issue of multi-grade teaching in public schools owing to shortage of classrooms in existing schools. The ASER survey had reported that 36 per cent and 14 per cent of the surveyed public schools were imparting multi-grade teaching as Class-II and Class-VIII students were sitting with other classes. In his chapter Priorities for 2013 and beyond, Sir Michael has stated that this year is an election year and no one is sure of the outcome. He rightly stresses that there is a need to build cross-party support for the continuation of Punjab Schools Reform Roadmap.

EDUCATION & MANIFESTOS

From the Newspaper | Faisal Bari | 29th March, 2013

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IT is heartening to note that the election manifestos of three of the main political parties the PPP, the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf not only mention education as an important area requiring urgent attention, they also give some details of the plans they have for the sector in case

they are in a position to form government and/or influence policy on education.

The PML-Ns manifesto says that Education must be number one national priority. And the PTI and PPP manifestos also accord similar importance to education. There is a clear realisation, coming through the documents, that education is not only necessary for the social and economic well-being of the country, it is crucial for ensuring social mobility, reducing inequality and addressing poverty. The documents acknowledge that education is an issue of basic human rights. There is also recognition of the need for urgent action in the field of education. Two of the manifestos mention the need for having an education emergency, while the third expresses similar urgency but without using these words. All three of them promise substantial increases in outlays on education over the five years of their government, if they do come to power. The PML-N promises to raise expenditures on education to four per cent of GDP, the PPP will raise them to 4.5 per cent while the PTI, if it comes to power, will raise education outlays to five per cent of GDP by the end of their five years of government. All the parties believe in universal enrolment as an essential goal, but they refrain from making explicit promises as to when universality will be achieved and to what level. Beyond this point the policies begin to diverge. The PPP and the PML-N have been in power for the last five years. They feel compelled to defend some of the choices, right or wrong, made over this period and want to expand and universalise the ambit of some of these policies. The PPP wants to do conditional cash transfers for education, especially for the ultra poor, through the Benazir Income Support Programme. The PML-N promises to set up Daanish schools across the country. They also want to replicate the endowment fund model for scholarships for talented students across Pakistan. The PTI has not been in power and has been, in a way, preparing for this election for the longest period. It has the deepest, most developed and coherent policy vision for education. It takes the trouble of identifying all of the major issues we face in the sector and then goes into a lot of detail to explain what it proposes to do. One can take issue with their understanding of the problems, the proposed solutions or the implementation mechanisms that they propose and one should but there is no denying the work and effort that must have gone into identifying the issues in such detail and proposing solutions.

For example, the medium of instruction debate is a major issue. The PML-N chose to solve it, in Punjab, by simply declaring English as the medium of instruction for all public schools without any preparation, discussion or debate. And now the topic is not mentioned or explained in its manifesto. The PPP also does not address the issue. The PTI not only talks of why the issue is important and problematic in any multicultural, multilingual society, it also provides a solution: Urdu and/or the mother tongue to be the medium of instruction till grade VIII and then a switch to English, while English will also be taught as a subject from the beginning. One can argue whether the switch should happen earlier or later and ask what the role of the mother tongue may be (there are 40 plus languages/dialects spoken in Pakistan) versus Urdu. But at least the issue has been given its due in the manifesto and debate can occur around it. After going through the proposals given by the PPP and the PML-N, one does feel that there is a disconnect between their claim that education should be one of the top priorities, if not the top one, and what they are proposing to do about it. The proposals do not address education as an emergency or as a top priority and feel more like business as usual sort of pronouncements. There is distance even between rhetoric and promise. The distance between rhetoric and reality might be even more. By contrast the PTI does give the proposals the needed gravitas. Is this a reflection of the fact that the PML-N and the PPP, having more experience of governance, are being more realistic and the PTI more idealistic? Or does it actually stem from differences in the importance the respective parties and their leaders accord to the area of education? Imran Khan has, repeatedly, said that for him getting the education policy right is the most important medium to the long-term goal and it is necessary for securing any viable future for Pakistan. On the whole it is heartening to see some agreement between the parties on a) the importance of getting the education policy right and b) spending more in the area. If a coalition government is formed, this overlap might become a basis for working out a broader consensus in this area. But detailed policies for this consensus will still need to be worked out as not only are the proposals in the manifestos generally weak, there is less agreement over them as well. But the real test will be whether the public is able to hold the parties accountable for the promises they are making in their respective manifestos. The writer is senior adviser, Pakistan, at Open Society Foundations, associate professor of economics, LUMS, and a visiting fellow at IDEAS, Lahore.

SURVEY: TEACHER EDUCATION IN PRIVATE SECTOR

by Prof Nelofer Halai | From InpaperMagzine | 2nd June, 2013

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The development of teacher education institutions in the private sector is a relatively recent development in Pakistan. This trend started with the encouragement of the private sector to invest in higher education in the 1980s when a number of private universities were chartered for the first time in Pakistan. The private sector tends to invest in professional education where the demand is high and the capital outlay is not large. That is one reason why business and computer studies and medical education have seen a relatively high investment by private entrepreneurs.
More recently, investment in teacher education institutions in the private sector has also increased as the demand for trained teachers has increased in both the public and private sectors. But there is very little knowledge about these institutions. This article hopes to shed some light on degree awarding institutions in the private sector based on a large interprovince study. The teacher education institutions in the public sector are listed on the Government of Pakistan websites, however, such institutions in the private sector are very poorly documented. For this study from the more than 100 teacher education institutions identified in Karachi and Lahore in available directories a majority were in the public sector and offered Professional Teachers Course, Certificate of Teaching and short courses. Very few offered degree programmes in education. In the private sector, eight degree-awarding institutions in Karachi and Lahore out of a total of approximately 14 such institutions were identified and 65 teacher educators surveyed. The survey paints a complex multilayered picture of private institutions of teacher education and the teacher educators that teach in them. There is the myth that teacher educators are not well-educated but the present study showed that this picture is in fact not correct. More than 78 per cent in Karachi and 96pc in Lahore possessed Masters, MPhil or PhD degrees at the time of their appointment. An interesting difference between teacher educators in Karachi and in Lahore is that in the former 71pc possess BEd and MEd degrees at the time of their appointment; whereas in Lahore only 26pc of teacher educators in the private sector had some professional qualification. For both the cities, the bulk of teacher educators had experience of teaching in schools ranging from primary to secondary and higher secondary and in a large majority of

the cases this experience was for 10 years or more. Also teacher educators in both the cities are almost evenly divided among males and females. However, the factor that greatly influences the practice of teacher education is their age. More than 34 per cent of teacher educators are above 50 years of age. This is most likely due to the fact that teacher educators come to institutions of teacher education after they have spent a substantial number of years teaching in schools. Teacher education institutions in the private sector can be easily further sub-divided into non-profit institutions and those institutions that are market-driven or in other words for-profit. The non-profit institutions in the study were supported by philanthropic organisations and funds from donor agencies. They generally have a vision of teacher education and were committed to offering quality education. Their programmes were seen to generally admit a smaller number of students and charged fees which were not exorbitant but more than those charged by government institutions. Whereas the institutions that are called market-driven not only because they are for-profit institutions but because they are nimble and agile and respond to market demands much faster than the not-for-profit institutions are generally small, corporate-like businesses where the purpose is to enroll a large number of students at a reasonable cost. The students to a large extent are present in the class because they want a degree that provides them a license to practice their craft as a teacher and not necessarily to learn how to become better teachers. These private schools are exploitative and commercial in their approach to education. At the same time they are almost postmodern in their business ethos and fill a very real need of a burgeoning middle class in the urban areas of Pakistan. Some for-profit and not-for-profit institutions offer their coursework during the weekend to accommodate teachers who are already teaching in private schools. They start teaching on Friday afternoon, continue with classes on Saturday afternoon and the whole of Sunday is utilised to offer several courses. Hence, most of the teachers who cannot afford to take time off from their jobs for full-time study prefer to enroll in these institutions rather than government institutions which generally do not offer part-time study programmes. It was observed that in for-profit institutions even if the programme was a full-time regular programme, attendance of student teachers was very poor during the weekdays. From the conversations and observations it was clear that despite requirements of full-time enrolment, teachers continued to work in schools and attended the institution only on weekends. When we started looking at the quality of instruction in these institutions based on generally used standards such as (a) qualification of faculty, (b) infrastructure for teaching learning such as library facilities, (c) computer laboratories, classroom facilities etc., (d) the building and (e)

the environment, (f) the teacher student interaction in the class etc. in every criteria except the first one that is qualification of teacher educators the market-driven institutions did very poorly. Yet the faculty had higher and better academic qualifications. Private institutions for teacher education are greatly needed to fulfill the insatiable demand for professional development. It is also hoped that as these institutions become more established they might, like private schools at the K-12 level, start to plough some of their profits into better programmes and better facilities for their student teachers.

QUALITY LEARNING: EXAMINATIONS AND STANDARDS

By Ismat Riaz | From InpaperMagzine | 26th May, 2013

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Often enough the word examination conjures up an image of fear and dread and that nervous feeling in the stomach that refuses to go away. This
once a year exercise for most Pakistani school-going and college-going students never fails to engender a do or die situation. As a result, at the end of the academic year, parents ensure their child goes for tuition. The tuition culture has become a parallel system of education as nearing the examinations tuition is a must to gain a higher grade or to be promoted into the next class. The hype is so all consuming that it does not matter what methodology is applied to gain success. The less time consuming, efficient system of rote learning takes over and thinking skills and creativity are discarded as long as success in the examination is assured. In Pakistan, only a small minority has over the years realised the crucial role examinations play in providing the base for a qualitative learning experience. Three decades back, Matriculation examination was a standardised school leaving qualification. The mafia soon turned it into an examination with irregularities such as cheating and coercion to sit the examination and pass. Papers were leaked and the credibility of the examination could never be established again. The standards set for the examination also fell and today, it is looked down upon as a second best choice to the British O-Levels. The same applies now to the 12th grade examination FA/FSc which should be the foundation stone for a college admission. So far, our local examinations face immense challenges to match international standards and

reliability. Efforts to upgrade examinations have been undertaken from time to time but the end result has been minimal. Some years back, an Australian intervention to introduce Structure of Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy for assessment has been tried but was not instituted or implemented. Examinations are the standard bearers of quality education. The curriculums aims and objectives are reflected and embodied in the examination or evaluation of the learning that has taken place in the classroom. Moreover, the teaching methodology is also based on the curriculums aims and objectives. In fact, there is no divide between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. All three are inextricably linked in the learning process. However, the mindset in Pakistan takes examinations to be separate from the learning process. The attitude is that Well deal with the examination at the end of the year why bother now in the classroom? The result is that students rush to tuition centres to learn HOW to tackle the examination questions. What is not integrated into the school curriculum makes hay (while the sun shines) for those who run tuitions in the evenings. As Pakistani teachers are not trained in the profession, most are ignorant of tm for educational assessment for use in the validity and planning of an assessment system. Questions are set according to Benjamin Blooms Taxonomy of Educational Objectives which differentiates between the lower and higher order of thinking skills. Memorization is the lowest order of thinking and the highest order of thinking skill is creativity. If examination questions only tap memory skills then the quality of the examination can be said to be of low quality. However, if questions ask students to demonstrate understanding and application of knowledge with reasoning, evaluation and analytical skills, then the examination is of a high standard. Consequently, the quality of learning is ensured and your education system makes sure that it is producing creative and innovative people. Furthermore, examinations have acquired high stakes for grading into the next step of the educational ladder. Often one hears the refrain But there is so much competition, my child has to take tuition to get the grades. This has had an adverse effect on the teaching and learning of students. Students are drilled to gain maximum marks and teaching becomes focused on teaching to the test. Selective content of the syllabus likely to come in the examination is taught and other relevant chapters are glossed over. In fact, the education system in Pakistan has already become focused on teaching to the test and the gains of knowledge acquisition are no longer understood or aspired for.

The revision to the curriculum in 2006 has defined clear learning objectives to take the emphasis away from rote learning. Multiple choice questions have been added to the Matriculation examination to improve assessment of learning outcomes. Nevertheless, the quality of the examination is still a far cry from a standardised international benchmark. To improve teaching and learning in the classroom which often is teaching to the test, examination qualifications must achieve a higher level of performance. If thinking skills are tested in the examination, teachers and students will be forced to take on the new methodology and quality of learning will be raised automatically. Uniformity in the education system means the same high, standardised examination for all across the board to determine and guarantee quality in learning objectives. Consequently, change must now start with the examination system to bring about that focus on quality learning sadly lacking in our system. It is hoped that reform in the system will start with providing a high-quality examination system for the youth of Pakistan.

TOUGH CHOICES: SUBJECTED TO A DILEMMA

By Mariam Naeem Khan | From InpaperMagzine | 19th May, 2013

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Lately, hordes of secondary school and college students have been approaching me with their parents to discuss the subjects they should opt for at O Level/Matriculation and A Levels/Intermediate. They muse over their future career paths and reflect on the possibilities of landing prestigious, well-paid jobs. Most of the students enter my office with a degree of uncertainty and baffled countenance, producing a long list of subjects, faculties and departments they have to choose from .
To all the young students confronted with the tough decision of making subject choices at this transformational stage of their life, here are a few things worth remembering and considering while deciding your faculties. Subjects you enjoy In high school, selecting the subjects you enjoy will help you in the long term as you will do incredibly well at them and attain the best results. Its about finding the subjects you are passionate about and then endeavoring to excel in them. For example, if you like learning

about the human body, gravitational forces and chemicals, Science is the best option. However, if you are the type who likes to read novels and write stories, subjects like English Literature, Sociology and Psychology are going to benefit you tremendously. Such subjects will bring forth your strengths, capabilities and are very likely to provide you with the qualifications required for your future ambitions. Later, when you are applying for your undergraduate degree, you can decide if you prefer learning the same subjects or different ones. But be careful as at times it becomes difficult to switch between faculties because a few require prerequisite subjects, e.g., Biology is needed for medicine and Mathematics with Physics and Chemistry for engineering fields. For undergraduates and postgraduates, the subject choices become slightly concentrated, as you embark on specialising in one faculty; however studying a variety of subjects as your electives to enhance your understanding and gaining exposure is a wise notion. Keep your options open It is a tad ambitious to presume that secondary school and college students will know what they want to become in the future. Furthermore, pressurising them and compelling them to opt for subjects their siblings or parents studied is definitely a prejudice. Every individual is different, and so are his interests, academic strengths, learning styles and aspirations. Your eldest child may be good at Mathematics, but the youngest might be good at painting while doing miserably in other subjects. Therefore, it is advisable to keep the subject options open in secondary school and college. Choosing a combination of hard subjects (Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology) with soft subjects (Performing Arts, Media Studies, Business Studies, English Literature and Accounting) will greatly assist the students in deciding the careers they wish to pursue. For example, learning Physics and Chemistry with Sociology and Psychology, or Additional Mathematics and Accounting, or Environmental Management and World History, or English Literature, Media Studies, etc., will give students a holistic overview of the professions related to each subject, clarifying many misconceptions and helping them evaluate the related professions. Research subjects that interest you Before you are ready to join college, you will need time to carefully think and plan your studies, so that you have some idea of where you are headed. Thus, it is pertinent to do some background research about the subjects youre opting for in college, so you know what your future may look like. For example, by picking Mathematics, Accounting, Physics and

Chemistry in A Levels, you can seek admission in engineering colleges or simply shift to Business or Accountancy Institutes (by virtue of Accounts and Mathematics). Alternatively, opting for Pre-Medical in Intermediate opens a gateway for MBBS, but also leads to numerous Biology-related fields like Biotechnology, Food and Nutrition, Human Genetics, Forensic Science, Microbiological Sciences, etc. It is advisable to think beyond the conventional professions related to Science subjects as countless new and innovative fields are sprouting, which are unsaturated and yet unexplored in Pakistan. The bigger picture It is also advisable to study a variety of hard and soft subjects in secondary school and college mainly because of the rapidly-changing job market. Excelling in hard subjects may help you obtain an interview call, but to get and keep the job, one needs to have some knowledge of the soft subjects, too. These subjects help an individual develop and enhance creativity, soft skills and simply equip him/her with diversified knowledge. Besides, by the time you graduate from college and step into the job market, there will be many vacancies waiting, not necessarily in your preferred field, but the jobs which will earn you a handsome living and you will be tempted to apply. Avoid choosing subjects because of Peer pressure: Use your grey cells to think about what you wish to do in life. Develop objectives and goals and set forth to accomplish them. Following the crowd will not lead you anywhere. Remember, once the school/college/university time finishes, most of your friends will no longer be there for you. They will have their own lives so cease jumping on the bandwagon. Siblings/parents did it: Our society generally consists of followers. Therefore our younger generation tends to do the same and follow suit, which is good in some cases, but not always. Millennial generation needs to decide what they wish to study, be it photography, performing arts, project management or film studies. These are some of the budding fields in Pakistan and professionals/experts are badly needed. Level of difficulty: Never think that a subject is difficult or else you will unconsciously block your mind from understanding its dynamics. Try doing it to the best of your capabilities and if required, seek extra help from your teachers, parents and siblings.

TEACHING STANDARDS: CHANGE MEANS TEACHER QUALITY

By Ismat Riaz | From InpaperMagzine | 12th May, 2013

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It is 2013 in the 21st Century, and Pakistan citizenry is in the throes of raising a hue and cry about making politicians declare an education emergency in the country. People have woken up to the fact that it is education that
has to be the foundation stone for Pakistans progress, socially and economically. Furthermore, experience has taught Pakistanis that prioritising education has never been the business of the state since it gained independence in 1947. The public sector in education has failed to deliver in both quantity and quality over the past 50 years and private schools and NGOs have been unable to fill the void in both quantity and quality as well. If educational change for the better is the buzz word, then the nations main concern is to identify the area where quality education springs from. Michael Fullen, Canadian author of The New Meaning of Educational Change which is in its third edition now, has come up with a simple factor that helps or hinders educational change. He says that Educational change depends on what teachers do or think it is as simple and complex as that. It would all be so easy if we could legislate changes in thinking. Thus, educational change in order to upgrade and standardise any system of education anywhere in the world lies in the quality, dedication, commitment and professionalism of its teacher workforce. However, Pakistanis over the years have rarely questioned the efficacy of a trained teacher for their children. Schools have been chosen for the facilities they offered or if they were part of the status quo while the masses in Pakistan have struggled to find an affordable school and if it was beyond their means, left their children ignorant and uneducated. Hardly anyone will rate a school for the high standard of teaching that it offers. It is presumed that if a school charges an exorbitant fee, the quality of their teachers is taken for granted. Unfortunately, that is not the case for two very simple reasons. Firstly, those who enter the teaching profession take up the job as a necessity and, particularly if no other profession is open to them. Secondly, teachers are hired on their academic qualifications (be that a degree or a Masters) on the premise that anyone can teach.

This mindset over the years has fossilised into an anything goes syndrome as long as one can ensure that a teacher is present in the classroom. Schools run by NGOs will hire teachers from the same level of educational background as the students they teach. Yes, these teachers are educated enough to handle a class in the literal sense but have no clue about what proper and qualitative educational standards stand for. Government school teachers are hired on their outdated BEd and MEd qualifications from government training institutes. Private schools hire teachers from diverse educational backgrounds but at the end of the day, the compromise is on quality which is basically unavailable for hire. For all intents and purposes, hiring of teachers is perhaps the easiest to accomplish. Look at a degree and hire on the spot. The second assumption is that the teacher will learn on the job and it does not really matter that after a few months even though the incompetence of a teacher is noted, he or she is not fired. There are very few teachers all over Pakistan who continue to teach in their respective schools with commitment and dedication to their profession. You can build a school building in the minimum amount of time, hire whatever human resource is available as teachers and you are in the business of educating the young and impressionable. The population explosion in Pakistan makes your task easier as there will always be enough students entering the portals of a school. The facilities to offer are basic amenities and can easily be acquired for running a school. Nevertheless, a qualitative educational system anywhere in the world depends on the quality of its human resource to service it and statistically, teachers dominate the workforce in any country. In the case of Pakistan, the teacher workforce has little significance attached to it. Other more attractive and lucrative professions such as medicine, engineering, business, civil services and armed forces are popular and are taken up as first choices by young people when they decide on a profession. The basic underlying reason for education taking a nosedive as far as quality is concerned is the fact that the teaching profession is no longer regarded as a worthy profession to adopt in Pakistan. If educational change or as the buzz word for politicians to declare an education emergency is to be taken seriously, then the change has to start with raising the quality of human resource for teachers. Next, that standardised human resource has to be trained to enter the profession so that quality education can be on offer for all Pakistani children irrespective of their economic background. A massive campaign to motivate young professionals to enter the teaching profession has to be undertaken with catchy slogans such as Build Pakistan Teach or Educate Pakistan Teach with enumeration of incentives in pay scales and career progression.

Then the arduous task of training these young people with a qualitative curriculum will have to be done. For that, as many as five to six large institutes of education need to be set up in all the provinces with a uniform curriculum and with smaller branches all over Pakistan. A short course of six months can be offered initially which can be made into a year-long course two years down the road. Every prospective teacher must do this course and be certified by an autonomous body to become a teacher. Are we demanding uniformity in the system? Then, it must be ensured that every child in Pakistan whether in the public, private, NGO or any other kind of school is taught by a professionally qualified, educationally sound, certified teacher.

MONSTERS IN THE MAKING

by Humair Ishtiaq | From InpaperMagzine | 5th May, 2013

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If machines with Artificial Intelligence have the potential to turn into monsters, as the philosophers argue, dont you think it is perfectly valid in our context to wonder if human beings without basic intelligence do have the potential to turn into monsters? Perhaps not in as many words and not at the conscious level, but if you have any kind of regular interaction with Pakistani students at the university level, the thought would have surely crossed your mind.
Lest it be mistaken, universities alone are not to blame. It is the lack of momentum the students bring from the preceding dozen years that lies at the heart of the problem. The universities only add four more years to the dozen, which, come to think of it, adds to the individuals chance of turning into a monster. Things being what they are, it looks and sounds safer to talk about the mechanical monsters rather than their human counterparts. Over the last couple of weeks we have traversed a path that covered six decades; from the predictions of Alan Turing to the belief of Herbert Simon and right down to the progress reported in recent times by Ross King and Hod Lipson. Dotting the path were milestones like Aaron, the computer artist, Deep Blue, the computer that beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov, Asimo, the human-shaped robot, and the unnamed machine that independently and successfully conducted experiments on

the genetic makeup of bakers yeast. This, in short, has been a journey through the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence. There are two basic questions which have surfaced in the face of these developments. One, what should a machine should actually do in order to qualify as an intelligent machine? Two, are scientists about to go out of vogue? As for the former, philosophers argue that any intelligent entity has to be in possession of high-level behaviours involving language understanding, planning and reasoning. The successes thus far, though spectacular, have been the result of one-off projects. What the philosophers are basically saying is that a computer can only be called intelligent if it has the capacity to, say, create a computer on its own. This, naturally, is a pretty high benchmark they are setting. After all, it took man himself thousands of years to be that intelligent. It may take many more for machines to reach that stage. The second question is far more interesting. There is a general consensus within the community that robo-scientists are not a threat to those who are trying to create and perfect them. King, for instance, hopes the application of intelligent robotic thinking to the process of sifting tens of thousands of compounds for potential new drugs will be particularly valuable in the hunt for treatments for neglected tropical diseases like malaria. Lipsons thinking is along similar lines. Machines, he says, could take over much of the routine work in research laboratories. At a later stage, they could be put to work on unravelling complex biological systems, designing new drugs and modelling the worlds climate or understanding the cosmos, but only on the basis of their programme input for which they will always need a human being. This, in a way, answers the first question as well. Intelligence per se has to be viewed differently from Artificial Intelligence which is, and will always be, just that; artificial. The philosophers dont have a problem with this. But they have two basic arguments against what they call fiddling with nature: one, that there are already too many human beings living in poverty and there is little or no reason to create mechanical labourers; two, with autonomous devices that mimic human form, thought and behaviour, will we entrust our children, educational institutions, businesses, and governments to reasoning machines as well? Their fear is that creating Artificial Intelligence when man does not fully understand the dynamics of intelligence will lead to more confusion and possibly disaster than good. The two groups seem to be far apart, but there still is an area of consensus between the two. Everybody agrees that regardless of the level of designed intelligence, machines shall always be absolutely subservient to the humans. The consensus is fine, but therein lies the

catch; what happens if the intelligent machines go awry? After all, systems do collapse and misbehave at homes, offices and even in laboratories. What if a machine with too much intelligence goes erratic on a grand scale? We have all heard of the famous, or rather the infamous Frankenstein. Havent we? It has a frightening resemblance to possible scenarios in an environment of robots moving alongside humans. At another level, the philosophers wonder which ethical and moral values the scientists will instil in their robots. Looking at human civilisation with its diverse cultural, religious, ethical and moral values, what exactly are we trying to create and to what purpose? Do we need religiously-biased robots? Does human society need the perfect Catholic, Muslim or Buddhist mind? Or do we want a mind that is ruthlessly calculative; the perfect Capitalist or Efficiency Expert? And what about the practical applications of these values? If one set of ethical or religious values dictates that we move in a certain direction, and another dictates that it is imperative to go the other way, isnt it like duplicating current issues without any real answers? Perhaps Artificial Intelligence will show the same diversity as humans. So what would be the point then of creating artificial humans? Dont we have problems enough with the biological beings, they argue. And who can argue with that? At our end, the task seems simpler much simpler. All we have to do is to produce biological beings with basic intelligence. Failure is bound to leave us with a straight choice between mechanical monsters and human monsters. Destruction guaranteed in either case!

A CHARTER OF CHILDRENS RECOGNITION

by Salman Asif Siddiqui | From InpaperMagzine | 5th May, 2013

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Children learn best when they are respected, and this respect is every childs right. If we take a look at the quality of experience that children undergo during their education, we will arrive at the conclusion that it is filled with feelings of fear, insecurity, rejection, embarrassment, humiliation and guilt.

I often ask teachers if education without insults is possible and a lot of them wonder at my question. I have asked many students, who have been top performers in their schools, if they have ever experienced a fear of disapproval and most of them say yes. Quality education cannot just be referred to the conceptual coverage of curriculum. Quality education needs to be redefined as making learning meaningful and enjoyable with making children feel unconditionally respected and recognised. Recognising children is to accept and acknowledge them for what they are. Children should not be recognised conditionally on the basis of their test scores, mastery of a foreign language or show of obedience. They must be recognised wholly because they are human beings. Childrens self-respect is something that remains at risk throughout their childhood. There is an acute need to have a national consensus on the protection of this basic childrens right. I would like to propose a Charter of Childrens Recognition for this purpose that is based on three fundamental principles. As per the dictionary definition, charter is a document describing the rights that a particular group of people should have. It can serve as a practical guideline for teachers and parents to work with children and should be based on the following principles.

Listen and acknowledge

How do you feel when you are not heard or acknowledged? You feel unimportant. Sometimes you feel disgraced. Listening can be a very powerful tool to make children feel important. Children bear tons of things to share ranging from interesting and weird questions, to realistic and hypothetical ideas, to a variety of sentiments and feelings. Encourage children to express in whatever language they feel comfortable speaking in and listen to them without being impatient, judgmental or losing your temper. When you allow them say whatever they want to say in their preferred language, you will find a world that was hidden before. After having listened to children it is appropriate to acknowledge them by simply rephrasing what you have heard. Acknowledging a childs point of view does not mean agreeing with him or her. The act of acknowledging makes children feel understood and respected.

Recognise individuality without comparing

How would you feel if you are compared with your colleagues all the time? Every child is creative in a different way. Expecting all children to be alike is unjust. They can be similar in some ways but actually they are all unique and therefore different from each other. Comparison between children communicates that you are not accepting children as what they are, rather demanding of them to be like their peers. It shatters their self confidence and

they view themselves as incompetent. When we believe that every child is uniquely intelligent and creative, only then will we understand that its perfectly fine if they learn differently. Expecting all children to learn in the same way at the same pace and respond invariably is absolutely inappropriate and ridiculous. Children show phenomenal development when they are accepted along with their individual learning styles and pace. Children must be recognised for what they do instead of what they have not done.

Unconditional respect and trust

How children are treated when they are young has a huge effect on the type of people they will grow up to be. Children are born pure and innocent with delicate self-esteem. Their sense of self worth grows through approval from outside. What children need most are respect and trust, and not costly toys. Respect is their basic need which comes prior to education. Quality education is to understand and treat children respectfully irrespective of their academic performance or behavioural state. One more reason for which children should be respected is that respect in itself is reciprocal. Children who are treated respectfully learn to be respectful and treat others respectfully, too. Respecting is natural when children do something which is desirable and socially acceptable. Respecting becomes challenging for many when children do something undesirable. We must remember that even in the latter case, we should disapprove the wrong doing but not disapprove of the child. This is to treat children respectfully and reject bad behaviour, if there is any. Dr Allama Mohammad Iqbal in his magnum opus work Javidnama introduced a clear vision for educators. He says, The purpose of knowledge is nothing but to show you the splendors of yourself. Education that compels children to understand the curriculum and does not understand and recognise the child cannot serve the child. The education process must not be impersonal because it dehumanises and demoralises learners through which the purpose of existence is adversely affected.