Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Girl education in rural areas
In most of rural areas girls are deprived of education and only small and negligent number of girls are getting good education. Education is a basic right of a girl as it teaches good morals and their implementations in real life.
One of the major problems for those girls who are enrolled in so-called educational institutions in rural areas is that they get enrolled at beginning of the year then yet they do not remain in school. It was estimated that 49 percent of girls drop out from school between grades 1 and 5. Last year UNICEF showed that about 32m girls of primary school age and 29m girls of lower secondary school age are not getting on education because of this issue.
There parents are poor, they have limited income so in this situation how they can give education to their children? We see that millions of girls are not in schools because of poverty, discrimination, childhood marriages, teachers’ violence in school and other cultural factors. So, government must take immediate measures for promoting education for girls. If girls will grow, our society will grow moving towards peace and tranquillity.
NIZAKAT ALI
Khairpur
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Pakistan has world’s second highest number of children out of school — 22.8m. Twelve million are girls. It means 44 per cent of children aged five to 16 years do not go to school. This violates constitutional obligation set out in Article 25A that enjoins the state to ‘provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to 16 years’. Of those who go to schools their dropout rates are high. All this is the result of decades of neglect and chronic under spending on education by successive governments. Cumulative education expenditures by federal and provincial governments in FY2021 remained at 1.77 percent of GDP, which is among lowest in South Asia. Just 14 of 195 countries spend less on education than Pakistan. However, according to Labour Force Survey 2020-21, literacy rate trends shows 62.8 percent in 2020-21 (as compared to 62.4 percent in 2018-19), more in males (from 73.0 percent to 73.4 percent) than females (from 51.5 percent to 51.9 percent).
ASIM KHAN
Kohat
Threat of acid attacks
Acid attacks are quite common in our country while fear is also a big problem being faced by females in our society. Nowadays, even if a girl forbids a boy, she is threatened or intimidated. In simple words, when a girl rejects a proposal she is likely to face disastrous problem of an acid attack which is why most females do not know what to do except endorsing the proposals. We all should work to stop this brutality against girls. The government should punish those who destroy people’s lives severely by death. An exemplary punishment should be given, so that such people realise what they do to others should also be done to them. This can also be a sort of relief for victims of acid attacks.
PARVEZ MOULA BAKHSH
Karachi
Music teachers
Minster for education and literacy department Sindh had announced to recruit music and arts teachers in Sindh. Though, decision is a good initiative in education field, but some people are making fun of this decision on social media. Music is sustenance of soul. Music is an art, culture and traditions of a nation.
Various studies have shown that relaxing music may lower blood pressure and heart rate. It can also improve mood and reduce anxiety and by brining people together, can be an antidote to loneliness and social isolation. Sindh has exceptionally rich heritage of folk music and poetry. Through teaching and learning, we can keep our tradition alive in the world. The efforts to recruit music and arts teachers should be applauded.
SHABIR JAMALI
Nawabshah
Importance of agriculture
Agriculture plays a pivotal role in development of the country and farmers play an important role. If farmers live in an abysmal condition, then how a country can achieve targeted agricultural yields. Village Wassayo Jamali in Shaheed Benazirabad District comprises of 2000 houses and it is deprived of potable water, road drainage system, health unit and other basic amenities. Having been warned by federal government, people are still consuming contaminated water. Dilapidated streets and roads paint a grim picture, while poor sanitation leads to gastrointestinal diseases and lack of basic sanitation units exacerbates suffering of villagers. Authorities are requested to pay serious attention to development of village and to allay pain of inhabitants.
SHABIR JAMALI
Nawabshah, Sindh
Suicide cases in Indian military
Suicide incidents are quite common among Indian military personnel as is evident from data recently released by Indian Defence Ministry that says that 819 armed forces personnel have committed suicide during last year, with maximum suicides reported from Indian Army. Apart from Indian Army, Indian Air Force reported 148 cases of suicide in five years, while Indian Navy reported 29 cases.
According to the Kashmir Media Service (KMS) report at least 548 Indian forces’ personnel have committed suicides in IIOJK since January 2007 till date and over 21 troops have, so far, committed suicides in 2022 across the occupied territory. More than half of Indian Army soldier under severe stress and it has been losing more personnel every year due to suicides and untoward incidents than in response to any enemy or terrorist activities.
There has been a significant increase in stress levels amongst Indian Army personnel during approximately last two decades due to operational and non-operational stressors and it has been one of the contributory factors for increased stress levels. But protracted deployment along the volatile border with Pakistan as well as counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and North-East does take a toll on mental health and physical endurance of soldiers. Realisation of fighting a futile war against a hostile public besides workplace ill-treatment and poor services are some causes of increasing suicides among Indian military. Recently, an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) sub-inspector committed suicide in Jammu district. The BSF officer Ramdev Singh shot himself dead with his service assault weapon at a post in the district. Ramdev Singh was found lying in a pool of blood and his personal assault weapon was found by his side when a junior rank soldier reached his room morning time.
SHAHBAZ ALI
Islamabad
