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KHYBER PAKHTOONKHWA PROVICIAL REPORT

CONSULTATION DIALOGUES ON 18TH AMENDMENT 2010 & PUBLIC EXPENDITURES ON EDUCATION

Reported by: ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS


ADEO BISE FATA FCR GDP GHS HEC JCDS JI JUI PLP MNA MPA PEC PML-N PPPP PTA SADO SAP-PK SDPD SPARC TDN UC WEWRS WDO YWYBDO Assistant District Education Officer Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Federally Administrated Tribal Areas Frontier Crimes Regulations Gross Domestic Production Government High School Higher Secondary Education Jobs Creating Development Society Jamaat-e-Islami Jamiat-ul-Ulama-e-Islam Pakistan Labor Party Member of National Assembly Member of Provincial Assembly Primary Education Commission Pakistan Muslim League-N Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian Parent Teacher Association Social Awareness & Development Organization South Asia Partnership Pakistan

Submitted to:

Strengthening Democracy through Parliamentary Development Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child Tribal Development Network Union Council Workers Education Research Welfare Society Women Development Organization Youth Welfare Younger Blood Donor Organization

1.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
South Asia Partnership Pakistan organized eighteen consultation dialogues

under the Strengthening Democracy through Parliamentary Development (SDPD) program, of UNDP, in the selected districts of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA). These consultations were planned to undertake the assignment of initiating debate on 18th amendment package with regards to its respective issues pertaining to its implementation and to discuss on the pubic expenditures on education in the light of devastated infrastructure of educational institutions in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and FATA. Purpose of consultations was to discuss the key dimensions of the 18th amendment and delivery of educational services with special focus on public spending on education and to identify main challenges and opportunities in view of the implementation of 18th amendment and share alternate approaches from the civil society for better educational service delivery system. Consultations also brought into discussion to identify necessary steps to be taken and create an understanding among relevant stakeholders so as to shape up, in near future, a link between parliamentarians and civil society organizations in order to enhance the role of parliamentarians as the representatives and orient them with different issues that require them to play their role as effective legislators. These dialogues were planned to accumulate and integrate the intellectual input of the prime stakeholders, vibrant civil society activists, focal persons of civil society organizations, local government representatives and the parliamentarians. The participants of the consultations dialogues on Public expenditures on education provided enlightening information on all sides of social, cultural, economic and political milieu and core issues reflecting in this report in terms of elaborate recommendations to be presented before the legislature for their consideration. The participants revealed that 2.4% budget allocation is insufficient and it is absolutely difficult to make the educational system compatible with 21st century prerequisites. Participants of the consultations told about other issues to be considered to improve educational system like gender and regional disparities, poorly governed and managed educational system, ignorance of teachers about modern teaching methods, outmoded and rigid curriculum. Participants held that teachers are either unavailable or untrained, transferring and recruitment involves nepotism and political interference plays a predominant role in the administrative and governing structure of education. Participants were agreed upon the

fact that educational system is based on class divides and there is no uniform system for all the segments of society. Consultation brought together relevant stakeholders who keenly debated on various issues in the light of recently passed 18th amendment and its implementation issues including provincial autonomy, repealing of concurrent list by present regime and handing over the control of resources to the provinces, nature and status of independence of the judiciary, and importantly the steps needed to be taken with a futuristic vision. These consultations were organized at district level in collaboration with local organizations and networks, SAP-PK kept it involved to record, monitor and support the consultation process with relevant stakeholders. South Asia Partnership Pakistan and local CSOs wisely identified the concerned stakeholders including lawyers, representatives of CBOs, MNAs / MPAs of respective constituencies, educationists, intelligentsia and common citizens of the selected areas. Before embarking upon the consultations arrangements, SAP-PK ensured the overall understanding of the local organizations and networks about the procedure and process of holding the consultations workshops so as to accomplish the preset objectives to the optimum level. Participants across the various sections participated in the consultations and represented Mardan, Charssada, Dir Lower, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, and FATA agencies of Orakzai, Khyber, Bajaur, Mohmand and Kurrum to highlight their issues and their respective solutions in terms of recommendations. MAIM RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE DIALOGUES ARE:

ON THE 18TH AMENDMENT PACKAGE:


Elections should be conducted in political parties FATA should be given representation in the provincial government and also should be included in 18th amendments Members from civil society organization should be included in the parliamentary committee to collect feedback of common people about judicial decisions and constitutional development Provinces and federal government should be given powers according to character of federation in the 18th amendment

Revenue from the judicial services may be directed towards the judicial budget for the financial independence of the judiciary. As long as judiciary is financially dependent on the executive, the Independence shall always remain a question.

For judicial accountability, three consecutive complains against any judge should automatically lead to reference to chief justice for appropriate action along with the instant withdrawal of powers from the very accused judge until the judgment from the Chief Justice is in place. The judgments made by judges should be thoroughly analyzed.

Article 247 should be amended so that FATA comes under the purview of Parliament rather than the President.

Without waiting for that constitutional amendment, President should use his powers to a. b. Extend Political Parties Act to FATA Establish a separate Judiciary from Executive and remove the judicial powers of the Political Agent and others at lower level c. Create a FATA High Court or a FATA bench at Peshawar High Court and not merely a kind of administrative tribunal. The members of this court must be normal judges appointed through the same process with same qualifications as that of a provincial High Court.

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Create a FATA Council, members elected on the basis of adult franchise and political party act.

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This elected FATA council may decide with consultation of the people of FATA about the future status of FATA, especially the question whether it should be made a part of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa or be made a separate province.

ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURES ON EDUCATION: Number of schools for female should be increased Schools must be established in proper places easily accessible for children School should not be established on the basis of political relations All the schools should be properly monitored and attendance of teachers should be ensured

Appointments of teachers from bottom to top should be made by Public service commission. Education budget should be increased at least 7% of national budget Political interference in the appointment of teachers should be avoided Dual statues of education must be abolished immediately After every three years all primary and middle schools should be upgraded Transport facilities for female teachers should be provided Ghost and closed schools should be reopened immediately Salaries of teachers should be increased Number of enrolment should be increased A Primary Education Commission (PEC) on the analogy of HEC should be established as autonomous and authorized body to tackle the issues of basic education of the nation. All education systems should be under PEC and not under Secretary and Minister of Education. PEC should have its own independent Board of Governors and a Chairman.

Regular in-service trainings and TOT should be imparted to enhance the skills and attitudes of teachers in basic education faculty. Schools need to be reconstructed where they have been destroyed by the terrorists and new schools to be constructed as per the needs with improved infrastructure.

There must be psychiatrists in the schools to address the various psychic disorders in the children to diffuse the terrorism and violence trauma. Market-led technical and vocational educational institution must be established to address the future employment needs of the youth. More budget must be allocated for Education There is need for uniformity in the educational system and curriculum design. There is need for increase in quota of FATA students in various educational institutions of the country in accordance with increase in the population of FATA. The scholarships of FATA students must be increased in accordance with price hike. Separate scholarships for FATA students in institutions of higher learning including professional ones like medical and engineering must be increased.

Special International scholarships schemes to be introduced for the students of FATA. Teachers should be appointed on merit political interference to be discouraged in the matters of recruitments.

Preferred and primary medium of education must be in mother tongue, that is Pashto, and it should be made mandatory till Matriculation. The children of FATA IDPs to be given special attention and the IDPs who are not living in camps to be extended help to enroll their children in schools.

2.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF KHYBER PUKHTUNKHWA AND FATA (FEDERALLY ADMINISTRATED TRIBAL AREAS)

2.1

KHYBER PUKHTUNKHWA
Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, previously known

as the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is located in the north west of the country. It borders Afghanistan to the north-west, Gilgit-Baltistan to the north-east, Azad Jammu & Kashmir to the east, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to the west and south, Baluchistan to the south and Punjab and the Islamabad Capital Territory to the south-east. The province has an area of 74,521 km. main districts of the province are Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat, Abbottabad Haripur and Mansehra, while Peshawar and Mardan are the main cities. The province has an estimated population of roughly 21 million that does not include the almost 1.5 million afghan refugees and their descendants in the province. The largest ethnic groups are the Pukhtuns who form about two-thirds of the population. Pashto the most prevalent language while Hindko is the second most commonly spoken indigenous language with many dialects, Pashto is predominant in western and southern NWFP and is the main language in most cities and towns including Peshawar. Hindko speaking casts are most common in eastern NWFP, the Hazara Division, and especially in the cities of Abbottabad and Haripur. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, the PATA and FATA functioned as a major base for supplying the Mujahideen who fought the, then, Soviets during the 1980s. The Khyber Pukhtunkhwa remained heavily influenced by events in Afghanistan and the civil war led to the rise of the Talibans, which had emerged in the border region between Afghanistan, Baluchistan, PATA and FATA as a challenging political force that nearly took over all of Afghanistan. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the FATA and bordering Khyber Pukhtunkhwa became a front-line region again as part of the global War on Terror".

The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa is unicameral and consists of 124 seats of which 2% are reserved for non-Muslims and 17% for women only. The President of Pakistan appoints a Governor as head of the provincial government of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. There is a directly-elected Provincial Assembly which has 124 elected members including 22 seats reserved for women and 3 seats for non-Muslims. The Provincial Assembly elects a Chief Minister to act as the chief executive of the province, assisted by a cabinet of ministers.

2.2

FATA (FEDERALLY ADMINISTRATED TRIBAL AREAS)


The Federally Administrated

Tribal Areas (FATA) is a group of small administrative units in the north-west of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa country of and the neighboring Afghanistan,

comprising a region of some 27,220 km (10,507 square miles), the area has Afghanistan to the north-west, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa to the east and Baluchistan to the south. The tribal areas comprise seven agencies, namely Khyber, Kurrum, Bajaur, Mohmand, Orakzai, North and South Wazirisatan and six Frontier Regions namely FR Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Tank, FR Bannu, FR Lakki and FR Dera Ismail Khan. According to Census of Pakistan 1998, its total population is said to be 3.3 million while independent sources claim that FATA has a population of more than 10 million. Agencies are further divided into subdivisions and tehsils. The overall administration of these agencies is carried out by the FATA Secretariat, based in Peshawar and reporting directly to Governor of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Province. The FATA region is nominally controlled by the Federal Government of Pakistan. The President of Pakistan has the authority only to implement the rules in FATA. He appoints and nominates the governor of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa who exercises the power of the president in FATA. The Constitution of Pakistan governs FATA through the same rules which were left by the British in 1901 as Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). The Khyber Pukhtunkhwa provincial Assembly has no power in FATA and can only exercise its powers in PATA (Provincial Administered tribal areas) that are part of the province.

The assembly cannot implement the law directly as it can do in other parts of the province or Settled Areas of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. The phenomenon of absence of government departments like police, judiciary, local governments, High Courts and Supreme Courts and civil amenities has created a vacuum in FATA and Frontier Regions which serves the interests of criminals and terrorists. The FATA does not have a university and a system of reserved seats is kept in universities in the settled areas of Pakistan. It is an ironic situation that there is no concrete plan to make a full-fledged university in FATA to benefit the local population. The literacy rate of FATA is known to be 17.42%, which is well below the 43.92% average in Pakistan. Only 29.51% of males and only 3% female receive education whereas average throughout the nation approximately 32% of women receives education. The head of each tribal agency is the political agent who represents the President of Pakistan and the appointed Governor of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. The political agent has extensive powers over the Tribesmen and can give Collective punishment through FCR. These punishments are considered as not according to Human Rights Conventions and we can say that basic human rights are denied to the population of FATA. People of FATA are represented both in National Assembly and Senate of Pakistan mostly owing to amount of money they possess and there is no representation of FATA in the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa although they are culturally and linguistically closer to the this provincial realities. Nonetheless, tribesmen were given the right to vote in the 1997 general elections despite the absence of Political Parties Act, whereas their representative were selected by Tribe Chieftains known as Maliks for the last one hundred years.

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3. DETAILS OF CONSULTATION DIALOGUES


3.1 CHARSSADA
3.1.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT
Facilitator: Mr. Mukhtar Bacha Consultation on 18th Amendment was jointly organized by SAP-PK and JCDS in District Charssada. Mr. Mukhtar Bacha gave a brief presentation on the objectives of the consultation. He told the participants that this consultation aims to discuss the issues related to implementation of 18th amendment. UNDP is collecting the views and comments of people about 18th amendments. A consolidated report will be developed that will be presented to the parliament after making regular consultation with people at grassroots level. The present consultation is organized to get feedback from common people, political & social activists and elected representatives on 18th amendment. Facilitator explained about the process of building consensus upon the various dimensions of the amendment saying that the constitution committee requested recommendation from all the parties. The majority of the recommendations were incorporated and a consensus was developed. After 1973, this is the second time in the history of Pakistan that a consensus has been developed among all the political parties to achieve the landmark of constitutional development. He said that the 18th amendment is the result of this consensus because leadership of each party has put their consent and given input to the amendment. He added that Khyber Pukhtunkhwa is not the part of 18th amendment but it shows the individual identity of the province. Mukhtar Bacha highlighted high issues of the 18th amendment. Facilitator told positive aspects of the amendment to the participants saying that, according to 18th amendment, education from primary to higher level will be free and compulsory. The condition of graduate level educational qualification for parliamentarians has been removed in the 18th amendment. Mr. Hayat Nazim union council Sheikho said that steps should be taken in the 18th amendment to give a sustainable solution to avoid dictatorship and military rule. Articles 6 (2A) describes that anyone who tries to interfere in the constitution such as dictators did with judiciary in the previous history of Pakistan, the constitution of Pakistan will not accept such course of action. Jan Pervaiz Advocate contributed by saying that Pakistan is the only country that had to run without its own constitution for nine years from 1947 to 1956. He added that 18 th

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amendment is a lyric document and a good step if we compare it with previous history, and see what happened with the constitution of Pakistan. He said that It encourages the independence and individual power of provinces, so as the province should utilize their own resources for its development. Interference will be avoided from the central government. In this amendment provinces are given powers to use their resources but in some cases the provinces lack in specific field of resources, there is no such detail about what the government will do to fulfill the needs of provinces. Zahoor Ahmad said that dictators has made amendments in the constitution to increase their powers and this practice has destroyed the worth and importance of constitution. The present 18th amendment is encouraging and the participation of all the parties is appreciated. Ali Akbar said that democracy had not allowed flourish in the country because it has been repeatedly crushed and cut by the military forces and dictators. He added that now with the amendment many powers are transferred from president to prime minister and to empower and strengthen the parliamentary democracy. Farman Khan expressed his reservation on certain clauses of the amendment and held that it has promoted dictatorship in the parties and according to the 18th amendment the powers of the leader of the party has been increased and no elections will be undertaken within the political parties and this will encourage dictatorship in the political parties. Molana Gohar Shah, Ex-MNA, opined that 18th amendment is encouraging in the sense that it promotes 1973 constitution. He emphasized that elections within the political parties should be made part of the constitutional amendment. He objected the condition of education (B.A) to be made compulsory for parliament members, instead he argued that, if a person is sensible and competent that person should be allowed to contest election. It is also important that when MPA & MNA conduct speeches in the parliament they should be allowed to perform speeches in their local language so that they can easily express their ideas and views. One who is competent can give feedback and ideas should be allowed to speak in the parliament in the language of his/her choice. Jan Haider Advocate discussed the issues of federation and emphasized the allocation of provincial resources to the provinces for the strengthening of federation.

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Saeed Khan commented on the 17th amendment and held that it was made to empower the dictators and now 18th amendment was needed to bring 1973 constitution in its actual form. He also put emphasis on the inclusion of a clause that makes binding on the leaders of political parties to introduce democratic norms within their parties. He expressed his reservations on the silence of amendment about the status of FATA saying that FATA has been neglected in the 18th amendment. Irfan Mufti, Deputy Director SAP-PK, gave

enlightened input to the participants of consultation saying that the constitution of South Africa is jointly made by the people along with the parliament. They have made a commission that takes feedback from the people and make necessary amendments. He showed the optimistic aspects of the constitutional development in Pakistan and especially by the existing regime saying that 18th amendment is a good start towards this direction. He also told the participants that there are different human rights instruments and constitution of Pakistan is still faraway from such conventions. The positive step of 18th amendment should be encouraged and promoted by the all sections of society. Mr. Irfan Mufti expressed his reservations also and held that the constitution accepts provinces but not the multicultural realities of the nation. The main recommendations of the dialogue are RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Elections should be conducted in parties 2. Fata should be given representation in the provincial government and also should be included in 18th amendments 3. It is not clear that how the provinces will exercise their independent powers given in the 18th amendment and NFC Award 4. Fata should be made part of the province 5. Members from civil society organization should be included in the parliamentary committee to collect feedback of common people about judicial decisions and constitutional development 6. Provinces and federal government should be given powers according to character of federation in the 18th amendment

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3.1.2 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION


Facilitator: Mukhtar Bacha Consultation dialogue on Public Spending on Education was jointly organized by SAP-PK and JCDS in District Charssada. Mr. Mukhtar Bacha gave a brief presentation on the objectives of the consultation. People from different walk of life including political workers from different political parties, representatives from civil society organizations, and women participated in the consultation workshop. The organizer of the consultation Mr. Farman Ullah said that the present consultation meeting aims to identify gaps in government spending on education and dig-out views of the participants that will be documented and presented in the provincial assembly. He told the participants that denial of education is the denial of basic rights of the people and a nation cannot achieve development goals without education. He added that government expenditure (Budget) on education is 03 % that has reduced the improvement and development in education sector. Mr. Mukhtar Bacha briefly explained that government spends very less amount on education. He apprised the participants about commitments made by the Pakistani State in 1998 in Senegal as follows: Pakistan will spend 7% of its GDP on education every year Free education will be provided to students Free lunch will be given in the schools Scholarships will be given to students Better infrastructure will be provided in the schools 40 students will set in one class room. This number will not be increased in one classroom. Ratio of enrolment will be raised to 86%

He invited the participants for discussion on topic of consultation and asked them to give their recommendations that will be presented in the Parliament for the consideration of provincial assembly members. Each participant was interested to speak on educational crises because every citizen is directly suffered from provision of quality education.

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The participants expressed their views on public spending on education by focusing various issues and build a consensus on some issues written as follows: The budget for education is fixed only 2.45 % of GDP that reduces the options for development in education 88% of the budget is spent on military that affects the development process in other sectors such as education, health, physical infrastructure and economic growth. Primary, secondary and higher education is not given proper concentration. Funds are allocated to primary education and most of the funds are spent on purchase of land for schools and building construction. Beside construction of buildings, there are other areas that need special focus. These areas include, quality education, increasing enrollment ratio and especially of the female students, teachers training, curriculum design on modern and scientific grounds, discouraging corporal punishment examination system. Monitoring system is very poor and there are number of schools supposed to be supervised by a single education officer. The problem here is that, one supervisor is not enough to supervise and monitor large number schools. There are over-crowded classes that create various issues like each student is not given due attention, teacher is unable to mange discipline, etc Instead of developing human resource and spending more on education our rulers are following the policies of former regimes and still surviving with loanoriented economy. Enrolment ratio in Pakistan is 50% to 60% and out of these enrolled students 50% students dropout after primary education is an alarming situation. The dropout of students has various causes and consequences that need to be studied and remedial measure to be taken. Corruption, dishonesty, discouraging the merit and mismanagement is another obstacle in the educational development. Brain drain is another high issue and in most of the cases when the people get educated they move abroad due to lack of opportunities and receiving no appreciation in the country Owing to unavailability of modern and quality education and consequently unemployment leads to shortcut means of earning through illegal and criminals businesses and terrorism as a last resort. There is also lack of primary schools in remote areas especially for girls 15 in primary schools, and appropriate

In some cases the elected representatives use their influence and establish education institutions in their locality for increasing their vote bank Taming the heart and minds of student is essential to the goals of education that is not considered in the teaching methods by education department. Education system based on class divides creates huge differences and hate among different sections. Dissimilarities and disparities between the syllabus and courses of government and private schools divide the society into masters and slaves.

Government is not having will to promote higher education as most of the children dropout after getting primary education System of education needs to be revisited on the criterion of Examinations are for the children, children are not for the examinations The duty lies on the shoulders of parents and teachers to nourish the children as good students and also good citizens of society The confidence of people is lacking on government institutions There are total 1200 primary and 800 high schools in the whole province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, which cannot meet the educational needs of the students.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Number of schools for female should be increased 2. Schools must be established in proper places easily accessible for children 3. School should not be established on the basis of political relations 4. All the schools should be properly monitored and attendance of teachers should be ensured 5. Appointments of teachers from bottom to top should be made by Public service commission. 6. Education budget should be increased at least 7% of national budget 7. Political interference in the appointment of teachers should be avoided 8. Dual statues of education must be abolished immediately 9. After every three years all primary and middle schools should be upgraded 10. Transport facilities for female teachers should be provided 11. Ghost and closed schools should be reopened immediately 12. Salaries of teachers should be increased 13. Number of enrolment should be increased 14. EDOs should monitor all educational institutions regularly

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3.2

KOHAT

3.2.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT


Facilitator: Professor Ijaz Khan Professor Ijaz Khan facilitated the session and told the participants The purpose was of the consultation. consultation jointly

organized by SAP-PK Peshawar and its district partner Youth Welfare Younger Blood Donors Kohat, About 40 participants representing different sections of society participated in the debate with useful intellectual input. Dr. Ijaz Khan presented a brief introduction on the 18 th amendment and highlighted four parts of the amendment which were expected to have a direct impact on the common citizens as follows. Strengthening of the parliamentary democracy Independence of Judiciary Provincial Autonomy Good Governance Participants were satisfied with the 18th amendment step and held that strengthening of the parliament was achieved through removing the power of the President and restoring the executive powers of the Prime Minister. Participants brought into discussion the recent steps taken by the government about the appointments of the judges and it was expressed that the independence of judiciary was expected to be achieved through creation of a commission for appointment of the Judges of the superior judiciary. This commission has majority representation of the judiciary with two representatives of the executive, thus, ending the discretion of one person in the appointments. A debate on the NFC Award attracted the attention of the participants with the comments that provincial autonomy was increased through abolishing of the concurrent list and some increase in the financial powers of the provinces. Participants explained that, another provision of interest to the provinces is that the governor of a province must be appointed from amongst people of that province. The

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most important departments that have gone to provinces from the perspective of the common man are (a) Health, (b) Education and (c) Environmental Protection. Mr. Ijaz Khan told the participants that clauses related to good governance included (a) Right to Information. (b) Right to Free and Fair Primary Education and (c) Right to Free and Fair Trial. Mr. Ijaz Khan explained that some of these may have taken place, while others required policy decisions, implementation strategies and legislation. He then invited the participants to express their views. The participants were then asked to freely express their views. There was a lot of divergence in the opinions of the participants. While a few considered that the whole exercise to be irrelevant to the common citizen, others argued that there were good things about it; still there was a third opinion that it depends on implementation and one should wait till that time before giving ones opinion. Opinion was also expressed that a lot of good policies and laws are made but when it comes to implementation nothing reaches the common citizen. Some participants were critical of the removal of the compulsory elections in the political parties and the powers of the leader of the party to recall a parliamentarian related clauses.

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Implementation is the real issue. There are many good provisions in the Constitution and various laws and policies but during implementation the benefits never reach the people. 2. Common people are not concerned with the changes of system unless the benefits reaches them 3. The clause about elections within political parties should not have been removed 4. To endure provincial autonomy the provinces must be given control of Power (WAPDA) as well as minerals

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3.2.2 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON


EDUCATION
Facilitator: Professor Ijaz Khan Consultation dialogue on public expenditure on education was jointly organized by SAP-PK and Youth Welfare Younger Blood Donors Kohat in which focal persons of civil society organizations, school teachers, education department officials, social workers and students participated and took part in the process of debate on the topic of consultations. Dr. Ijaz Khan gave a brief on the objectives of consultation and initiated the discussion. He told the participant that 18th amendment expresses the commitment made by the State of Pakistan to Right to education. He added that according to this amendment the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law1. He told that the budget allocates 2. 4 % of GDP to education as compared to UNESCOs standard of at least 3.5 %. He also told that last year only 1.7 % was given to education rather than the budgetary allocation of 2.9%. He questioned by saying that, is this enough to even start the constitutional obligation? To initiate a well elaborate discussion he put some high issues and concerns before the participants which are given below:
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Where does education stand in order of priorities? Access, Coverage Infrastructure Incentives Disparities: between male and female, rich and poor, urban and rural and discriminations on the basis of ethnicity, sects, region and province etc. Quality: qualification training, curriculum development, text book, learning achievement, examinations etc. Governance Class division Planning, Budget & Development Plan Any other aspect that the participants consider necessary to be highlighted

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This was followed by an open discussion by the participants. Professor Iqbal opined that our education system is largely affected by our feudal, social and political milieu. He said that bringing about a change in the rigid society is quite impossible because governments announce policies but there are lots of issues of implementation. Another participant, Mr. Saadullah Khan emphasized the significance of mother tongue as prime medium of education and standardization of syllabus. He proposed that teaching career should be made attractive enough so that it may entice and attracts proficient and quality teachers. Participants pointed towards the issues of corruption that hinders the quality education. A government official of the education department informed that there are enough schools, but the education system is predominated by the political interference. Participants agreed upon the conclusion that it is not a question of percentage of spending but of correct spending and proper planning. We have school buildings without any teachers and students. Proper utilization of the existing infrastructure and resources can improve the situation a lot if the monitoring system of education department is made effective. A female participant expressed his views saying that it is always too much talk on the improvements and no action on the part of governments. Another female participant said that we should not be speaking cynicism and be positive because with the passage of time female will improve. Participants demanded the proper training teachers training in addition to curbing the menace of corruption in the overall process of implementation. It was revealed that appointments and transferring of the teachers are made on political basis and this practice must be ended. Another participant told that in many cases planning is no up to the mark and funds are not utilized within the timeframe and consequently these funds lapse due to non utilization. According to Prime Minister Mr. Gaillani, Federal government gave large funds to provincial governments in Musharaf time which were not utilized in given timeframe. It was emphasized that civil society must speak up on the issues of spending on education and strengthening educational institutions on scientific grounds.

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3.3

DIR LOWER

3.3.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT


Facilitator: Dr. Ijaz Khan A consultation workshop addressing the issues emerging out of 18th Constitutional Amendment was organized by SAPPK and its district partner organization Social Awareness and Development Organization (SADO) at Bagh Dheri Dir lower. About 40 participants representing different sections of District Dir people participated. Dr. Ijaz Khan gave a brief presentation the amendment and highlighted four parts of the 18th amendment which were expected to have a more direct impact on the common citizens. Strengthening of the parliament Independence of Judiciary Provincial Autonomy Good Governance Facilitator explained in his presentation that strengthening of the parliament was achieved through removing the power of the President to dismiss the government and end the parliament without the advice of the Prime Minister and restoring the executive powers of the Prime Minister. Facilitator acquainted the participants about the independence of judiciary saying that the independence of judiciary has been expected to be achieved through creation of a commission for appointment of the Judges of the superior judiciary. This commission has majority representation of the judiciary with two representatives of the executive, thus, ending the discretion of one person in the appointments. Talking on the provincial autonomy, facilitator maintained that provincial autonomy has been increased through abolishing of the concurrent list and some increase in the financial powers of the provinces. He added that another provision of interest to the provinces is that the governor of a province must be appointed from amongst people

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of that province. The facilitator discussed the positive development of the 18th amendment saying that the most important departments that have gone to provinces with the perspective of the common man development and these are (a) Health, (b) Education and (c) Environmental Protection. Talking on the good governance facilitator held that good governance related clauses included (a) Right to Information. (b) Right to Free and Fair Primary Education and (c) Right to Free and Fair Trial has been incorporated in the amendment, which is a distinguishing feature of the amendment. He further explained that some of these may have taken place, while others required policy decisions, implementation strategies and legislation. He then invited the participants to express their views in the plenary. Mr. Zahir Shah expressing his opinion said, independence of judiciary is good but it appears that commission is not acceptable to judiciary. Provincial autonomy does not include giving of power in the matters of WAPDA and natural resources to provinces. While services have been transferred to provinces, money generating items have been retained by the center. Another participant said just inserting the word free is not enough he suggested that Objectives Resolution needs to be removed altogether. Mr. Sajjad, lecturer of sociology at Malakand University, said that the Amendments should have been debated more thoroughly. He was of the opinion that making of 95 changes in one go meant no good intentions. He was skeptic of the capacity of provincial government to carry out new responsibilities. Some participants objected to the removal of proposal concerning elections within Political parties. Mr. Ibrar opine that in fact there are some good features in the amendment like renaming of this province, abolishment of the concurrent list and others but there should have been consultation with the civil society before this amendment. He held that an alternate amendment bill should have been presented by the Civil Society. Another participant commented on provincial autonomy saying that what we are getting now should have been given in 1983. Now time has gone further. And we need more provincial autonomy. Pakistan is a multi national state and

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the issue is of restructuring it according to the ethno linguistic identities and then making new units more powerful. Another participant presented that unless the real power goes to the people and the boots (military) stops interfering in politics nothing will work for the benefit of the people. He feared that political will and capacity of government to implement is still lacking and the powerful elites in the government will not permit any real change. Revival of the old administrative set up of commissioner is an example in this regards. Participants were of the view that there may be independence of judiciary for rest of the country but in Malakand Division of which Dir is a part, under the Nizam-e- Adl system Commissioner is the appointing authority of the Qazi. We have many Qazis from the bureaucracy, Mr. Khalid Hasan argued that whatever are the weaknesses and strengths of the amendment, as a political worker I believe that 18th amendment has removed the rubber stamp role of the parliament and empowered the parliament. I have doubts about its implementation. Mr. Altaf Hussain opined that with the introduction of 18th amendment parliament can assert itself through its powers. Mr. Ehsan ul Haq pointed out that implementation of the amendment is the wish of the people, however it will fail as long as the military rule is imposed on you nothing can work. Participants were of the opinion that all the institutions of the state must work independently without the interference of others. Participants showed their reservations on the handing over of the resources to the provinces and expressed the need of struggle for the rights of provinces and common citizens. Mr. Ibrar proposed that political education should be imparted to the political workers and leadership of the political parties with a purpose to strengthen the parliamentarian democracy in Pakistan. Mr. Khalid Hasan agreed endorsed the proposed recommendation.

3.3.2 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON


EDUCATION
Facilitator: Ijaz Khan

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A consultation workshop on Budgetary Allocation on education was organized by SAP-PK and its district partner organization Social Awareness and Development Organization (SADO) at Bagh Dheri Dir. The focal person of civil society organizations, school teachers, education department officials, lawyers, social activists and students of the district took part in the day long consultation. Dr. Ijaz Khan introduced the discussion by telling the objectives of the consultation. He told the participants that 18th amendment has expressed the will of State of Pakistan to acknowledge the peoples right to education and added that the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law. He explained that the budget allocates 2. 4 % of GDP to education compared to UNESCOs standard of at least 3.5 %.last year only 1.7 % was actually given to education rather than the budgetary allocation of 2.9%. He put question before the participants; is this enough to even start the constitutional obligation. He laid down some pointers for discussion of the participants as a general guideline for discussion. Where does education stand in order of priorities? Access, Coverage, Infrastructure, Incentives, etc. Disparities: between male and female, rich and poor, urban and rural, and

discrimination on the basis of region, province, ethnicity, sect etc. Quality: Qualification, Training, Curriculum development, text book, Learning achievement., Examinations) Governance Class division Planning, Budget & Development Plan Any other aspect that the participants consider necessary to be highlighted

The house was declared open for discussion on the above stated issues. Mr. Ibrar taking the lead said, education provides the basis for a progressive and developed nation and teacher has a fundamental role in it. He said that recruitment should be ensured on merit rather than on political recommendations. He emphasized training of the teachers for the imparting of quality education to the students. Participants told that per child cost of different districts in government schools was from Rs. 800 to 1400 per child per month, (except training costs, building, textbooks, and

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uniforms). Participants told that private schools provide same or better quality for much less around Rs. 700 or 800 per month, which excludes only textbooks and uniform. Participants expressed their reservations on the budgetary allocations on education saying that said budget does not indicate allocations for male/female developmental non developmental. It was revealed that District Dir stands at the position of one of lowest literacy rate districts. In lower Dir we have 840 boys schools while we have 410 girls schools. Participants told that though government is signatory of various international treaties and expressed its commitment to end gender disparity by 2005 in education but there is no action on ground for that even in 2010. There is a need to double the numbers of girls schools in the province. It was a notable comment that neither private schools nor privatization is the solution of the problems in education. Khaliq Rehman, leader of teachers association expressed his opinion saying that education must be in mother tongue. He added that the impression that condition of education in government school is worse than private school is absolutely wrong. We have started believing English is the meaning of education which is not the case. We need same syllabus for all schools. Government schools have better educated and better trained teachers. Government schools education suffers because of imparting three mediums of education simultaneously; Pashto, Urdu and English to some extent, whereas private schools go from day one in English. There have been many policies but either bad or no implementation makes the situation worse and nothing changes in the field. A participant expressed his concerns about restrictions on the female education in the name of local social and cultural norms and values. Another participant suggested utilization of Madrassa for normal primary and secondary education by incorporating scientific and modern syllabus in these Madrassas. A participant was of the opinion that we can solve the gender issue by introducing coeducation at primary level, if the female teachers are not available at local level. All the participants recommended that Budget allocation for education must be increased. A lecturer in Sociology, Malakand University said education is not the top priority of the government. He identified various irregularities and errors in the system of education

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saying that there are many factors contributing to failure in this regards; especially our attitudes, etc. Another young participant said that we needed a broader environment for promotion of education. People must be made aware of the significance of education. Class division of education must end. Corruption in education system has to end. There are not enough teachers. Participants also maintained that destruction of educational institutions is the target of religious extremists. It was emphasized that local social attitudes as well as the propaganda of the religious extremist forces against education must be discouraged. Another teacher told that location of schools is politically determined and in many cases schools are situated at such a distance that female students either feel insecure or not permitted by parents to go to a distanced schools. It was recommended that selection of location to be made in consultation with the local communities. Participants agreed on the opinion that private schools must also be regulated. Another opinion stressed upon the need to improve Infrastructure. Another teacher suggested that, ideally there should be female teachers at all primary schools, but at the moment we have not enough female teachers even for girls schools, senior male teachers may be appointed for these schools. Another participant criticized the engagement of government school staff for noneducational activities and duties like conducting census or elections and these engagements are the wastage of time and professionals. Mr. Aftab Alam, DEO female highlighted the need of establishing coordination with NGOs working in the sector of education. He said that system is not as bad as most participants are saying. He gave some good examples of such coordination that helped reduce the drop out ratio of student from primary and secondary schools. social norms and local culture, poverty, political interference, disinterestedness of teachers, untrained teachers, malfunctioning of the administration

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3.4

BANNU
Facilitated by: Mr. Munir Ali Shah A consultation workshop on 18th amendment & citizen concerns was organized

3.4.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT

by Community Development Organization (CDO) Bannu in collaboration with South Asia Partnership Pakistan and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Dialogue consultation was presided over by Mr. Wali Ayaz Khan Advocate, Ex President District Bar Association & senior leader of ANP Bannu After telling about the objectives of consultation on the subject , Mr. Ikramullah Khan Advocate (Executive Director CDO briefly described the participants about the constitutional history of Pakistan along with 18th amendment, its main Articles and implementation procedure. He said that it took the country nine years after independence to frame the first Constitution. This was one of the longest periods taken for this purpose by any country. In 1954 the Assembly was dissolved by the Governor General without any constitutional mandate leading to instability in the political system. The Constitutions of 1956 and 1962 ware abrogated. The Constitution of 1962 violated the democratic principle of one-man one-vote as well as adult franchise and finally, being a centralized federation with a unicameral legislature; it was a flawed federal structure. The result was the tragic event of the separation of East Pakistan. He told the participants that, the 1973 Constitution was enacted in this back-drop of loss of a part of the country and consequent disillusionment and frustration. The nation salutes Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and all other political leaders and personalities both inside and outside parliament whose struggle contributed to the framing of the 1973 Constitution. This document, despite two military interventions, has stood the test of time and could not be abrogated. The essential features of 1973 Constitution are that it would be based on Islamic principles and be a Federal Parliamentary system with Provincial Autonomy in which fundamental rights and the independence of the Judiciary would be ensured. He explained to the participants that, the Constitution of 1973 was not implemented in letter and spirit and the democratic system got derailed at different times. The nondemocratic regimes that took power sought to centralize all authority and introduce various provisions which altered the basic structure of the Constitution from a parliamentary form to a quasi Presidential form of Government through the 8 th and 17th constitutional Amendments. Thus, the equilibrium established by the Constitution of

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1973 was disturbed which weakened the democratic institutions and deprived the Provinces of their legitimate constitutional rights in governance and in utilization of their natural resources. It also resulted in the absence of rule of law, lack of confidence in the judicial system and distance between Provinces and Federation. Mr. Ikramullah Khan Advocate discussed in elaborate way the efforts of present regime and told the participants that demands of amendments in the Constitution were raised by all Political forces from time to time, in particular, it was stressed that there was a need for giving the Provinces autonomy, ensuring an independent and impartial judiciary and equality in sharing of resources between Provinces and the Federation. There after, the President wrote a letter to the Prime Minster on 9th April, 2009 calling upon the Government to take appropriate steps in this regard. Thus a committee was framed from all the political forces to review the constitution, keeping in view the following amongst other criteria: Transparency in the System Minimizing individual discretion Strengthening Parliament & Provincial Assemblies. Provincial autonomy Independence of Judiciary Strengthening Fundamental Rights The question of merit Good Governance Strengthening of Institutions.

Telling about the accomplishments of government Mr. Ikramullah Khan Advocate apprised the participants that, thus the Committee held a total number of 77 meetings in nine months, with each meeting at an average lasting 5 hours, thus the Committee has spent about 385 hours during its deliberations, in the light of the above, the Committee has proposed amendments to 97 Articles in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan such amendments are contained in the proposed, Constitutional (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, 2010. Mr. Ikramullah Khan Advocate elaborated few of the important Articles which are essential for the integrity of the country. Amendment of Article 1 of the Constitution, In Article 1 the word North West Frontier is amended to the words Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.

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Article 19A, (Right to Information) Article 19A is inserted in the constitution; it says that every citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance subject to regulation & reasonable restrictions imposed by Law. Article 25A (Right to Education) It is new Article inserted in the Constitution, it says that State shall provide free & compulsory education to all children of the age of 5 to 16 years in such manners as may determined by Law. Substitution of Article 58 of the Constitution (Dissolution of the National Assembly) The President shall now dissolve the Assembly, if so advised by the Prime Minister. Article 91 of the Constitution PM Amendment in Article 92 of the Constitution Provided further that the total strength of the Cabinet, including Ministers of state, shall not exceed eleven percent of the total membership of the Parliament. Substitution of Article 130 of the Constitution. The total strength of the provincial cabinet shall not exceed 15 members or 11% of the total membership of the PA. Insertion of Article 175A in the Constitution (Article 175A appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court, High Court and the Federal Shariat Court) There shall be a Judicial Commission of Pakistan for the appointment of judges for the above courts. Commission shall consist of Chief Justice of Pakistan 2 most senior Judges of the SC Former CJ of SC of Pakistan or Former Judge of the SC Federal Minister of Law Attorney General of Pakistan Senior Advocate of SC nominated by Pakistan Bar Council for a term of 2 years. (substitution of 5A) Provided that there shall be no restriction on the number of terms for the office of the

Mr. Ikramullah Khan Advocate added that, these are the some vital amendments, insertions or omission to the Constitution of 1973 of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is rather a unique development in the democratic history of Pakistan where a ruling party (PPPP) with its majority in almost 4 provinces under took this main issue of the country and the political forces and delegated all the powers to the Parliament in order to strengthen him and making the institution strong. Remarks, Comments and Recommendations of the participants:

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Mr. Sher Muhammad Khan (Advocate High Court Bannu) held that the government should act upon these amendments as soon as possible. He also had reservation over the removal of qualification by saying that now every illiterate and uneducated person can contest the election to be the member of NA or PA. Imran Shah (The Secretary Jamat-e-Islami) was of the view that only presenting in making the 18th amendment a part of the 1973 constitution is not enough, until and unless it will not be implemented in its true form it is useless. Jamat-e-Islami has also some reservation on these amendments, one reservation is that the political parties did the amendment that there shall be no election in the political parties, which is against the democratic spirit. In this way the obligation of education is omitted which is condemnable. Haji Rahman (President PPPP Tehsil Domail Bannu) praised the government for presenting the amendment and making it applicable. Shakir Ullah Khan Advocate commented that the government says all these amendments to be followed by the next government which shows lack of will on the part of the government to implement it; therefore it should be implemented as soon as possible. Pir Abdullah Shah (Former Nazim UC Bharat) suggested holding seminars and awareness workshops to aware the community, not only the common citizens but also the elected representatives about the 18th amendment and its implementation, as it is necessary to create common awareness and develop a collective consensus on the issues. Nadeem Hayat Advocate PML (N) said that the 18th amendment put the country towards real democracy and parliamentary form of government. Inayat Ullah Khan (Journalist) was of the opinion that it is the duty of all the Civil Society Organizations to arrange peoples rallies and awareness seminars to aware the people on the 18th amendment and also for its implementation otherwise it will only be confined in papers. Ashraf Ullah Khan (GS, VDO Bannu) recommended that we must hold meetings our elected representatives whether these are MNAs, MPAs or Senators and discuss the issue with them, and in the light of these discussions and recommendations we can frame our strategy. Secondly we shall gather the masses and aware them on the 18 th amendments and its efficacy. In this connection we shall motivate good number of

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masses for pressurizing the government to implement the amendment as early as possible. He suggested contact with donors for these activities. Wali Ayaz Khan Advocate (Senior Leader ANP & Former Bar President) commented that these amendments are for the integrity of Pakistan and a new Pakistan is emerging on the world map, these amendments give us the vital name after 62 years, provincial autonomy, and royalty of the Provinces and blocked the way of Usurpers for killing democracy in the darkness of night. All the participants were agreed upon the fact that the 18th amendment is one the important amendment in the constitutional history of Pakistan. So for the question of implementation is concerned every one should consider its prime duty to propagate about 18th amendments at every forum, for example Lawyer should mobilize community in Bars, Journalist should take the route of press and CSOs should initiate the awareness campaign. These will definitely require the funds, for this CDO shall take the responsibility to locate the donors for these seminars, I on behalf of Lawyer community assure you that all the lawyers will work freely for this pro-people development.

3.4.2 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON


EDUCATION
Facilitator: Mr. Munir Ali Shah A consultation workshop on Public Spending on Education was organized by Community Development Organization (CDO) Bannu in collaboration with South Asia Partnership Pakistan. The consultation was presided over by Mr. Sher Muhammad Khan Chairman HR Bannu and facilitated by Mr. Munir Ali Shah Educationist Bannu. Mr. Munir Ali Shah (Educationist) welcomed and briefed the participants about the objectives, norms and procedure of the dialogue and explained the importance of education. He told that, In Pakistan, since independence, efforts were made to uplift the education standard but unfortunately due to the inconsistent policies of the government the aim couldnt achieve. He critically examined the prevailing condition of Education in Pakistan and said that literacy rate of Pakistan is as low as more than 130 countries are having greater literacy rate than Pakistan. Even in the region those nations who got contemporary independence with us are enjoying higher literacy rate.

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In Pakistan we not only have the problem of enrolling the school going age children but retention is another problem as well. More than 50% children are dropped prior to completion of primary education. This rate continues up to the elementary, secondary and at higher education level, and now we have only 2% enrolment of the target group. Least allocation of resources for education in Pakistan is one of the main causes of this problem. National Education Policy 2009 reveals that resources for education come largely from the public sector, which spends 2.5% of the GDP (2006-7) on education while 0.5% is estimated to be the contribution of the private sector, putting the combined resources at around 3% of GDP for 2006-7. The data 2 on public expenditure on education points to low priority Pakistan gives to education as it spends relatively less on education in terms of GDP (2.3%) as compared to the countries like Iran (4.7%), Malaysia (6.2%), Thailand (4.2%), South Korea (4.6%), India (3.8%) and Bangladesh (2.5%). Any nation can not develop its education sector up to the desired level unless 7% of GDP is allocated for education. But we can see that in the budget 2010-11 about 2.4% of GDP is allocated for education. We can convince our legislators through public awareness campaign and pressurize them to allocate more budgets for education. Facilitator of the consultation Mr.Munir Ali Shah told that the discussion will be focused on these three main areas: 1. Drawbacks of our education system 2. Budget allocation for education. Is that enough? If not, what are the suggestions?
3.

Education in Bannu: what are the Issues/ recommendations?

Remarks, Comments and Recommendations of the participants are as follows: Majority of the participants suggested that required ratio of GDP must be allocated for education, especially primary education should be given due attention. They stressed on the needs for improving quality education particularly for teacher training and teaching aids. Government should provide more funds for higher education, improving female education, skill based education, teachers trainings and to uplift the infrastructure of schools in district Bannu.

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Similarly morale of teachers should be boosted up through provision of attractive packages in Bannu. . Politics destroyed the education system in our country, so that must be stopped immediately. Abdul Hadi (Headmaster) was of the view that education must be the first national priority. He further said that the non development budget, especially the expenses of the bureaucracy, legislatives and other sectors should be cut down and the amount be spent on education. Professor Ayub Khan Dawar (Assistant. Professor Government College Miran Shah) was of the opinion that funds for higher education must not be reduced as it will adversely affect the scholarship holders of higher studies both inland and abroad. Sanobar Khan (ADO education Bannu) held that more facilities to primary schools be provided and incentives be given to those teachers who are serving or posted in far flung areas of Bannu. It was also emphasized that recommendations of education policy 2009 must be implemented. Dr. Gul Zar Ali (Social Activist & Provincial President of Peasant Worker Network) mentioned that incentives to primary level students be given in shape of stipends, food & uniforms in Bannu. The non-formal education and adult literacy programs are confronted with failure, hence government should provide attractive salaries to both the students and teachers to attract and retain adult learners in our area. There must be strong co-ordination among various education projects to minimize the duplication and wastage of resources in Bannu. Abdul Wahed (Principal PPC Collage Bannu) told that government should encourage private sector for contributing more in education sector in the district. Another main issue regarding education in Pakistan is the difference of curriculum between Public and Private sector education and hence there must be uniformity of curriculum in the country. Muhammad Riaz (Higher Secondary School Teacher Bannu) said that the rapid experimentation and short term policies in education system badly affected the quality of education. It should be stopped and government should frame and implement long term policies.

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Akhtar Zaman (Ex. DDO Education Bannu) held that separation of teaching and management cadre is a commendable step of the government and the approach of integrated system of supervision and in-service training should be encouraged. He further said that there must be strong accountability system in education to ensure the quality of education. Funds for PTCs should be increased; every school should be free in purchasing teaching aids and materials. Ihsan Ullah Khan Khattak (Vice President Press Club Bannu) commented that teaching should be given more prestige as it is a respectable profession. A lot of school are either damaged or destroyed in the recent wave of terrorism in Bannu but no attention is paid for the reconstruction of these schools and in most of the primary schools, students are getting education under the open sky in the summer season. Therefore, it is suggested that donors must come to our area and address this core issue. Ms. Amina Bibi (Private School Teacher) pointed out that incentives should be given to increase the ratio of female education in Bannu. To increase the female literacy rate, schools must be constructed in far flung areas or free transport to female students and teachers should be provided so that education be made accessible for them. . Ms. Attiya Khan (School Teacher) stressed that donors must pay attention to CSOs in Bannu for spreading the Education in hard areas. Ms. Kalsum Bibi (Member of CSO) observed that politics must be wiped out in education and appointments must be based on merit rather than on favoritisms or nepotism, as there are many qualified female teachers waiting for their appointments. Dr. Rehmat Ullah Khan (Principal Huzaifa Public School) held that it is the duty of district education department to regularly monitor and evaluate the standard of education in private and government schools in all respects. The district education department should check their intension for adopting education as a business or for promoting education Haji Aftab-u-Din (Former Nazim U/C Khojari) remarked that female teachers must be provided security. He suggested that all ghost schools should be re-opened in Bannu without political and government pressure. In addition, he said that to enhance the literacy rate in the area, awareness raising workshops for parents must be arranged in

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which they should be told about the importance of both male and female education for the development of their nation and also orient them about education in the light of Quran and Sunnah. Khubaz Khan (Political Worker JUI) turned emotional about the deprivation and miseries of the issues and said that promotion of education is not given due importance by the government which is not acceptable. Therefore, it is the duty of political parties to play their due role in the promotion of education. Mr. Sher Muhammad Khan conclude the dialogue and said that illiteracy is a global issue which is one of the causes of world terrorism. To address this problem, international community must join hands with Pakistan and help to increase literacy rate. He summarized the dialogue and held that to improve the situation of law and order in the country, people should be educated. Scheme of Apna Ghar reflected in education policy 2009, should be immediately initiated. He further added that the findings and recommendations of the report will be provided to parliamentarians who will present these in the parliament

3.5

D I KHAN

3.5.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT


Facilitator: Mr. Ahmad Zeb Khan A consultation workshop was organized to discuss key policy issue of 18th amendment package and its implementation issues at the district level with relevant experts, academia, primary stakeholders, district level administration, state and governments representatives, civil society organizations and provincial and federal parliamentarians. Facilitator gave a brief presentation on the aims and objectives of the event and held that, this will build a link between parliament and the civil society and will enhance the role of the parliamentarians, enabling them to play their role as effective legislators. The consultations and dialogue made under the initiative are expected to make a body of information fed into Parliamentarians Orientation Program to consolidate their representation roles resulting in their enhanced oversight and legislation role. In other words, this will enhance the capacity of the parliamentarians and the parliament as a whole. Facilitator adopted the following agenda to be carried out for the discussion and dialogue on the subject of consultation: Provincial autonomy

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Abolishment of concurrent list and handing them to the provinces Independence of judiciary Revenue sharing between federal and provincial governments and steps needed to be taken for a way forward in implementation of 18th amendment

Mr. Ahmad Zeb Khan gave ten minutes orientation on the issue enabling the participants to be more or less at the same level of understanding. The pre-set questions were then put forward to the plenary to get focused answers and to avoid unnecessary debate.

The President High court Bar Association, Mr. Sanaullah Khan Gandapur, having vast experience of law & legislature opened the discussion by giving very valuable suggestions and invited others to give their valuable suggestions to address the core issues relating to 18th amendment.

All the participants were actively involved in the dialogues and a very warm discussion on the 18th amendment situation was generated and issues were analyzed. Although at some points the whole group seemed as of two different points of views but generally the discussions were focused on the central resolving center of the dialogue and hence the fruitful recommendations resulted with the consensus of all participants.

Dr. Abdul Waheed provided his services as District Reporter and made notes of the proceedings. The session lasted for four hours. At the end of the debate the reporter read out the outcome of the debate to the participants, who unanimously endorsed the recommendations.

Recommendations
1. Revenue from the judicial services may be directed towards the judicial budget for the financial independence of the judiciary. As long as judiciary is financially dependent on the executive, the Independence shall always remain a question. 2. For judicial accountability, three consecutive complains against any judge should automatically lead to reference to chief justice for appropriate action along with

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the instant withdrawal of powers from the very accused judge until the judgment from the Chief Justice is in place. The judgments made by judges should be thoroughly analyzed. 3. Establishment of JURY system in the judicial system to deliver the proper justice and to avoid any corruption and the JURY should be effective in decision making. 4. Provincial autonomy should be as strong as NOT to effect negatively to the federal strength. 5. Abolishment of concurrent list and handing them to the provinces is a good gesture in case the budget allocations from the center for the same are also handed over to the provinces.

3.5.2 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON


EDUCATION
Facilitator: Mr. Ahmad Zeb Khan A consultation workshop was organized to discuss key policy issue of Education Services in Pakistan at the district level with relevant experts, academia, primary stakeholders, district level administration, state and governments representatives, civil society organizations and provincial and federal parliamentarians. Facilitator told the participants that this effort will build a link between parliament and the civil society and will enhance the role of the parliamentarians, enabling them to play their role as effective legislators. The consultations and dialogue made under the initiative are expected to make a body of information fed into Parliamentarians Orientation Program to consolidate their representation roles resulting in their enhanced oversight and legislation role. In other words, this will enhance the capacity of the parliamentarians and the parliament as a whole. Facilitator adopted the following agenda to be carried out for the discussion and dialogue on the subject of consultation: Issues of efficient delivery of educational services Issues of governance and management Issues of effective implementation of rule and regulations

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Problems of Ghost Schools Issues related with Teachers Girl child education Others

Key stakeholders invited for the consultations were as follows: District level education department representatives Educationists Community based local organizations Local Government Representatives MNA,/MPAs of relevant constituency

Mr. Ahmad Zeb Khan gave ten minutes orientation on the issue enabling the participants to be more or less at the same level of understanding. The pre-set questions were then put forward to the plenary to get focused answers to avoid unnecessary debate. Mr. Mansoor Akbar Kundi, Vice Chancellor, Gomal University, D.I.Khan, having vast experience of teaching started the discussion and invited others to give their valuable suggestions to address the core issues of Education service in Pakistan. All participants were actively involved in the dialogues and a very warm discussion on the present education situation in the area was initiated and issues were analyzed. Although at some points the whole group seemed as of two different points of views but generally the discussions were focused on the central resolving center of the dialogue and hence the following recommendations resulted with the consensus of all participants. Dr. Abdul Waheed acted as District Reporter and made notes of the proceedings. The session lasted for four hours. At the end of the debate the reporter read out the outcome of the debate to the participants, who unanimously endorsed the recommendations.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The political interference in the Education sector must stop forthwith. The political interference in the administration of teaching staff should not be tolerated in the education system for its smooth and efficient delivery. The Politicians are involved in posting and transferring of teachers, besides protecting them against disciplinary actions. 2. Selection and recruitment of the teaching faculty should strictly be based upon the union council level and not on the district level so that proper teaching odd human resource is made available on the micro level of education system for its maximum delivery and governance. Local teachers are regular, whereas the male and female teachers recruited on merit for from the urban areas do not go to the schools for teaching in the rural areas, resulting in chronic absenteeism. 3. Parent-Teacher Council (PTC) should be established as an autonomous and fully authorized body to monitor the education system for its deliver and management. 4. The practice of providing free land for establishing new schools should be stopped as it creates very huge political pressure on education administration which hinders its smooth delivery and governance. Free land means appointment of landowner as watchman and a peon in that school. The land provided free of cost is normally located 2-3 kilometers away from the village making it inconvenient for children of 5-9 years to shuttle between their homes and the school. 5. Promotions and benefits to the teaching faculty should be strictly

PERFORMANCE-BASED in order to have the good quality education. 6. All the BISEs (Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education) should be administratively under the Governor of the Province and not under the Chief Minister to avoid any political interference. 7. Education budget should be increased up to 6% to deliver the quality based education. 8. A Primary Education Commission (PEC) on the analogy of HEC should be established as autonomous and authorized body to tackle the issues of basic education of the nation. All education systems should be under PEC and not

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under Secretary and Minister of Education. PEC should have its own independent Board of Governors and a Chairman. 9. Regular in-service trainings and TOT should be imparted to enhance the skills and attitudes of teachers in basic education faculty.

3.6

MARDAN

3.6.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT


Facilitator: Mukhtar Bacha A consultation workshop on 18th

amendment was held with an objective to initiate a dialogue in the civil society about its respective issues of implementation. About 30 participants of slightly above average understanding of issue participated in the consultation workshop including local leadership of political parties including key persons from ANP, JUI, Jamaat-e-Islami, ML-N, Labor Party, lawyers ( male and female), women activists, civil society representatives and ex-nazims were amongst them. Facilitator of the consultation Mr. Mukhtar Bacha gave a grief presentation on the aims and objectives of the consultation and invited the participants to discuss the status of 18th amendment and highlight the issues and concerns regarding its implementation. He asked the participants to give their individual opinions on the subject. Mr. Humayoon Voice President Mardan ANP said that constitution of 1973 was a compromise and not representative of the needs of the people whereas 18th amendment is a real representative attempt that includes various aspects of rights of peoples of Pakistan and provinces as well. He appreciated the efforts of present government and called it a positive step towards development. He mentioned key steps in this regards like naming of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, abolishing concurrent list, removal of the names of dictator, resolving issues of Baluchistan, provincial autonomy and others issues of provincial powers. He quoted various schemes which are being initiated by the provincial government as a result of this constitutional amendment.

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Ms Nusrat Naeem, women activist, expressed her concerns over the removal of some section regarding elections within the political parties, she described it as a nondemocratic and demanded the improvement in the constitution, and otherwise she also appreciated the overall efforts mad by all the political parties to pass the bill. Mr. Syed Usman, Coordinator SPARC, while commenting on the 18th amendment criticized the composition of judicial commission Mr. Farman Hoti, Correspondent Express NEWS, brought into discussion the issue of Hazara and was of the opinion that consensus on the name of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa was not made and consequently it created misconceptions on regional basis within the province. Manzoor ul Haq, General Secretary Jamat-e-Islami Mardan commented that building of consensus on 18th amendment by resolving deadlock among the federating units of Pakistan is an historical achievement made by the parliament. He said that with the 18th amendment supremacy of the parliamentary democracy has been established. He also welcomed the provincial autonomy given in the said amendment. He showed his reservations about the format of judicial commission and neglecting of the legal stratus of FATA in the amendment. He also criticized the clauses regarding removal of elections within political parties. He was skeptic of the implementation of 18th amendment saying that still there are many hurdles in the way and we need to remove through dialogue and parliamentary democracy. Ms. Farzana Javed Advocate opined that 18th amendment is appreciable but consultations were not held with the citizens to create consensus and ownership of the people. Mr. Mjeeb-ur-Rehman representative of PML-N welcomed the provincial autonomy and renaming of province. He held that it is success of democratic process. Mr. Ibrahim Buland, Ex, Nazim appreciated the clauses that stop any future military rule in the country. He strongly objected the abolishing of clauses that allow autocratic norms instead of democratic norms within the political parties saying that elections in the political parties are must for the building of

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new cadres in the political parties stopping the elitists from dynasties rule. He also showed his concerns about the neglecting of legal status of FATA. Mr. Farooq Khan, representative from Pakistan Labor Party suggested that a sufficient number of seats must be reserved for the representation of working class of the country because feudal are ruling the country since the independence of Pakistan Mr. Asif Khan from JUI was found dissatisfied with the renaming of province as Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and suggested alternate names as Khyber or Pukhtunkhwa.

3.6.2 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON


EDUCATION
Facilitator: Mukhtar Bacha A consultation workshop on Public Spending on Education was held with an objective to initiate a dialogue in the civil society and relevant stakeholders to critically examine the current situation of budget allocations for education and look into the improvement of education system in view of existing issues and challenges. About 30 participants of from different cross sections of society participated in the consultation workshop including local leadership of political parties including key persons from ANP, JUI, Jamaat-e-Islami, ML-N, Labor Party, lawyers ( male and female), women activists, civil society representatives and ex-nazims were amongst them. Facilitator of the consultation Mr. Mukhtar Bacha gave a grief presentation on the aims and objectives of the consultation and invited the participants to discuss the status of education, issues and challenges in the province and come up with concrete solutions in terms of recommendations. Participants enthusiastically took part in the dialogue and gave individual opinions, suggestions and viewpoints. Mr. Abdul Haleem, Principal Government High School Baghdada told the participants that this year about 2.45% of the GDP has been allocated for education whereas our commitment was to increase to the extent of 7% of GDP in the Senegal Conference 1998; he added that in the said conference our government has made promises to: Free education to all Scholarships to female students

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Providing uniform and lunch to students Student class ration 1:4

He pointed towards the failure of the governments to achieve the targets of making advancements in this regards. He also indicated towards the issues of bad governance in the department. He added that budget is not allocated according to the need assessment, there is too much political influence in the matters of transferring and recruitments of teacher and management, and schools are made at far flung and remote place because of unavailability of land for educational institutions and this in turn is due to unavailability of sufficient budgetary resources to education department. Ghulam Rabbani, SS teacher exposed the miserable situation of the schools especially of the infrastructure, saying in many schools that there is furniture and even the menial allocated budget is not spent appropriately. Firdous Mohammad Ex, ADEO Education highlighted the flawed and faulty feature of educational system and demanded the changes in the code of education 1935. Fauzia Alam ADEO Education apprised the participant about some high issues including examination system, budgetary quota distributed through MPAs, weaknesses in supervision and monitoring system and ignorance of teachers about required tools and techniques of teaching. Mohammad Khan, teacher private school brought the attention of the participants toward other issues like, there is no uniform curriculum in private and government educational institutions, there is no check and balance mechanism for private schools, poor monitoring system and poor performance of Parents-Teachers Association (PTA). Akhtar Ali, Ex Nazim criticized the existing system of education and pointed out that syllabus needs immediate revisit, there is a need of public accountability especially in the matters budget spending and policy formulation. Haji Hayat Khan Sahib expressed his concerns about existing system of education and policies of government saying that education for poor segments of society has been made too much expensive and huge number of population cannot think of quality education and courses offered by the private educational institutions.

3.7

PESHAWAR

3.7.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT

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Facilitator Mukhtar Bacha A consultation workshop on 18th amendment was held with an objective to initiate a dialogue in the civil society about its respective issues of implementation. About 30 participants of slightly above average understanding of issue participated in the consultation workshop including local leadership of political parties including key persons from ANP, lawyers (male and female), women activists, civil society representatives, ex-nazims and Minister of Law of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa were amongst them. Facilitator of the consultation Mr. Mukhtar Bacha gave a grief presentation on the aims and objectives of the consultation and invited the participants to discuss the status of 18th amendment and highlight the issues and concerns regarding its implementation. He asked the participants to give their individual opinions on the subject. Liaqat Bacha, labour leader appreciated the achievement of current government in terms of 18th amendment and said that the democratic government has taken various decisions through its parliament that really were the demand of the peoples of Pakistan. He added that after doing away with concurrent list and finalizations of NFC Award provinces have been given their due rights in accordance with needs and demands. He however was reserved about handing over the different portfolios to provinces shall make the provinces face various budgetary constraints and was of the opinion that workers welfare board is provincial subject and workers will face financial problems. Board will face deficit budgeting. Jahangir Shah a CSO employee showed his reservations on the name of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa but could not explain and argue reasonably. He initiated discussions of importance like environmental pollution in one province will affect other and this issue need to be addressed but participants felt these issues irrelevant to the topic of consultation and did not stretch. Jahanzeb from SPARC was of the view that there are many aspect of the amendment that should be appreciated, he mentioned specifically of one that is the thematic area of his organization that is the rights of the children. He explained to the participants that under Article 25 section 3, youth of age 16 years has been given rights which are in reality appreciable.

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Javed Ali Advocate expressed his apprehensions about the 18th amendment by saying that this constitutional development reflects and address the needs and demands of the provinces and it empowers the parliamentary democracy. He also talked on the ambiguous status of FATA and questioned the participants about the huge population whose miseries have not been addressed in the amendment. In other word, they FATA has been overlooked and neglected. He also said that there is a need to establish equilibrium and balance in different organs of state so as each organ is allowed to work transparently without the interference of others and hence norms of democracy like accountability, transparency and peoples participations are maintained to greater extent. Arshad Abdullah, Law Minister of the province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa responded to the naming of province and said that it was a demand of the majority of the peoples of this province and with the naming of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa this province has got its lost identity. He further said that controversy on judicial issue is baseless. Gul Hasnain, Ex Director Labor was concerned about the implementation of 18 th amendment and suggested immediate steps to be taken to avail the fruits of this constitutional development. He lauded the decision of government who has done away with the concurrent list and announced the NFC Award after long time. He emphasized the adjustments of federal employees at urgent basis. Arbab Mazhar Ali from HRDO said that 18th amendment has been passed in two hours. According to his opinion parliamentarians should have taken more time inasmuch as other areas of constitutional development are also addressed. Mr. Hasnain a social activist was still cynic of the state of affair going on in Pakistan saying that real power and policy making still lies with GHQ and not parliament.

3.7.2 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON


EDUCATION
Facilitator: Mukhtar Bacha A consultation workshop on Public Spending on Education was held with an objective to initiate a dialogue in the civil society and relevant stakeholders to critically look into the current situation of budget allocations for education and suggest that how could we improve the education system in the face of existing issues and challenges. About 30 participants of from different cross sections of society participated in the consultation workshop including local leadership of political parties.

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Facilitator of the consultation Mr. Mukhtar Bacha gave a grief presentation on the aims and objectives of the consultation and invited the participants to discuss the status of education, issues and challenges in the province and come up with concrete solutions in terms of recommendations. Participants took part in the dialogue and gave individual opinions, suggestions and viewpoints. Mr. Taj Bahadur, Assistant Professor Government College Peshawar, drew the attention of the participants towards some key components and pre-requisites of developments saying that human resource management and human resource development are considered to be the important aspects of the future development of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and while talking on the public spending on education we should not ignore the fact that we are spending our resources on right direction. He was critical of the 10 billion cut on higher education. He added that currently there is no problem of infrastructure of higher education as such, however, there is a genuine need of building foundation for the future and in this regards we have to train the teacher on modern and scientific grounds. He highlighted the need of improvement in the management of primary education in the province. Jehanzeb from SPARC shared some statistics with the participants and told that out of 129 countries Pakistan stands at number 119 in public spending on education, it is really an alarming situation. He shared that at the moment 2.6 million children are out of schools and this situation exposes that how much we need to spend on education to improve the enrollment of students. The 1996 Act of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (then NWFP) explains the commitment of the government about compulsory education which is still a mere dream. He shared an encouraging step of the government and told that Rs 200 scholarship for female students has increased the overall enrollment. Mr. Khalid Jan, Ex Director Labor was of the opinion that as far as the development concerns we cannot compromise on education and health. We have to increase the spending in these sectors on war footings. He was critical of the high level spending on the defense purposes. He advised that population boom can be controlled only through education. Amanullah Khan (Rtd. Sq. Leader) Qurtaba College expressed his concerns saying that quality of teaching is declining and there is no system of accountability of the teachers in public sector. He emphasized the recruitments of female teachers, who are proven to be honest and better than male ones, for rural and urban setting.

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Mr. Zahoor, Director Social Welfare (Rtd) suggested decentralization of the administration which would possibly give good results in many respects. He also suggested learning the lesson from Sri Lanka where literacy rate is 97% and added that there is a need of parent counseling to address the issues of drop out. Jahangir Shah was of the opinion that infrastructure and management of education should be privatized for better management. He suggested evening shifts to be started to enroll and engage working youth folk in education. Syed Noor-al-Hasnain Deputy Director Labor Education said that summer vacation should be reduced. He criticized the poor control of government on private schools. Dr. Bilal Director Education Workers Welfare Board was of the opinion that budget of education should be doubled. Nasim Jan Khalil, a social worker suggested the uniform system of education to be introduced in private and public educational institutions.

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3.8

BAJAUR, MOHMAND AND KURRUM AGENCIES OF FATA

3.8.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT


Facilitator: Professor Ijaz Khan Consultation on the 18th Constitutional Amendment, with the key stakeholders of the Bajaur, Mohmand and Kurrum agencies, was organized on 29 March 2010 in Peshawar. Dr. Ijaz Khan, Chairman Department of International Relations University of Peshawar facilitated the session whereas Mr. Zahir Shah Safi Advocate helped in moderation of the workshop. Dr. Ijaz Khan told the participant, objectives of the consultation and gave a brief introduction saying that as the Constitution or most other laws do not apply to FATA, and there is no way that 18 th amendment can be relevant to it. Furthermore, he acquainted the participants that 18th amendment is important for the people of FATA by what it misses rather than by what it contains. He maintained that it will be better to address the issue of extension of constitution system to FATA. He posed following questions that need to be addressed in this regards: a) b) Is there a need for any administrative /constitutional change in FATA? Should the system be totally abolished and the normal constitutional/legal system of rest of the country be extended to FATA or should the existing system be amended? c) How should we go about it? A vivacious debate followed by the introductory remarks and questions posed by Professor Ijaz Khan, in which different participants highlighted the problems being faced by the people of FATA under the existing system. Participants discussed about formation of a separate province of FATA or declaring it a part of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa but majority of the participants were of the opinion that there is no need to take such decision right now. Plenary suggested that a democratic system should be devised for FATA and the elected representatives should decide about the future of FATA adopting a long term strategy. Participants suggested that political partys act should be extended to FATA. Participants concluded that on the

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basis of Adult Franchise and political parties an elected Agency Council should be established and the jurisdiction of the higher judiciary should be extended to it. After a good discussion a smaller group was selected to jot down the summary of suggestions and recommendations in view of the issues discussed in the plenary. The group prepared a draft of recommendations and presented to the plenary.

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. 2. Article 247 should be amended so that FATA comes under the purview of Parliament rather than the President. Without waiting for that constitutional amendment, President should use his powers to a. Extend Political Parties Act to FATA b. Establish a separate Judiciary from Executive and remove the judicial powers of the Political Agent and others at lower level c. Create a FATA High Court or a FATA bench at Peshawar High Court and not merely a kind of administrative tribunal. The members of this court must be normal judges appointed through the same process with same qualifications as that of a provincial High Court. 3. 4. Create a FATA Council, members elected on the basis of adult franchise and political party act. This elected FATA council may decide with consultation of the people of FATA about the future status of FATA, especially the question whether it should be made a part of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa or be made a separate province. 5. The system of collective responsibility must end and a new system for enforcement of law should be established keeping in mind the social and cultural values of the people of FATA and the needs of development and peace.

3.8.2 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON


EDUCATION
Facilitator: Professor Ijaz Khan Consultation workshop public expenditure on education was organized by SAPPK and UNDP at Peshawar in which key persons of Civil Society of Bajaur, Mohmand and Kurrum Agencies took part in discussion. Dr. Ijaz Khan Chairman, Department of International Relations, University of Peshawar facilitated the session and Mr. Zahir Shah Safi advocate helped in moderation of the debate.

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Dr. Ijaz Khan introduced the objectives of the session and gave a brief presentation on the subject to initiate the discussion. He explained to the participant that 18th amendment emphasize to the State of Pakistan the Right to education explaining that, The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law. Referring 25 A, he also told the participants that the budget allocates 2. 4 % of GDP to education compared to UNESCOs standard of at least 3.5 %. He added that last year only 1.7 % was provided to education rather than the budgetary allocation of 2.9%. Participants expressed their concerns about the insufficient budget allocation to education. The facilitator put following issues and high questions before the participants to ignite the discussion: Where does education stand in order of priorities? Access, coverage, Infrastructure, Incentives etc. Disparities: between male and female, Poor and rich, Urban and rural, ethnic, regional, provincial etc. Quality of Education: qualification, teachers training, curriculum development, text book, learning achievement., examination system etc Governance and management Class division Planning, Budget & Development Plan Any other aspect that the participants consider necessary to be highlighted

An informative discussion followed and participants presented eye opening facts and figures centered on the special needs of the FATA region highlighting that how the education has suffered extremely in most of FATA and argued that education is central to bringing positive change and lasting peace in FATA. It also led to the argument that education must be the center of peace building policies in FATA. After an initial round of debate a smaller committee committee was formed of the a to draft draft the The of recommendations workshop.

prepared

recommendations and presented to the plenary for discussion. Important suggestions were incorporated plenary approved the following recommendations:

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RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Schools need to be reconstructed where they have been destroyed by the terrorists and new schools to be constructed as per the needs with improved infrastructure. 2. There must be psychiatrists in the schools to address the various psychic disorders in the children to diffuse the terrorism and violence trauma. 3. Market-led technical and vocational educational institution must be established to address the future employment needs of the youth. 4. More budget must be allocated for Education 5. There is need to establish Cadet Colleges in FATA 6. There is need for uniformity in the educational system and curriculum design. 7. There is need for increase in quota of FATA students in various educational institutions of the country in accordance with increase in the population of FATA. 8. The scholarships of FATA students must be increased in accordance with price hike. Separate scholarships for FATA students in institutions of higher learning including professional ones like medical and engineering must be increased. 9. Special International scholarships schemes to be introduced for the students of FATA. 10. Teachers should be appointed on merit political interference to be discouraged in the matters of recruitments. 11. Preferred and primary medium of education must be in mother tongue, that is Pashto, and it should be made mandatory till Matriculation. 12. The children of FATA IDPs to be given special attention and the IDPs who are not living in camps to be extended help to enroll their children in schools. 13. Funds for co-curricular activities to be restored and enhanced for the mentoring of students and their practical needs of life. 14. The maltreatment of and discrimination against FATA students in different parts of the country must be ended.

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3.9

ORAKZAI AND KHYBER AGENCIES OF FATA

3.9.1 CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON 18TH AMENDMENT


Facilitator: Mukhtar Bacha Well known political leader and intellectual Mr. Mukhtar Bacha facilitated the consultation dialogue on the subject of 18th Amendment. Participants from different cross sections of society with understanding of issues of the topics of consultation participated and gave invaluable suggestions. These participants included representatives of local political groups, lawyers, social workers, focal persons of civil society organizations, educationists and educated youth of the agencies. Justice retired supreme court Mian Mohammad Ajmal also attended the consultation and enriched the debate with technical and legal knowledge about the topics of discussion. Mr. Mukhtar Bacha gave a brief on the topics and apprised the participants about highlights of existing issues in the agencies of Orakzai and Khyber to initiate discussion. Justice retired Mian Mohammad Ajmal opined that under Article 247 there is no power to parliament regarding FATA. He added that only President, through regulation, can bring changes in the matters of FATA agencies and province has nothing to do with the FATA except for the nominated Governor of the province by the supreme powers of President. He told the participant that in 2005 FCR Reforms Committee was formed and had 40 to 50 meetings in this regards. Said committee came with proposals in 2007 which were approved by cabinet committee in 2008. Telling the details he said that in section 247, all powers rest with executive and Judiciary and parliament is ousted. He explained to the participants some details of the proposals that included: The outmoded Malik system and Jirga system is hindrance to social, economic, cultural and political mainstreaming of the FATA region. Shifting of the powers of commissioners to district and sessions judge as appellate authority FATA tribunal, exercising as high court composed of retired judge high court and two other judges. But if there were changes in 247 with 18th amendment, the future could be anything.

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Taj Mahal Advocate told that political parties did not speak for us. All political workers should build pressure on their respective political parties to take appropriate actions in this regards, otherwise all the political workers should quit the membership of their political parties.

Almost all the participants took part in the discussion and gave invaluable input by surfacing the existing legal issues of the implementation of the 18th Amendment.

All objected to the omission of FATA in 18th amendment. All talked about political issues in FATA but silent on other changes in constitution.

3.9.2

CONSULTATION DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION


Facilitator: Mukhtar Bacha Mr. Mukhtar Bacha facilitated the session and presented key issues of the topics

of discussion regarding public spending on education. Facilitator invited the participants to express their opinions and concerns about the current situation of education in the agencies of Khyber and Orakzai and come up with straightforward solutions so as to be presented to the parliamentarian for the development of these areas. Arbaz khan Orakzai, president teachers association told that provision of free books has increased enrolment to some extent in the agencies. He added that there are only 20 or 21 high schools in Orakzai. He expressed his grief over the miserable situation of students whose schools are situated at such a distanced places that they have to go to school by foot and it takes about two hours to reach their schools. Participants told that schools are closed due to military operation in the agencies and attendance in Jamrud & Mir Ali elementary colleges has just started improving since last two months. Participant discussed different burning issues, some of which are as follows: Majority schools has no science teachers Sudher Ahmed Afridi said that in FATA most of the lecturers are recruited on contract basis and majority of these lecturers are in the service without pay. Monitorin Zeb Afridi was of the opinion that administration of education department under Khyber Pukhtunkhwa government is not satisfactory and there

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is no mechanism of check and balance on private schools. He added that ratio of female education is quite below the mark. Taj Mahal Afridi Advocate apprised the participant about the indiscipline attitude of the teacher saying that majority of male teachers are found absent in the primary schools and there is no monitoring system for these illegal practices. He identified names of some primary schools teachers who are used to go on long term leave without any application and approval. Wilson Wazir suggested that there is a need to engage the youth in education and co-curricular activities and to engage the youth in positive trends it is an imperative to introduce modern education in the FATA agencies and institutions like medical college, engineering college and university is essential for the development of this area. Asad Afridi Advocate revealed that female teachers fear to go school due to frequent threats by Talibans. He told that majority of the female schools has been destroyed and remaining are closed owing to the off and on imposition of curfew and ambushes by the extremists. Shahzad Khan, a private school teacher was of the opinion that in private school most of the teachers are recruited on temporarily and mostly they are untrained. Mohammad Salim Afridi suggested that girls primary schools need upgradation. He told about the school in Teerah saying that it is about 40 km away from the residential setting and community has no school. He also told that teachers are paid Rs, 3000 per month by political Agent. These teachers belong to settled areas and due to the frequent events of violence they do not come to these schools. He further added that under the Khushal Pakistan Program, 25 schools were sanctioned but cancelled afterwards. Iqbal Habib Afridi told that there is only one girls high school in FR Peshawar.

Participants commented on the topic and found of the opinion that educational facilities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas do not exist to the level of satisfaction though the successive governments often made tall claims to educate the people of FATA. Even in the last couple of years when FATA came to the forefront in the national and international media still nothing has been done on ground to promote education in the seven tribal agencies. The extent of the government inability to develop the education in

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the area could be easily gauged from one example of Khyber Agency where many girls' students like to be educated but there is no support from the government to fulfill their educational needs. And obviously the basic educational problem in the area is lack of rather adverse lack of schools and colleges besides the absence of qualified staff. Participants of the consultation revealed that every year only one percent girls of the total population qualify to graduation level due to lack of facilities, strict Pakhtuns environment, poverty and un-availability of degree and postgraduate colleges in Landikotal. The female teachers are mostly hired from Peshawar district and other districts of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa owing to unavailability of local trained and qualified teachers but when female teachers take charge in girls' schools, they also come across numerous problems. Inconvenient transport, boarding and lodging besides being underpaid are issues confronting an average lady teacher in the area. Participants told that besides the ineffective government policies, the strict code of conduct for the woman in the area is also a major impediment to spread girls' education in the area. Some participants dared to criticize Fata education directorate saying that maximum funds are allocated every year, which go in the pockets of highhanded mafia. If present government is sincere with the deprived tribal people, should spend the sum of amount in real means to change the hard life into soft life. Participants agreed on the fact that government claims to be spending millions on education in FATA, but this is merely a lip service. Participant held that government would be welladvised to take note of the rapidly deteriorating situation in FATA. It needs to interact with the people to remove their apprehensions and misunderstandings, rather than leaving it to the military to resolve matters through guns. The inhabitants of Fata are fed-up with the way they are treated because they have neither revolted against the country nor have they taken up arms against the military. They need to be treated with honor and dignity like other Pakistani citizens.

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FATA now stands at the brink of disaster. The youth are frustrated and have reached a stage where they are prepared to fight for their rights. Huge numbers of youth are jobless and they may fall in the abyss of terrorism.

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Education system in FATA should be given top priority to bring FATA students at par with students of other parts of the country 2. Budget allocation for education, in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa in general and FATA particular, should be increased and education should be acknowledged as a basic human right. In this regard, education till matriculation should be provided free of cost and female education should be made mandatory. The syllabus should be revisited and modern scientific curriculum to be imparted to broaden the perspective of new generation. 3. Schools need to be reconstructed where they have been destroyed by the terrorists and new schools to be constructed as per the needs with improved infrastructure 4. Market-led technical and vocational educational institution must be established to address the future employment needs of the youth. 5. More budget must be allocated for Education 6. There is need to establish Cadet Colleges in FATA 7. There is need for uniformity in the educational system and curriculum design. 8. There is need for increase in quota of FATA students in various educational institutions of the country in accordance with increase in the population of FATA. 9. The scholarships of FATA students must be increased in accordance with price hike. Separate scholarships for FATA students in institutions of higher learning including professional ones like medical and engineering must be increased. 10. Special International scholarships schemes to be introduced for the students of FATA. 11. Teachers should be appointed on merit political interference to be discouraged in the matters of recruitments.

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