Pakistan ranks as the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women, with cases of sexual crimes and domestic violence recording a rapid rise. Activists blame society’s patriarchal attitudes for the problem.
40-year-old Shazia S. was busy talking to her daughter at her parents-in-law’s house in Lahore. The mother of six barely had any idea what awaited her. Her husband Sajjad R., a mason by profession, suddenly turned up and asked her to accompany him. She was surprised, but went with him nonetheless.
«He grabbed me firmly, shoving me against the wall and unleashing a barrage of kicks and slaps,» Shazia told DW. «Then he picked up a metal pipe and started hitting me mercilessly,» she added. Shazia’s husband suspected that his wife was having an extramarital relationship. He kept asking about it while hitting me and wouldn’t listen to me even though I stressed that I wasn’t having any extramarital affair, she said.
Sajjad even threatened to kill her and used his knife to cut off her nose, Shazia said. «No one could hear my cries because he had tightly locked the door. He also inflicted wounds on other parts of my body, including my neck, and then fled. He left me bleeding and crying for help,» she recollected.
After the ordeal, Shazia’s neighbors took her to a hospital, where she was treated. The doctors said they couldn’t fix her nose with plastic surgery, but that she could try and get some treatment abroad.
Amjad Ali, an investigating officer in the case, told DW that the police raided various locations to nab the accused, but could not find him. Shazia’s husband has now received bail and the court hearings of the case are set to take place in the coming weeks.
«The police failed to arrest my husband, who managed to get bail even before his arrest,» Shazia said. «He came back to our area just the other day and told one of the residents that he chopped off my nose to teach me a lesson and save his honor, because he suspected me of meeting another man.»
Shazia, who is now living with her mother in Lahore, fears for her life. Her husband wants her to withdraw the case against him. But she says she cannot imagine living together with a person who has ruined her life. She is also afraid that her father-in-law, a retired police official, might influence the authorities and seek to compromise the legal case against his son. Shazia stressed that she would not let her husband go scot-free.
Rising numbers
Shazia is not the only victim of gender violence in Pakistan over the past several months. Recently, a woman was badly beaten up by her husband, a policeman, in Sheikhupura, a city located 55 kilometers away from Lahore.
Violence against women has been on the rise in Pakistan, a country of over 200 million people. It ranks sixth on the list of the world’s most dangerous countries for women.
According to statistics collected by White Ribbon Pakistan, an NGO working for women’s rights, 4,734 women faced sexual violence between 2004 and 2016. Over 15,000 cases of honor crimes were registered. There were more than 1,800 cases of domestic violence and over 5,500 kidnappings of women during this period.
According to media reports, more than 51,241 cases of violence against women were reported between January 2011 and June 2017. Conviction rates, meanwhile, remain low, with the accused in just 2.5% of all reported cases ending up being convicted by the courts.
The chief justice of Pakistan has recently announced that 1,000 courts would be set up to deal with the cases of violence against women.
«Women police stations and other facilities are set up in cities while the majority of the violence cases take place in villages,» Mai said. «In rural areas, feudal landlords call the shots; the administration and police are subservient to these feudal chieftains who view women as commodities. So how can justice be delivered in such cases?»
Farzana Bari, another prominent women’s rights activist, believes the patriarchal attitudes prevalent in Pakistani society are responsible for the problem. «No government has ever tried to put an end to this mindset,» she said.
«It can be done by educating women in rural areas, empowering them economically and raising their representation in the legislature. If women constitute more than 45% of the population, why should they not have the same representation in the economy, employment and government?»
Critics say the current Pakistani government, under Prime Minister Imran Khan, hasn’t been focusing on empowering girls and women.
In the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, governed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, official recently issued guidelines ordering girls to wear the veil or abaya.
The order drew widespread outrage, forcing the government to reverse the decision. PTI leader and former federal minister Ishaq Khakwani admitted that the government did not pay enough attention to address the issue of violence against women.
«Only the government cannot be blamed for this situation. The entire society will have to come forward. The police and the judiciary will also have to play their roles. If cases linger in courts for years, then victims are forced to find other ways to settle such cases. So a comprehensive reform program is needed and all sections of society will have to play their role.»
Source of the notice: https://www.dw.com/en/violence-against-women-on-the-rise-in-pakistan/a-50550672
India released a Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) in June 2019. It’s the first comprehensive policy proposal on education in the country since 1986 and a major, game changing statement.
Australia has a moral duty to engage with the global challenge of providing quality education to hundreds of millions of Indian youth. And by engaging with India as it rolls out this policy, Australian universities stand to gain knowledge and research capacity, among many other things.
What’s the new policy trying to achieve?
India’s National Policy on Education was framed in 1986 and modified in 1992. Clearly a lot has change in the country since then.
The proposed new policy is remarkable for two main reasons.
First, it takes a cold-eyed look at the existing educational structures and processes in India. The document reflects honestly and in depth on state-level universities and colleges where the majority of students study. In these institutions, the facilities, teaching, and governance are usually poor.
A second remarkable element to the draft is the scale and boldness of the vision. The policy aims to make changes across all levels of education – from early childhood to university.
The draft policy, which is currently in the consultation phase, recommends doubling funding for public education from the present figure of roughly 3% of GDP to 6%.
It aims to change the structure of school education so children begin their schooling at three years old, with three preschool years incorporated into the formal structure.
The draft policy also calls for an overhaul of teacher training which will now occur in universities rather than specialist colleges, which are often of low quality.
In tertiary education (though the draft is weak on the issue of vocational education), the policy sets a target of 50% of youth being enrolled in universities by 2035 (in 2016, the figure was 24.5%).
The DNEP recommends dismantling the current system of universities and private and public colleges to develop between 10,000-15,000 multi-disciplinary universities, which would be funded in part through the increased government investment in higher education.
The document notes the current system is made up of more than 850 universities and about 40,000 colleges, with 20% of those colleges offering just a single program of study, and 20% having under 100 students.
The main thrust of this policy regarding higher education is the ending of the fragmentation of higher education by moving higher education into large multidisciplinary universities and colleges, each of which will aim to have upwards of 5,000 or more students.
The new institutions are envisioned to promote education in the arts and social sciences. The focus on “liberal arts” will encourage critical thinking and appreciation of the value of education beyond just preparing the population for employment.
The DNEP emphasises the importance of developing a research culture across most universities in India and stresses the value of internationalisation by “preparing our students to participate in world affairs through providing them with learning experiences that cut across countries and cultures”.
It also aims to to “attract students from other countries to participate in our higher education programmes”.
Why Australia should care
The poor quality of school and university described in the DNEP is a critical global challenge. As it stands, large parts of India, especially northern India, are unlikely to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 4, which calls for accessible, quality education for everyone.
Australia should partner with India to address the needs of the hundreds of millions of young people demanding a better education.
Australia has a lot to gain from engaging with India on its new education policy.MICK TSIKAS/AAP
By interacting with top Indian researchers and students, Australia can also improve its own research and knowledge capacity. Australia can make commercial gains from working with India in the redevelopment of its education system.
Australian universities can act in five areas in particular:
1. Build research capacity in India and across the Australia-India boundary
Australia already has a research partnership with India, the Australia India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF). This should be extended, through a joint new research fund with India’s already established new National Research Foundation.
India faces a major challenge in creating a body of excellent researchers capable of occupying positions in its proposed new universities. It is therefore crucial that research partnership also involves building this capacity, especially by creating new PhD training and post-doctoral positions.
2. Partner with India in open and distance learning (ODL)
The DNEP’s goal of increasing the number of students in university in India to 50% can’t occur through bricks and mortar expansion. India has a lot of experience on ODLs but Australia and India could usefully partner in the development of better quality technology platforms.
3. Help train Indian school teachers
Australia has major strength in teacher education. India is looking to other countries to assist in training the staff in universities who will be responsible for training teachers in the new system. Australian action in this area would greatly help Indian education into its next phase.
4. Provide expertise on internationalisation
Australia has been very successful since the 1990s in internationalising its education. Education is now one of Australia’s largest exports. Australian universities and peak bodies such as the Group of Eight Universities could be partners in India’s efforts to internationalise.
5. Building campuses in each other’s countries
The DNEP recommends overturning regulation that prevents foreign universities from establishing campuses in India. It invites the world’s top 200 universities to develop a physical presence in the subcontinent. It also encourages Indian institutions to consider opening campuses abroad.
Australian universities could approach Indian institutions to discuss the development of a physical presence in each other’s countries, such as laboratory spaces, research centres or campuses.
The DNEP is remarkable on many levels: a bold effort to rethink education from first principles in a country containing one fifth of the world’s youth. Australia should make it a priority to engage.
Source of the notice: https://theconversation.com/india-is-reforming-education-for-the-first-time-since-1986-heres-why-australia-should-care-121812
The cost of child undernutrition to the Kenya’s economy is 373.9 billion shillings, which represents a loss of 6.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as at 2014, this is according to a study.
The study dubbed “ Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) – Kenya chapter touches directly on three sectors of the economy namely Health, Education and Labor productivity and using 2014 as a reference period shows that Hunger is one of the root causes of malnutrition in Kenya as well as Africa with the negative impact on children under five years.
The report says that despite Kenya having made progress in reducing stunting in children from a high of 33 percent in 1994 to 26 percent in 2014, stunting rates are still high since it affects 1 in every four children under 5 years.
In a speech read by the Cabinet Secretary for Health Sicily Kariuki, on behalf of President Uhuru Kenyatta, during the release of the Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) Kenya Study report on Thursday, the President said scale up and diverse financing for good nutrition for a healthy and productive nation should be a priority to address the challenges associated with malnutrition.
He therefore said there is need to work together and put in place a comprehensive mechanism to address challenges of child undernutrition.
He also called for strengthening of existing public private partnership in the implementation of the policy recommendations from the study
The President noted that the challenges associated with malnutrition have led to the need for focus and emphasis on nutrition as part of the development effort in the World.
“Recognizing that Children are the greatest asset of our Nation, My Government is committed to ending child undernutrition,” he said.
Child undernutrition and in particular stunting in children has a negative impact on productivity at a much later stage in life. Kenya has reduced stunting in children from a high of 33% in 1994 to 26% in 2014.
“As a Government, we are committed to reducing the stunting rates to 14.5% by 2030,” the President said and thanked all the development partners, who have walked with the government on the journey of ensuring that children have a brighter tomorrow.
Speaking during the release of the report, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Amb. Ukur Yatani who was represented by Albert Mwenda, Director General, Budget, Fiscal and Economic Affairs said hunger is unacceptable and must be eradicated especially in Africa.
“In 2018, the number of people who were hungry globally stood at 821.6 Million, which implies that one person in nine people, suffers from hunger. Approximately 31 percent of the World hungry people come from Africa, “he noted..
The economic impact of child undernutrition on the health sector therefore is at KSh. 18.6 Billion, representing 0.3 percent of our GDP as at 2014 he noted.
Based on the findings, the CS said that COHA Kenya National Implementation Team will strengthen the implementation of the nutrition component within the community health strategy, disseminate and implement comprehensive school health and nutrition programme and also integrate nutrition as targeting component in social protection programmes for the highly vulnerable populations.
The Council of Governors (CoG) representative, Transzoia CEC Mary Nzomo said, the report will be useful for the national and county planning and budgeting process as well as offer important source of data in the mid -term review of the county integrated development plans and their implementation and the big four agenda of 100 percent food and nutrition security.
The COHA study estimates the social and economic impact of child undernutrition and provides evidence based analysis on cost of hunger geared towards implementing strategies that eradicate child undernutrition in the country.
Source and Image: https://www.kbc.co.ke/child-undernutrition-costing-kenyas-economy-ksh-373b-study/
China’s push to become a world tech power, which has paid off with advances in telecommunications, batteries and robots, is yielding further results — it’s taken a leadership position in A.I. powered education investments.
The country is among the most-active regions for artificial intelligence-powered edtech investments, with K-12 classes, foreign language study and high-quality education getting the most attention, according to a Deloitte report released this week. Almost 20% of all education deals in the country last year involved AI compared with 4% in 2016, Deloitte said.
“Although China is a late-comer in AI-based education, its unique advantages in application and implementation make it one of the most popular regions for investment in AI-based education globally,” the report said.
The report singled out what it sees as the next big opportunity in edtech: so-called soft skill-focused “quality education,” similar to the west’s STEAM model, which adds art to the original emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math. The segment has developed with state support, the report said.
“AI-based quality education is becoming the blue ocean for investment,” the report said.
Globally, the U.S. and China are the two hotspots of edtech investments. More than 95% of AI edtech investments from 2016 through the first quarter of this year were in the two countries, according to the report. Chinese companies scored $63.2 billion in 170 deals, compared with $154.2 billion in 54 U.S. investments.
Machine learning with emotion and facial recognition abilities is rapidly advancing “quality education.” Most of the investments in the “quality education” area have been in the round A stage, Deloitte said.
Companies focused on K-12 are the most mature and attract the most investments. They scored 50 deals in 2018, according to the report.
With support from China’s government, such as 2018’s Education Informationization 2.0 Action Plan, the area of “academic affairs administration” is also gaining investments. Academic affairs administration focuses on such topics as smart class-scheduling and homework platforms.
Potential investors in the AI-based edtech sector will see a divergence occurring in China, with industry leaders like Tencent preferring to back companies that are in their growth stages while VC/PE investors such as ZhenFund and Sequoia Capital focus more on cutting-edge technologies. Established education companies including New Oriental and TAL Education are focusing more on mergers and acquisitions, Deloitte said.
Source of the notice: https://karmaimpact.com/china-sees-surge-of-edtech-investments-with-focus-on-artificial-intelligence/
South Australia’s Department for Education has announced 111 schools and kindergartens will be closed tomorrow as a safety measure during catastrophic fire danger conditions.
Key points:
Catastrophic fire conditions are expected in seven SA regions on Wednesday
More than 100 schools will be closed
Adelaide Hills residents are preparing for possible bushfires
Seven regions in South Australia have been given catastrophic fire danger ratings for Wednesday by the Bureau of Meteorology, including Kangaroo Island.
No part of the state has been rated lower than «severe».
A total fire ban applies across the whole state for the rest of today and Wednesday.
The Country Fire Service (CFS) has compared tomorrow’s bushfire risk conditions to those that were present during the Pinery and Bangor fires.
Catastrophic conditions have been forecast for the eastern and lower Eyre Peninsula, the Yorke Peninsula, the west coast, the Mid North, the Mount Lofty Ranges, along with Kangaroo Island.
Department for Education infrastructure executive director Ross Treadwell said «high-risk schools» would not open tomorrow and bus services would be cancelled.
«It enables parents and the people in those districts to enact their bushfire plans,» he said.
A large air tanker from New South Wales is on standby to fly to South Australia if a fire does break out.
CFS assistant chief officer Brenton Eden said if winds were too strong tomorrow there was a chance no aircraft would be able to be deployed.
«The community has a general expectation that aircraft and everything in the air are able to respond rapidly and save them from these fire events [but] on days like this those aircraft may not get off the ground,» Mr Eden said.
Crafers resident John Angel said the community needed to be «overcautious».
«The [Adelaide Hills] Council came along and quickly mowed this with [a] tractor leaving lots of spare spots, but sometimes those bare spots if an ember comes on it is enough to start this up,» he said.
«I’ve got a free morning so I just thought I’d come and do what I can.
«I think if everyone is out doing their bit, I know the council are and the CFS are — all you can do is just be as prepared as you can.»
More than 500 Adelaide Hills properties were last week warned to clean up their properties ahead of the bushfire danger season, which started last Friday in the area east of Adelaide.
No fines have yet been issued.
«We’re always concerned when residents don’t clean up their properties appropriately, however, we also recognise that people have busy lives and reminders and notices that we provide them just helps them re-prioritise bushfire safety,» Adelaide Hills Council chief executive officer Andrew Aitken said.
«I think the majority of our residents and businesses are well prepared.
«Obviously, it’s an ongoing exercise to remain vigilant.»
Mr Aitken said some council services and businesses would be closed on Wednesday.
He said the council would not make its employees work if they needed to defend their property in the event of a fire or if it was too risky to come to work, and he encouraged other local businesses to do the same.
«We already know what staff are planning to do leading up to a catastrophic fire day,» he said.
«We certainly encourage, as does the CFS, all property owners whether they be residents or businesses to have their bushfire survival plan in place and it’s never too late to do that.
«If your bushfire plan says to leave, leave early.»
Bureau of Meteorology acting SA supervising meteorologist Paul Lainio said November temperature records could be broken.
«The whole day effectively for the state will be hot, dry and fairly windy at times,» he said.
The record November temperature for Adelaide’s West Terrace weather station is 42.7C, set in 1962.
Innamincka and Oodnadatta in the state’s far north are set to reach 43C, while Tarcoola will reach 45C.
Innamincka resident Ali Matthews said her family was preparing for the heat.
«We’ve got two little kids, so it’s hard to keep them inside all day, every day,» she said.
«Obviously, when it’s 40-plus or 50-plus it’s not very pleasant, so lots of waterplay for the kids and we’re in the air-conditioning as much as possible.
«There’s not a lot of work you can get done in those sorts of temperatures.»
Source of the notice: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-19/sa-schools-to-close-amid-catastrophic-fire-conditions/11718984
THE discussions to reform the education system are endless and, for too long, the need to change public debate has diverged, leading us into “dark alleys” which we cannot come out of.
Author David Price says the conversation on reforming the education system is fuelled by the idea of recreating the golden age of schooling, even as we head towards a radically different future.
Meanwhile, societal and technological changes, the kind never before witnessed, demand us to rethink every aspect of our lives.
The problem stems from the fact that we are not ready to bring the discussion forward on how schools should help children prepare for the future and what the education system can do for them. For that, we do not need more road maps but rather a paradigm shift that will change the direction of education.
When politicians state their commitments towards education, they usually talk about execonomic growth and job creation. If children work hard and are clever enough, they will land good jobs.
There is no doubt that education can improve the socio-economic status of the poor as it opens up a world of opportunities and employment for them.
But what we want are real reforms in our education system and amend flaws that have caused the quality of our education to deteriorate.
I would like to make some suggestions on how to bring about real changes:
FIRST, learning should not be about exams.
As a lecturer, I am always asked by students during the exam period whether “is it going to be a test because if it’s not, I don’t want to waste my time”.
I don’t blame them as I also asked the same question when I was a student. It is the system that placed examination results as important determinants of a student’s progress to higher education, as well as occupational opportunities.
Such a system, as Guy Claxton argued, “is designed so that a substantial proportion of youngsters are condemned to fail — through no fault of their own”.
The bad news is that exam grades are becoming irrelevant.
Nowadays, international corporations are no longer interested in exam grades. They are asking for applicants’ talent, network and portfolio.
We often cite the Finnish education system as a success story for not having many tests, apart from an exam at the end of the senior year in high school.
Schools in Finland do not have standardised examinations and their school curriculum is different from other countries.
Perhaps it is time we emphasised character building such as good values and attitudes, enhanced creative thinking skills and developed an interest in reading, and move away from an exam-oriented education system.
Studies show that there is a strong link between a child’s leisure reading and academic performance and career readiness.
SECOND , formulate a long-term vision for education.
Apart from the role of education in lifting people out of poverty, we need a long-term vision and paradigm shift in the teaching and learning processes to prepare the younger generation for the future.
The world is changing rapidly, hence our education system must transform too.
What and how we teach our children today will determine the values, beliefs and attitudes, as well as the skills, of tomorrow’s citizens. Creating a school culture that is based on reflection and learning is important.
Incorporating a creative thinking course at an early age into the curriculum could also help.
THIRD, more emphasis should be given to producing quality teachers.
There is a broad agreement among educationists that no matter what type of reform strategies we pursue, the quality of an education system rests on the quality of teachers.
We need to adopt policies to attract, prepare, support, reward, retain and advance high-quality teachers.
In rural areas, especially, more efforts are needed to attract and retain qualified teachers by providing basic necessities and
incentives in the form of allowance, salary increment and housing.
FOURTH, there is a need to globalise the education system.
In line with the increasingly interconnected digital world, towards which we are heading, our education system should go global.
If we combine our assets with the world’s best practices, we can develop a world-class education system for our children and grandchildren.
Some universities offer twinning programmes that allow students to study a portion of their course in Malaysia, and transfer to an institution in another country to complete their studies. Such programmes should be intensified.
An ICEF Monitor annual report states that “internationally mobile students are likely to gain employment compared with those who have not studied abroad”.
The time is right to move the education system forward and start a conversation on how the system can help our children to prepare for a fast-changing world.
Source of the article: https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2019/11/539871/seeking-paradigm-shift-education
A family is sitting at the kitchen table, the children eating breakfast as their parents ruminate over a classified advertisement published in the morning’s Otago Daily Times.
The notice calls for nominations for election to the local school’s board of trustees. Also on the table, the latest school newsletter urges parents to have a crack at school governance.
«I’d love to have more to do with the kids’ education,» Mum says as she sips her breakfast tea. «Imagine it, not just helping with homework, but having a lasting impact on their education.»
Dad pushes the newspaper back toward Mum. «Nah, forget about it. It’s not really about education – you need to know about building and construction and contracts. It’s not like it used to be.»
The newsletter makes its way to the recycling bin. A few weeks later, a new edition lists the candidates. There are just enough to fill the positions. Mum’s name is not there.
The Tomorrow’s Schools education reforms were supposed to give parents a bigger say in the processes that shaped the way their child’s school worked and grew.
Parent-led boards employed teachers and principals; they were responsible for school property and maintenance; they consulted on school zoning and they tackled disputes.
Justifiably, they saw their work as having a bearing on how their schools performed as institutions, and on their «unique» character.
The extent to which this was true varied between schools and communities. Some managed their workload while others struggled – and their schools with them. About 2500 boards were, individually, doing their own thing.
In some cities, they enabled environments in which schools competed for students and achievement. Naturally, they wanted the best for their schools, and for their schools to be the best.
It meant there were winners – schools that became known for scholastic and sporting achievement – and those that, no matter the intervention, were always playing catch-up.
Successive governments acknowledged the divide by providing guidance for and, in the most trying circumstances, directly managing struggling boards.
The decile system, in which socio-economic factors help determine funding, was supposed to help resource schools to a point where they could «compete» with others.
But time and again, boards – parents – were consumed by matters that had little to do with what was happening, or could influence what happened, in the classroom.
School property provision and maintenance tested boards as school rolls grew. The Ministry of Education paid for the work, but the boards were always intimately, time-consumingly, involved.
The workload was significantly astray of what many parents were equipped for. A reset has been needed for many years and that it came with the Tomorrow’s Schools Review Taskforce report is welcome.
Among the responses outlined by Education Minister Chris Hipkins was that most school property management should be simplified or transferred to his ministry.
That would allow for economies of scale and group procurement but would come, so Mr Hipkins says, with the expectation communities continued to have a say on how their schools grow.
There may be some unease as to what this may mean for local people contracted by local boards, but Mr Hipkins says his ministry must consult and collaborate as the shift happens.
A new Education Support Agency would provide guidance for managers and governors while assuming responsibility for reviewing and approving enrolment schemes.
The impact of this will be keenly considered by boards in our larger centres, particularly where they have «taken care» to ensure the boundaries reflect their «community of interest».
Compulsory training for board members will also be considered. Given the budgets and responsibilities boards have, that it has not been compulsory before now remains remarkable.
News of the recommendations has been met with optimism from some but the challenge remains for the ministry to ensure the changes are implemented better than other major reforms have been before them.
The ministry must move from enforcer to collaborator, just as schools will be further encouraged to work together. The best result will be that educational environments and outcomes are enhanced. And, perhaps, fewer election notices will be consigned to the rubbish bin.
Source of the article: https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/education-review-offers-opportunities
OtrasVocesenEducacion.org existe gracias al esfuerzo voluntario e independiente de un pequeño grupo de docentes que decidimos soñar con un espacio abierto de intercambio y debate.
¡Ayúdanos a mantener abiertas las puertas de esta aula!
Users Today : 59
Total Users : 35420680
Views Today : 86
Total views : 3355304