2.8 million children between the age of 5 and 16 remain out of school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa despite Rs. 73,685 million budget.

2.8 million children between the age of 5 and 16 remain out of school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa despite Rs. 73,685 million budget.

Education is the best tool to ensure long term 'rule of law' in Pakistan, conclude participants at the education governance roundtable.

"The PTI led coalition provincial government has worked hard to ensure transparency of education governance through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013", said Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, Minister for Information, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,  while chairing the Education Governance Roundtable at the Peshawar Press Club. "We declared education emergency in the province, started an education campaign and brought 0.35 million students back to school", he further said.

"The Right to Information Act passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial assembly in 2013, has further strengthened the constitutional rights of citizens, empowering them to hold government officials accountable", said, Puruesh Chaudhary, Director Mishal Pakistan, while facilitating the group discussion. Education is the key to cultivate peace and rule of law in society, she added.

The Provincial Meeting on Education Governance convened in Peshawar today to discuss the current state of education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The roundtable discussion took place among key stakeholders from the education sector, the dialogue aimed to highlight the importance of government and media partnership in enhancing accountability. The provincial meeting was organized by Mishal Pakistan in collaboration with ILM Ideas (a 3 year UKaid funded program).

The objective of ILM-o-AGAHI initiative is to improve accountability and media coverage of priority education issues and build consensus on education policies by engaging stakeholders, including media and policy makers.

The ruling party in the Khyber Pakthunkhwa, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) manifesto advocates budget allocation of 5% of GDP for education. The Economic Survey of Pakistan (2013-2014) states that the enrollment rate has improved to 91% in the year 2012 to 2013 as compared to 89% in 2011 to 2012 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

Zahir Shah, Senior Journalist, while moderating the discussion highlighted that in past, said that the education institutional structure in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has suffered a lot due to the regional conflicts, further worsening educational indicators in the province and adjoining areas. The way forward to the province is to address the community needs and upgrade the standards of the lost infrastructure along with the capacity building of the teachers and other human resources.

Media and government both have ignored education; we should design a curriculum that will unite the entire nation, said Nasir Hussain, former president Peshawar press club.

The participants also argued about the government's methodology to engage the same development partners in education sector reforms and curricular development, who have failed to deliver for the past several years.

Curriculum definitely requires due attention but meanwhile the government has improved enrollment and has focused on merit based selection of teachers, said, Azam Khan, District Education Officer, Peshawar. He stressed on the importance of education to improve the collective consciousness of the society. He further said that the government has made education a priority and is working towards improving the quality standards at the primary and the secondary level.

Asif Malik, Assistant Registrar COMSATS University Islamabad, said that education is like linchpin in the development of nations, without which the house of cards falls. In a country like Pakistan, the house has already fallen due to lack of seriousness towards most pressing issues of Pakistan.

Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, Information Minister to Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muhammad Arif, Deputy Director Elementary and Secondary Education, Azam Khan, District Education Officer Peshawar, Zahir Shah, senior journalist Khyber Pakthunkhwa, Nasir Hussain, former president press club and representatives of the non-governmental organizations and the journalist community attended the roundtable dialogue.

Mishal Pakistan with academicians and researchers produced a literature review in 2014 assessing an overarching complexity and trivial underlying causes that has subjugated the communities to an idealistic narrative on education. The study witnesses “Education Governance and Accountability” as the most underreported area in media. While the literature reviewed does speak volume of increasing public spending on education little does it discuss the possible Educational Governance models. This underreporting further positions the growing need for a dialogue to essentially build mechanisms that streamlines the transparency and utility of existing budgetary allocation for primary and secondary education.

Mishal Pakistan is the partner institute of the Center for International Media Ethics and the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks of the World Economic Forum. Mishal assists the forum in creating soft-data on Pakistan, identifying Pakistan’s competitiveness challenges including primary health & education and higher education. Agahi Awards, an annual series of journalism awards in Pakistan, is an initiative of Mishal Pakistan and AGAHI, developed under the umbrella of the Credibility Lab creating an appreciation methodology for ethical and quality content. The theme of this year's Agahi awards is also going to be 'Education'.

40,000 Ghost Teachers and 5200 Ghost Schools remain unaddressed in Sindh despite Rs. 145 Billion budget.

40,000 Ghost Teachers and 5,200 Ghost Schools remain unaddressed in Sindh despite Rs. 145 Billion budget.

60% schools remain without drinking water facility, 40% without electricity, and 35% without any boundary walls. Over 40,000 ghost teachers and 5,229 ghost schools loiter unaddressed in Sindh despite allocation of Rs. 145.02 billion budget for education.

The Provincial Meeting on Education Governance convened in Karachi today to discuss the current state of education in Sindh. The roundtable discussion took place among the key stakeholders of in the education sector. The participants highlighted the importance of government and media partnership to enhance accountability. The meeting was organized by Mishal Pakistan in collaboration with ILM Ideas (a 3 year UKaid funded program).

The objective of ILM-o-AGAHI initiative is to improve accountability and media coverage of priority education issues and build consensus on education policies by engaging stakeholders, including media and policy makers.

Fazlullah Pechuho, Secretary Education to the Government of Sindh, Aamir Latif, President Press Club Karachi, and representatives of the non-governmental organizations and the journalist community attended the roundtable dialogue.

Puruesh Chaudhary, Director Mishal Pakistan, facilitating the group discussion said that, “education is a neglected theme in Pakistan, while the government has not given education sector a priority, media has also failed to safeguard the rights of the citizen to universal education”. Education reporting lacks the accountability perspective, she further said.

'During Pervez Musharraf's tenure schools used to be constructed without any need assessment, this has resulted in an uneven distribution of institutions across the province', said Dr. Fazlullah Pechehu, Secretary Education, Government of Sindh. He also stressed on the importance of constructive role of journalism in monitoring government's work in the education sector. He further added that the system of accountability is there but it is defective. He also said that the merit-based recruitment of teachers is essential to improve the education sector. He also informed that his department has got the approval of the cabinet for public and private partnership for schools in Sindh.

Aamir Latif, senior journalist, while moderating the discussion highlighted that in past, the most incompetent individuals used to join police department or the teaching sector, which has led to the current state of education in Sindh. 

Mishal Pakistan with academicians and researchers produced a literature review in 2014 assessing an overarching complexity and trivial underlying causes that has subjugated the communities to an idealistic narrative on education. The study witnesses “Education Governance and Accountability” as the most underreported area in media. While the literature reviewed does speak volume of increasing public spending on education little does it discuss the possible Educational Governance models. This underreporting further positions the growing need for a dialogue to essentially build mechanisms that streamlines the transparency and utility of existing budgetary allocation for primary and secondary education.

Mishal Pakistan is the partner institute of the Center for International Media Ethics and the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks of the World Economic Forum. Mishal assists the forum in creating soft-data on Pakistan, identifying Pakistan’s competitiveness challenges including primary health & education and higher education. Agahi Awards, an annual series of awards for journalism in Pakistan, is another initiative of Mishal Pakistan, developed under the umbrella of the Credibility Lab at Mishal for creating an appreciation methodology for ethical and quality content. The theme of this year's Agahi awards is also going to be 'Education'.

Quality Education Still a Challenge in Punjab, Pakistan

Quality Education Still a Challenge in Punjab. 

A public school, just a few kilometers away from Prime Minister’s Model Town Home remains in deteriorating condition since 1973, Education Governance Roundtable, Punjab. 

Provincial Meeting on Education Governance convened in Lahore on 15 January 2015, to discuss the importance of Government and Media Partnership to Enhance Accountability. The meeting aimed at generating a discussion among major education stakeholders about the current state of education governance in the province. The ILM-o-AGAHI Education Governance Roundtable was organized by Mishal Pakistan in collaboration with Ilm Ideas (a 3 year UKaid funded program).

The objective of the ILM-O-AGAHI initiative is to improve accountability and media coverage of priority education issues and build consensus on education policies by engaging various stakeholders, including media and policy makers.

Qaiser Rashid, Deputy Secretary Education (Schools), Engineer Qamar-ul-Islam, Chairman Standing Committee on Education and Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal, Former Dean Faculty Education Punjab University along with representatives from the non-governmental organizations and the journalist community attended the roundtable dialogue.

Puruesh Chaudhary, Director Mishal Pakistan, facilitating the group discussion said, While the authenticity of data and information are essential to policy development, the use of technology can not only ensure accountability but also assess the performance of the provincial education departments in Pakistan. 

“The government plans to ensure sustainability and allocate more funds in education sector in coming years”, said Qaiser Rashid, Deputy Secretary Education (Schools). He also said that the teachers and students' attendance is highest in the region but quality remains a challenge for the Punjab government. The government is also spending Rs. 4 billion on free textbooks in Punjab and is giving a stipend of Rs. 200 every month to every female student on 80% attendance.

Engineer Qamar-ul-Islam, Chairman Standing Committee on Education, Punjab Assembly, said that teachers' attendance in Punjab is 90% and even the 10% absents are informed in advance. Education budget shouldn't include teachers' salaries in non-developmental budget. Qamar-ul-Islam further states that in future 10% disadvantaged kids will be admitted to all the schools including private schools by law. To ensure 100% attendance, Chairman Standing Committee on Education said that parents who will not send their kids to school would not be allowed to benefit from any community service initiative like Benazir Income Support etc. Chairman Standing Committee on Education then asked journalists to give input on the state of education and said that despite sending formal invitations to journalists in 2014 the department did not received anything from the journalists community.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal, former Dean of the education faculty of the Punjab University said, “building a sustainable system of accountability is the most critical factor for improving the education standards in Punjab”. He further said that the Punjab Government is only paying attention to the initiatives that can be counted and showed to public, however the quality of education remains unaddressed.

Mishal Pakistan with academicians and researchers produced a literature review in 2014 assessing an overarching complexity and trivial underlying causes that has subjugated the communities to an idealistic narrative on education. The study witnesses “Education Governance and Accountability” as the most underreported area in the media. While the literature reviewed does speak volume of increasing public spending on education little does it discuss the possible Educational Governance Models. This underreporting further positions the growing need for a dialogue to essentially build mechanisms that streamlines the transparency and utility of existing budgetary allocation for primary and secondary education.

Mishal Pakistan is the partner institute of the Center for International Media Ethics and the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks of the World Economic Forum. Mishal assists the forum in creating soft-data on Pakistan, identifying Pakistan’s competitiveness challenges including primary health & education and higher education.

International Conflict Tops List of Global Risks in 2015, World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2015

International Conflict Tops List of Global Risks in 2015, WEF Global Risk Report 2015 

The biggest threat to the stability of the world in the next 10 years comes from the risk of international conflict, according to the 10th edition of the Global Risks report, which is published today.

Download the Global Report 2015:
http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2015/

The report, which every year features an assessment by experts on the top global risks in terms of likelihood and potential impact over the coming 10 years, finds interstate conflict with regional consequences as the number one global risk in terms of likelihood, and the fourth most serious risk in terms of impact. In terms of likelihood, as a risk it exceeds extreme weather events (2), failure of national governance systems (3), state collapse or crisis (4) and high structural unemployment or underemployment (5).

In looking at global risks in terms of their potential impact, the nearly 900 experts that took part in the Global Risk Perception Survey rated water crises as the greatest risk facing the world. Other top risks alongside that and interstate conflict in terms of impact are: rapid and massive spread of infectious diseases (2), weapons of mass destruction (3) and failure of climate change adaptation (5).

With the 28 global risks that were assessed in 2015 grouped into five categories – economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological – 2015 stands out as a year when geopolitical risks, having been largely absent from the landscape of leading risks for the past half-decade, returns to the fore. With geopolitics increasingly influencing the global economy, these risks account for three of the five most likely, and two of the most potentially impactful, risks in 2015. Also in this category, three risks stand out as having intensified the most since 2014 in terms of likelihood and impact. These are interstate conflict with regional consequences, weapons of mass destruction and terrorist attacks.

The risk landscape in 2015 also shows that there remains concern over the world’s ability to solve its most pressing societal issues, as societies are under threat from economic, environmental and geopolitical risks. Indeed, the societal risk accounts for the top two potentially impactful risks.

Also noteworthy is the presence of more environmental risks among the top risks than economic ones. This comes as a result of a marked increase in experts’ negative assessment of existing preparations to cope with challenges such as extreme weather and climate change, rather than owing to a diminution of fears over chronic economic risks such as unemployment and underemployment or fiscal crises, which have remained relatively stable from 2014.

“Pakistan is facing its own risk challenges, however the regional risk paradigm is sensitive for interstate conflict with regional consequences, extreme weather events and failure of national governance are the likelihood risks”, said Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer, Mishal Pakistan, a country partner institute of the World Economic Forum. He further said, “in terms of impact, water crisis and conflict with neighboring countries can lead to geopolitical risks”. Failure to climate-change adaptation can also impact Pakistan in terms of floods and food security challenges in the mid- to long-term risks , Jahangir added.

“Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world again faces the risk of major conflict between states,” said Margareta Drzeniek-Hanouz, Lead Economist, World Economic Forum. “However, today the means to wage such conflict, whether through cyberattack, competition for resources or sanctions and other economic tools, is broader than ever. Addressing all these possible triggers and seeking to return the world to a path of partnership, rather than competition, should be a priority for leaders as we enter 2015.”

In addition to assessing the likelihood and potential impact of these 28 global risks, Global Risks 2015 examines the interconnections between risks, as well as how they interplay with trends shaping the short- to medium-term risk landscape. It also offers analysis of three specific cases which emerge from the interconnections maps: the interplay between geopolitics and economics, the risks related to rapid and unplanned urbanization in developing countries and one on emerging technologies.

Top 5 Global Risks in Terms of Likelihood in 2015 1       Interstate conflict with regional consequences (geopolitical risk)2       Extreme weather events (environmental risk) 3      Failure of national governance (geopolitical risk) 4       State collapse or crisis (geopolitical risk) 5       High structural unemployment or underemployment (economic risk) Top 5 Global Risks in Terms of Impact in 2015 1   Water crises (societal risk)2  Rapid and massive spread of infectious diseases (societal risk) 3   Weapons of mass destruction (geopolitical risk) 4  Interstate conflict with regional consequences (geopolitical risk) 5   Failure of climate-change adaptation (environmental risk)

On urbanization, the report considers how best to build sufficient resilience to mitigate the challenges associated with managing the world’s rapid and historical transition from predominantly rural to urban living.

“Without doubt, urbanization has increased social well-being. But when cities develop too rapidly, their vulnerability increases: pandemics; breakdowns of or attacks on power, water or transport systems; and the effects of climate change are all major threats,” said Axel P. Lehmann, Chief Risk Officer at Zurich Insurance Group.

The rapid pace of innovation in emerging technologies, from synthetic biology to artificial intelligence, also has far- reaching societal, economic and ethical implications. Developing regulatory environments that are adaptive enough to safeguard their rapid development and allow their benefits to be reaped, while preventing their misuse and any unforeseen negative consequences is a critical challenge for leaders.

John Drzik, President of Global Risk and Specialties at Marsh, said: “Innovation is critical to global prosperity, but also creates new risks. We must anticipate the issues that will arise from emerging technologies, and develop the safeguards and governance to prevent avoidable disasters.”

The report also provides analysis related to global risks for which respondents feel their own region is least prepared, as well as on the global risks on which they feel most progress has been made over the last 10 years. It also presents for the first time country-level data on how businesses perceive global risks in their countries, which can be accessed here. Moreover, the report features three examples of risk management and resilience practices related to extreme weather events.

The Global Risks 2015 report has been developed with the support of Strategic Partners Marsh & McLennan Companies and Zurich Insurance Group. The report also benefited from the collaboration of its academic advisers: the Oxford Martin School (University of Oxford), the National University of Singapore, the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center (University of Pennsylvania), and the Advisory Board of the Global Risks 2015 report.

Download Report at: http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2015/

Poor Data, Lack of Resources and Capacity; Major Constraints in Implementing an Effective Education Policy - ILM-o-AGAHI Education Governance Roundtable in Quetta, Pakistan

Poor Data, Lack of Resources and Capacity; Major Constraints in Implementing an Effective Education Policy

Quetta, PK - January 12, 2015 - Provincial Meeting on Education Governance held at Quetta Press Club; underscored the importance of Government and Media Partnership to Enhance Accountability. The meeting aimed at bringing major education stakeholders on the same platform to discuss the current state of education governance in the province. The meeting was organized by Mishal Pakistan in collaboration with ILM Ideas. 

The objective of ILM-O-AGAHI initiative is to improve accountability and media coverage of priority education issues and build consensus on education policies by engaging various stakeholders, including media and policy makers. Sardar Raza Bareech, Education Advisor to the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Abdullah Jan Balochistan Information Secretary, Raza Rehman President Quetta Press Club, representatives from the non-governmental organizations and the journalist community attended the roundtable dialogue. 

Abdullah Jan Secretary Information Balochistan, said that the journalists should develop a culture and set precedence by seeking public information through the use of the Freedom of Information Act. He elaborated that the utility of funds within the education sector needs a watchdog; that can assess the impact of the contribution made by the Government of Balochistan in improving the state of education in the province.

Negative criticism will be counter-productive which does not contribute towards good governance, said Sardar Bareech, Education Advisor to Chief Minister of Balochistan. He further added that the Government of Balochistan will introduce new technology in the education sector which will code students and teachers, an effective and efficient monitoring tool which will enable the Government to scrutinize performance, creating space for introspection.

Puruesh Chaudhary, Director Mishal Pakistan, facilitating the group discussion said, Post 18th Amendment, it is increasingly important for the Provincial Governments to become highly collaborative and decentralized to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery. It also remains pertinent for the journalist community to hold public officials accountable for the promises that they've made to their constituencies. 

Ali Shah, Bureau Chief DawnNews TV, moderating the discussion raised a pertinent challenge for the journalist community covering events rather than issues. He highlighted the need for independent initiatives; giving more voices to the community.

Mishal Pakistan with academicians and researchers produced a literature review in 2014 assessing an overarching complexity and trivial underlying causes that has subjugated the communities to an idealistic narrative on education. The study witnesses “Education Governance and Accountability” as the most underreported area in the media. While the literature reviewed does speak volume of increasing public spending on education little does it discuss the possible Educational Governance Models. This underreporting further positions the growing need for a dialogue to essentially build mechanisms that streamlines the transparency and utility of existing budgetary allocation for primary and secondary education. 

Mishal Pakistan is the partner institute of the Center for International Media Ethics and the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks of the World Economic Forum. Mishal assists the forum in creating soft-data on Pakistan, identifying Pakistan’s competitiveness challenges including primary health & education and higher education.

For more information, please visit: www.ilmoagahi.org or www.mishal.com.pk