Experimenting with languages

THE federal education minister has informed the Sindh education authorities that his ministry is revising the education curricula with a view to introducing changes in the education sector all over the country. Among many measures that minister Javed Ashraf Qazi mentioned, the most significant is the move to introduce English from the primary classes. Even more important is the decision to use English as the medium of instruction for science and mathematics. One wonders if the education minister understands the implications of these decisions which will have far-reaching repercussions for education in Pakistan. It is a well recognized fact that primary education is the foundation on which the entire education superstructure rests. Experts who understand the growth and development of a child’s mind point out that pedagogy, language teaching, medium of instruction and textbook contents in school are key factors that determine the quality and relevance of the education being imparted. A major cause for the poor state of the education sector in Pakistan is the failure of our policy makers to focus on primary education and develop it in line with scientific norms in order to optimize the benefits of schooling for a child.

The language issue, which is basic to any system of education, has never been addressed with a logical and scientific approach. Since so much controversy has surrounded it, the inclination of the authorities has been to avoid taking a clear-cut decision on the matter. What needs to be emphasized is that the medium of instruction — at least at the primary level — must be the mother tongue of the students so that they can fully comprehend what they are being taught and, at the same time, can pick up the literacy skills in the language they are familiar with. This is something so fundamental that one is shocked at our policy-makers and educationists who have failed to understand this basic principle. Hence it is important that a child who speaks Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pushto or Balochi at home should be taught in the same language at school. To impose another language on him will only alienate him. Besides, he will never be able to understand fully the subject he is taught and this will be reflected in his cognition and verbal skills. By teaching science and maths to a young child in a language that is alien to him, our policy-makers are ensuring that Pakistan which lacks a science culture (Prof Abdus Salam’s constant lament) remains totally backward in technological education.

Our policy-makers seem to be confused about the concepts of the medium of instruction and the teaching of a language. After initiating a child’s primary education in his mother tongue, the school could introduce other languages at the secondary level. In our case the languages that need to be taught compulsorily would be Urdu (for those whose mother tongue it is not) and English because the first is the national language (and also the link language) and the second is the international language without the knowledge of which no nation can progress in the globalized world of today. It is important that teachers are trained to teach these languages using modern methods so that the students become proficient in them. At present we don’t even have teachers who can teach correct English to the students as a language. How will they teach science and maths in English and what kind of English will that be?

Dug-up roads

THE concern expressed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan about fatalities in traffic accidents caused by the perpetually dug-up condition of many of Karachi’s roads is well founded. Some days ago, a taxi plunged into a dug-up portion of one of the city’s busiest roads killing two teenage passengers. This accident could have been avoided because the road on which it happened has been in a state of excavation for almost a year. One can understand that widening and recarpeting of the road network is an essential part of urban development, but what is not understood is the tendency among civic agencies and local authorities to let roads remain in a dug-up state for so long. And this isn’t a problem that afflicts Karachi alone. It is common to see newly carpeted roads being dug up again in most cities because of lack of coordination between local governments and civic agencies and utility services.

With better planning and coordination, and doing the infrastructure and road improvement work in phases, the inconvenience caused to urban commuters, motorists, pedestrians and residents in general could be kept to the minimum. Instead, what we see is insensitivity and negligence on the part of the authorities to the problems that dug-up roads pose, especially in Karachi. The Clifton underpass is another example of shoddy quality of work and lack of planning, both of which have created much inconvenience to the residents. Though completed and opened for public use in a relatively short time, the underpass has faced recurring problems with its lighting and stormwater drain railings. In addition, the area around it, already dug up for over a year, is still a shambles with no signs or guidance for either pedestrians or motorists — a situation ripe for an accident. Our cities have their fair share of fatal accidents and traffic in most is notorious for its indiscipline and disrespect for rules. The authorities can bring some order out of chaos by at least ensuring that any work done on the road network is completed well in time.

Safe disposal of waste

TIME and again, the need for proper hospital and solid waste management has been stressed but its need has never been more urgent than now in the quake-hit areas, already vulnerable to the spread of infectious diseases. Officials of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in their assessment of the damage to the affected areas, have spelt out the minimum requirements needed for proper waste management. Apart from setting up proper sites for disposal of waste and promoting hygiene, there is a need to provide incinerators for waste disposal. At present, solid and hospital waste is either thrown away in open areas, nearby rivers or randomly burnt, all of which pose a danger to people’s health. Setting up incinerators at designated areas — as the International Committee of the Red Cross has done — would greatly reduce hazards. Most of the hospitals operating in affected areas, however, do not have access to incinerators and hygiene levels are extremely poor as a result. There is a need to formulate a comprehensive strategy whereby hospitals can tackle their waste disposal need and put into effect a streamlined waste management system. Organizations dealing with health-related problems should focus on this specific issue as proper disposal of waste is vital to curbing any spread of infectious diseases. Concerned officials should explore other options, including providing shredders or crushing machines, that can help in eliminating waste.

Of equal importance is strictly following hygiene guidelines at hospitals. Officials of the ministry of environment say that they have conducted training courses in Mansehra on hygiene awareness and hope to secure more funds to impart similar training at other locations. But these matters of importance should not just be restricted to the quake-hit areas. Once the urgent needs of victims have been met, waste disposal practices should be extended to other parts of the country.

Expenditure cuts can meet relief cost

NOVEMBER 19 will go down as an discomforting day in the country’s history. It is a day on which General Musharraf and his prime minister will ask invited delegations from over 70 countries and international organizations to fill the country’s kashkol. The general has already set the stage by complaining on international media about the fact that the victims of Hurricane Katrina have received more aid than the earthquake-affected people of Pakistan.

Receiving aid is not a right and any comparison on this score is not proper. But then, the whole exercise in garnering aid for those who have suffered is demeaning for the people and the country. After all, regional neighbours Iran, Sri Lanka and India have in recent years also suffered large-scale natural disasters, but did not wail for aid a la Pakistan. In fact, India at first responded to the tsunami disaster by announcing that it does not need foreign assistance, but relented after it was accused of displaying national pride bordering on arrogance. The Musharraf regime has taken Pakistan to the other extreme.

The general’s economic managers have repeatedly stated that the earthquake will have little or no economic or budgetary impact. Putting together whispers in the corridors of power in Islamabad, it appears that a decision has been made to refrain from politically uncomfortable readjustments in budgetary allocations and rely instead on foreign grants and loans to finance reconstruction. The excessive enthusiasm for the donor conference can be seen in this context.

The people of Pakistan, including those who have actually suffered from the devastating earthquake, are a proud lot. Given a choice, they would have gone about organizing relief and rehabilitation with greater dignity. Pakistan is not a basket case among the developing economies of the world; rather, it possesses the resources to stand on its own feet to a large extent. Admittedly, some foreign assistance, particularly in logistics and technical fields, is required. But the stage for petitioning for financial assistance has to be preceded by first reducing some of the colossal waste of public resources that governments in Pakistan have been guilty of over the past many years. It does not appear to be legitimate to ask the outside world to foot the bill for reconstruction, while continuing with wasteful expenditures at home.

An analysis of Pakistan’s federal public finances for the past five years — from 2000-01 to 2004-05 — shows that while the government collected a total of Rs. 2,368 billion in tax revenues, it spent Rs. 3,395 billion on non-development heads. This means that for every 100 rupees that the government collects in tax revenues, it spends 145 rupees on itself and not a single rupee is spent on the welfare of the people.

Over the same period, the government spent a total of Rs. 837 billion on defence and Rs. 704 billion on development. In other words, for every 100 rupees the government spends on development, it spends 119 rupees on defence. And despite strident claims regarding improved governance, expenditure on administration has over the last five years increased at an average of 10 per cent, net of inflation.

The result is growing poverty, with the percentage of people living in extreme poverty ranging from 40 to 60 per cent in large parts of the country, particularly in Balochistan and rural Sindh. The existing fiscal situation is no longer feasible nor can it be tolerated. Taxes can only be legitimately collected if the proceeds are devoted to the service of the people. Today, the people of the earthquake-affected areas urgently need assistance and the government is duty bound to come to their aid.

It has been estimated that a Rs. 500 billion five-year reconstruction and development plan for the affected region will be necessary to rehabilitate the people and the infrastructure. The continuing demands of poverty reduction across the country and the additional burden of reconstruction in earthquake affected areas calls for a substantial restructuring of national public finances. This must of course preclude any increase in indirect taxes or in deficit financing to meet fiscal exigencies or contracting additional loans in the name of reconstruction. Rather, the required amounts can be raised through a corresponding reduction in public administration and defence expenditures. Several areas of budgetary shifts can be identified

Prior to its ousting, the Nawaz Sharif government had carried out an exercise to downsize the federal government. General Musharraf too, after seizing power, declared his intention to abolish several ministries and divisions. Ironically, all movement in this respect has been in the opposite direction and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz presides over an army of cabinet ministers that is the largest in Pakistan’s history. Clearly, civil administration expenditure emerges as the first candidate for initiating economies. It is time federal ministries, divisions, departments, corporations, and agencies falling under the purview of the Concurrent List of the Constitution are abolished and the size of the federal cabinet is limited to under 10.

There are agencies on the military front too that appear to be redundant. For example, there has existed since independence the Coast Guards to protect the maritime area of the country. Subsequently, the Maritime Security Agency was also created for essentially similar tasks. Clearly, one of the two needs to be abolished. It appears, therefore, that a downsizing exercise also needs to be carried out with respect to defence expenditure. It is now imperative that details of the composition of defence expenditure, particularly non-combat expenditure, are made public. Nevertheless, despite the absence of detailed information, some of the areas in this respect can be highlighted.

The military is currently constructing a new GHQ in Islamabad. The cost of the project has not been made public, nor has the amount been sanctioned by parliament. The rationale for shifting the GHQ from Rawalpindi to Islamabad has been made on grounds of personal security of the Army Chief of Staff, the present one also occupying the office of the president. By contrast, a hundred thousand lives are at stake in the earthquake-hit areas and the relative priority in the matter cannot be in doubt. The general’s personal security can perhaps be ensured in a low-cost manner by temporarily shifting the president’s office to Rawalpindi. In any case, the construction of the GHQ needs to be cancelled forthwith.

The military’s intelligence services have secret budgets, which are likely to be in nine digits. Intelligence operations are necessary for the country’s security. In this respect, however, the ISI appears to have been more active in domestic politics and has specialized in destabilizing representative governments and subverting the constitutional and political process. It is indeed ironic that officers who are paid out of the public exchequer have public funds at their disposal in order to undermine the public interest. It is time the ISI, or at least its political wing, is abolished.

Prior to 1971, the country’s eastern province of East Pakistan was more vulnerable militarily, given that it was surrounded almost on all sides by a hostile India. The brewing civil war and prospect of war with India justifiably led Pakistan to raise additional military during 1969-71. However, the secession of East Pakistan reduced the country’s size, and with no threat on the western borders, it was basically the eastern front where the military needed to be deployed for defence purposes.

Over 100 years ago, British colonial rulers built a string of cantonments from Delhi to Peshawar as part of their efforts to contain Russian expansion towards the Indian Ocean. Pakistan today does not face any military threat all the way from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan. Yet, these cantonments continue to exist at the average rate of one every 40 kilometres just along the National Highway from Lahore to Peshawar. Several of these need to be closed down and the land transferred to the relevant civilian authority for sale at commercial basis.

There has existed a practice of colonial standing of allotment of land to military personnel. Since the 1960s, the practice has been further strengthened with the formation of Defence Housing Authorities and similar other housing schemes on cantonment lands. Cantonment lands are presumably meant for military uses and it is a moot point whether the military is entitled to profit by transferring any part of such lands from military to non-military residential and commercial purposes.

Nearly 60 years after independence, it is time to abolish the practice of allotment of lands to military officers at subsidized rates. It is also time all cantonment lands not required for military purposes be reverted to the relevant civilian authority for sale at commercial basis.

Retired military officers are now routinely appointed to civil service positions. During their civil tenure, they continue to draw their military pensions as well as their salaries for the civil positions that they hold. On retirement from their civil positions, they also draw a second pension. This is an unjustified burden on the budget. Military officers posted on civilian positions need to have their military pensions and privileges suspended till the time they are drawing their ‘civilian’ salaries and doubly retired officers drawing double pensions need to be required to choose between the two pensions.

With reasonable cuts in defence and administrative expenditure, Pakistan can doubtless make enough saving in public money and can surely lower its dependence on international charity to meet the cost of relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the quake victims in the north.