No daycare facilities at FDE-run schools

Razi Sultan has to drop off her six-month-old at her parents every day before she goes to teach every day as she does not have anyone at her house to look after her baby and there is no daycare facility at the school she teaches at.

Hundreds of other teachers working in the 200 girls’ schools run by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) are facing difficulties due to the lack of daycare facilities at their workplaces.

“Its hard for me to drop off my baby at my parents’ before I go to work in the mornings. Why does FDE not establish daycare centres in schools,” Ms Sultan said, who teaches at the Islamabad Model School for Girls I-10/4.

“Mothers have to feed their babies and take care of them but we cannot do that because we do not have daycares, which is not fair to female teachers,” said Zubeela Nawaz, another school teacher.

Several other teachers Dawn spoke to said that when they brought their children to school, the principle scolded them when the principles themselves bring their children with them.

Federal Government Teacher Association President Malik Ameer Khan said the lack of daycare centres affects the performance of teachers.

“Establishing a daycare centre can bring significant improvement in teacher’s attendance and performance,” he said, adding that teachers were more comfortable in the schools where daycare centres had been established.

FDE Director Schools Sadia Adnan could not be approached for comment.

Symposium on sustainable development

Experts at a one-day symposium on Thursday agreed that poverty and hunger, which are the major obstacles in the way of development in developing countries, can be addressed with scientific solutions.

They said that despite its various shortcomings, Pakistan is one of the first countries to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) the parliament level.

The symposium was hosted by the Comsats and the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) to commemorate the UN’s South-South Cooperation Day with focus on ‘Framework of Sustainable Development Goals’.

Speaking on the occasion, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Pakistan Neil Buhne said that developing countries including Pakistan are facing similar problems such as poverty and hunger and that scientific solutions could help solve them in a sustainable way.

“The realisation of the SDGs will lead to peace in the world,” he said, adding that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a good example of south-south cooperation.

Representing PAS, Dr Nasim and Prof Shinwari advocated the role of science academies in promoting science and technology for sustainable development. The event concluded with an interactive panel discussion session with Dr Suleri, Dr Nasim, Prof Butt, Chairman PINSAT, Advisory Comstech and Adviser HRD Wasim Hashmi Syed in the panel. They also addressed the questions and concerns raised by the audience.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2016