Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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**He wants to stoop down to such a low level that hardly you can expect from a leader of a national party !

DFID is helping Punjab Education Sector and also KPK Education and results are just excellent but he want to stop DFID Aid just to settle personal score with PM of Pakistan

pathetic …**

Former Pakistani Cricketer Imran Khan Says British Aid Money from DFID Making Corrupt Politicians Richer

By Maria Khan
October 19, 2014 21:16 BST

Former Pakistani Cricketer Imran Khanhas said that corrupt Pakistani politicians have been pocketing aid funds from the Department for International Development.

Khan, the chairman of Pakistan’s opposition party Tehreek-e-Insaf, says aid money never reaches its target group as it the hands of wealthy Pakistani government officials.

“DFID and others have played a big role for us but the money has to be used honestly. The British Government and other donors must have a major say in the implementation of proposed projects. The money must be used for welfare projects rather than making billionaires even more rich.
[RIGHT]*-** Imran Khan

***[/RIGHT]

Khan’s remarks followed a report that revealed that, despite millions of pounds being channelled towards governments,aid money has done nothing to help the economic and political freedom of the people.

The Alliance report investigated 28 countries, where the aid was financed by British taxpayers and the results revealed that the funds did, “not have any discernible impact on freedom in developing countries.”

Other interesting observations revealed that twice as many countries in fact, lost their freedom after receiving the British funds, rather than seeing an improvement in their political and human rights conditions.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is often accused of channelling public funds towards his own business ventures in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s former president Asif Ali Zardari, husband of the assassinated Benazir Bhutto was imprisoned twice for corruption, and he remains the country’s second wealthiest person.

Khan built on his allegations by saying:

"This is the most corrupt government we have ever had so whatever they get from donors they will try to distribute among their family members or favourites. We want more schools, hospitals, small businesses and employment opportunities. This government has to go if we want any change.
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“Otherwise the money provided by the DFID and others will only help the rulers and never reach deserving people. They even bribe the media with this money.”**
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A DFID spokesperson, however, calls Khan’s allegations “unfounded” saying:
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“Strict financial checks and close monitoring mean aid money only goes to those who need it. UK aid is changing Pakistan for the better, for example, 400,000 girls in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa region alone can now go to school because of it. Ultimately, this work is in Britain’s interest. A thriving, stable Pakistan will help safeguard against terrorism and be a trading partner for the future.”
[RIGHT]-* DFID Spokesperson***[/RIGHT]

Khan’s claims put added pressure on David Cameron to rethink his commitment towards increasing the aid budget to 0.7 per cent of gross national income.

Last year alone, aid spending total £12 billion. The Prime Minister has given his personal vote to a LibDem-backed private member’s bill to add 0.7 per cent target into law.

Pakistan is one of the biggest recipients of UK aid money, with an estimated £ 310 million planned to be handed over to the country next year.

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

Looks like DFID also funds the PMLN social propaganda team, which you are a part of.....otherwise, what part of what Imran said is wrong? A large chunk of Foreign money has.always gone into the pockets of commission agents. If excellent results mean 10million+ kids being out of school in Punjab, then SS can keep this excellent result to himself.

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

Punjab’s education success story

By Madiha Afzal
Published: July 20, 2013

http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/579652-MadihaAfzalNewagain-1374338863-418-640x480.jpg

The writer is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution. She tweets @MadihaAfzal.

“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.” So ended Malala Yousufzai’s rousing speech before the UN Youth Assembly on July 12. Malala voiced a call to action to fulfil the universal right to education for every child. With 40 million out of 70 million Pakistani children aged five to 19 not attending school, Pakistan is performing poorly in this regard. Given this, it rightly seems that we have mountains to climb before we can educate all our children.

But this is not a column about how dismal things look, about how our government is inefficient, and how our citizenry is unmotivated. It is about the steps that are being taken in the right direction, especially in Punjab.

**Here is a look at some of the “good news” from Punjab’s education sector, as Sir Michael Barber, Department for International Development’s (DFID) special representative for education in Pakistan, describes it.
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Due to a number of interventions, which are part of a larger reform road map, teacher presence and student attendance numbers have shown impressive increases in Punjab. Both the percentages of teachers present and of already enrolled students attending class were greater than 92 per cent in December 2012, up from 72 per cent and 82 per cent in September 2011, respectively. The percentage of schools with functioning facilities has also increased from 69 per cent to 91 per cent in the same time frame.

Enrolment has seen increases for the five-to-nine-year age range, but most of these come from kachi (or kindergarten classes) and do not yet extend all the way through primary school. While some areas in Punjab have laudably passed the 90 per cent enrolment mark, others, such as rural areas and southern Punjab, as well as girls’ schools, clearly lag behind. In addition, students are learning more.

The latest Annual Status of Education Report, which assessed over 60,000 children from all Punjab districts, reveals significant gains in learning outcomes for both literacy and numeracy. Clearly, there is muchmore work to be done, but the above indicators show progress.

A number of policy innovations, fostered by the** DFID and led by the Punjab government,** have made these developments possible. Greater monitoring of schools has been instrumental in improving teacher presence. This has been made possible by the tireless work done by a revamped programme monitoring and implementation unit.

Also key is the Punjab Education Foundation, which enables poor children to attend low-cost private schools for free.

**There is also the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF), established in 2009 to provide merit-based scholarships and assistance in the 16 less-developed districts in Punjab. It has awarded over 41,000 scholarships, worth over Rs2 billion.
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A number of government policies specifically target girls and young women. Under the Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme, annual cash stipends worth Rs 1.5 billion are provided to 380,000 girls in grades six to 10 in government schools, in 16 out of the 36 Punjab districts. The objective is to improve enrolment and increase retention. The beneficiary girls are given Rs2,400 a year conditional on an 80 per cent attendance rate.

Some of Punjab’s policies and successes will be replicable and some will need to be adapted for the other provinces.

The DFID is providing its second-largest funding to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with the expectation that some of these successes can be reproduced there.

Balochistan is implementing a programme similar to the PEEF, in a good example of inter-provincial policy learning.

All of the above implies that Punjab is making strides in solving the access issue and in increasing the quantity of education supplied, at least at the primary level. But what about the quality of education? There are serious issues with our curricula and in our textbooks, as well as in how we expect our students to learn from these materials. While it appears that the 2006 curriculum reform recommendations have been incorporated in Punjab’s latest textbooks, there is no analysis yet of the quality of these textbooks. Over the next few weeks, I will be undertaking exactly that task.
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Published in The Express Tribune, June 21[SUP]st[/SUP], 2013.*

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

Bhai jee,

App log PTI aka IK ko bhool jayaiN, apni performance per tawajah karaiN... IK's stupidity can win you another election but won't win you support among masses... so please stop posting these kind of thread, and focus on performance... and performance only...

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

Britain:Investing heavily in education in Pakistan
http://thelondonpost.net/britaininvesting-heavily-in-education-and-skills-in-pakistan/

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

I agree, PML-N should follow its rigorous agenda of development and reforms but as DFID Spokesperson said that DFID Aid in KPK helped in making 400,000 Girls of KPK to go to school !

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

I wonder why we are being compared with Nigeria and Rwanda in terms of "Out of school" children then :(

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

Pti supporters ALWAYS come up with excuse for the damage Imran has caused to Pakistan these last few months.

Old man Khan will do anything to get in power, and his brainwashed followers come up with all kinds of reasons to justify his corrupt actions.

This part say’s it all:
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A DFID spokesperson, however, calls Khan’s allegations “unfounded” saying:

“Strict financial checks and close monitoring mean aid money only goes to those who need it. UK aid is changing Pakistan for the better, for example, 400,000 girls in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa region alone can now go to school because of it. Ultimately, this work is in Britain’s interest. A thriving, stable Pakistan will help safeguard against terrorism and be a trading partner for the future.”
[RIGHT]-* DFID Spokesperson***
[/RIGHT]
**
Khan’s claims put added pressure on David Cameron to rethink his commitment towards increasing the aid budget to 0.7 per cent of gross national income.**

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

So according to desert bird Education in Punjab is flourishing lulz](http://www.paklinks.com/gs/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=Lulz)

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Re: Imran targeting British DFID Aid to Pakistan

THe point was quite simple, but expecting a jiyala who bows to a 26 year old heriditary disease to think logically is a lost cause.
Again, status quo political parties have historically pilfered money from aid/loans/etc....no secrets to it. PMLN and PPP are the worst when it comes to holding public money. This article does not negate that