Pakistan Today 07 May 2013
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/05/06/comment/tackling-mould/
By Rabia Ahmed
http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/05/06/comment/tackling-mould/
By Rabia Ahmed
Rebuilding the country will take generations
Some friends were away for a month. Opening their fridge to give it a quick clean before they returned, I was stunned to find it covered in mould because it had been switched off and its door shut while still damp. Mould had penetrated even the rubber lining on the door, and the empty ice trays contained green fungus cubes.
Cleaning that fridge took a very long time.
Whoever takes over the governance following elections faces a similar prospect. Genuine efforts to clean up and rebuild the country will take generations. To imagine that this job can be tackled within days, weeks or even months is to delude oneself and others, because corruption, like that mould, has infiltrated every level of society; and education, health care, law and order and justice, are all in grave need of attention.
Article 25 A of Part II of the Constitution of Pakistan outlines the fundamental right of its citizens to education. It holds the State responsible for providing free and compulsory education for all citizens between the ages of five and sixteen. Yet most children of this age across the country work for an income and do not attend school. They have few options, with the cost of living what it is.
Every single political party with much thumping of fists and elaborate sloganeering has promised a greater allocation of funds for education if elected, and, the Jamaat-e-Islami, not to be outdone, has promised one hundred percent literacy by the end of its tenure should anyone (be so rash as to) elect them.
It remains a mystery how any of this is to be achieved, and on which prior performance records these parties base their claims. The PPP ended its tenure not only without fulfilling its promises, but the GDP during its current tenure declined. Also quite unexplained is where they plan to obtain the necessary funds. In a statement last November, the IMF is quoted as saying that ‘Pakistan’s growth remains too weak, the underlying inflation high and the trade balance heading in the wrong direction,’ which is another way of saying that the economy is completely stuffed.
The problem has to be tackled on multiple fronts: the quality of the (exceedingly) substandard education currently available must be improved, and politically motivated interference in syllabi prohibited; education must be made affordable for children belonging to underprivileged families, and provision made to replace their loss of earnings if these working children who contribute to the family income, attend school instead.
I teach English as a second language (ESL). My new students are unable to put together a single sentence in correct English despite having studied English throughout school and college, where they also study history, microbiology, biology etc. You wonder how well these other subjects are taught. Not too well, judging by the fact that these young women are under the impression that the year 2013 belongs to the 20th century. They are shocked to discover that they are a century behind times.
This is an intelligent nation; its intelligence has simply been warped. Education can and must be provided, but the process will require solutions outside the box, involving entire communities in the process.
With a population almost at 200 million, Pakistan spends just over 0.25 per cent on healthcare, and has an extremely high rate of infant and maternal mortality, malaria, tuberculosis, and certain cancers, such as breast cancer, the latter in fact the highest in Asia. At the same time the ratio of doctors and nurses per person is extremely low. Less than half the children in the country are immunised, and currently, the process of immunisation is proving as dangerous as its absence, with immunisation workers being targeted by militants.
It is as important to remove unqualified and dangerous ‘medical’ practitioners as it is to provide good qualified ones. In the meantime general health can be improved by providing efficient waste disposal and better access to safe drinking water, removing sources of malaria and launching a relentless campaign of public awareness against the breeding habits of mosquitoes and militants alike, keeping in mind that more than half the population is unable to read.
With criminals targeting not just civilians but also prosecutors involved in public judicial cases, law, order and justice obviously do not exist. It is in fact no longer newsworthy that lawyers themselves increasingly indulge in some of the worst forms of hooliganism, unchecked by their mentors. These mentors, the highest judicial officials in the country are too busy interfering in matters beyond their remit, and fail to attend to those that fall within.
Will militants and other vested interests allow these elections to take place? Let’s hope so, and look forward to a happier future than the present has been.
Some friends were away for a month. Opening their fridge to give it a quick clean before they returned, I was stunned to find it covered in mould because it had been switched off and its door shut while still damp. Mould had penetrated even the rubber lining on the door, and the empty ice trays contained green fungus cubes.
Cleaning that fridge took a very long time.
Whoever takes over the governance following elections faces a similar prospect. Genuine efforts to clean up and rebuild the country will take generations. To imagine that this job can be tackled within days, weeks or even months is to delude oneself and others, because corruption, like that mould, has infiltrated every level of society; and education, health care, law and order and justice, are all in grave need of attention.
Article 25 A of Part II of the Constitution of Pakistan outlines the fundamental right of its citizens to education. It holds the State responsible for providing free and compulsory education for all citizens between the ages of five and sixteen. Yet most children of this age across the country work for an income and do not attend school. They have few options, with the cost of living what it is.
Every single political party with much thumping of fists and elaborate sloganeering has promised a greater allocation of funds for education if elected, and, the Jamaat-e-Islami, not to be outdone, has promised one hundred percent literacy by the end of its tenure should anyone (be so rash as to) elect them.
It remains a mystery how any of this is to be achieved, and on which prior performance records these parties base their claims. The PPP ended its tenure not only without fulfilling its promises, but the GDP during its current tenure declined. Also quite unexplained is where they plan to obtain the necessary funds. In a statement last November, the IMF is quoted as saying that ‘Pakistan’s growth remains too weak, the underlying inflation high and the trade balance heading in the wrong direction,’ which is another way of saying that the economy is completely stuffed.
The problem has to be tackled on multiple fronts: the quality of the (exceedingly) substandard education currently available must be improved, and politically motivated interference in syllabi prohibited; education must be made affordable for children belonging to underprivileged families, and provision made to replace their loss of earnings if these working children who contribute to the family income, attend school instead.
I teach English as a second language (ESL). My new students are unable to put together a single sentence in correct English despite having studied English throughout school and college, where they also study history, microbiology, biology etc. You wonder how well these other subjects are taught. Not too well, judging by the fact that these young women are under the impression that the year 2013 belongs to the 20th century. They are shocked to discover that they are a century behind times.
This is an intelligent nation; its intelligence has simply been warped. Education can and must be provided, but the process will require solutions outside the box, involving entire communities in the process.
With a population almost at 200 million, Pakistan spends just over 0.25 per cent on healthcare, and has an extremely high rate of infant and maternal mortality, malaria, tuberculosis, and certain cancers, such as breast cancer, the latter in fact the highest in Asia. At the same time the ratio of doctors and nurses per person is extremely low. Less than half the children in the country are immunised, and currently, the process of immunisation is proving as dangerous as its absence, with immunisation workers being targeted by militants.
It is as important to remove unqualified and dangerous ‘medical’ practitioners as it is to provide good qualified ones. In the meantime general health can be improved by providing efficient waste disposal and better access to safe drinking water, removing sources of malaria and launching a relentless campaign of public awareness against the breeding habits of mosquitoes and militants alike, keeping in mind that more than half the population is unable to read.
With criminals targeting not just civilians but also prosecutors involved in public judicial cases, law, order and justice obviously do not exist. It is in fact no longer newsworthy that lawyers themselves increasingly indulge in some of the worst forms of hooliganism, unchecked by their mentors. These mentors, the highest judicial officials in the country are too busy interfering in matters beyond their remit, and fail to attend to those that fall within.
Will militants and other vested interests allow these elections to take place? Let’s hope so, and look forward to a happier future than the present has been.
