A f g h a n b l o w b a c k

The T TP safe havens in Afghanistan are proving a stumbling block to regional peace

SOMEONE somewhere is itching to say “I told you so” when he sees the reaction of the Defence Ministry and the Foreign Office to Wednesday s Zhob attacks, which led to the largest single-day casualties, with nine soldiers being killed Both fulminated against the Taliban government of Afghanistan, with Defence Minister Kh Asif saying it was neither fulfilling its obligation as a neighbouring and brotherly country nor safeguarding the peace agreement ” At the time of the Taliban takeover it had been predicted that there would be an upsurge in terrorism

Whether it is indeed the fault of the PTI, which Kh Asif was quick to blame there is no doubt that there has been an upsurge in Tehrik Taliban Pakistan activity mainly because they now have safe havens in Afghanistan Though the Pakistan government has repeatedly demanded that the TTP members who had carried out acts of terror in Pakistan be handed over the Afghan Taliban have refused to do Now it seems, those who had been most supportive of the Afghan Talban, and happiest at their accession to power, and most confident that they would act according to Pakistan s interests are seeing the consequences of that policy in the shape of military fatalities

It is not entirely reassuring that the Afghan government has said that it remained committed to the Doha agreements and the peace and stability of the region The Afghan government shows a recognition that stability is essential to achieve the aim of making Afghanistan a hub of trade and prosperity However that recognition does not accord with its actions which have protected its ideological colleagues, and which have extended to its attempting to mediate between the TTP and Pakistan, as if they were equals rather than a state dealing with citizens who had violated the law

The problem has been that the Afghan Taliban have been handled by the establishment This must stop, for the Afghan Taliban s protection of the TTP has led to the establishment itself becoming a victim Rather than reinforcing failure, the establishment must allow the civilian government the authority to deal with the problem The Talian whether Afghan or Pakistani hsave become a problem too hot to be left to some murky and amorphous agency to handle The deaths in Zhob are only the latest example of how establishment intervention in matters that should be left to the government lead to the hand that feeds being bit May 9 was another

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late)

Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Editor

M A Niazi

Joint Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor

FOR any country,literacy rate determines its success The more educated the people are, the more the country will progress Thus a country needs to provide an advanced education to its students and focus on their well-being It is important because children are the future of a country

As I take it, education is meant to serve many purposes It should enable students to look at the world in a different perspective than just living in it Education is preparing a person to face everyday life problems

It changes our personality and way of talking and education helps us to live in this world and understand it It is only education which enables you to give your opinion Think,if you don t go to school,could you criticize your education system? I think that life without education is a waste in today's world Unfortunately for us the education system of pakistan is not very good In fact since Independence Pakistan has been facing critical problems regarding the education system and is not paying much attention to it

If Pakistan wants to progress, than it must pay attention to its educational system Japan is prime example of gaining progress through education Japan has always been very strict regarding its educational system and keeps the students a top priority The strategy has gained them a lot of progress and today Japan is one of the most developed countries in the economic field Although we are also seeing some increase in the current literacy rate of Pakistan (almost 60%, )the changes are way too low Keeping in mind the current economic situation of Pakistan,the education system has been affected the most Problems start with Insufficient attention to primary classes: if you notice half of what we learn in school isn t needed at all A student from the very beginning of education is forced to copy things rather to understand thoughts Our education system has been under the curse of cramming where memorizing has more importance than understanding

One of the main problems is that faculties of these institutions are not implementing the education policies set by the government

The burden of studies of higher classes: In higher studies as we know the condition is the same Instead of acquiring know;edge, students are taught cram- ming by copying the answers and writing the same in exams So much stress is put into higher education

These institutions are more focused on getting their profit For this purpose they are feeding countless information in the brains of students which they are forced to swallow They only teach them to get good grades rather than attaining knowledge

Expensive institutions: Especially,private institutions have become so greedy for money, for colleges and universties,the cost is in the lakhs per semester

For the government institutions the merit for fields like medicine increases day by day Thus our education system is also too focused on grades rather than skills and willingness to learn

I personally feel that the money makers (private schools) are the vital reason to lose our quality of education because they provide education affordable for the rich but not our poor people

Barrier building institutions: Instead of unity of nation the education system of Pakistan is only building barriers due to different categories of education C a m b r i d g e schools only teach international syllabus and are highly expensive Then we see the English medium schools that teach Pakistani syllabus but in english These schools are also very expensive and lastly we have our government institutions that teach the syllabus in Urdu The government system should be at the top to encourage the study in Urdu to maintain the identity in Pakistan These different categories are creating barriers making the the government students seem less educated If the government starts to focus on its educational system, almost all problems of Pakistan can be solved We should not play with the future of the children We should set aside all of the politics and focus on the education system for the success of our country There are several ways we can do so:

Up-to date syllabus:The curriculum should be advanced at least yearly we should keep the syllabus upto-date according to the advancements especially in the fields of science Skillful teachers: Teachers should be hired based on their skills to make the syllabus easy They should have a simple manner of teaching Many teachers are highly qualified but their explanatory skills are very weak Also, more teachers should be hired so that they are not burdened Currently, a teacher has to teach 30-40 students in class which can be quite stressful The number should be decreased to at least a half so that teachers can teach easily

Focus on primary level: Attention should be given to the primary level It forms the foundation of a student Thus basic teachings should be given to personalities and increase their confidence

Lower the fees: The fees of all institutions (private and government ) should be lessened to lighten to burden of parents

Primary education should be made free of cost Scholarships should be given to bright students or to the ones who can t afford the fees

Education without any determination:Another important step is to raise awareness about the importance of education

The system has to be changed according to the age groups that are given a very big burden in many schools The education should give them the proper course structure which should be a must in all schools This has to change right from primary education to graduation level The system of examination has to be changed from admission given by money power leaving the poor who have good marks unable to get admission in their choice of study Education is the most fundamental factor in one’s social and economic success in life Our government should adopt the learning techniques which are useful for children in this competitive world The government must work on those things before it gets too late

Same curriculum:There should be only one curriculum followed by every institution,no matter private or government This will help to keep every child equal and hence they will be able to avail themselves of equal opportunities in future The government should keep a close eye on the institutions to check whether the same curriculum is being taught