LONDON: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday there was “no question of gagging” journalists after being challenged about his country’s record at a media freedom conference in London.
Qureshi was questioned about the recent decision to take three Pakistan television channels off air, the arrest of journalists and deepening concerns about censorship.
“Believe you me, there is no question of gagging or controlling media,” he told the conference co-hosted by Britain and Canada.
“That time has gone and with the new social media, the advent of social media, even if you want to gag you can gag nothing.”
Pakistan routinely ranks among the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers.
Global watchdog Reporters Without Borders this week warned that cutting off AbbTakk TV, 24 News, and Capital TV was “indicative of disturbing dictatorial tendencies.”
They were taken off air after screening a news conference with opposition leader Maryam Nawaz.
Qureshi said close to 89 private TV channels were operating in Pakistan.
“Three of them were taken off, I’m told for 6-8 hours, and now they are functioning again,” he said.
He said the channels had “issues” with the regulatory body, adding: “Those issues have been settled.”
Qureshi was also asked about an interview with ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, now an opposition leader, which was also abruptly taken off air.
He said Zardari, who is currently facing corruption charges, was not permitted to be interviewed in the way he was, “otherwise he can say what he wants to.”
He was also asked about Moshin Dawar, a parliamentarian and civil rights leader arrested after being linked to a violent clash between Pashtun activists and security forces.
Qureshi said Dawar was able to make speeches in parliament but “that does not give him a license to challenge the writ of the state and attack a military checkpost and go into areas which are beyond the realm of a parliamentarian.”
A journalist, Gohar Wazir, was also arrested after interviewing Dawar.
Qureshi rejects criticism over media freedom
Qureshi rejects criticism over media freedom
- “No question of gagging or controlling” journalists in Pakistan, Qureshi says at media conference in London
- Pakistan routinely ranks among the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers
Nearly 25% of Pakistan’s primary schools enrolling girls operate as single-teacher ones— report
- Pakistan needs over 115,000 more teachers in primary schools enrolling girls to meet global benchmark of one teacher per 30 students, says report
- Sixty percent of Pakistani primary schools enrolling girls are overcrowded, while 32% lack clean drinking water or toilets, says Tabadlab report
ISLAMABAD: Nearly 25% of Pakistan’s primary schools that enrolls girls operate as single-teacher ones, a report by a leading think tank said this week, calling on the government to devolve teacher recruitment powers, upskill underutilized teachers and introduce reforms to hire and promote faculty members.
Pakistan faces an acute education crisis which is reflected in the fact that it has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children, an estimated 22.8 million aged 5-16 who are not in educational institutions, according to UNICEF.
While poverty remains the biggest factor keeping children out of classrooms, Pakistan’s education crisis is exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and underqualified teachers, cultural barriers and the impacts of frequently occurring natural disasters.
According to “The Missing Ustaani,” a report published by Islamabad-based think tank Tabadlab and supported by Malala Fund and the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE), Pakistan needs over 115,000 more teachers in primary schools with girls’ enrolment to meet the basic international benchmark of ensuring one teacher per 30 children. Currently, the average Student-to-Teacher Ratio (STR) across Pakistan’s primary schools with girls’ enrolment is 39:1, it said.
“Approximately 60% of these schools are overcrowded, necessitating the recruitment of over 115,000 additional teachers nationwide,” the report said on Monday. “Compounding this, nearly 25% of primary schools with girls’ enrolment operate as single-teacher schools, placing immense pressure on the quality of education.”
It said the situation is more dire in Pakistan’s poverty-stricken southwestern Balochistan province, where nearly 52% of the schools are single-teacher only ones while the percentage decreases slightly in the southern Sindh province to 51 percent.
The report said while the STR improves to 25:1 at the middle school level, acute shortages of subject specialists emerge as the top-priority concern for quality education in these schools.
“Furthermore, around 32% of primary schools with girls’ enrolment and 18% of middle schools face ‘critical infrastructural shortages’— lacking clean drinking water or toilets in addition to high STRs— which significantly affects girls’ attendance and learning, particularly during adolescence,” the report said.
The report cited a set of priority recommendations to address Pakistan’s systemic teacher deployment challenges and improve educational equity for girls.
It urged the government to devolve recruitment authority to school or cluster levels to enable timely, context-specific hiring. It also called upon authorities to reform teacher transfer and promotion policies to introduce school-specific postings with minimum service terms.
This, it said, would reduce arbitrary transfers and improving continuity in classrooms. The report advised authorities to upskill surplus or underutilized primary teachers to support instruction at the middle school level, helping address subject-specialist shortages.
“Together, these reforms offer a pathway toward a more equitable, efficient, and responsive teaching workforce— one capable of improving learning outcomes and ensuring that every girl in Pakistan has access to a qualified teacher,” the report said.
To tackle Pakistan’s education crisis, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared an ‘education emeregency’ in September 2024, stressing the importance of education for all.
