Independent Education in Pakistan

by amir taj

At the Kennedy School yesterday, I had to hear Ahsan Saleem, board member from Pakistani education NGO The Citizens Foundation. He spoke to the group about implementations and challenges of the independent schools which the foundation runs.

Funded entirely by private donations (the vast majority from Pakistanis in-country and the diaspora), the schools are built and operated in areas where government schools are not present or have been rendered totally ineffective. They follow the government’s standard curriculum, preparing students to be able to enter the mainstream education system at post-primary levels.

Some of the issues brought up at the presentation were: why bundling clinics with the schools is difficult given local politics, sustainability and evaluation metrics, and how financial contributions on the part of each family are determined.

Given the sorry state of public education in Pakistan, earnest efforts like these are really heartening to hear about. I would speculate that a further influx of donations and physical resources could help this effort scale up even further, and as Mr. Saleem mentioned, help strengthen civil society in Pakistan.

Masculinity and the Muslim Experience

by DMahendra

As many of you know, I am currently trying to explore the dimensions of Muslim masculinity. I thought I would share a series of open-ended questions, and responses I came up with recently when trying to dig deeper into these issues.

1) What makes Muslim men uniquely who they are?

• Economic background: poverty/wealth, blue/white collar work, old/new/no money
• Family dynamics: nuclear/extended, provincial/transnational, fathering/mothering
• Sex/Sexuality: homo/hetero/queer spectrums, sexual history, sex education
• Education: (non)patriarchal academics, level of education, textbooks
• Networks: Religious/secular friends and colleagues, provincial/transnational
• Geographies: urban/rural, homo/heterogeneous, (im)possible “dual life,” access to different spaces, mid-ethnic/transitional, migration, agriculture, male-female ratio
• Politics: manhood (un)tied to franchise/representation, masculinity and political expediency
• Environment:  Gender & food/nutrition, architecture

2) Which life events might be crucial?

• Loss: parent(s)/family members, job, significant other, virility (impotence), political/social rights, natural disasters
• Psychological/Physical traumas: military/law enforcement brutality, abuse by family/friends/intimates, displacement/refugees, witness male role models commit violence/neglect, starvation, paralysis/mental impairment, developmental issues (physical/cognitive),
• Foundations of hegemonic masculinity: peer reinforcement, success through patriarchal action/oppression, media of hegemonic masculinity, religious/political authority granted over women, microagressions from men/women regarding masculinity

3) What types of interventions might result in more gender egalitarian thinking?

• Middle school/high school men’s awareness building
• public advocacy (PSAs in Muslim publications, mosque advocacy)
• better sex education
• addressing all-male peer groups (basketball teams, clubs, men’s religious organizations)
• encouraging religious scholarly discourse on masculinity
• including women’s scholarship more prominently in the Muslim community
• media (music, movies)
• Arts and Culture (books, visual art exhibits, dance, public art, museum partnerships)
• Internet  (online campaigns)

Just some thoughts…but how to narrow it down?