Pakistan halts funding to hundreds of 'ghost schools'

About 450 absentee teachers fired in Balochistan, where many had been drawing salaries from already abandoned schools.

Shereena Qazi | 11 Nov 2015 19:38 GMT | Asia, Poverty & Development,Education, Pakistan

About 40 percent of the population aged 10 and above is illiterate [File pic - Mohammad Sajjad/AP]

Pakistan authorities have stopped funding hundreds of educational institutions that existed only on paper and have fired 450 absentee teachers in a mission to close down the so-called ghost schools.

Baloch officials vowed to launch a crackdown on the common practice in the southwestern province of Balochistan late on Tuesday.

Raza Muhammed Khan Barrech, education adviser to the chief minister in Balochistan, told Al Jazeera that many teachers who were drawing salaries without doing the job had been fired in the process.

"We have been investigating and closing down such schools for the past year," he said. "The only way to completely shut them down is to not provide funds to those schools."

"There were about 400 to 500 ghost schools in the region that existed only on paper. And about 450 teachers who were drawing salaries. Half of the schools were abandoned as students never showed up."

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Related: Teachers absent from Pakistan's 'ghost schools'

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Barrech said the provincial government is in the process of implementing article 25-a of the constitution, which says the state "shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to 16 years in such manner as may be determined by law".

He also revealed that the 'ghost students' had been 'enrolled' by education officials in the region and teachers in the past to show a maximum number of schools to get monetary benefits.

Late last year, a website was launched to identify ghost schools called the Education Management Information System (EMIS), which helps to ensure the presence of teachers in schools and improve the quality of education in the province.

Improvements in education sector 

According to Roshan Bharucha, a former senator and a social worker in Balochistan, plans to improve education in the region were under way.

"Many children drop out of schools because of lack of facilities and checks and balances in the education system. However, this seems to be changing," she said. 

"The 'ghost school' phenomenon is not just here in Balochistan but also in many other rural areas of Pakistan. This has to be eradicated because those funds can be utilised on improving education."

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Related: In Pictures: Pakistan education woes

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Pakistan's education rate is still relatively low. As per the Education for All 2015 report, about one-third of primary school age children are out of school, while 42 percent of the population aged 10 and above is illiterate.

At the national level, about two-thirds of women aged 15 and over cannot read and write, and 35 percent of girls remain out of school.

"It is estimated that more than 6.7 million children are out of school, and the majority of them [62 percent] are girls," the report says.

UNESCO and Pakistan recently launched the Girls' Right to Education programme for Pakistan worth $7m.

The programme aims to enrol 50,000 more girls in primary schools in remote areas over the next three years.

Citation:

Qazi, Shereena. "Pakistan Halts Funding to Hundreds of 'ghost Schools'" Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Media Network, 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/pakistan-halts-funding-hundreds-ghost-schools-151111134222577.html>.

Response: 

Pakistan has the second largest amount of children out of school in the world. Lack of education is a serious problem in the developing world and is obviously a  problem in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan is tackling the issue of corruption in school systems as teachers receive salaries for achieving nothing and running "ghost schools". Shereena Qazi is highlighting the positive efforts of Pakistan's  government and the logical steps that they are being taking towards giving all children an education. Qazi commends Pakistan for it efforts to combat corruption in the school system.  Also, Qazi writes that Pakistan has launched accountability programs for the schools to ensure that this problem does not happen again. The "ghost school" phenomenon is not just an issue in the Southern Pakistan but all over and could be the case for many other countries throughout the world. Qazi's article encourages others to take related measures to ensure the proper education of children throughout the world.

Sierra Leone is Ebola free but a legacy of fear remains

The deadly virus crippled the country's healthcare system, with grave consequences for maternal and infant health.

Jo Lehmann | 09 Nov 2015 12:58 GMT | Health, Environment, Poverty & Development, Humanitarian crises, Africa

Seventeen-year-old Musu Monsoray gave birth to a stillborn child during the Ebola outbreak [Jo Lehmann/WaterAid]

Twenty-nine-year-old Song strolls through the streets of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, as loud music blares out from the stalls of street vendors.

"The war is over," he says. "We've been liberated."

After 42 days with no new cases, the World Health Organization on Saturday officially declared Sierra Leone free from Ebola.

"This time last year we were putting thousands of people in body bags, people were scared, unable to go out. Today we are free," he explains.

I'm in Freetown this week with WaterAid , which has been working in hygiene promotion and assisting on crucial water and sanitation projects in Liberia and Sierra Leone as these countries try to rebuild their health systems after the Ebola crisis.

Ebola's Ground Zero

Here in chaotic Freetown, reminders of this deadly virus linger everywhere. Roadside billboards remind residents to stay vigilant, and guards at security checkpoints are armed with thermometers and bottles of hand sanitiser. 

Just outside of Freetown, in the suburb of Waterloo, lies Ebola's Ground Zero - a cemetery filled with those who have died from the virus. The grave of a 99-year-old woman sits beside that of a three-year-old boy - a stark reminder that this deadly virus did not discriminate.

In the distance, another burial team makes its way down the bumpy dirt track. A man wearing protective gear jumps out. "We have four bodies in here, two of them children," he shouts.

Waterloo Cemetery where hundreds of children under 5 are buried [ Jo Lehmann/WaterAid ]

But these are not bodies destined for the Ebola cemetery; the cemetery guard directs them to another one, a few hundred metres away, reserved for those who have died from other causes.

A young mother arrives for the burial service, tears streaming down her face. She explains that her two-year-old daughter Nancy contracted an infection and passed away a few days ago. Nancy is to be buried in the children's cemetery, next to hundreds of other tiny graves on the rain-soaked hillside.

These children did not die from Ebola but from other, mainly preventable, causes; causes which Sierra Leone has been fighting since long before the outbreak of Ebola. More than 4,500 children under age five in Sierra Leone, are estimated to have died in 2013 of diarrhoeal illnesses, which are common in a country where nearly 87 percent of the population do not have access to a safe, private toilet and more than 37 percent do not have access to clean water.

What is most shocking is the number of graves of babies under a month old.

Maternal and infant health 

Even before the Ebola outbreak, Sierra Leone was one of the most dangerous places in the world for a mother to give birth. On average, one woman in every 21 here will lose a child to infection in its first month of life. The equivalent risk in the UK, for example, is one woman in 7,518.

The Ebola outbreak has only made this alarming statistic worse. New research by VSO and WaterAid found that during the crisis there was a 30 percent increase in maternal deaths and a 24 percent increase in newborn deaths. With the healthcare system crippled by Ebola, many mothers were too afraid to go to hospital to give birth.

Seventeen-year-old Musu Monsoray was one of them.

A candlelit vigil was held by healthcare workers to remember those who died in the outbreak [ Jo Lehmann/WaterAid ]

"I didn't go to hospital for any checkups when I was pregnant, as I was too scared of catching Ebola," she explains. "I only managed to see the midwife twice, and was planning on giving birth at home."

Musu lives in a tiny hut in Freetown's New England Ville neighbourhood. As in many homes here, there is no access to safe water and the toilet is in the same place as the kitchen, making good hygiene difficult. When she went into labour, she explains, she waited until the last minute before being rushed to hospital by a neighbour. Her baby was stillborn.

It is impossible to say for sure what caused Musu's baby to die. But we know that women whose growth and development in childhood were stunted by chronic diarrhoea, caused by dirty water and poor sanitation and hygiene, are more likely to have complications in pregnancy, including obstructed labour. Women who are ill during their pregnancies are also more susceptible to complications, and infections can set in during long labours if women are giving birth in unhygienic conditions, assisted by midwives who are unable to properly wash their hands.

"If Ebola was not here maybe things would have been different," Musu says. "I would have gone for regular checkups. Instead my baby died."

'A place for the dead' 

There is still a huge legacy of fear surrounding the healthcare system in Sierra Leone, with many mothers reluctant to go to hospital.

"At the height of the Ebola outbreak hospitals were seen as a place for the dead," says Dr Amadu Sesay, the medical superintendent at Kingharman Road Government hospital.

"Going forward we have to rebuild confidence in the healthcare system in Sierra Leone, especially with regards to maternal health."

Baby Sarah with her mother [Jo Lehmann/WaterAid]

"Having access to clean water, good sanitation and hygiene practices is pivotal in bringing mothers back [to our hospitals]. You cannot have infection prevention where you lack water supply. Ebola taught us that, and the government must recognise that too."

Next door, a woman in labour lets out a scream. Sesay goes to tend to her. Minutes later, a baby girl is born. Both mother and baby are in good health. But for baby Sarah the next 28 days of her life will be her most vulnerable.

For Sierra Leone to move past the Ebola outbreak and give newborn children a fighting chance at life, 'clean' must be put at the heart of healthcare. Hospitals must have access to water, sanitation, and everything they need to maintain high levels of hygiene. The lives of Sarah and so many others depend upon it.

Response:

This article reminded me that at the height of a crisis such a story like the Ebola crisis is all over the news then the crisis appears to end and at least I have forgotten that many West African countries have  a long way to go before they can repair their healthcare system. I think that the author, Jo Lehmann, reminds us that the Ebola hit nations were crippled by this outbreak and have a long road to recovery. This article also highlight the necessity of clean water and proper sanitation in healthcare which Sierra Leone hospitals really learned through the Ebola outbreak. This article offered me a different perspective on the outbreak concerning the pregnant mothers and people with disease unrelated to Ebola who  were too afraid to go to the hospitals. Ultimately, this article reminded me that a crisis is not really over the moment the news stops reporting it as frequently and offered me a different perspective on the outbreak itself.

Citation:

Lehmann, Jo. "Sierra Leone Is Ebola Free but a Legacy of Fear Remains." - Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera Media Network, 09 Nov. 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015. <http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/11/sierra-leone-ebola-free-legacy-fear-remains-151109075827170.html>.

Shafana: The journalist who believed in Somalia - Response

Shafana: The journalist who believed in Somalia

Al Jazeera contributor, Mustaf Abdi Noor, has been killed in an al-Shabab attack on a hotel in Mogadishu. He was 23.

01 Nov 2015 14:48 GMT | War & Conflict, Media, Africa, Somalia

Shafana was driven to show another side of Somalia to the world: the pristine white beaches, the exotic fresh fruits, the new villas going up in the capital [Mustaf Abdi Noor / Facebook]    

Hamza Mohamed is a producer for Doha, Qatar-based Al Jazeera English, covering Sub-Saharan Africa.

He was sharp and always smiling. A notebook, a pen, a camera and a phone - the things he carried. Harmless tools for what is a deadly trade in Mogadishu.

Mustaf Abdi Noor was a rising star in a profession that continues to claim the lives of many in Somalia’s capital - including some of his close friends.

Shafana, as he was widely known, was a multi-talented journalist, adept at both taking photographs and reporting. A different breed.

He believed in his country and profession. Many of his close colleagues left journalism because it was too dangerous. Some even took the perilous Mediterranean route out of the country because they believed that was safer.

But not Shafana.

Somalia was too deep a part of him and he said he would never leave.

He was learning English so he could better tell the world about his country, a job he loved. Shafana worked for Radio Shabelle and was also a regular contributor to international media organisations, including Al Jazeera.

We first met two years ago while I was on assignment in Mogadishu. I needed someone with intimate knowledge of the city, someone who saw the danger coming before everyone else, someone who could guide me through the many treacherous fault lines without the need for an armed escort.

He knew the city and its ways – including its dark ways – like the back of his hand. He could lead you through the place with his eyes shut.

But, early this morning, the city he loved claimed him.

At exactly 6am, he phoned to tell me of the latest bloody incident, in which gunmen from al-Shabab had bombed and stormed a downtown hotel.

He was there and, ever cautious, taking cover behind a car.

That was Shafana, always first on the scene. Today, he was doing what he had done on so many occasions. A born storyteller, he was there to tell the world what was happening in his city. He was careful. But it wasn’t enough.

The car he was hiding behind had been rigged with explosives by al-Shabab and positioned outside the hotel to act as a second bomb.

From a distance, an al-Shabab member detonated it, and Shafana’s life was cut short. Too short - he was just 23.

A new dawn

He was driven to show another side of Somalia to the world: the pristine white beaches, the exotic fresh fruits, the new villas going up in the capital. We started a social media hashtag, #My252, (252 is Somalia’s dialing code), to highlight this side of the country - a more positive side, a changing side.

We last met in June and, while we walked on Maka al-Mukarama Street under newly installed solar lights, Shafana told me that Mogadishu was safe and on the move. We joked about how it was now lit at night by solar lights and not tracer bullets. We saw young men and women driving fast cars, racing to the sound of the latest Somali songs. They were not speeding to get the wounded to hospital. Things were changing. We both felt it was a new dawn.

Shafana had no enemies. He was everyone’s friend, a truly neutral figure in a city of shifting loyalties. Always upbeat, even when the chips were down, one of his favourite things to say after covering one of the many violent incidents was “tanna wa laga bixi” - “this too shall pass”.

But, as we say in Somalia, war is blind.

Today it took the life of someone who, through his work, helped us to see.

Response: Hamza Mohamed wrote this article a a tribute to a Somali journalist, Shafana, who was killed in the recent al-Shabab attacks in Somalia. It is not often that I find an article written as a tribute to one person and what they believed in. The author writes this to change the view point each reader has on what is Somalia today, even those living in Somalia.  He is trying to continue that message that Shafana was spreading that Somalia is not all violence. Even though there has been recent violence, Somalia is changing for the better. He also highlights the danger associated with Shafana's occupation in Somalia but he stayed in Mogadishu. This article is trying to promote what Shafana believed before he died and that Somalia is changing for the better.

Mohamed, Hamza. "Shafana: The Journalist Who Believed in Somalia." - Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera Media Network, 1 Nov. 2015. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.

http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/africa/2015/11/shafana-journalist-believed-somalia-151101142919042.html

UAE imprisoning rape victims under extramarital sex laws – investigation

It is often domestic female migrant workers that are left most vulnerable by the laws banning consensual sex outside marriage. Photograph: Ali Haider/EPA

Hundreds of women, some of them pregnant or domestic servants who are victims of rape, are being imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates every year under laws that outlaw consensual sex outside marriage, according to a BBC Arabic investigation.

Secret footage obtained by BBC Arabic show pregnant women shackled in chains walking into a courtrooms where laws prohibiting “Zina” – or sex outside marriage – could mean sentences of months to years in prison and flogging.

“Because the UAE authorities have not clarified what they mean by indecency, the judges can use their culture and customs and Sharia ultimately to broaden out that definition and convict people for illicit sexual relations or even acts of public affection,” said Rothna Begum, women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch in London.

While both men and women could in theory be imprisoned for having sex outside marriage, the investigation – which will air at the opening of BBC Arabic festival on 31 October – found that in reality pregnancy is often used as proof of the “crime”, with domestic female migrant workers – numbering about 150,000 in the UAE – left most vulnerable.

There are no available official figures on the number of women incarcerated each year, but estimates from prisoners, family lawyers, charities and the work of investigative reporters put the figure in the hundreds.

There have been high-profile cases involving foreigners falling foul of the law. In 2010 a British woman who made a rape complaint against a waiter in Dubai was arrested for having illegal sex with her fiancé.

A few years later Norwegian woman Marte Dalelv reported being raped by her colleague, was imprisoned for extra marital sex and was only released after international outcry.

But cases involving women living inside the country rarely garner the same coverage. BBC Arabic spoke to Emirati woman Hessa*, who found out that she was pregnant by a man she had been with for six years and who had promised to make her his second wife.

“When I told him I was carrying his child he got very upset. Then he hit me,” she said. “He said ‘I will tell your family you’re dishonourable’.” Faced with ruin, she decided to have an illegal abortion. “I can’t have a baby without being married,” she said. “A woman can’t have a child with someone she loves. If my family found out they’d slaughter me.”

Hessa had consensual sex, but other women find themselves facing incarceration after being raped. Laily*, who left her home in Bangladesh for a job as a domestic helper, was allegedly raped by her boss, whom other workers had warned “was a really bad man”.

“I said I would electrocute myself and die if he didn’t leave,” she told BBC Arabic. “I screamed and begged at his feet. I called him ‘Father’. I said: ‘A father cannot do this to his daughter!’ I pushed him, he fell. I bit him. Then he held my feet and both my hands and abused my honour.”

According to Amnesty International Gulf researcher Drewery Dyke, the situation is far from uncommon. “Rape victims have been accused of having engaged in illicit sexual relations, while the rape allegations themselves have been left uninvestigated,” he said. “While press reports suggest that this situation has slightly improved, anecdotal accounts indicate that vulnerable women from migrant communities continue to be detained for illicit sexual relations, often being left to languish in jail with their newborn babies.”

Under the UAE’s kafala system, foreign workers – who make up 90% of the population – must be sponsored by an employer. They can only work for that employer and cannot leave the country without permission. Although it is against the law, passports are routinely confiscated. Laily had no choice but to live under the same roof as her rapist. When he discovered she was pregnant and they both risked being prosecuted, the family dropped her at the airport in only the clothes she was wearing. “I could not take anything with me. I left everything.”

The UAE’s laws on sex and pregnancy outside marriage, based on Sharia law, were codified when the nation was founded in 1971. “The constitution states that Islam is the official religion of the nation and that Sharia is the source of laws in the country. There is no way anyone can oppose it,” said Sabah Mahmoud, who worked as a lawyer in the UAE for 15 years.

Women imprisoned for extramarital sex told the investigation that conditions in prison were poor. Marie*, a domestic worker from the Philippines who had two children with a local man, was put on trial without a lawyer and sentenced to nine months in prison with her daughters.

“They are giving weekly one can of milk and 25 pieces of pampers. But it’s not enough. Even water you need to buy,” she said. “We are three to four persons inside that room and we have babies. We sleep on one small mattress.”

Human rights organisations argue the extramarital sex ban in the UAE – which also exists in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Morocco – contravene international human rights laws which the UAE has signed up to.

“They need to decriminalise consensual sexual relations. This would then lift off the possibility that victims could be prosecuted,” said Begum. “Then you need to be able to ensure that those who end up as victims are in a situation where they are not vulnerable.”

Response:

Alexandra Topping wrote this article to raise awareness of the mistreatment of women as a result of Sharia law. This article highlights a human rights violation that stems from Sharia law in select Muslim countries.  She is very against this principle of Sharia law in order to protect victims of sexual crimes. A law is useless if it is not there to protect and in the best interest of the people. Topping specifically focuses on the numbers of women in the UAE that have been raped and sent to prison for sex outside of marriage without the representation of a lawyer or trial. She writes that the authorities in the UAE have not "clarified what they mean but indecency", which means many women are becoming victims of unjust laws. 

Citation:

Topping, Alexandra. "UAE Imprisoning Rape Victims under Extramarital Sex Laws – Investigation." The Guardian. The Guardian, 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Are we winning against maternal and infant mortality? - Article Response.

Are we winning against maternal and infant mortality?

Researchers, activists, officials and journalists gather in Mexico City to discuss healthcare for mothers and infants.

20 Oct 2015 14:36 GMT | Health, Latin America, Mexico, Infant mortality

The mood at the conference on maternity and child survival in Mexico City is buoyant [Rebecca Blackwell/AP]

About the Author

Azad Essa

Azad Essa is a journalist at Al Jazeera, covering Sub-Saharan Africa.

Mexico City - In South Africa, about 4,300 mothers die due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth every year. A further 20,000 babies are stillborn and another 23,000 die in their first month of life. In total, 75,000 children do not make it to their fifth birthday.

But the problem is not unique to South Africa. The death of new mothers and infants below the age of five is the single, biggest source of gender inequality in the world.

This week, about 1,000 researchers, activists, government officials, and journalists have gathered in Mexico City to discuss healthcare for mothers and infants. The conference on maternity and child survival in Mexico City may be an unusual space for positivity, but the mood here is buoyant.

Researchers and activists say that despite the challenges, the tide has turned in the struggle to improve the health of mothers and infants across the globe. The last 30 years, and the last decade in particular, have yielded tremendous gains.

And Mexico is said to be among the biggest success stories.

With one of the larger health budgets in the developing world, Mexico has managed to outdo the likes of Nigeria and South Africa with its gains against maternal and infant mortality.

Likewise, Rwanda and Ethiopia have been lauded for their successful interventions in reducing the rates of maternal and infant deaths.

"I think Rwanda has been really good at using information to drive quality improvement," Chris Elias, president of Global Development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said.

"Like Ethiopia, they have been very successful in having a clear national plan and then convincing the development partners to align around a national plan with a strong monitoring and evaluation effort," he told journalists at a roundtable event at the conference.

Life expectancy

Significant gains have been made in global health. Worldwide, life expectancy has increased to 71, and global health for mothers and infants has also improved despite the overwhelmingly obvious shortfalls.

There is, however, still much to do.

Whereas 17 million children under five years of age died annually in 1970, this number has reduced to around 5.9 million today.

Both China and India have made progress, whereas countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo continue the struggle to make in-roads in the face of ongoing conflict, poor infrastructure and weak governance.

"The countdown to 2015 Report", the final instalment in a series of reports focused on global maternal health and child survival that began in 2005, was released late on Monday night at the conference and found that under-five mortality has dropped by 53 percent since 1990.

It also found the rate of reduction in deaths had accelerated over recent years. But children are still malnourished and dying from pneumonia and diarrhoea - both preventable and treatable conditions. Undernutrition and sub-optimum breastfeeding remains the cause of death of about 45 percent of children under five globally.

Family planning

The report also showed that in some countries, there remained significant opposition to contraceptives and family planning, both crucial indicators in assessing the extent to which women are in control of their destinies.

Zulfiqar Bhutta, codirector of Robert Harding Chair in Global Child Health and Policy, and cochairman of The Countdown Report, told Al Jazeera that successes and failures of countries to meet the fourth and fifth goals of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), targeting infant and maternal mortality, were linked to a number of social determinants.

The landmark report showed that only four out of the 75 countries - identified for hosting 90 percent of all maternal and infant deaths across the planet - managed to successfully reach their respective MDGs for
reducing maternity and infant deaths.

But the overwhelming failure of so many countries to meet these targets makes the success of Eritrea, Rwanda, Cambodia and Nepal in meeting their goals quite extraordinary.

"It all boils down to a combination of political will, which is, in turn, dictated by civil society pressure. If people in the country are just not focused on issues of rights, reducing inequities, [and] reaching marginalised populations we could cry hoarse from the outside, but it would make no difference," Bhutta said.

Response:

The author of this article, Azad Essa, agrees that the infant mortality rate has dropped and that significant progress has been made. She begins the article given actual numbers of infant deaths in South Africa. This helps the reader to understand that this is a serious problem all over the world.  Essa writes all but four countries reached their respective goals which shows that great progress has been made through these programs. One of the only set backs is some countries that have limited access due to civil war of unrest. Essa's article is a good representation of the progress that has been made so far but there is still a lot to be done. The last paragraph talks about the will power of civilians and their involvement in civil rights issue. This article reminds people that they play a part in the future development of their nations.

Essa, Azad. "Are We Winning against Maternal and Infant Mortality?" Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Media Network, 20 Oct. 15. Web. 21 Oct. 15.

http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/americas/2015/10/winning-maternal-infant-mortality-151020140134017.html