Pakistan’s elite and the art of deception
“The ends justify the means,” Machiavelli’s famous adage, permitting rulers to forsake moral high grounds in favour of maintaining power and control, is something that rings in my mind every…
New data, old insights
There was a time when systematically collected data about schoolchildren’s learning levels was scarce, spottily collected, and hard to obtain. ‘Reforms’ were the brainchildren of politicians or senior bureaucrats in…
Parachuted manifestos
The election manifestos of all major parties have now been released. I went through them with an eye on education priorities. If education is an election issue for you that…
Together for WASH
Climate change is no longer a looming spectre from the 90s, casting a shadow over our future. It is here and it means business. We are scrambling to mitigate its…
China’s giant leap
A gathering of some 5,000 top scientists and engineers listened in pin-drop silence on January 7, 2020 as Chinese President Xi Jinping laid out his vision and strategy to make…
Economic stability?
Pakistan’s economic recovery outlook is not promising. The recent election in Pakistan reflects a recurring pattern seen in many elections, where financial considerations are often disregarded in pursuing political power.…
Year of living on the edge
TRENDS in the outgoing year do not indicate an optimistic outlook for Pakistan’s politics and economy in 2022, when general elections will only be a year away. The political temperature…
Betrayed in Afghanistan
IT turns out, to the surprise of no one, that the Afghan Taliban haven’t changed after all. Last week, they announced that they were going to ban girls from going to…
Climate-conflict nexus
DISASTERS triggered by climate change leave deep scars. The impact is not just about the loss of lives and damage to properties; disasters also threaten social cohesion and exacerbate local…
AI in education
INVESTMENTS in artificial intelligence are massive ($94 billion in 2021 alone). They will continue as people see profit-making potential in them. We have all heard the rhetoric that AI is…
