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.
Post COVID-19 situation in Pakistan
COVID-19 has spread almost all over the world. There will be hardly any country which has still not been affected by this deadly disease. Unfortunately, Pakistan is one of the victimized countries by COVID-19. Almost 2.7 lac people got infected by this disease and fortunately more than 2 lac people have recovered as well. But despite that it has created many great challenges. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, its GDP has gone in the negative.
This pandemic has created the havoc among the people and their minds are diverted by listening different news from different sources. It is believed that the roots of this disease will never end till its vaccine comes in market. It makes no difference whether this pandemic ends or not but there will have been great challenges for current democratic government to face them courageously. Post-COVID-19 scenario is going to be worsening due to several reasons: rapid increase in unemployment, poverty and more importantly the already fluctuated economic conditions of the country. Therefore, PTI-led government needs to be more active in taking the timely steps towards these issues. Moreover, to provide timely relief to needy people of the nation should be the top most priority of this elected dispensation.
SHAHZAD PANHWAR
Sukkur
Early child marriage
Child marriage is simply transgression or desecration of human rights, but all it is too common in our society. Marriage before the age of 18 is an abecedarian violation of human rights. The factors that are responsible to place a child at the risk of marriage include poverty, social norms, customary or religious laws that condone the practice, an inadequate legislative framework, and state of the country’s civil registration system.
Another thing is that when the young girls are married off are more likely to have children at such an early age no matter they physically immature and weak, so they are highly at risk of dying and birth complications and besides their babies have a reduced chance of survival. In early marriages, girls get separated from their families and friends, and transferred to their husbands as a piece of property where they cannot do anything of their own choice. By stealing girls of a chance to learn and polish their skills, child marriage systematically deprives them of their rights which also affect their mental health. The government should consider this issue seriously and take positive steps to overcome problem of early marriage as well as give proper rights to girls as they also are human beings and play important role in society.
NISHA PERVEEN
Karachi
Rain & roads
Through the column of your esteemed newspaper, I would like to draw the attention of concerned authorities towards the issue of bad condition of roads after rain. The roads in Gulshan-e-Johar is badly damaged due to rain and due to this condition of road the travellers are facing many problems specially students who are going to schools & tuition centres.
Drainage system here is the worst. Many accidents are happening and peoples are injured badly. The roads are getting worse day by day whenever heavy rainfall occurs. roads and streets are full of water in this condition. It’s very difficult for people to go out of home for their daily necessities. There is mud hither and thither.
The condition of roads is very bad with countless potholes making the purpose of the road a failure. Moreover, things get even worse during the rainy season when potholes are not visible due to the poor drainage system and the area becomes heavily accident prone. The residents are facing a lot of difficulty due to the road condition. The concerned authorities should take immediate step to rectify the bad condition of roads.
LAIBA SAFEER
Via email
Why teach online?
Students have changed intensely — they are now adapted to the pleasures of learning anywhere, anytime, in the comfort of their beds and the safety of their homes. They have also been introduced to digital socializing and, as teachers have witnessed, chat boxes are full of students sharing stories with each other during and after class. Students also use search engines more deftly and independently. They are working on collaborative projects with greater ease, showcasing stages of a portfolio, sharing pictures or YouTube videos that they have made.
Bandwidth issues notwithstanding, students are learning fast how to become digital leaders in this brave new world of online education. They have found a springboard for their digital footprints, and have discovered that there is learning beyond borders, space and time. We are in the process of creating a generation of independent learners, You Tubers, bloggers and digital entrepreneurs who need direction, encouragement and empowerment. Schools can contribute with setting up the infrastructure — the driving tools as it were — for this post-pandemic growth.
Many institutions find themselves stalling this growth, hoping for a return to ‘normal’ soon. Whilst we all hope for the best, what this ‘normal’ will look like, is anyone’s guess. Change is always hard, but it is also perhaps the only certainty we have in life and, as they say, every change can be turned into opportunity.
Online teaching gives educators a wide platform to increase their outreach and impact — it’s highly improbable for a university professor to speak regularly to a group of audience that extends to hundreds or goes into thousands, but live webinars provide the opportunity to share teaching and learning in unprecedented ways. Knowledge sharing has always led constructive change in the world — online teaching now offers this revolutionary capacity.
AKMAL SALEEM
Islamabad
Why road accidents happen?
Road accidents have become very common nowadays. Everyone is using automobiles, the incidences of road accidents are just increasing day by day. Moreover people have also become more careless now. Many people don’t follow the traffic rules. Especially in big cities, there are various modes of transports. The roads are becoming narrower and the cities have become over-populated. Daily, we come to know about road accidents. It is getting normal now, it should be stopped.
Road accidents are happening because of variety of reasons. Sometimes, drivers are distracted. In some cases, they become tired after spending multiple hours at the wheel, resulting in escapable faults. Everyone feels like that he is only who is late, he is every right to break the rules. Everyone drives fast, just like he has to participate in race or they are going to get any medal. There are many types of improper thinking that lead to reckless driving. Such thinking includes believing that it is ok to violate traffic regulations as long as you do not cause accident, rushing to get to your destination even when you are not late and regarding pedestrians on the road as obstacles. After their mistakes they fight on the road, like they are right. It is hard to predict sudden changes in direction or speed, or sudden move of other vehicles. While you can use brakes to signal that you are slowing down, you should avoid sudden braking as it is likely to cause crash.
KASHAF TARIQ
Karachi
