THE government’s decision to halt physical lessons from grades 1 to 8 till April 28, but to resume classes and exams from grades 9 to 12 from April 12 has irked millions of students across the country. The students have spent a good part of their academic year at home. Although a large number of schools arranged for online classes, many students could not avail this facility due to a number of factors ranging from limited access to devices such as smartphones and laptops to unstable internet and electricity connections. In May 2020, the federal government decided to promote students on their year-round performance. Schools were reopened under a phased plan in January 2021, with classes at most educational institutions being held at half strength on alternate days. However, with the country now struck hard by a third wave of devastating infections, the decision to go ahead with Matric, Inter and O-/A-level board exams appears rash. Recent studies show that the new Covid-19 strain is affecting more children than before, while the country’s positivity rate is nearly 10pc, and even higher in some of the most affected cities. The decision then to continue with classes and exams is risky and could endanger the health of thousands of young people in the country. Indeed, several countries including Bangladesh, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have cancelled O-/A-level exams.
Surely, the authorities could have repeated last year’s exercise with some improvements and thus avoided putting a large number of students in harm’s way. While the Cambridge authorities have said that all SOPs will be followed, are our education departments confident that this will be the case during Matric and Inter exams, which are often held in dilapidated government schools without electricity and adequate seating arrangements? Moreover, how will fair assessment be ensured when a large number of students have not been able to complete the required coursework owing to intermittent disruptions in their schooling arrangements? It would be wise to review this decision.
IMF forecast
THE IMF’s new forecast of a subdued economic growth rate of 1.5pc for Pakistan in the current fiscal represents an upgrade from its October estimate of 1pc. Still, it is consistent with the lender’s previous view of the economy in the Covid-19 landscape. The new projection is in line with the World Bank’s revised forecast of 1.3pc given in its Pakistan Development Update published simultaneously with the IMF’s World Economic Review.
Nonetheless, it falls shy of the government’s growth target of 2.1pc in addition to being far less optimistic than the State Bank’s latest recovery estimate of 3pc. Last year, the economy had contracted by 0.4pc during the pandemic. Their different figures for growth notwithstanding, SBP and IMF seem to have a similar outlook on other macroeconomic aspects: fiscal balance, inflation and current account deficit. The global lender also expects growth to pick up next year, projecting the economy to expand by 4pc, with inflation slowing down slightly and the current account deficit widening marginally. The medium-term outlook up to 2026 sees relatively steady economic expansion with a stable external sector but higher inflation.
The World Bank has drawn a slightly bleaker picture of the economy and the impact of the virus on people and jobs — “…economic activity is projected to be dampened in the short term by the fiscal consolidation measures associated with the resumption of the IMF stabilisation programme as the economy regains its footing”, it says. The bank expects economic growth to recover slowly given the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, including the emergence of new strains. The World Bank also points to increased poverty, jobs and food insecurity owing to the impact of the virus on vulnerable segments of the population.
The recent changes in the top ranks of the government’s finance team show that the country’s political leadership is worried about slower recovery in a high-inflation environment. The reconstitution of the ‘advisory council’ and the inclusion of pro-growth businessmen and experts in it reflects a desire to change course from economic stabilisation to growth in order to lessen the devastating effects of the health crisis on the economy and job creation, and to find fiscal space to help vulnerable groups as the current wave threatens to derail the fragile recovery seen since last summer.
Prime Minister Imran Khan plans to approach the IMF for relaxation in its loan conditions as he sees disruptions in the near future on account of the infection’s resurgence. Indeed, the government is in a difficult position: it cannot grow the economy rapidly or help businesses if it has to implement harsh IMF stabilisation policies. Nor can it ditch the programme without sending wrong signals internationally. The only way out is to convince the Fund to soften its conditions for the remaining period of the loan to provide the government with room to pursue pro-growth strategies.
Police shake-up
AN unprecedented move has been made to weed out corrupt cops in Punjab. On the provincial IGP’s instructions, 61 SHOs with ‘tainted records’ have been suspended from service and removed from their posts. Most of the personnel concerned were posted in Faisalabad, Lahore, Sheikhupura and Kasur.
In an official letter to senior police officials across the province, the IG had ordered that SHOs who had been challaned in criminal cases be removed while those against whom criminal cases were registered should be suspended. Further, he said, SHOs who had been awarded three or more major departmental punishments should be transferred within the next 48 hours and not appointed as SHOs in future.
There has been some opposition from within the police to this course of action. A report in this paper quoted some cops describing the move as a “gimmick”; they have questioned why the action was limited to SHOs rather than being applied across the board from the constable to the IG level.
According to them, many senior officials too have far from pristine service records. Some cops have complained that police are also falsely implicated in criminal cases on political grounds or by local pressure groups. These concerns may be valid to a certain extent, and a departmental inquiry into the affected cops’ alleged criminal records should be undertaken, but at least a beginning has been made.
Punjab’s notorious thana culture has been sent a message that it is no longer business as usual where law-abiding citizens often have reason to fear approaching law-enforcement. Police stations in Punjab — although other provinces, especially Sindh, are not much better — under the direct command of the SHO concerned, have an appalling record of torture in custody (sometimes resulting in the detainee’s death), bribery, fake encounters, etc.
However, until an effective public complaints mechanism is set up, the yawning trust deficit between citizens and police for reasons mentioned earlier will be impossible to bridge. People have suffered for too long at the hands of an unaccountable police drunk on their own power. A few dozen suspensions/dismissals of SHOs are not enough to stem the rot.
Depoliticisation of the police is another critical requirement for improving its performance. The fact is, the thana culture does not exist in isolation: it is enabled by political interference in police transfers and postings. The cops know whom they are serving — and far too often, it is not the people.
