۔ یہ اختراع نووا سی ایس ایس اکیڈمی کے طلباء کی آسانی کیلئے متعارف کروائی گئی ہے ۔یہ تمام کالمز ڈان اخبار سے نقل کئے گئے ہیں 

Technology's role

Aqdas Afzal

THE latest budget is primarily aimed at putting Pakistan’s finances in order. The government has set a massive target for the Federal Board of Revenue — 35 per cent more than last year! The government is also planning to practise austerity. This budget is ambitious; if it works it may bring down the budget deficit.

This fiscal consolidation [استحکام], however, will significantly check the economic growth rate. Official estimates put economic growth at only 2.4pc next year. Economic growth is the surest guarantee for job creation. According to the UN, given demographic trends, Pakis­tan needs 1.3 million new jobs every year!

Given the urgent need to increase economic growth to create jobs, policy options in the budget appear limited, since a major chunk[مقدار] of expenditure will go towards debt interest payments for the next several years. Is there any way through which the government can bring about economic growth? The answer lies in focusing on technological innovation. 

The economy’s fundamental problem is its technologically backward exports — food commodities comprise 21pc of exports. The demand for the latter does not increase as economies and incomes grow in our trading partners. Consumption of wheat, rice or sugar is limited by biophysical constraints after all. However, as the economy and income grow in Pakistan, people purchase more and more imported goods like iPhones and vehicles, especially as new models appear every couple of years. This imbalance in sales and purchases is what widens the trade deficit[تجارتی خسارہ]. These weak ‘terms of trade’ are the real reason behind the perennial[ہمیشہ رہنے والے] trade deficits that force Pakistan to knock on the IMF’s door regularly. 

 The nature of exports can be transformed through sustained technological innovation. Instead of food commodities, Pakistan can export processed commodities. Instead of cotton yarn, it can export locally developed branded apparel, earning a lot more foreign exchange, even for the same quantum of exports, thereby reducing the trade deficit and unshackling [شکنجے سے آزاد ہونا] itself from the IMF.

The critical role of technological innovation in increasing economic growth is not disputed. It is a key explanation for the exponential[بے انتہا زیادہ ہونیوالی] economic growth during the Industrial Revolution.

The real puzzle is why technological innovation takes root in some societies, while others are not able to make much headway. 

Recently, at the Economia Festival in Trento, Italy, two economists offered solutions to the technological innovation puzzle. Joel Mokyr identified two variables that mitigate [کم کرنا]against technological innovation, stalling [روک دینا]economic growth. He underlined corruption and political risk as significant hurdles that work against upping the rate of technological innovation. Simply, in the presence of a kleptocracy[مفاد پرست حکمران], innovators can never be sure if they can keep all the profits from their inventions. This lack of incentives[ترغیبات] makes them reluctant[جو بددلی سے کام کرے]. At the same time, the spectre[جن بھوت] of political risk — when economic policies affect business profitability —creates disincentives for local and foreign businesses as far as investment in new technologies is concerned, thus stalling economic growth.

Daron Acemoglu, author of Why Nations Fail, argued that technological innovation and economic growth only come about if societies gain more liberty against the governing institutions that rule them. And, societies can gain more liberty by instituting robust [مضبوط]checks and balances that keep corrupt rulers at bay[محاورہ: کسی چیز یا فرد کو اپنی حد میں محدود کرنا] — for nations that have effective accountability mechanisms, the likelihood of economic growth is much higher. 

Given the urgency to focus on technological innovation and economic growth, there are two major lessons for Pakistani policymakers: first, technological innovation and economic growth will not take root unless local and foreign investors keep the gains from their innovations and investments. To do so, robust checks and balances and accountability mechanisms are needed. 

The second lesson is perhaps more important and deals with political risk — when economic policy changes on a dime[محدود پیمانے پر]. Technological innovation will not take root if investors do not have confidence in the permanence of economic policies. And, given that most infrastructure projects like the Orange Train in Lahore have completion timelines extending beyond five years, there must be economic policy permanence and overlap across different governments. 

The latest budget merely attempts balancing the books; job creation and economic growth must be the real objectives. Policy options for increasing economic growth have all but disappeared. Focusing on technological innovation does, however, offer a way out. What is really needed right now is a ‘charter of economy’ through which political leaders can rise above their differences and reach consensus over the permanence of economic policies for the next decade at least.

The writer is a Fulbright Scholar and has a doctorate. He teaches economics and public policy at Habib University, Karachi.

aqdas.afzal@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2019

یہ کالم کسی سکول کی یا کے انگلش ٹیچر کیلئے ہے

ANYONE who has grown up in Pakistan in the ’80s and ’90s would have heard school-going children ‘playing’ Oranges and Lemons and London Bridge is Falling Down. They would have also noticed how the lyrics get distorted in multiple ways. Children growing up in a postcolonial society use words in a way that makes sense to them. Sociocultural theory of communication describes this as appropriation of a language through meaning assigned to words based on personal experiences. If the experiences are far removed from the language of communication, we suffer the double-layered task of understanding the content as well as the language in which it is expressed. 

In our classrooms where the medium of instruction is English, this decolonisation struggle continues to this day. Teachers are faced with multilingual children whose intelligence is perhaps filtered by their ability to find appropriate words to express meaning and understanding. Language continually intervenes in the process of learning, making it twice as hard for those who have struggled with command over the English language. The problem is compounded by the teachers’ own linguistic limitations in decoding meanings which often becomes a barrier to dialogue between students and teachers. 

Whether we should have English as the medium of instruction in classrooms has been a debate for long, and the fact that English remains a language with immense social power globally implies that it is here to stay. Denying its importance is not going to solve our class equality issues, nor will instruction in Urdu raise the standard of our education to meet international benchmarks. In fact, the global power of the English language perhaps makes it necessary for us to equip our children for their digital future by learning to use it intelligibly. 

As a society, we tend to look for ways to subvert [weakenکمزور کر دینا] the challenges of English-medium instruction primarily because it becomes a struggle at different levels and teachers often fall prey to mistaking problems of expression for lack of comprehension or intelligence. This is a bridge that still needs to be crossed in our curriculum delivery, and ways to overcome it might provide the means for more organised, rigorous [done thoroughly and with care] instruction. Children who are reading English for the first time in schools and have little to no exposure to it at home may need visual representations to start them off. 

Language continually intervenes in the process of learning.

Teachers often tend to rely on translations and paraphrasing which has never been useful for meaningful learning. Extensive research on STEM{science, technology, engineering , mathematics} subjects shows that visual representation has the advantage of bypassing the hard task of ‘text literacy’. Very often, teachers encounter students who can grasp very difficult concepts but are unable to express their understanding through the written word. Their expertise can be seen in demonstrations in the lab, hands-on projects, sharing ideas verbally or expressing themselves through artwork. Alexander Graham Bell, for example, first relayed his idea of a telephone through artwork. Most experienced teachers know the value of visuals in helping students in problem-solving methods. In fact, visual representation and problem-solving have been age-old partners in the integral engineering design process. 

Strategies [حکمتِ عملی]can be successfully implemented [نافذ کرنا]to help those whose classroom engagement is hindered by linguistic limitations. Classrooms that employ an Integrated Stem Literacy system find that students progress rapidly when a link is established between text and visuals. The strategy is further supported by the concept of ‘lead learners’, which is not a new one. 

Students are divi­ded into mixed-ability groups where those who are quick to learn a concept, use visuals to bring their peers up to speed. In this way, classes become more student-centred and learner autonomy[خود مختاری] is encouraged, taking the pressure off a teacher who no more has the sole responsibility of shepherding[رہنمائی کرنا] all students at once. 

What emerges in such a classroom is participative teamwork which helps develop linguistic facility by learning from each other, with visuals for support. A teacher does not need to be an artist to illustrate simple concepts; symbols, images and even emojis can be powerful tools to tell a story. In fact, storytelling coupled with graphics has been the foundation of knowledge-sharing since time immemorial. 

The acquisition of language skills requires a connection with the learner’s personal experiences. Language is not an ‘accumulation’ of ideas; rather, linguistic development occurs in an environment that moves beyond the stringent[strict, precise, and exacting] focus on grammar, vocabulary and spellings. ‘Orange is a lamon [sic], sold for a pamin [sic]’ heard in a children’s playground might sound idiosyncratic [انوکھا اور عجیب، نرالا], but it is a powerful representation of the learners’ ability to accommodate it in their personal lives and make it a part of their experiences.

The writer teaches communication skills at Amity University, Dubai.

neda.mulji@gmail.com

Twitter: @nedamulji

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2019

The message from Istanbul

Jawed NaqviUpdated June 25, 2019

IT was an uplifting moment at the Trafalgar Square protest against Donald Trump’s visit to London. The carnival [ایک طرح کا میلہ] of protesters reminded me of the way we used to hold demonstrations in India not long ago against practically everything that was wrong with the world, of which India was an increasingly worrying unit.

The solidarity [یک جہتی] was instant and unpretentious[حقیقی اور بناوٹ سے پاک]. How the students wore black bands to protest Bhutto’s execution by Zia or against the CIA-backed coup against Allende, and how many were beaten by police during protests against the US invasion of Iraq. 

The tradition is not recent. I remember learning from family seniors and their friends the pronunciation of ‘Dien Bien Phu’, the venue of a valiant [شجاعت پر مبنی] patriotic battle the Vietnamese fought against the French occupiers before I was born. 

In London the other day, there was this group advocating their strong opposition to Brexit. Another wanted early elections. Some were asking the US to lay off Iran with placards held aloft by women, including those whose dress code could make it somewhat difficult for them to find entry into the country they supported. 

Did it matter though? Evidently not. A Trump look-alike, replete with a make-believe security detail, stern-looking[سخت گیر نظر آنیوالے] men with their earpieces plugged to a make-believe communication base came on a walk. He was uttering inanities [اول فول]. “Fake news. I’m the best. Evil Hillary.” A huge plastic doll of Trump was the centrepiece. It had him sitting on the commode and speaking rubbish to everyone’s amusement.

It seems that not all is lost across the world for democracy and humanity.

There were gay rights groups hand in hand with those who wanted Palestine freed. Jews for Labour was another actively involved lot that wanted to see the back of Trump. Jeremy Corbyn delivered a powerful speech against the visit. When Home Secretary Sajid Javid was sulking [بدمزاجی کا اظہار کرنا] with Prime Minister Theresa May over his exclusion from the guest list for the Queen’s banquet, a move some thought to be part of Trump’s profiling of him, Corbyn had loudly and clearly turned down his own invitation to the high table. Not all is lost across the world for democracy and humanity it seems.

In an echo from Trafalgar Square, the people’s verdict in the globally watched mayoral contest in Istanbul should be putting the autocratic Erdogan government on notice, and it ought to give heart to people fighting right-wing authoritarianism everywhere. Obviously, it has a message for the defeated opponents of Prime Minister Modi’s communal rule in India. But unless the scattered and self-absorbed opposition joins the battle there’s little chance of anyone returning the country to its lofty democratic ideals any time soon.

That Modi’s India is adamant [بضد] in staying its destructive course was evident from the external affairs ministry’s laughable but not entirely unexpected rejection of the US State Department’s report on basic religious freedoms that have been curtailed by India’s right-wing Hindu government. Things were much more different, say, in 1992 when J.N. Dixit was foreign secretary. The Babri Masjid was razed in Ayodhya, and Indian embassies everywhere were in a tizzy[گھبراہٹ اور بے چینی] with embarrassment. They sought guidance from New Delhi about how to explain the outrage to the world. 

Dixit was a clear-headed and secular diplomat. His advice to his embassies was to be upfront: “Tell them that we have a bunch of rowdies [جھگڑالو اورشور و غوغا کرنے والے] who are bent on harming our secular constitution. We regret the outrage in Ayodhya and will leave no stone unturned to restore to the minorities their confident and equal stake in India’s democracy.” That’s what he told me he said to his colleagues.

India’s incredible response to the US report was published on Sunday by The Hindu. It quoted the external affairs ministry’s spokesperson as saying that foreign governments did not have the right to criticise India’s “vibrant democracy and dedication to rule of law”.

Effectively rejecting the annual report on religious freedom to the US Congress, the Indian spokesman was quoted as saying that the US had no business to write the analysis. “We see no locus standi [قانونی جواز اور اہلیت]for a foreign government to pronounce on the state of our citizens’ constitutionally protected rights.” 

The comments were as absurd[لغو اور غیر منطقی] as the ones made by an Indian representative to the UN recently about India’s democracy leaving no space for torture to exist.

The US report was released on the eve of the visit of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to New Delhi on Tuesday. Mr Pompeo himself released it and he referred to the issue of religious freedom as a “deeply personal” priority.

The State Department’s 2019 Report on International Freedom referred to multiple instances where the Modi government at the centre and various state governments of the Bharatiya Janata Party took steps that hurt the Muslim and Christian communities.

The official spokesperson, however, was sanguine [پر امید] about India’s “secular credentials”, saying that “it is widely acknowledged that India is a vibrant democracy where the constitution provides protection of religious freedom, and where democratic governance and rule of law further promote and protect the fundamental rights”. Of course, Dixit could have said those tame words and moved on, but he didn’t. That’s the difference in then and today.

Apart from the murders and lynching by cow vigilante groups, the US report pointed out that there were several attempts to undermine minority institutions and change names of cities that reminded one of the pluralist [اقلیتوں کا خیال رکھنا اور انہیں برداشت کرنا] nature of India. In this regard, the report highlighted the change of the name of Allahabad to Prayagraj.

That the report was prepared by an utterly right-wing US administration was ironical, not any less so than a defeated Erdogan greeting his opponent on a verdict that he never knew was coming. Raat bhar ka hai mehma’n andhera/ Kiske rokay ruka hai savera, went an old Hindi movie song, inspired by a Faiz verse. The night is dark, but it is only a night. That’s the message from Istanbul.

The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.

jawednaqvi@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2019