Analysis Of Pakistan Research Articles

Pakistan’s Higher Education System—What went Wrong and How to Fix it.

None of Pakistan’s 50+ public universities comes even close to being a university in the real sense of the word. Compared to universities in India and Iran, the quality of both teaching and research is far poorer. Most university “teaching” amounts to a mere dictation of notes which the teacher had copied down when he was a student in the same department, examinations are tests of memory, student indiscipline is rampant, and a large number of teachers commit academic fraud without ever getting punished. In some universities the actual number of teaching days in a year adds up to less than half the officially required number. Some campuses are run by gangs of hoodlums and harbour known criminals, while others have had Rangers with machine guns on continuous patrol for years on end. Common wisdom has always been that increased funding can solve all, or at least most, of the systemic problems that bedevil higher education in Pakistan. But Pakistan offers an instructive counterexample: a many-fold increase in university funding from 2002-2008 resulted in, at best, only marginal improvements in a few parts of the higher education sector. This violation of “commonsense” points to the need for some fresh thinking. The analysis of Pakistan’s higher education system divides naturally into three parts: consideration of the necessary background; understanding the meaning of university quality in the Pakistani context; and exploring the space of solutions.

Modelling the Demand for Money in Pakistan

The study estimates the dynamic demand for money (M2) function in Pakistan by employing cointegration analysis and error correction mechanism. The parameters of preferred model are found to be super-exogenous for the relevant class of interventions. It is found that the rate of inflation is an important determinant of money demand in Pakistan. The analysis reveals that the rates of interest, market rate, and bond yield are important for the long-run money demand behaviour. Since the preferred model is superexogenous, it can be used for policy analysis in Pakistan.

Use of catch-up vaccinations in the second year of life (2YL) platform to close immunity gaps: A secondary DHS analysis in Pakistan, Philippines, and South Africa

BackgroundImmunity gaps caused by COVID-19-related disruptions highlight the importance of catch-up vaccination. Number of countries offering vaccines in second year of life (2YL) has increased, but use of 2YL for catch-up vaccination has been variable. We assessed pre-pandemic use of 2YL for catch-up vaccination in three countries (Pakistan, the Philippines, and South Africa), based on existence of a 2YL platform (demonstrated by offering second dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV2) in 2YL), proportion of card availability, and geographical variety. MethodsWe conducted a secondary data analysis of immunization data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in Pakistan (2017–2018), the Philippines (2017), and South Africa (2016). We conducted time-to-event analyses for pentavalent vaccine (diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-Hepatitis B-Haemophilus influenzae type b [Hib]) and MCV and calculated use of 2YL and MCV visits for catch-up vaccination. ResultsAmong 24–35-month-olds with documented dates, coverage of third dose of pentavalent vaccine increased in 2YL by 2%, 3%, and 1% in Pakistan, Philippines, and South Africa, respectively. MCV1 coverage increased in 2YL by 5% in Pakistan, 10% in the Philippines, and 3% in South Africa. In Pakistan, among 124 children eligible for catch-up vaccination of pentavalent vaccine at time of a documented MCV visit, 45% received a catch-up dose. In the Philippines, among 381 eligible children, 38% received a pentavalent dose during an MCV visit. In South Africa, 50 children were eligible for a pentavalent vaccine dose before their MCV1 visit, but only 20% received it; none with MCV2. ConclusionSmall to modest vaccine coverage improvements occurred in all three countries through catch-up vaccination in 2YL but many missed opportunities for vaccination continue to occur. Using the 2YL platform can increase coverage and close immunity gaps, but immunization programmes need to change policies, practices, and monitor catch-up vaccination to maximize the potential.

Taxable Capacity and Tax Effort: An Analysis for Pakistan

Taxable Capacity and Tax Effort: An Analysis for Pakistan

Analysis of Pakistan's electricity generation and CO2 emissions: Based on decomposition and decoupling approach

Electricity consumption plays an imperative role in the rising economy and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2eq ) emissions in Pakistan. This study employs the decomposition and decoupling methods in driving factors of CO 2es from electricity generation for the years 1990–2019. The study investigates the key driving factors in three ways: first, the study measures the CO 2eq emission from the electricity sector using the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) between population, activity, electricity intensity, total electricity, electricity generation structure, energy efficiency, and fuel emission factor effect. Second, Tapio's decoupling index method is employed to analyze the association between electricity CO 2eq emission and economic growth over the study period. Third, decoupling indexes of each factor are analyzed for future policies and sustainable growth. The results show that (1) the activity effect and the population is the key driving factors in rising CO 2eq emission by the contribution of trade and generation structure effect. (2) The decoupling states showed the five decoupling states using the effects of electricity CO 2eq emission and economy, presenting weak decoupling in the current period. (3) Each factor's decoupling states presents the long-run instability and relationship among them. Consequently, fossil fuel consumption in Pakistan should concentrate on promoting energy-conserving technology and industrial structure adjustment.

CONTRIBUTION OF PAKISTANI FEMALE RESEARCHERS IN ICT: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS

This paper analyses the contribution of Pakistani female researchers in the field of ICT using the bibliometric analysis method. It helps to observe a female researcher’s productivity and assists in identifying problems, such as the need to empower female researchers in ICT. No such work has been conducted yet on gender-based bibliometric analysis in Pakistan. In this paper, bibliometric data of 300 female researchers were extracted from Google Scholar profiles. With the help of this study, the most prestigious female researcher in the field of ICT from Pakistan was analysed based on the h-index. Also, the most active ICT institute in terms of female research productivity (the number of publications) was observed. Furthermore, the annual growth rate of 15 years (2006–2021) of female-led research is calculated and is analysed that the maximum annual growth rate of research productivity (140.965) was in 2010. Additionally, the active contribution of female researchers in most trending research areas of ICT was found by generating the co-occurrence network diagram using 3,640 research paper titles. According to the co-occurrence network diagram, the most popular research areas are image classification and prediction, Internet of Things (IoT), wireless sensor network and smart grid, fuzzy logic and deep learning.

School closures help reduce the spread of COVID-19: A pre- and post-intervention analysis in Pakistan.

Closing schools to control COVID-19 transmission has been globally debated, with concerns about children's education and well-being, and also because of the varied effectiveness of the intervention in studies across the world. This paper aims to determine the effect of school closure policy on the incidence of COVID-19 in Pakistan. A Difference-in-Differences (DiD) analysis compared changes in COVID-19 incidence across cities that completely (Islamabad) and partially (Peshawar) closed schools during the second wave of COVID-19 in Pakistan. Effects of closing (November 2020) and reopening schools (February 2021) were assessed in Islamabad and Peshawar 10 and 20 days after policy implementation. In Islamabad, there was a greater decline in cases than in Peshawar when schools closed. After 10-days, the average reduction of daily COVID-19 incidence in Islamabad was lower by 89 cases (95% CI: -196, 18), due to complete school closure, with a relative reduction of 125 cases (95% CI: -191, -59) compared to Peshawar. Similarly, the relative increase in Islamabad after schools re-opened was 107 cases (95% CI: 46, 167) compared to Peshawar. After 20-days, the average daily COVID-19 incidence in both cities declined after school were closed (Islamabad: -81 [95% CI: -150, -13] versus Peshawar: -80 [95% CI: -148, -12]). COVID-19 incidence appeared to decline after schools reopened as well (Islamabad: -116 [95% CI: -230, -3] versus Peshawar: -30 [95% CI: -124, 63]). However, Peshawar's decline is not statistically significant. These results control for changes in testing as well as a daily time trend. The magnitude and speed of reduction in cases with a complete school closure, and a similar but reverse trend of increasing cases upon reopening, suggests that closing schools reduces COVID-19 transmission in communities. However, there are learning-loss and well-being costs for children and their parents.

Attempting takeoff: An Analysis of Pakistan's Economic Performance through Rostow's Stages of Growth

Attempting takeoff: An Analysis of Pakistan's Economic Performance through Rostow's Stages of Growth

Cyber Security and Policy Making: An Analysis of Pakistan

The knowledge and technology era is currently in full swing. Political entities are constantly evolving, with advancements ranging from electronic utilities payment processing to modern infrastructure, the use of machine learning, advanced communication systems, and technological combat. Distances have shrunk the advancement of technology, but its use has also given rise to fresh dangers and anxieties. Cybercrimes, including stealing, criminal conspiracy, financial crimes, data breaches, matters of national security acquisition, and even dangers to essential systems, have evolved into modern-day forms of cyber warfare. These risks affect both wealthy and emerging nations, creating a national security problem. Pakistan is a nuclear-capable emerging nation that is particularly exposed to these dangers. It is more difficult for the government and lawmakers to control Pakistan's digital world because of its vast variety of internet users and poorly informed technology literacy. Nowadays, Pakistan has experienced significant cyber-attacks on vital governmental portals, and attackers have effectively breached the cyberspace of crucial infrastructure. Lawmakers in Pakistan have developed legal actions that don't fully and comprehensively address the concerns to keep this from happening. What is the status of Pakistan's policy alternatives to address significant cybersecurity challenges is the real cause of discussion. However, this study concentrates on the approach of cybersecurity framework in Pakistan. This paper highlights both primary and secondary sources as part of their qualitative research approach. Finally, a few suggestions for strengthening the nation's cyber security measures are also made. Keywords: Cyber Security, Policy Making, Pakistan, Technology

Globalization and its Impact on Income Inequality; A Time-Series Analysis of Pakistan using ARDL Approach

Globalization and its Impact on Income Inequality; A Time-Series Analysis of Pakistan using ARDL Approach

NCOC-An Emblem of Effective Governance: An analysis of Pakistan’s Counter Strategy for Covid-19 as a Non-Traditional Security Challenge

NCOC-An Emblem of Effective Governance: An analysis of Pakistan’s Counter Strategy for Covid-19 as a Non-Traditional Security Challenge

(2021) Volume 2, Issue 4 Cultural Implications of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC Authors: Dr. Unsa Jamshed Amar Jahangir Anbrin Khawaja Abstract: This study is an attempt to highlight the cultural implication of CPEC on Pak-China relations, how it will align two nations culturally, and what steps were taken by the governments of two states to bring the people closer.

(2021) Volume 2, Issue 4 Cultural Implications of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC Authors: Dr. Unsa Jamshed Amar Jahangir Anbrin Khawaja Abstract: This study is an attempt to highlight the cultural implication of CPEC on Pak-China relations, how it will align two nations culturally, and what steps were taken by the governments of two states to bring the people closer.

Sexual Harassment in Universities: Situational Analysis in Pakistan

The purpose of the study was to analyze "sexual harassment and its psychological effects on the students at the university level." The objectives of the study were to identify the awareness and the causes of sexual harassment among university students. The main purpose of the study was to identify the factors that caused the increasing rate of sexual harassment in educational institutions. The data was collected with a five-point Like rt scale that consisted of thirty-nine (39 statements). The statements were further divided into five (05) factors. The factors related to ethnicity and gender, awareness about sexual harassment act, causes of sexual harassment, reporting of sexual harassment, psychological impacts of sexual harassment. A sample of three hundred (300) students was randomly selected out of the whole population of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, from fifteen departments with equal ratios, male (150) and female (150) students were selected. The obtained scores were analyzed using different statistical methods. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) was used for statistical data analysis. The results show that at university, girls try to impress others with their styles and gestures. This research indicated that psychological effects on the students are notable as they suffered mental trauma, stress, and anxiety.

Trade Liberalization and Labor Demand Elasticities: A Firm-Level Analysis of Pakistan’s Manufacturing Sector

The study investigates the linkage of trade liberalization and labor demand elasticities in Pakistan. The panel data are used by selecting 13 industries in Pakistan's manufacturing sector for the years 1995-1996, 2000-2001, and 2005-2006. The Pooled OLS technique is applied to get the estimates at an aggregated level and disaggregated levels. Overall findings support the positive relationship between trade liberalization and labor demand elasticity in production workers but in the case of non-production workers, the findings show the weak relationship between trade liberalization and labor demand elasticity. The study is also furnished with some policy recommendations.

A spatial-temporal decomposition of carbon emission intensity: a sectoral level analysis in Pakistan.

We examine the relative performance of the industry, services, and agriculture sectors in energy conservation and reduction in CO2 emissions in Pakistan using the "spatial-temporal decomposition" method by taken data from 2006 to 2016. An efficient way to achieve low-carbon economy targets is to decompose different factors contributing to CO2 emissions, including structure effect, intensity effect, GDP gap effect, energy use efficiency effect, and economic efficiency. We classify economic sectors into three groups based on performance, i.e., sectors performing below, average, and above-average performing. Our results indicate that the economic efficiency and energy use efficiency effects in the industry sector have remained above average. In contrast, the GDP gap effect has remained below average. In the case of structure effect and intensity effect, the agriculture sector has performed on average. In contrast, the service sector has shown mixed results in all factors. The government should pay special attention to energy use structure and innovation to improve desirable output technical efficiency to achieve the target carbon emission level.

Quantifying satisfaction among pharmacists working in Pharmaceutical Sales or Marketing and its inferential relationship with demographics: A Cross-Sectional analysis in Pakistan.

Objectives:To quantify satisfaction among pharmacists working in pharmaceutical sales or marketing in Pakistan.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacists working in pharmaceutical sales and marketing during August to November, 2019. Satisfaction score of pharmacists was considered satisfied (Score > 2.5) and dissatisfied (Score < 2.5). The maximum and minimum satisfaction score was four and one for each question respectively.Results:A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed and 200 were received back yielding a response rate of 80%. Male respondents dominated the cohort and were more satisfied (2.60 ± 0.47) as compared to females (2.31 ± 0.48) with majority were 18-30 years old and 78% had Pharm. D level of education (2.61 ± 0.47). The mean satisfaction score of participant is 2.51 with standard deviation of 0.49. The 53% of the respondents were dissatisfied with their salaries. The study dependent and independent variables are correlated with each other and significant results were seen between them. The factors associated with dissatisfaction are fear of losing job (2.19 ± 0.88), switch job (2.20 ± 0.77) and health condition (2.09 ± 0.89). Factors associated with satisfaction are positive attitude of doctor (2.91 ± 0.60), doctor consider respectful job holder (2.91 ± 0.61), enjoy work (3.01 ± 0.65), job by choice (3.12 ± 0.67) and progress in job (3.00 ± 0.74).Conclusions:It was concluded that the respondents were dissatisfied due to number of issues including disturbance in their personal life, lack of promotion and incentives among study participants.

Analysis of Pakistan’s National Curriculum for English: A Learner-Centered Ideology Perspective

Curriculum is said to be the blueprint that lays down not only educational goals but also the ways to attain those goals. The blueprint is highly ideologically influenced and this is reflected in the goals set by the developers of the curriculum. The National Curriculum for English published in Pakistan in 2006 is considered an updated document with contribution from all key stakeholders; however, the literature on curriculum studies lacks any study that has been carried out to understand its ideological nature. Hence, the purpose of this study is to analyze the National English Curriculum from a learner-centered ideological perspective. Use qualitative methods to close reading of the document was done to carefully find useful excerpts of the text and label according to the purpose of the study. The results show that the curriculum follows the learner-centered ideology in terms of subject matter, content knowledge, teaching process and the role of students and teachers. However, in terms of assessment, it follows a traditional approach. The study concluded that the assessment part of the curriculum needs to follow a more formative and innovative assessment approach to make the document more learner-centric in nature. Moreover, the study puts forward a few recommendations with respect to the training of teachers, the provision of guidance strategies for teachers, and the allocation of more proportions for formative assessments.

Evaluating mangrove conservation and sustainability through spatiotemporal (1990–2020) mangrove cover change analysis in Pakistan

This study provides the first comprehensive mangrove cover change assessment from 1990 to 2020, at five-year intervals, across all five mangrove areas in Pakistan, i.e. Indus Delta, Sandspit, Sonmiani, Kalmat Khor, and Jiwani. Using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) geospatial cloud computing platform, Random Forest (RF) classifier was applied on Landsat 30 m spatial resolution satellite images to classify three major land cover classes: ‘mangrove’, ‘water’ and ‘other’. High temporal and spectral resolutions of Landsat images, with a low saturation level of spectral bands with the integration of indices, are the main factors that ensured >90% overall accuracy of land cover maps. Over the last three decades (1990–2020), the annual rate of change calculation, cross-tabulated method, and fragmentation analysis were carried out to identify the changes in mangrove cover. Overall, the findings of this paper revealed that, at the national scale, an estimated 477.22 km2 was covered with mangrove in 1990, which increased to 1463.59 km2 in 2020, a 3.74% annual rate of change. Mangrove fragmentation mapping results have also showed enhancement in mangrove tree canopy density. Due to planting and effective conservation practices, the current study shows positive changes in mangrove cover across all five study sites. The findings of this study will prove useful for design and implementation of mangrove ecosystem management plans, initiatives for adaptation to extreme weather events, carbon budgeting, and others.

A tale of two studies: Reflections on issues faced by novice researchers during data collection and analysis in Pakistan

This paper reports on the challenges faced by two researchers during data collection and translation of data and analysis in two public sector universities in Pakistan. Data collection from each institute involved different procedures and a different set of issues, including negotiating access with gatekeepers and participants, dealing with teachers’ attitudinal issues, and getting consent from female participants. Challenges related to access to the institution, to female participants and recording permissions are discussed. Both researchers faced issues in translation of the key constructs with no equivalent lexical items in the context of study. It is further argued that awareness of such issues beforehand will help novice researchers be better prepared. Implications for novice researchers from Pakistan, and researchers from other contexts, have also been discussed.

Examining the asymmetric effects of Pakistan's fiscal decentralization on economic growth and environmental quality.

This study aims to investigate the asymmetric fiscal decentralization effect on economic growth and environmental quality by using Pakistan data from 1984 to 2018. Our findings demonstrate that expenditure decentralization has asymmetric effects on economic growth and CO2 emissions in short- and long-run in Pakistan. Therefore, positive and negative fluctuations in expenditure decentralization affect economic growth and CO2 emissions differently in Pakistan. The results of asymmetric ARDL suggested that negative shock of revenue decentralization is reduced the economic growth and CO2 emissions in the short and long-run, while positive shock of revenue decentralization is reduced the economic growth and CO2 emissions. Our asymmetric results are country-specific and more effective in policy analysis in Pakistan. The outcomes of this study may also help Pakistan's local governments and the central government in addressing the problem of economic growth and environmental pollution.