The Education Watch Pakistan

Brief about:The Education Watch Pakistan
The Education Watch Pakistan is a not-for-Profit civil society media organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. The Education Watch Pakistan established and initiated its activities in 2009 by a group of educationist and journalists. It is registered as NGO under the Act XVI- 1908 in Islamabad.. Registration No- 259 Book No. 4 Volume No. 952 Page No. 185-192 Joint Sub Registrar Islamabad.
The Education Watch Pakistan?s mandate includes promotion human right of access to information, promotion public participation in decision making. Our broad activities are advocacy for education, educational research, capacity building training, advocacy, technical assistance to Government and non government organization and disseminating information.
Our Work:
1. The Education Watch Pakistan has been partner with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO) in disseminating educational information all over Pakistan. We made reach educational information in all educational institution in all over Pakistan.
2. The Education Watch partnered with the United Nations International Children?s Fund (UNICEF) to lead and run the ?Advocacy Campaign for Girls? Education in Pakistan. This collaboration was one of the first times the media gathered and organized opinions and information on girls? education and gender issues in Pakistan. We interviewed human rights activists, religious leaders, politicians, international organizations heads, communities, young girls and teachers on and made this information available in print and online. This information sheds light on education and gender issues in Pakistan and provides a foundation for policy makers both in Pakistan and globally.


Our Major Work:
The Education Watch Pakistan?s one of the major projects, which has successfully been running for four years is, The Education Watch Pakistan Pakistan?s first ever not-for-profit national educational weekly ?The Education Watch Pakistan? exclusively dedicated to covering education, that we have been publishing since 2009.

Rationale and Motivation of The Education Watch
With a population of 169 million, Pakistan is the 6th most populous country in the world. Education in this large and complex country is a serious challenge. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently gave Pakistan the worst ?education ranking? of any country outside sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan. Political instability, terrorism, natural disaster, low budget allocation, lack of political commitment, lack of public participation, ineffective coordination among stakeholders and educational administrators all further worsen these conditions.
Given these factors, the media, as a social institution, can play a vital role in bringing positive social change, particularly making education an important topic for the nation by reporting on education happenings, issues, and information, thus generating debate and dialogue. Increased coverage of education will help spread awareness of this important field and the impact it can have on improving the social and economic conditions in Pakistan
But more depressing is the serious lack of reporting and debate in media about this issue. According to a study of Pakistani media conducted in 2009, coverage of education in national news on television, newspapers, news websites and radio represented only 1.0%. 0.7% and 1.4% between 2006-2008 respectively. (S. Hashmi and A. Khan (2008) Media and Education. Such little news coverage makes it difficult for the public to follow the issues of the education system and to become informed citizens and be motivated to participate in its improvement.
For a country where more than half of the population is below the age of 15 and nearly one-third is below the age of nine, such laxity about reporting on the issue most important to the biggest group of population is scandalous.

Similarly, education provided in madrassas (religious schools) do not get any attention from the media. Even though the madrassas have an estimated six per cent of children of school-going age, any news reference to them is almost invariably related to terrorism and never about the kind and quality of education which is imparted.
We devote reams of newsprint and hours-upon-hours of airtime on a non-issue, but the issue of education that is of most significance to the largest section of population does not command even a fraction of that attention. What is most tragic is that the group that is most affected by this criminal carelessness the children of Pakistan never get any space to voice their grievances. The future of millions of children is being ruined by this negligence and the media is silent.
Therefore, focused coverage on education is extremely needed to ensure all stakeholders are well informed. Currently, there are gaps that prevent decision makers from fully understanding on the ground conditions, the impact (and shortfalls) of existing policies, and the needs of students and teachers. A dedicated media channel can bring to light both immediate requirements as well as challenges that need long-term solutions. Moreover, it can help bring together all schools of thought, including the government run, private and religious education systems to learn from one another and begin a dialogue for cooperation and improvement.
To face these impediments and bridge the gap we, a group of young journalists and educationists, established a media organization called Education Watch Pakistan. With our limited resources under this umbrella, we initiated Pakistan?s first ever not-for-profit national educational weekly ?The Education Watch Pakistan? exclusively dedicated to covering education.