ISLAMABAD: With Ramadan just around the corner, ordinary Pakistanis out of work say they are living on a prayer that the holy month will bring with it divine relief despite the relentless rise in cases of Covid-19 in the country.
With over 8,000 confirmed cases of the virus and 160 deaths as of Sunday, most provinces have reported a steady spike in the rates of cases and fatalities. As part of strict containment measures, most cities remain on partial lockdown, bringing the economy to a virtual halt despite the easing of some rules by the government earlier this week and a weekend announcement that Ramadan prayers in mosques around the country would be allowed.
Wearing a facemask, gloves and with a hand sanitizer tucked into his pocket, Muhammad Ashfaq Abbasi, a server at a local food joint in the federal capital said he used to make between Rs25,000 to Rs30,000 ($184) a month at work before the global pandemic hit Pakistan in February. But since the lockdown was imposed, Abbasi told Arab News he hadn’t been able to earn even 10 percent of that figure.
“The coronavirus has gripped us all in fear. Our predicament has limited choices. If we try to survive the virus, we’ll die of starvation. If we try to overcome the financial problem, we expose ourselves to the disease,” he said.
Abbasi added he was now living on a prayer that Ramadan might bring with it divine intervention, and said he was uncertain about how to cope with the approaching month, when business activity usually witnesses a dip even under normal circumstances.
Pakistan said on Saturday it had disbursed more than Rs53 billion to over 4.4 million people under its Ehsaas Emergency Cash program to help support families falling into the lowest income brackets in the resource-strapped country of 210 million people.
Many are still waiting for government help.
“I haven’t received any relief or funds from the government,” Abbasi said.
“Daily work is the only option I have to sustain my lifestyle and support my family,” he said.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced restrictions would be eased on some categories of industries, merchants, and small businesses to resume operations in a move aimed to counter the economic fallout of the lockdowns. But with consumers and customers largely indoors and supply chains still shut down, the effort hasn’t had the desired effect.
“Under the circumstances, I can’t even prepare for Sehr and Iftaar when I am out of pocket and unable to buy food and essentials,” mobile shop owner, Muhammed Saeed Bajwa, told Arab News.
Defying shutdown, Bajwa has reopened his business but keeps his shop shuttered down. With mounting bills and a family to support, he said he had no time or money to even think of Ramadan preparations this year.
It is undignified to beg for relief or a loan, Bajwa said, but he appealed to Prime Minister to allow businesses to resume operations with all preventive measures taken to protect against the virus.
“Expenses won’t stop so the government needs to introduce standard operating procedures and penalties for those breaking protocol but at least allow business activity to continue,” Bajwa said.
In one corner of Islamabad’s main markets, cobbler Karam Khan said it felt like Ramadan had come early for his family, who had been going hungry for weeks, unable to afford basic food items.
On a good month, he said he usually earned roughly Rs15,000 ($92).
“I won’t die from corona but definitely from hunger,” Khan said.
Living on a prayer: As Ramadan approaches, Pakistanis lament loss of livelihood
https://arab.news/58hkn
Living on a prayer: As Ramadan approaches, Pakistanis lament loss of livelihood
- Lockdown has left families grappling with rising expenses and no money to prepare for Ramadan
- Most provinces have reported a steady rise in the rates of Covid-19 cases and fatalities
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.
