Will education reforms deliver?

HOW the government resolves the occupation of a model children’s library by students of a girls madressah will be seen as a test of its commitment to not only madressah reform but also to simultaneous reform of the national educational system.

Successive governments’ neglect of the public school system has been held responsible for fuelling the importance of madressah education. The organised madressahs, which provide not only religious education but food and lodging as well, are said to help fill an educational and social vacuum that has been created by an inadequate and inaccessible public school system, especially in the rural areas.

Given this scenario, the reiteration by the government on February 14 in the midst of the madressah students’ occupation of the children’s library, that it would be increasing its education spending from 2 per cent to 4 per cent of GDP, the minimum Unesco requirement, is significant.

That the government would be spending 4 per cent of GDP on education was announced back in October 2005. In March 2006, the minister of education reiterated that the education expenditure would increase to 4 per cent in the next budget. And now a year later, the government has again reiterated its commitment to increase the education spending to 4 per cent.

In fact, foreign governments and donor agencies are scrambling to help Pakistan to reform its education system. According to one report, commitments by donors totalling at least $1.4 billion to be spent over seven years have been confirmed, the bulk of it by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. It has also been projected that by 2010, Pakistan is likely to spend $2 billion a year on education with 20 per cent provided by the donor community.

But whether we will eventually be able to actually improve the national educational system and reform the madressahs as well through this ambitious spending on education remain to be seen. This apprehension is based on the fact that the outcome of previous macro-level foreign-funded projects has not been encouraging.

Billions of dollars by donors had been poured into Pakistan in the past two decades through projects like SAP (Social Action Programme), PRGF (Poverty Reduction Growth Facility), PAF (Poverty Alleviation Fund), and ESRP (Education Sector Reform Plan). In addition, the United Nations Population Fund has also pumped millions of dollars in population development assistance into the country since 1970.

But as local experts maintained, writing in a 2005 collection of essays entitled “Education Reform in Pakistan: Building for the Future”, published by the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, Washington DC, such large infusions of international donor and multilateral bank resources have failed to significantly influence Pakistan’s educational sector.

That these foreign-funded social uplift projects have not been able to achieve the desired impact is evident in our poor human development indicators (particularly infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, literacy rates, etc.) and high poverty statistics.

Many analysts have attributed this failure to our bad record of following through with the programmes and ensuring their implementation, which thus resulted in glaring disparities between the stated agenda and the actual output. Embarking on programmes on the insistence of foreign donors is one thing they say; following these through and completing them is quite another.

For instance, the multi-billion-dollar SAP in the 1990s envisaged the establishment of hundreds of new schools and basic health units throughout the country. However, we ended up with many ill-equipped and ill-maintained ‘ghost’ schools and unmanned basic health units, with many ‘ghost’ teachers and healthcare workers drawing ‘real’ salaries!

Similarly, part of the ESRP project in the first half of the 2000s envisioned the establishment of 270,000 literacy centres in the country by 2005. But how many children and adults have actually enrolled in this literacy programme and how many have actually completed the course are interesting questions.

Since 2001-2002, the US, UK and our government have spent millions of dollars trying to reform the madressah system at the macro-level. But what we have only managed to achieve so far is registration of the 10,000 over madressahs in the country.

Registration is designed to oblige the madressahs to teach pragmatic subjects like economics, computers, mathematics, general science, Pakistan studies and English in addition to religious study, ostensibly to enable their graduates to earn or make a living. But if we fail to follow through this reform to the end, we will end up having more or less the same kind of madressahs as before, madressahs which churn out graduates who have no primary/medium level skill training and thus have very limited opportunities for jobs.

One recent report by an expert involved in madressah reform cited two problems. Firstly, government officials think that marking ‘registered’ beside the name of a madressah indicates that it is on the path to reform. Secondly, many of the madressahs have apparently ignored their end of the deal.

To ensure that our latest attempt at educational reform does not end up like past reform efforts, we will need to recognize and remove the obstacles which prevented the success of previous reforms. Analysts have pointed out these obstacles as: the lack of political will and interference/resistance of vested interests opposed to the reform attempts; and the lack of transparency and accountability in our political and governance landscape.

Only if we can overcome these obstacles, succeed in following through the educational reforms and ensure their implementation to the end, can we then hope to significantly improve our literacy rates and increase the number of people who ostensibly will have better job opportunities because of their primary/medium level training.

However, for educational reform to go beyond merely improving literacy rates to benefiting Pakistan economically, we will also need to simultaneously reform and diversify our economy pinpointing the major industrial sectors we want to develop (e.g., tourism industry, export manufacturing industry, etc.), and tailor our educational system to produce the people with the right kind of skills to operate in this foreign-exchange earning economy.

As an official Japanese report in 2005 on ‘Japan’s country assistance programme for Pakistan’ maintained, concerted effort in both human resource development and diversification of the industrial structure is the key to sustainable economic growth.

Otherwise, any effort to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of our fast growing population is likely to have very limited success.

CDGF fails to tackle insanitation

ROADS, bazaars and streets of four rural towns — Jaranwala, Tandlianwala, Samundri and Jhumra — present an ugly look and have turned into filth depots as the city district government Faisalabad does not seem to be ready to take charge of solid waste management of these areas under the Punjab Local Government Ordinance (PLGO).

The inhabitants of these towns are suffering from various diseases and facing problem of insanitation as the district government is not ready to discharge its duty for one reason or the other.

The district having 289 union councils, was awarded the status of CDGF during the last local body election and two of its tehsils — City and Saddar — were divided into four towns, i.e. Lyallpur, Madina, Iqbal and Jinnah Town. Four rural tehsils — Jaranwala, Tandlianwala, Samundri and Jhumra — were also declared towns.

Before the creation of CDGF, the sanitation branch and its staff were working under the tehsils, which were responsible for cleanliness in their respective areas. However, the creation of CDGF deprived the tehsils of this right and the sanitation branch and its staff was handed over to the district government under the PLGO.

Section 36 of the law says: “On creation of a CDGF under section 8, the organizations and authorities providing municipal services and facilities and the office decentralized or set up in a tehsil or tehsils or district notified to be City District shall come under the administrative and financial control of the CDGF.”

Besides, the sanitation branch, scores of other powers being enjoyed by the tehsils were transferred to the CDGF under section 2 of PLGO.

The section says that municipal services include, but not limited to intra-city or intra or inter-town or tehsil, network of water supply, sanitation, conservancy, removal and disposal of sullage, refuse, garbage, sewer or storm water, solid or liquid waste, drainage, public toilets, express ways bridges, flyover, public roads, streets, footpaths, traffic signals, pavements and lighting thereof, public parks, gardens, arboriculture, landscaping, billboards, hoardings, fire fighting, land use control, zoning, master planning, classification, declassification or reclassification of commercial or residential areas, markets, housing, urban or rural infrastructure, environment and construction, maintenance or development thereof and enforcement of any law or rule relating thereto.

The urban town elected members created a hue and cry over the transfer of the sanitation branch to the CDGF. They held a joint meeting in the TMA complex a couple of months ago and expressed their resolve to fight against the law for their rights. After the meeting, a rally was also staged and some of its participants turned violent and attacked the office of EDO (municipal services) in the same building and also pelted the latter’s vehicle with stones to register their protest against the transfer of the branch.

Sources said the CDGF took charge of municipal services without proper planning. It has so far failed to make arrangements for solid waste management in the rural areas. The rural nazims raised their voice in the city district councils’ meeting and threatened to dispose of heaps of garbage lying in the rural areas in the city if they were not given sanitary workers. However, their demands have fallen on deaf ears.

The CDGF official placated the furious rural union councils nazims by saying that soon a strategy would be tabled in the councils’ meeting for the solution of the issue, but nothing practical was done, sources said. They said all rural towns were up in arms against the CDGF over its lethargic attitude towards their areas.

The Jhumra town bus stand, which was transferred to the CDGF last July, was a major source of income for the town administration that enabled the TMA to meet the sanitation service expenditure. Sources said sanitation deteriorated in the town. The administration was trying its utmost to keep the place clean, but lack of funds was a major hindrance.

Though the CDGF is responsible for keeping the bus stand clean, it does not bother to render service to commuters of this town. The situation forces the administration to make sanitation arrangements which have become a financial burden on us, a town officer, requesting anonymity, said.

He said through a letter dated Oct 30, 2006, Rs3.26 million to pay salaries to sanitation staff and contingency bills was demanded by the CDGF, but its incumbents did not pay heed to our genuine request.

After this, sources said, the town administration made a number of requests which fell on deaf ears. The DCO was also informed in detail about the gravity of the situation, but to no avail.

Town nazim Fawad Cheema told Dawn that payment of salaries to the sanitation branch was the responsibility of the CDGF which was clearly mentioned in the PLGO. However, we have been making payment for the last one-and-a-half years with the help of our limited resources. “Our town is suffering badly due to lack of funds. The CDGF should release amount for the purpose,” he added.

When contacted, CDGF nazim Rana Zahid admitted not taking the charge of rural towns and said the district government was not immediately ready to take this responsibility.

“We are going to devise a sanitation strategy for the rural towns as vehicles are being purchased with the funds given by the chief minister. Rural towns are also part of the city district government. They could not be ignored, anyway.”

Doctors and the limelight

Some people wonder why medical doctors are increasingly switching to other professions. This question has been prompted by the presence of a host of TV anchors using the appellation of 'doctor’.

Doctors are not in the media alone. There are other fields also which lure them in, most prominent of which is politics. Even in Sindh’s context there are so many doctors: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Women Development Minister Dr Saeeda Malik, there are opposition MPAs such as Dr Azra and there are Dr Farooq Sattar and Dr Qadir Magsi.

There are other kinds of doctors such as Dr Hamida Khuhro, but she cannot prescribe medicine for, say, a headache or fever.

Whether it is for money or popular exposure, there is no moral justification for quitting a profession whose motto is to serve humanity.

Becoming a doctor is not an easy task. Only diehard industrious people can achieve this goal. Efforts for it begin as early as in class 9. If a student cannot get very high marks in this class he cannot hope to climb to that echelon. First he has to get A+ grade in matric. Again he requires A+ grade in intermediate. Those who achieve even this goal know how hard it is. But the struggle does not end there. A candidate has to pass an aptitude test also. And then begins a five-year study for the degree and the successful candidate has to devote another year to the house-job in a hospital.

When finally he (or she) becomes a doctor, he earns a paltry sum compared to other professions requiring half the struggle, such as CA, MBA, etc. Desperate people jump onto the media bandwagon where they believe they will get a better pay package. Joining the media offers more than a pay package. People are attracted to the limelight also.

Customers’ dignity

Consumers, subscribers and customers hold prime importance in the field of business and trade around the world. Businessmen and their companies value their clients more than anyone else because they do business for financial gain and it is their clients who propel them to any height of financial strength, prestige, reputation and many other goals desired to be achieved.

In developed countries, every effort is made by businessman community to avoid any physical or mental harm being caused to a client by a product, service or even advertisement. The globally recognised basic concept is that a client is the most sensitive element of the business world and must be handled accordingly to avoid losses.

However, in this part of Asia, this concept is confined to the learning or publicity material. In practice, businessmen or service providers, especially those coming in contact with end users or subscribers, would never care about the harm they routinely cause to their clients in most cases.

Generally, when we try to bargain prices at a retail outlet, the person dealing us changes his welcoming gesture all of a sudden to express his displeasure over the attempt to, what he would try to make us believe, ‘underestimate’ the product in question. In many cases, the retailer would lose his patience and start hurling insults.

This demonstration of disrespect is very common in the field of transport. One may often witness a conductor standing on the footboard of a bus, minibus or coaster shouting loudly and constantly to invite passengers. But how rudely he deals with these respectfully invited passengers during the ensuing journey may be anybody’s experience.

Misbehaviour, abusive language, indifferent attitude, overcharging, dangerous driving, slower than reasonable speed to cause delays, disembarking passengers midway and many other things like these lead to altercations, and even brawl, between passengers and the crew of the vehicle concerned.

Likewise, poor service is a widespread complaint in Karachi when it comes to utilities, after sale service, internet service, construction contract service, etc. But how prompt and satisfactory is the service provided to an individual customer, subscriber or user can be gauged from the number of complaints piling up with the service providers’ log. And the behaviour of the officials, executives and the staff of the clients service is most often disappointing and gives to understand that the very aim of recruiting ill-mannered people helps discourage clients to dare lodging a complaint.

Apparently, entrepreneurs, businessmen, traders, service providers and the authorities at the helm of the affairs in utility service organisations have successfully been doing their business by hiring rude, impolite, ill-mannered and even rowdy individuals to discourage any client coming out with a complaint.

The ground reality, however, belies the impression. The progress our utility service providers have achieved over half-a-century in terms of growth, expansion and financial gain gives a true picture. The so-called achievements would have been 10 times more impressive had they opted for pleasing their subscribers, consumers or other clients instead of government functionaries. Likewise, businessmen, industrialists, traders and even shopkeepers and vendors would have made colossal gains had they never showed disrespect to their customers.

I remember the quote attributed to a European tycoon that the heaviest loss in business is the loss of honour and prestige of your organisation and its staff and the greatest achievement is the clients’ pleasure. Would somebody among us subscribe to his ideas?

Bill uncertainty

People have taken with a pinch of salt the government’s recently announced 10 per cent cut in the gas charges. They have also shown indifference to the increase in the rate of electricity simply because they believe they are already paying so much, which is not for the actual consumption of gas and electricity, that they will absorb this fresh shock also.

For instance, soon after the government announced a decrease in gas charges, the consumers received highly inflated bills. A resident of Korangi, Zahid Hussain, whose usual gas bill remained within Rs300 figure has been billed Rs1,150 for January. A resident of Hassan Square, H.A.S. Shirazi, who bill never exceeded Rs750 during the last three years, has received a bill for Rs5,000. Abdul Wahab, a resident of Aisha Manzil, has received a bill for Rs3,000 against the usual of below Rs500.

Similarly, people paying electricity bills have never been sure how much they would have pay in the coming month although they very well know that they have consumed almost the same amount of energy in the current month as in the previous month. The bill amounts so widely fluctuate that a difference of 10 per cent would hardly make any difference to them. It does not mean that the power utility is justified in increasing the charges. It is already charging too much and much of that too as a penalty for the non-paying.—Karachian