Gender disparity

http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/24/gender-disparity.html

 

Gender disparity

EDUCATION is the constitutional right of every Pakistani and is the only way towards progress and survival in this scientific age. Every government focuses on education without discriminating on the basis of gender. But the situation is quite different in Pakistan.
There is a lack of concern on female literacy in our country. The government seems to be least bothered about increasing the literacy rate among girls in Sindh. This situation is resulting in an increase of illiteracy among females who constitute 52 per cent of the total population of the country.
Wahi Pandhi is a small city of Dadu with a population of over 40,000. This city is devoid of secondary and higher secondary schools for girls. As a result, after passing Class V girls give up their studies. This is the reason that the majority of people in the area are not educated, especially since residents do not wish to send their daughters to get education at a boys’ high school.
The parents are, however, willing to send their daughters to secondary and higher secondary schools provided they are exclusively for girls. The lack of educational institutions is resulting in girls being deprived of their basic right.
This is leading to other complex issues. As girls cannot continue their studies, child marriages, incompatible marriages and polygamy are common here.
Girls endure all that, considering it their fate. These girls become mothers but they are unaware of health and nutritional needs of their infants. It increases infant mortality rate in the area. These double standards adopted by the Sindh government are contrary to the tall claims of women empowerment and steps for protection of their rights.
There are a number of human rights organisations and rights activists in Islamabad who have been talking of women’s rights and their empowerment in Pakistan. They are either unaware of the women’s problems of Wahi Pandhi or they are deliberately maintaining a silence on this issue because of some reasons. Don’t women of Wahi Pandhi have rights?
It is the responsibility of the government of Sindh to take note of the educational problems of girls residing in Wahi Pandhi and establish schools for them so that they can continue their education.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Wahi Pandhi, Johi

http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/06/oic-al-inaction.html

OIC-AL inaction

THIS is apropos of your editorial ‘OIC-AL inaction’ (April 24). An important point has been raised that the unrest in the Arab countries is not as much shocking as is the paralysis of the Arab League and the OIC.
Keeping the Arab League aside, the OIC is the largest organisation of Muslim countries in the world. The OIC was established in 1969 at Rabbat, Morocco. It was with a clear-cut goal of protection of Muslim countries from foreign invasions and the maintenance of unity among them. This was established in reaction to burning of Al Aqsa mosque at the hands of Israel.
Shockingly, since its inception, all the decisions of its 11 meetings have remained unimplemented and not more than rhetoric.
Whether it be the recent rebellious acts across some Arab countries or the past wars between Iraq-Kuwait, Iraq-Iran, or the
Indian aggression against Kashmiris and Israelis’ attacks on Palestinians, the role of the OIC has not been more than a spectator. This was and is the result of the failure of OIC countries to reach a unanimous decision at its meetings.
The drifts among most OIC countries and the feelings of suspicion against one another are the main hindrances in its success.
These drifts are the main cause of inaction on the part of it and lack of moratorium on the continuation of bloodshed in Muslim countries like Syria, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen.
In fact, there is a rule in the world that if an organisation or a country fails to handle a crisis, it appeals to the international community for help, but all such moves are not apparent on the part of the OIC so far.
Oil is the strongest weapon on which the entire world machinery has been running. Despite all these failures, the OIC can implement its decisions. There is just a leadership gap in the OIC that may mediate differences of the Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries and allay their unfounded doubts and fears against one another and carry out its meeting decisions.
It is time the OIC kept aside their differences and saved Muslim countries from further bloodshed and destruction.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Dadu

http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/17/hec-decentralisation-opposed.html

HEC: decentralisation opposed

THIS is apropos of the proposed devolution of the HEC and reaction over it. If one takes a cursory glance over performance of universities before the formation of the HEC, one finds that there was no research culture and there were very few PhDs.

But with the establishment of the HEC in 2002 the educational and research culture in universities was promoted. The HEC organised seminars and lecture programmes to replace archaic methods of teaching.
I remember that when I was a final year student of the Institute of English, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, there was only one PhD and the degree was obtained from abroad. But during that period about seven lecturers of the institute were in Britain on HEC scholarships.
Moreover, the HEC has proved a blessing for improving deteriorating educational standards of Pakistani universities. The number of HEC-produced scholars has been over 3,000 so far. Most of the scholars belong to impoverished families. Had the HEC been part of provincial administrations, as it has been planned now, the scholarships would have been awarded not on the basis of merit and there would have been a mess in our universities.
There is also a digital library connected with all universities. It is also one of the achievements of the HEC. It provides free access to 23,000 international journals and 45,000 textbooks from 220 international publishers.
Our government should let the HEC be independent and free of political intervention. Instead, the government should take measures to improve the deteriorating educational standards at our primary and secondary levels. At these educational levels, there are myriads of problems. For example, obsolete curriculum, shortage of teaching staff, non-availability of computer facility, poor infrastructure, absence of washrooms and drinking water coolers.
Sadly, our country spends less than two per cent of GDP on education against Unesco’s prescribed four per cent. The HEC has been working efficiently and its devolution plan is unjustified on the grounds that the capability of provincial administrations is known to all. If the government opts for to go ahead with the devolution of the HEC, it will sound the death knell for the higher education in Pakistan.
I request the president and the prime minister to stick to the HEC instead of putting it in the incapable hands of the provincial administrations.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Wahi Pandhi, Johi,