“Think of discomfort as currency – it’s the price you pay to learn some pretty crucial things.” –Lilly Singh

The deteriorating educational system

Pakistan is facing a serious challenge to ensure all children, particularly the most disadvantaged, attend, stay and learn in school. Currently, Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children. Whereas, we also find a constant fall in the standard of education. There are various reasons behind the problem. The government is indifferent to the problems. The changing governments in the country have failed to assess the real causes of educational deterioration. The education administration is slack, corrupt and rather helpless against the student community. The teachers, in general, are the product of our corrupt society. The primary schools are the nurseries of the nation. But our primary teachers are the least qualified and lowest paid. How can they raise good crop? The government must establish a proper system of checks on the operations of the educational institutions in order to produce civilians who could transform their learning and education in practice.

Hoor Hayat,
Lahore.

Child protection against chai ka nishaan

Tea is considered to be the most consumed beverage in every Pakistani household. But none of us have ever thought that the negligence while having a hot cup of tea or any other hot beverage with kids around is the most dangerous thing to do. Reportedly, most of the patients in burns wards are children. And ironically, among these children are mostly the burn victims of hot tea spillage. During the year 2018, child burn cases reported in Pakistan were more or less than 80 percent. All it takes is for a small child to pull a hot cup in curiosity, or knock a cup of tea over, and they can be scarred for life. This can be clearly avoided by creating awareness and avoiding negligence. Parents should educate their children to be careful with things that appear to be hot and should also be at alert around toddlers.

Sabeen Razzaq,
Karachi.

“We take the privacy of your personal information seriously”

Internet users in Pakistan have identified harassment and data privacy issues as their most pressing concerns online. We all are aware of the lie told repeatedly online, “We take your privacy and security seriously.” Recently, a Pakistani singer Rabi Pirzada’s personal data was leaked on social media which spurred a discussion on the breach of private data and people strongly condemned the devastating breach of her privacy. I hold the same opinion as majority of the people that steps must be taken to make the internet a safer, more accessible space for users, especially women, in Pakistan where credible information is shared. Improved implementation of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act 2016 is a must. Also, internet companies should enact efficient mechanisms for reporting false information, media and civil society organisations must raise public awareness about ways to protect against online disinformation.

Shireen Fatima,
Karachi.

Saving face

In Pakistan, women are the target of the heinous crime of acid attacks. Acid thrown on someone's face, leaving the victim burned, maimed and disfigured, sadly, it happens more often than you think around the globe, and almost always, the victims are women. It has been widely documented that women in this country are targets of acid crimes for rejecting marriage proposals, for arousing jealousy among relatives, or, in some way or the other, for having provoked patriarchy. The Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) DIG Faisal Rana recently directed police officials to control incidents of acid attacks by adopting a pre-emptive and preventive method through strict checks on stores selling the substance. This seems to be a ray of hope for the women of Pakistan and hopefully this ban on the open sale of acid would put an end to this ever-emerging crime.

Daniya Tabani,
Islamabad.