Business as usual

IT comes as no surprise that business leaders in Karachi have wholeheartedly welcomed the announcement of the presidential polls schedule. Unlike citizens given to pondering the ethics and legality of the unfolding political drama, their reasoning is emphatically unidimensional. The move, businessmen feel, will reduce and could even end “uncertainty”. Side issues such as the constitutional propriety of the general seeking another term simply do not enter the equation. Some in the business community wouldn’t mind seeing new faces as far as the politicians are concerned but Gen Pervez Musharraf, as army chief or a civilian with the clout of a retired COAS, remains their clear choice for the presidency. Indeed, going by the track record, a president in uniform may well be the preference of big business. If so, it must see its interests as being distinct and apart from the aspirations of civil society. Democracy and capitalism may make excellent bedfellows in the western model, but not so in Pakistan with its ‘backward capitalism’ rooted in relations of wealth and poverty and domination and subordination.

Perhaps this is why the country’s business community has historically felt most comfortable under military rulers, be it Field Marshal Ayub Khan, Gen Ziaul Haq or Gen Pervez Musharraf. The only exception perhaps was the short-lived honeymoon enjoyed by Mr Nawaz Sharif, embraced initially by big business for he was one of their own. Due in part to the multi-layered sanctions imposed by the West following the 1998 nuclear tests, the economy was in poor shape when Gen Musharraf staged a coup in 1999. But after a short wait-and-see period, investor confidence surged under military rule and the all-important impetus provided by post-9/11 inflows of foreign capital and cash. Since then the economy has witnessed a remarkable turnaround in terms of GDP growth, with 2003-04 and 2004-05 the two standout years. Forget for a moment the worrying fine print, like how the benefits of rapid growth have failed to reach the poor. Or that both inflation and joblessness remain perilously high. Or that Pakistan lags behind regional countries such as India and Sri Lanka on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. Consider instead why the rich become richer and feel more secure under military rule. The business community thrives on political certainty and dictatorships are, by definition, more rigid and less prone to flux than the democratic process. Business and industry also crave continuity of policy, and military rulers in Pakistan oblige by sticking around for a while. With no popular base amongst the people and no vote bank to protect, dictators have no qualms about pandering to the narrow interests of big business. In this mutually beneficial relationship, all the right boxes get ticked. Never mind the fact that the interests of big business may be in direct conflict with the wider public good.

Forgotten in all this is that military rule and the systems it fosters are bound to implode sooner or later. As such the certainty, stability and continuity touted as major benefits of a dictatorship are often followed by massive upheaval. The business community also forgets that an elected government has every right to change the course of economic policy, however drastically. Governments that come to power through legitimate means must serve the interests of the electorate, not just one segment of society. Economic policy and the profitability of business and industry cannot be so conveniently conflated.

For peace in Swat

A PEACE deal with Maulana Fazlullah was doomed from the moment it was signed by the government. So it comes as no surprise that he has ended it. This controversial cleric from Swat has been preaching violence and hatred through his illegally set up radio station throughout the year. He is responsible for compelling 25,000 parents not to get their children vaccinated against polio during a three-day campaign in April, saying that the vaccine is a western conspiracy aimed at reducing the Muslim population. The government brokered a peace deal with him because it thought it was the only way to ensure stability in the area and the safety of children and girls’ education, whose interests the cleric was not protecting.

However, his activities were not monitored nor did the violence abate. So it was only a matter of time before the cleric returned to targeting women. This was proved true in July when he said that girls’ education was un-Islamic which resulted in 2,000 parents refusing to send their daughters to school in Imam Deri, Swat. However, instead of the government breaking the deal with him then, or reprimanding him for making that irresponsible — not to mention illegal — statement, it was Maulana Fazlullah who ended the agreement on Friday. And he did so because he was angry that his supporters had been arrested by the police for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities. He and his followers are once again a threat to the already fragile law and order in the area.The government has always had many options before it but chose not to exercise any because it does not take such matters seriously. When signing peace deals, it only thinks in the short-term, as we have seen in the case of Waziristan. It allows the situation to escalate to a point of no return as we saw during the Lal Masjid episode. It is time for it to learn from its past experiences and to exert its writ in Swat. It must disband all illegally set up radio stations, apprehend those who are in violation of the law and ensure that they are duly punished.

Cleaning up the streams

THE Capital Development Authority has done well to pay attention to Islamabad’s network of 16 streams originating from natural springs on the Margalla Hills. These are to be cleaned up, rejuvenated and beautified under a plan unveiled recently. Many of these once naturally refreshing brooks have either dried up or turned into unsightly trash-choked nullahs carrying murky, stagnant and stinking water in the wake of neglect spread over four decades when population growth and urbanisation hit them hard. The CDA intends to revamp this network of abused natural waterways and transform it into scenic streams with landscaped banks and public recreational areas with walkways, parks, picnic spots and viewing galleries. According to plans, Islamabad’s waterways will also constitute a more efficient storm water drainage system for the city. The CDA planners probably got their idea from many European cities that have promenades with boardwalks, cafes and art venues.

While the CDA’s plan looks good on paper, execution will be a different ball game. Not only do tonnes of debris have to be removed from the streams and their banks, measures will also be needed to be put into place to curb new waste from being dumped into the streams. The numerous katchi abadis that have sprung up in the urban areas lack proper sewage and garbage disposal systems. Factories, hospitals and some commercial areas are also guilty of polluting the city’s waterways by irresponsible dumping. Even if the CDA does a good and efficient job on the project, its successful outcome will ultimately rest on the cooperative response from the public. Unless there is a change in the values and habits of society, both urban and rural, and residents learn to appreciate their environment and refrain from throwing trash and other hazardous material into the precious waterways, Islamabad’s stream revitalisation plan will come to naught.

The myth of universal primary education

ALL roads point to the need for quality education to save Pakistan from extremism and unsustainable growth. The paradox of high growth rates and low social sector indicators continues to plague the country.

The public articulation of $925 per capita income almost sounds indecent when juxtaposed against a literacy rate of 54 per cent and poverty rate of 24 per cent.

More than half the children of five to nine years are not enrolled in school. Many of them drop out before gaining any enduring learning experiences at the primary level.

To meet the challenges of Education for All (EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and to address the shortfalls of the formal education system, non-formal education is being touted as a pragmatic option. The federal ministry of education through the National Education Foundation and the Punjab government have allocated huge resources for launching over 30,000 NFE centres in the next three years.

Non-formal education is “any organised educational activity outside the established formal system; the audience includes children and youth”. The key characteristic of NFE is diversity in educational/learning content, the target group, timings and organisational modalities.

Some critical questions that need to be asked are: should there be a potential linkage between NFE and formal education as a policy option? Is there merit in persisting with UPE alone through formal and non-formal delivery modes knowing that it is not sufficient for the 21st century on its own? Does the pursuit of UPE alone not undermine learning and the constitutional rights of children?

What are the target groups who could be potentially supported through the non-formal bridge programmes? There are three categories who emerge:

· NES: those who Never Enrolled in Schools at all.

• Dropouts: those who entered school but left without completing a particular level of education at any stage of that education cycle. The dropouts estimated at the primary level are 31.3 per cent (NEC, 2005) and those who make it to grade 10 are only 23 per cent of the target population of 37.5 million.

• Under Primary or Under Middle or Under Matric are the students who manage to enter school/education programmes, persist up to the last stage of that particular level, but withdraw or fail prior to the completion of the particular cycle at grades five, eight or 10.

Category I can be immediately supported for readiness programmes in non-formal centres and then mainstreamed into formal or equivalent schools. Category II who dropped out of schools and are of school-going age can also be helped through catch-up programmes. Category III of under primary, middle and secondary can be helped through focused accelerated programmes.

What is clear is that the non-formal approach is seen as a bridging, transitional programme for building social capital and ensuring mainstreaming with the formal systems of education and training. It is no substitute for formal education.

Yet we have a fallacious obsession with Universal Primary Education (UPE) which is officially seen as a critical milestone for basic education.

Despite contradictory evidence, the myth of UPE promoted furiously by the World Bank continues to hold sway. It needs to be purged as a policy dogma by national and international stakeholders. Statistics from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2004-05 in Pakistan indicate that the number of children of 10 to 14 years entering the labour force has increased dramatically. Many of these new entrants are primary graduates, whose only option with low education and skills is child labour, thus exacerbating poverty.

Seen against this backdrop, the stark denial of opportunities for transition beyond primary is a reminder to policymakers that the need to redefine basic education in Pakistan is long and urgently overdue. The concept of basic education, in terms of content and the number of years of schooling, varies across countries. In some, the primary level is considered basic education, while in others eight years of schooling is considered to be mandatory. Pakistan has moved towards a sector wide approach in its education policy since 2001 but it is still stuck in the UPE ‘official’ doublespeak.

Analysis and evidence over the years has proved that the flawed universal primary education (UPE) approach is not cost-effective and even after completion of the primary level children are still vulnerable to exploitation. This undermines investment in primary schooling, with high internal inefficiencies that we can ill afford.

Under the sheer social and quantitative challenge, formal and non-formal service delivery modes cannot afford to remain isolated. Non-formal programmes tend to operate in isolation. Some programmes have successfully experimented with linkages between the two streams for effective and early mainstreaming. The government is open to use of public sector schools in the afternoons for non-formal centres making monitoring and transition to the formal easy.

At the policy level, the guiding agenda should shift from UPE to UEE or Universal Elementary Education, defining basic education as at least eight years of schooling until 2015, and then progressing to 10 or 12 years by 2025. It is important that all programmes of school improvement or NFE bridging ‘catch-up’ programmes are encompassed under the umbrella of Quality Basic Education (QBE).

Non-formal education or QBE should be seen primarily as a bridging programme towards the mainstream for children between the ages of five to 14/15 years from the primary to secondary levels. Where possible, NFE interventions should be located in formal schools (public and private) to support improvement in formal education as well.

In order to ensure that students enrolled in QBE programmes are mainstreamed successfully and perform well in regular/formal schools, the curriculum for NFE must be aligned to the national curriculum without compromises on condensed versions. This must be supported by a regular assessment using national/provincial standards to acquaint students with assessment formats and expectations.

All compensatory programmes eligible for formal schools and the poor such as free textbooks, uniforms, stipends/social safety nets, free meals should also be eligible for children and households in QBE programmes.

It is, therefore, essential that all NFE options must explore linkages with the national and provincial technical and vocational initiatives appropriate to local contexts.

Many myths need to be debunked in the face of hard evidence. Milestones such as UPE have negligible influences on households’ decisions to move out of poverty or illiteracy. The reason for an apparently low demand for education in Pakistan must be found in the supply deficit, where poor quality primary education is not perceived as being productive.

The country needs to move closer to Article 37 (b) of the Constitution that requires the state to provide compulsory secondary education to its citizens. This is essential if it wants to create peace within and ensure the fulfillment of fundamental rights.

Rain of sixers

The Tribune

FOR the Indian cricket fan starved of true heroics from their beloved heroes, it was a night and an over to talk about and relive for a long time to come. Yuvraj Singh has played many a match-winning innings in his swashbuckling style but there was no inkling of what was to come as he stretched and warmed up in the Twenty20 “dug-out” by the boundary line, waiting for his turn to contribute to a burgeoning Indian total against the English in a must-win match.

In he goes at 155 for three, with everyone wondering whether the fine start by Gautam Gambhir and Virendra Sehwag would be squandered without reaching 200. And then it begins. Twelve balls of clean, confident, brutal hitting that scattered the English field, rattled their captain, and pulverised the bowling of young Stuart Broad.

Yuvraj is steaming when he faces Broad, and then the cricket ball is everywhere, raining down on spectators, going into orbit over fireworks exploding in the night sky.

Spectators and commentators go delirious…. the “hard hat” advice will be taken very seriously now, and at least those with kids will definitely carry helmets to a Twenty20 match.

For maximum satisfaction from a sporting performance, there is nothing like individual glory creating crucial team victories…— (Sept 21)

The Ram issue

The Shillong Times

WHETHER or not Ram actually existed is for historians to ponder over. But Ram means so much to the common Indian that it is folly to bring historicity into the political and social matrix. The UPA government is not unaware of the importance of the epic hero. That explains why it had to swiftly withdraw the controversial affidavit in the Supreme Court and promise to consult all opinions before putting the official stamp on the Sethusamudram project. … The BJP has found the whole thing to be grist to its mill…

The Congress and its allies have to put an end to the agitation for a fresh poll on the issue. … Undoubtedly nothing should be done to hurt popular sentiments … But the government should not draw away from its secular stance and turn to religiosity as distinct from religion. … Union Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj does not have to sing the Ramdhun with folded hands. …

The Congress will do well to hark back to its 2004 election plank — the welfare of the common man.

That means transparency, sanctity of contract and accountability to people. … If the Congress can win another election on this plank, it will deserve to be called the grand old party. The BJP … should not try to win the Hindu vote bank by taking Ram’s name in vain. It is not part of politics to waste time over an academic issue. … — (Sept 19)