August 09 Dawn Editorial and Opinion

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Dawn columns 09 August 2021

Editorial
Curriculum debate
EditorialPublished August 9, 2021 - Updated 7 minutes ago
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BACK to school this August was a momentous occasion for
primary school students in Punjab. The province became the
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first to implement the Single National Curriculum in madressahs
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and from grades one to five in both public and private schools
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within its jurisdiction. Aside from Sindh, which has refused to

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adopt it citing the 18th Amendment according to which

education is a provincial subject, the other provinces and the ICT
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also plan to introduce it as soon as possible. The SNC for grades

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six to eight will be introduced next year, and up to Matric in

2023. From the outset, the merits or otherwise of introducing
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the SNC have been hotly debated. One thing is certain, this may
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be the most revolutionary step taken in the education arena

since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s nationalisation of schools and
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colleges in 1972. That measure had far-reaching repercussions,

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and general consensus holds that it proved extremely

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detrimental to educational standards. Pakistan cannot afford

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another ill-thought-out experiment in this sector.

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The PTI government projects the SNC as a silver bullet that will magically
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resolve Pakistan’s educational woes, or at least the bulk of them.

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Unfortunately, the problem is far too complex and the SNC is unlikely to
address the more important aspects of it. It may even make matters worse,
bringing down standards across the board. To be fair, the PTI during its
electoral campaign also spoke of putting all out-of-school children in
classrooms, improving the quality of education, and emphasising technical
and vocational education. However, it has only made progress in
introducing the SNC. It has billed the SNC as a way to end the ‘education
apartheid’ in the country — which, on the face of it sounds commendable.
However, the educational apartheid is not only on account of different
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curricula pursued by different strains of education linked with

socioeconomic status. In fact, it has far more to do with access and quality.
But to put some 23m out-of-school children in school requires twice as
many schools as we have at present, along with the associated human
resource and funding requirements. Improving education quality means
investing far more in teachers’ training than we do. Then there’s the issue of
missing essential facilities. All this requires a massive infusion of funds.
The cheapest option was the SNC.
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Nevertheless this was at least a golden opportunity to improve the existing
curriculum. However, the SNC remains content heavy, which encourages
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rote learning rather than critical thinking. The subliminal messaging is
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problematic and non-inclusive. More religious material has been included
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in subjects other than Islamiat, which is unfair to non-Muslim students.
Girls and women are always dressed conservatively, and families are
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invariably stereotypical two-parent households. Single parents do not exist
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in these depictions of ‘respectability’ that are completely out of touch with
contemporary Pakistani society. There is, in short, little to commend the
SNC.
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Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2021

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Tree plantation drive

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WITH the monsoon plantation drive in full swing in Islamabad

and the adjoining areas, the government appears to be making
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good progress on its Ten Billion-Tree Tsunami Programme. Last

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week, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated a nationwide

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monsoon plantation drive by planting a sapling in Islamabad’s

Fatima Jinnah Park and also in Nathiagali. Over the course of
the next few weeks, the Ministry of Climate Change and the
Capital Development Authority will ensure the plantation of at
least half a million saplings in and around the capital city.
Pakistan has one of the world’s highest deforestation rates,
between 0.2pc and 0.5pc — the worst in Asia after war-torn
Afghanistan. Rapid and unregulated development, both

industrial and urban, a high population growth rate and a

powerful timber mafia have reduced the country’s forest cover to
a mere 5.7pc, a far cry from the recommended 25pc. A
continuation of the Billion-Tree Tsunami project in KP, the 10
Billion-Tree programme seems to have a served as a model for
international ventures such as the World Economic Forum’s One
Trillion Trees Initiative. Trees act as lungs for the earth and help
in cooling down the atmosphere, while working as a barrier to
mitigate the impact of natural disasters such as floods,
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heatwaves and heavy rains. Climate change is upon us and
Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to its
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potentially devastating effects. The mass tree plantation drive,
then, is to be welcomed. A similar spring plantation drive was
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held earlier in February as well involving 51 Miyawaki urban
forests in Lahore.
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However, for this effort to be effective, it needs to gel within an overarching
afforestation framework that aims to conserve and protect the existing tree
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cover in the country. First, the government must restore the ban on forest
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cutting (ironically ended in 2014 by the PTI government in KP) and stop
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allowing private developers to build on forest land. Then drastic measures

are needed to control the activities of the timber mafia, and ensure strict
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punishment for those violating government law and endangering the

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environment. Lastly, the climate change department should make sure that
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local communities in remote areas have access to alternative fuel so that

they do not cut down trees for firewood; communities must also be
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educated on the importance of environmental conservation. Environmental

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ambitions must be reflected in the overall developmental and economic

policy of the country if we want to conserve our natural surroundings.
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Lebanon violence
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RECENT cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel

have sent up red flags, with the UN monitoring team in the

region terming the situation “very dangerous”. While rocket

attacks into Israel reportedly carried out by Palestinian groups
based in Lebanon are thought to have triggered the latest crisis,
the situation has rapidly turned into a confrontation between
Israel and its arch-nemesis Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese
political party and armed group backed by Iran. Many see the
exchange as part of a wider regional struggle between Israel and
its allies and Iran and its affiliates. Tensions between both camps
have been high of late; as recently as last month an oil tanker
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owned by an Israeli company was targeted in a deadly drone
attack in the Gulf of Oman. Israel and its Western friends have
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blamed Iran for the attack, though Tehran has denied it was
involved. The skirmishes in Lebanon may well be connected to
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this incident. However, both Hezbollah and Israel have said that
while they are ready for battle, this latest showdown is unlikely
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to spiral into a wider conflagration.
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While it is reassuring that both Tel Aviv and Hezbollah want to avoid a
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conflict, there is a long history of bad blood between them, with both sides
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having fought a devastating war in 2006. This is the first time that Israel
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has launched air strikes in Lebanon since 2014. Therefore, considering the
volatility of the situation, both sides must display restraint. In particular,
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Israel — which has a history of occupying others’ land and violating the
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sovereignty of its neighbours, while also mercilessly pounding the

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Palestinians — must be reined in by its powerful backers. In the long term,

unless there is a significant truce and rapprochement between the
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American-led bloc, which includes Israel and the Gulf Arabs, and Iran and
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its regional allies such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, a large-scale
flare-up in the Middle East may only be a matter of time.
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OPINION
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It’s how you say it

Dr Farezeh DurraniPublished August 9, 2021 - Updated about a minute ago
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The writer is an early childhood specialist.

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CHILDREN are vulnerable and dependent. It is on us as adults to

understand the consequences of the power we have over them.
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While we want the best for our children, being a supportive

parent who helps their child build a healthy self-esteem takes
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effort. Sometimes, it’s not what you say, but how you say it.
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In young children, self-esteem forms over time, influenced by how adults

express opinions and attitudes about a child’s competence or significance.
Their behavior towards the child shows how they feel about them, and the
child then tunes into the adult’s opinion. Eventually, the child’s self-
evaluations begin to match the adult’s attitudes.
Think of children as a computer programme. The data you put in creates

the product. The quality of the product then, would depend on what is
being fed in, through words, facial expressions, body language, and actions.

If an adult of significance to the child tells them that they see them as
thoughtful, competent, and enjoyable, their self-esteem grows.
This data can reinforce positive self-perceptions, and can also dismantle
them. If an adult tells a child to stop yapping (‘you talk too much’) or a
parent tells their children not to bother them (‘can’t you see I’m busy?’), the
building blocks of their self-esteem are at risk of damage. Demeaning and
negative attitudes are absorbed by children, colouring their self-evaluation.
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Consider the practices that affect a child’s self-esteem.
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Children think of themselves positively when adults offer acceptance and
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provide unconditional positive regard, which doesn’t require the child to
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earn interest, time, or concern and is given freely without conditions. It
doesn’t mean accepting everything a child does. We must help children
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develop a clear set of values so hurting others, putting oneself in danger,
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and destroying property are unacceptable. Negative emotions should be
accepted, but expressing them irresponsibly should not. This isn’t about
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abandoning the adult and child dynamic, but about becoming conscious of
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how you communicate to get the results you want in the short term, without
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losing sight of what enables the child’s success in the long term.
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We live in an era where ‘mindfulness’ is sought by adults to resolve issues

and approach their life in a fulfilling way. To evolve into a more supportive
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adult, we need to be more ‘mindful’ of tone, language, expression and

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behaviour, especially in interactions with children just learning their way

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around the world. Imagine a giant towering over you. Understand that you,
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as an adult are exactly that for a child, bigger, stronger, more powerful, and
they do not yet know how to navigate such a dynamic.
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Consider the practices that affect a child’s self-esteem. Supportive adults

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use strategies that enhance self-esteem. Child development research shows

that positive discipline is related to higher levels of compliance, helpfulness
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and lowered aggression. Negative discipline, predicated on control,

punishment, humiliation, and sarcasm dilutes a child’s self-confidence,
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spawning feelings of inadequacy.

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Supportive adults establish reasonable limits, state them well and enforce
them firmly but kindly. Realistic limits express an adult’s support that helps
the child gradually internalise the limits set out by adults and develop self-
control. In the process, they view themselves as competent because they
understand the reasoning for the limit. Poorly defined limits (which can
either be non-existent or excessive) don’t help children because they have
no way of knowing whether one’s behaviour is genuinely appropriate or
not; they are left to guess and often guess wrong.

Children have a healthier self-esteem when they are empowered to assume

responsibilities at home, indicating their importance to the family. If time
isn’t taken to help children understand autonomy, without specifying tasks
with no real consequences for failing to do them, it clouds the importance
of responsibility. This manifests later when children don’t hold themselves
accountable for hurting someone or damaging property.
Our irrepressible need to protect children often makes us try to protect

them from their own negative feelings. However, denying them can imply
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to the child that they are defined by their feelings. Instead of dismissing a
child’s unpleasant emotions (eg anxiety, jealousy), they must be
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acknowledged and guided through them, with it being clear that they are
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still worthy of love.
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Supportive adults express genuine interest in children and their activities.
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Through this, the adult communicates that the child is worthy of attention.
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Children sense when someone would rather be elsewhere, and research
shows no significant difference between the time that parents of children
with low and high self-esteem spend together.
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Preparing well-adjusted children with healthy self-esteem is a complex

journey. Mistakes are inevitable. But with some reflection, adults can learn
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from them and the children around them will be better off for it.
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The writer is an early childhood specialist.

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Pandemic diplomacy
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Huma YusufPublished August 9, 2021 - Updated 4 minutes ago

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The writer is a political and integrity risk analyst.

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THERE is dismay that Pakistan has not been removed from the
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UK’s travel ‘red list’, even though India has. Some say it’s the
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science: Pakistan’s Covid-19 infection rates are increasing, and

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its vaccination rates are lower than its neighbour’s. Many believe
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it’s the politics: India offers more inducements to a post-Brexit

UK. Either way, the example highlights the need for countries to
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develop a pandemic foreign policy.

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A post-Covid world order is emerging. The US hinted it would require all

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international visitors to be fully vaccinated; the UK transport secretary said

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full vaccination would likely be a travel requirement “for evermore”. The

Covid apartheid described by the WHO is becoming entrenched. The world
is split between a broadly defined ‘West’ awash with vaccines and booster
shots, where travel and normal life are starting to resume, and a
‘developing world’ struggling to catch up, while facing prospects of political,
social and economic isolation.
In this context, discourse on pandemic foreign policies has focused on

vaccine providers, not recipients. Much has been written on the power of

vaccine diplomacy, and the race between the US, China and Russia to win
friends and satellite states in exchange for vaccine supplies. There is an
emerging consensus that vaccine providers should not over-securitise their
pandemic foreign policies, emphasise multilateralism and link vaccine
diplomacy with climate change.
There are fewer views on how vaccine recipients — countries like Pakistan
reliant to varying degrees on the largesse of vaccine-producing powers —
should frame pandemic foreign policies. The topic deserves more attention.
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The integration of health and climate policies is essential.
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To start with, vaccine-receiving countries should closely monitor the
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vaccine diplomacy tussle between greater powers, and exploit the
competition not only to procure the best vaccine supply and travel
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agreements, but also in service of broader foreign policy goals.
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A key goal should be to avoid becoming beholden to one country. A good
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pandemic foreign policy should pursue engagement with multiple potential
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influencers. Pakistan should seek a vaccine deal with one power, discuss
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increased foreign investment to boost laboratory capacity with another, and

investigate licences for medical production facilities with a third. Such a
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multipronged effort will help balance foreign policy considerations and

diversify alliances while taking advantage of new themes in pandemic-
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linked diplomacy.
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But a good pandemic foreign policy should be more than opportunistic.

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This topic will be a lens through which bilateral and multilateral ties are
framed for many years to come, and Pakistan should be ready to engage on
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this basis. This means recognising that health policies previously perceived
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as national are in fact global, and require integration with foreign, trade,
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security and other policies. It also requires the creation of new government
bodies able to address these issues and prioritise, and comprising health
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experts and politicians, groups that do not organically mix.

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Pakistan should also be ready to make requests that align with global
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pandemic priorities. Take, for example, the growing recognition that health
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inputs — eg increasing diagnostic capability, upskilling and growing the

health workforce — are similar across diseases, including emerging threats.
Post pandemic, broad investments in health representing a shift from
vaccine diplomacy to health diplomacy present a win-win for allies.
For this to work, Pakistan needs a robust healthcare policy, including

increased healthcare expenditure. Former SAPM health Zafar Mirza in
these pages pointed to the trend of increasing federal and provincial
healthcare budgets, but these are still inadequate, with healthcare

representing 0.4 per cent of the total 2021-22 budget. Such numbers will
raise the question among vaccine or other health support-providing powers
why they should fund health aid for a nuclear power that neglects the issue
itself. Diffuse healthcare strategies, with provision split between public and
private sectors, for example, will also deter potential partners.
The integration of health and climate policies is also essential. It is accepted

that the rate of pandemics is increasing due to climate change and its
consequences, such as the destruction of animals’ natural habitats leading
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to greater comingling with humans. Of late, Pakistan has attempted to add
a climate lens to its trade and security policies, particularly in the context of
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water scarcity. This thinking now needs to extend to the link between
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Pakistan’s climate vulnerability and pandemics or other adverse health
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trends.
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Pandemic handling is now a barometer for a government’s efficacy,
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credibility, resilience and popularity, and will inform how states deal with
each other in diverse contexts. An effective foreign policy must therefore
necessarily be a pandemic policy too.
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The writer is a political and integrity risk analyst.

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Pragmatism as policy
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Umair JavedPublished August 9, 2021 - Updated 3 minutes ago

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The writer teaches politics and sociology at Lums.

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SINCE the mid 1970s, a central concern in economic

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policymaking has been the transition from state control of the

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economy towards the free market. While some variant of this

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conversation has taken place in nearly every country of the

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world, it has remained most pronounced in countries that were

governed under state socialism or communism. This includes,
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most prominently, the former Soviet Union and satellite states in

Eastern Europe, as well as some countries in Latin America
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(notably Chile and Bolivia), Africa and Southeast Asia. This

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concern has also shaped policy in both India and Pakistan,

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where state intervention in the economy was uneven and took

the shape of selective nationalisation and permit systems.
Across a wide variety of cases, the transition was marked by something that
is loosely referred to as ‘shock therapy’, ie the deregulation of prices in a
range of essential commodities, removal of currency controls, and rapid
privatisation of state assets. Much of this was done under the tutelage of
multilateral institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, and

bilateral donors based out of the West acting under the advice of prominent
macroeconomists.
While analytically distinct from other forms of ‘structural adjustment’

pursued in indebted economies, these interventions mark the general trend
towards marketisation (also sometimes labelled as neoliberalism) that is
guided by models that posit the reliance of economic growth on free(er)
markets and self-adjusting prices.
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The results from these interventions vary, with some economies recovering
reasonably well, while others enter long-term periods of high
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unemployment and low growth. In drastic cases, such as those documented
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in Eastern Europe, there is some evidence of declining social indicators
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such as in health and mortality figures.
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The wholesale adoption of marketisation policies has
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produced undesirable results.
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Barring some critique from heterodox circles, the debate remains mostly
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settled in practice. The set of deregulatory reforms listed here remain in use
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in a wide range of cases, and form standard prescriptive practices within

economic policymaking. Pakistan too has experienced some of this at
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various points in the past three decades, with periods of unsustainable

growth being followed by short, sharp, and often painful adjustments.
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There is however one particular case where the pitfalls of a heavily

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bureaucratised economy have been avoided, and where growth has been
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sustained without heavy bouts of inflation, and where all of this has been
made possible without the administering of shocks seen in other instances.
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That case is China.

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It is exactly this outlier that forms the subject of an excellent book by

political economist Isabella Weber, titled How China Escaped Shock
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Therapy: The Market Reform Debate. The account provides an intellectual

history of how China steered through the post-Mao period by undertaking a
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series of reforms that eventually set the stage for rapid economic growth
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witnessed during the preceding two decades.

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At the core of Weber’s documentation is the role of ideas and how key
policymakers are influenced by competing notions of pragmatism,
tradition, and theory. While the fact that there was a great deal of
deliberation among Chinese intellectuals and party officials on how best to
transition from state socialism to state-guided capitalism (or what Branko
Milanovic calls political capitalism) is reasonably well-documented, what is
less appreciated is the role that historical tradition of thinking about the
economy plays in China’s case.

To this end, Weber documents a series of debates from China’s past,

extending all the way back centuries, on what the role of the state should be
in setting prices and how to manage pragmatic considerations of providing
cheap food and fuel, but at the same time not overextending the state’s
heavy hand that could stifle enterprise.
The author ensures that this documentation of tradition from centuries

earlier is not seen as casting a deterministic shadow on policymaking in the
late 20th century. China’s eventual economic trajectory was shaped by
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interactions between politicians, Western-trained economists (who
favoured shock therapy), and a range of other actors. Key decisions were
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taken by taking into consideration larger motives, such as the autonomy of
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the state, the political climate, and concerns over a ‘moral’ contract with the
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citizenry at large.
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This is precisely why when inflation started to increase and public
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discontentment grew at various marketisation policies during the late
1980s, the state had to step back and follow a more balanced approach in
order to protect its own political basis.
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China in many ways remains an exceptional case, not least because of a

range of historical factors that have contributed to its present moment. But
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improved documentation and consideration of how it has charted out its

development trajectory provide some interesting insights for other
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countries.
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In the work referred to here, the idea of deliberation as central to pragmatic

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(and ultimately) successful policymaking is an important one. Wholesale

adoption of marketisation policies has produced undesirable consequences
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in a range of contexts, which may have been avoided by considering

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alternatives outside or by pursuing gradualism.

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Another key lesson is maintaining clarity on the relationship between the

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state and the economy. In China’s case, the economy remains subservient
to state political interests, as seen in recent moves to restrict particular
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types of enterprises from operating on the stock exchange and in the

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regulation of the for-profit education space. Ultimately, the question that

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policymakers across the world have to answer is who does the economy
serve, what is the basis of the state’s economic relationship with the
citizenry, and what are some of the key material goals worth pursuing.
Ideally, policy prescriptions should then emerge only as answers to these
loftier questions.
The writer teaches politics and sociology at Lums.
Twitter: @umairjav

An inescapable contest?
Maleeha LodhiPublished August 9, 2021 - Updated 2 minutes ago
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The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK & UN.
THERE has been a profusion of books on China from the

perspective of the contest for global primacy between the US and
the world’s newest superpower. This is understandable as it is
the world’s most consequential relationship. China is
Washington’s top foreign policy priority. The Biden
administration has frequently reiterated this and also said

relations with China will have three aspects — adversarial,

competitive and cooperative.
The two high-level exchanges between them in Alaska and more recently
China, indicate that greater turbulence lies ahead in their relations. After
talks in Beijing, Chinese officials described Washington’s “adversarial
rhetoric” as a thinly veiled attempt to “suppress and contain China”, adding
that relations faced “serious difficulties”. They also cautioned America to
not treat China as an “imaginary enemy”.
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Most recent books on the US-China relationship have been written from a
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Western perspective except one, but more of that later. The very titles of
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these books are revealing. The World Turned Upside Down by Clyde
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Prestowitz, How China Loses by Luke Patey and The Long Game: China’s
Grand Strategy to Displace American Order by Rush Doshi. The latter is
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now director for China at America’s National Security Council.
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All these books see America’s competition with China as this century’s
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defining dynamic although they reach different conclusions about who will
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prevail. They also offer policy advice to the Biden team on how to effectively
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counter China to maintain America’s global dominance. The book that

offers a starkly different perspective is by distinguished Singaporean
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academic and former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani titled Has China Won?
The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy. This doesn’t mean he predicts
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an outcome, which of course depends on several factors and cannot be

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predetermined.
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The future course of the world’s most consequential

relationship will have far-reaching global ramifications.
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Rush Doshi argues that the struggle between the US and China is over who
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will dominate the regional and global order. China, he says, wants to eclipse
America by 2049. In asking whether China has a grand strategy he first
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defines this. It is how a country pursues its strategic objectives “that is

intentional, coordinated, and implemented across multiple means of
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statecraft — military, economic, and political”. “What makes grand strategy

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grand is not simply the size of the strategic objectives” but also how
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disparate “means” are “coordinated together” to achieve them.
He claims that China’s grand strategy to displace the American order

comprises two elements practised sequentially — first to blunt the
hegemon’s control and then build control over other states to secure its
predominant position. Doshi describes the third part of the strategy as
global expansion which is aimed at displacing the hegemon by using both
‘blunting’ and ‘building’ methods. His argument rests on identifying forms

of control that a rising power challenges and then exercises to ensure

ascendancy. A hegemon’s position in the regional and global order emerges
from three broad “forms of control that are used to regulate the behaviour
of other states: coercive capability (to force compliance), consensual
inducements (to incentivise it), and legitimacy (to rightfully command it)”.
Doshi seeks to substantiate his thesis by using Chinese Communist Party

texts and their leaders’ speeches among other sources. He devotes separate
chapters to China’s military, political and economic strategies in pursuit of
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its strategic objectives to claim that its leaders “want to restore China to its
due place and roll back the historical aberration of the West’s
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overwhelming global influence”. How should the US respond to this
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challenge? Doshi rejects both confrontation and accommodation and
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suggests an “asymmetric competitive strategy” that takes a leaf from
China’s own blunting approach.
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The problem with this otherwise interesting book is that it assumes China’s
behaviour and objectives mirror those of the US when it was a rising power.
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It overlooks the civilisational history of a global power that wants to be
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respected but doesn’t aspire to become a hegemon like other powerful
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states in history. This is what Mahbubani’s book seeks to explain by

offering a persuasive antidote to such assumptions but in a balanced way
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that identifies strategic mistakes by both global powers.

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The book poses sharp questions and offers nuanced answers. Does the US
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have a strategy in its geopolitical competition with China? No, says

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Mahbubani and argues that America is committing the “classic strategic

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mistake of fighting tomorrow’s war with yesterday’s strategy” as it is

treating the China challenge similar to the old Soviet threat. The US is
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focusing on military spending (“geopolitical gifts to China”), displaying

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rigidity in decision-making, draining its power by involvement in military

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conflicts, and misreading China by erroneously attributing aggressive and

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expansionist designs to Beijing. All this because groupthink rules in

Washington. He is surprised at this because America has the world’s
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“largest strategic thinking industry”.

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He argues convincingly that while China wants to “rejuvenate its

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civilisation” it has no mission to take over the world or recreate it in its

image. Despite its growing power China has not intervened in the affairs of
other countries. The militarism attributed to it is similarly mistaken
because it has never sought to conquer territories as European powers have
done and this despite “often being the single strongest civilisation in the
Eurasian landmass” for over 2,000 years. China avoids military options and
has sought to secure its borders by consolidating relations with
neighbouring states. That hardly makes it expansionist. In fact, China’s

“primary goal is to preserve peace and harmony” at home, not influence the
lives of six billion people who live outside.
Mahbubani’s critique of America’s flawed assumptions is as compelling as

his analysis of the strategic mistake China made in “alienating” the US
business community (by “squeezing companies”) that could have restrained
Washington’s adversarial approach. His conclusion, by his own admission,
is paradoxical: the contest between the two “is both inevitable and
avoidable”. Even though America has convinced itself that China poses an
18
existential threat yet there are areas of convergence that should urge them
towards cooperation. His hope is that if both focus on their core national
6
interest — improving the well-being of their citizens — they will find no
80
contradictions in their long-term interests. Many would share that hope as
02
continuing confrontation between them will have far-reaching global
consequences.
41
03
The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK & UN.

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Daily, Weekly, Monthly Update 03410280618

Dawn columns 09 August 2021

within its jurisdiction. Aside from Sindh, which has refused to

adopt it citing the 18th Amendment according to which

also plan to introduce it as soon as possible. The SNC for grades

six to eight will be introduced next year, and up to Matric in

be the most revolutionary step taken in the education arena

colleges in 1972. That measure had far-reaching repercussions,

and general consensus holds that it proved extremely

detrimental to educational standards. Pakistan cannot afford

another ill-thought-out experiment in this sector.

resolve Pakistan’s educational woes, or at least the bulk of them.

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curricula pursued by different strains of education linked with

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2021

Tree plantation drive

EditorialPublished August 9, 2021 - Updated 9 minutes ago

WITH the monsoon plantation drive in full swing in Islamabad

good progress on its Ten Billion-Tree Tsunami Programme. Last

week, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated a nationwide

monsoon plantation drive by planting a sapling in Islamabad’s

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industrial and urban, a high population growth rate and a

allowing private developers to build on forest land. Then drastic measures

punishment for those violating government law and endangering the

local communities in remote areas have access to alternative fuel so that

educated on the importance of environmental conservation. Environmental

ambitions must be reflected in the overall developmental and economic

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2021

EditorialPublished August 9, 2021 - Updated 10 minutes ago

RECENT cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel

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region terming the situation “very dangerous”. While rocket

sovereignty of its neighbours, while also mercilessly pounding the

Palestinians — must be reined in by its powerful backers. In the long term,

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2021

It’s how you say it

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The writer is an early childhood specialist.

CHILDREN are vulnerable and dependent. It is on us as adults to

While we want the best for our children, being a supportive

In young children, self-esteem forms over time, influenced by how adults

Think of children as a computer programme. The data you put in creates

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We live in an era where ‘mindfulness’ is sought by adults to resolve issues

adult, we need to be more ‘mindful’ of tone, language, expression and

behaviour, especially in interactions with children just learning their way

Consider the practices that affect a child’s self-esteem. Supportive adults

use strategies that enhance self-esteem. Child development research shows

and lowered aggression. Negative discipline, predicated on control,

spawning feelings of inadequacy.

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Children have a healthier self-esteem when they are empowered to assume

Our irrepressible need to protect children often makes us try to protect

Preparing well-adjusted children with healthy self-esteem is a complex

The writer is an early childhood specialist.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2021

Huma YusufPublished August 9, 2021 - Updated 4 minutes ago

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The writer is a political and integrity risk analyst.

science: Pakistan’s Covid-19 infection rates are increasing, and

it’s the politics: India offers more inducements to a post-Brexit

develop a pandemic foreign policy.