Army Public School Research Articles

Structural Violence, Gender, and Post 9-11 Terrorism in Pakistan: Examining the Psychological Impact on the Parents of Army Public School attacks in Pakistan

This study seeks to explore the gender – specific impact of post-9/11 terrorismacts inPakistan, with a particular focus on the parents of the children killed in the terrorist attacks on Army Public School in Peshawar, in 2014. The paper dwells deep intoexploring how the parents have been impacted and examines the many ways by whichthe victims have devised coping strategies in response to traumatic events. This studyuses Galtung’s structural violence theory as a theoretical framework to examine the psychological impact on the parents, with structural violence in this context referring topost-9/11 terrorism acts in Pakistan. This study adopted a sequential exploratory design. By using a stratified random sampling technique, a total of 216 participants were selected, comprising 133 Direct Victims and 83 Indirect Victims. Data collectioninvolved a mixed method approach - both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Primarydata was collected through structured interviews and a standardized questionnaire called Lieber’s scale of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to measure the level of post-traumatic stress. Subsequent processing and tabulation followed by statistical examination to assess the psychological impact of post-9/11 terrorism in Peshawar. Finding indicates that the symptoms of PTSD were still evident among all participants even after nine years of terrorist attack. Participants who were directly exposed totrauma displayed more symptoms of psychological distress as compared to those whowere indirectly exposed. The results also indicate a surprising and rather significant development in gender focused research with male parents exhibiting significantly highlevel of PTSD in comparison to women victims. Observations from the primary data showing men demonstrating higher level of PTSD, brings interesting propositions togender research, where explorations around the social and psychological aspects of masculinity, and the multifaceted roles played by men around gender empowerment may prompt intriguing inquiries into gender research. Furthermore, it is recommendedthat future research must focus on factors that should not only identify the optimal timing for PTSD treatment, but also explore factors that can bring natural recovery. Moreover, the research also facilitates the policy recommendation for development work as well as those agencies including, the government, local and international aidorganizations working in the areas affected by violence.

Effectiveness of Counterterrorism Policies of Pakistan

National Action Plan (NAP) was issued after the Army Public School attack in 2014 and it got public attention, however, after eight years of the plan it is unclear how effective it is in eradicating terrorism and extremism. This study is an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the NAP. This study utilised Eric Van Um & Daniela Pisoiu’s Model of Effectiveness as an analytical tool to assess the effectiveness of the NAP. This study is based on 30 in-depth interviews with policymakers, practitioners and activists. It is argued that the NAP is partially achieved its goals as the hard measures of the plan have been executed but failed to give enough attention to the soft measures to succeed in desired goals

Photographic Reportage of War on Terror: A Perspective of Mainstream Print Media in Pakistan

The current study focuses on the depiction of ‘war on terror’ in Pakistan's mainstream print media in 2014-15. After the APS (Army Public School, Peshawar) assault in December 2014, there was a large number of sensitive contents shared on media. This research examines visual content published in leading newspapers of Pakistan, namely, Dawn, Daily Jang, and Nawa-i-Waqt from December 2014 to November 2015. The researchers examined the front and back pages of the chosen newspapers for specific photojournalistic evidence during a set period of time. For this research, quantitative content analysis and simple random sampling method was used. According to the findings of the study, the frequency of negative pictures related to the ‘war on terror’ is higher in Pakistan's print media. In addition, when compared to English print media, the Urdu press has a higher frequency of graphic content connected to the war on terror. It's also been noted that the mainstream print media (Dawn, Jang, and Nawa-e-Waqt) aren't doing a good photojournalism related to war on terror. When compared to the English press in Pakistan, the Urdu press provides greater sensationalism and dramatization in terms of pictorial coverage of the incident.

Framing of Counter-Terrorism Activities in the Leading Pakistani English and Urdu Newspapers: Post Army Public School Peshawar Attack (2014-2019)

The study “Framing of Counter-Terrorism activities in the leading Pakistani English and Urdu newspapers: Post Army Public School Peshawar Attack (2014-2019)” is focused on the editorials and columns of the English and Urdu newspapers of Pakistan from December 2014 right after APS Peshawar attacks to December 2019. Two English newspapers’ daily Dawn and daily The News whereas Urdu newspapers’ including daily Jang and daily Nawa-i-Waqt were selected during the aforementioned time period. The categories Military Operations; National Action Plan, National Security, Cutting Terror Financing and Funding were analyzed in three point scale from Unfavorable, Neutral to Favorable. The study gets the support of agenda setting and framing theories. The results show that overall positive stance to all selected categories was given followed by neutral stance whereas least negative stance was observed in the study. The study approved all the hypotheses and confirmed that Pakistani print media supported the government and militarily operations in the country to curb terrorism activities to protect the lives of its nation.

An Experimental Study of Spatial Vocabulary Teaching in the Subject of English through Four Steps Strategy at Elementary Level

The study was an experimental study of spatial vocabulary in the subject of English. The subject was taught through four steps strategy at elementary level. Also the same subject was taught through lecture method. The major objectives of the study were: (i) to explore the effects of four steps strategy on the spatial vocabulary enhancement of elementary school students, (ii) to investigate the effect of four steps strategy on the spatial vocabulary enhancement of male elementary students, (iii) to measure the effect of four steps strategy on the spatial vocabulary enhancement of female elementary school students. To achieve the objectives, the following null hypotheses were tested: (i) there is no significant effect of four steps strategy on the spatial vocabulary enhancement of elementary school students, (ii) there is no significant effects of four steps strategy on the spatial vocabulary enhancement of male elementary school students. All the students of Grade-III from Army Public Schools and Colleges of province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the population of this study. Sample of the study was 20 students (girls & boys) of Army Public School and College (Iqra) Risalpur Cantt District Nowshera by using random sampling technique. Pre-test and post-test single group four cycle designs were used as a tool for data collection in this study to measure the performance of the students. In four cycle experimental design, same group was exposed to experiment and lecture method of teaching. After the exposing, groups (experimental/control) were interchanged for getting accurate results. The data obtained was tabulated and analysed using paired t-test in the light objectives of the study. The analysis of the collected data revealed the following findings; it was revealed from the results that four steps strategy had significant effect on spatial vocabulary enhancement at elementary level. The result of the study showed that four steps strategy had significant effect on the spatial vocabulary enhancement of male and female elementary school students. It is recommended that the teacher should apply four steps strategy to foster the academic achievements of the students. This study will be beneficial for students, teachers and curriculum developer.

Army Public School Terrorist Attack - Perceptions and Experiences of school children of Karachi.

Objectives:To explore the experiences and perceptions of school children of Karachi after the Army Public School (APS) attack.Methods:It was a qualitative transcendental phenomenological study. Data collection started nine months after the attack, in September 2015, and continued till November 2019. Study participants were school children from Army, Government, and Private schools. The sampling strategy was convenience. Data collection of 53 students was done by focus group discussions and in depth interviews. Data analysis was performed using the phenomenological analytical techniques of Colaizzi.Results:Inductive analysis of the qualitative data gave rise to three themes - The journey beyond fear, Response of parents and schools and Role of media.Conclusion:The study concluded that the APS attack was the source of emotional distress and fear for the school children of Karachi as they personalized the event due to the nature of the attack. Immediately after the incident, they were in anger, grief, and fear, which altered their daily life activities and caused apprehensions in socializing and attending school. However, later they became highly motivated to study and gained courage. This motivation is revenge from terrorists as they wanted to keep children away from schools.

An Analytical Study of Conflicts and Violence on Socio-Economic Status in Pakistan

Purpose: This research focuses on how the currently occurring conflicts in Pakistan are leading to violent acts which in turn affect the society and the economy of the country. Conflicts and violence are becoming a colossal menace for developing countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Design/Methodology/Approach: Moreover, the research has examined, using the tools of comparative analysis, how conflicts and violence affect the economy and society.Findings: The results suggest that conflicts and violence have rendered serious Socio-economic consequences. Conflicts and violence destroy assets, institutions and brutely disturb the social setup of the country by disturbing the socio-economic progress of the nation. Pakistan has been a victim of conflicts and violence since the day of its independence. Whether it is the migration of refugees in 1947, Pak Indo war of 1965, East Pakistan separation in 1971, post 9/11 war on terrorism, Lal Masjid attack in 2008, PNS Mehran terrorist attack in 2011, or the Peshawar Army Public School attack in 2015, Pakistan has suffered great losses both socially and economically. Implications/Originality/Value: The study has contributed towards better understanding of how conflice and violence has affected the socio-economic structure of Pakistan. Acid attacks, violence against women, child abuse, ethnic polarization, Islamic sectarianism, intolerance, and honor killings are a few of the many heinous acts that have not only affected each member of the society in Pakistan but have also proven to be a threat to each sector of its economy.

Prevalence of Depression, Death Anxiety and Coping Strategies used by victims and beholders of Army Public School Peshawar.

The study main aim was to examine psychological effect of terrorism i.e. depression and death anxiety and used of coping strategies i.e emotion and problem focused coping among the students of army public school. Sample was comprised of 400 students age range 13 – 19 out of which 200 were victims and 200 were beholders. Through convenient sampling technique data was collected. Beck Depression scale (Aron, T, Beck, 1961) , Death anxiety scale(Donald Templer,1970) and Coping inventory(Carver,1989) were used to measure their level of depression, death anxiety and coping strategies they use. Findings indicate that scales were internally consistent and reliable. Moreover, result of the study shows that victims scored high on depression and death anxiety scale in comparison of beholders. Victims utilized emotion focused coping techniques to tackle depression and death anxiety while beholders used problem focused coping techniques to overcome depression and death anxiety.

A Historical Recount of Terrorism in Pakistan: From Partition in 1947 to the Army Public School Massacre in 2014

The issue of terrorism is as old as the country itself. To begin with, there were infrequent low intensity periodic incidents of terrorism. However, state UN-willingness or UN-preparedness, in the beginning, allowed the issue to grow in strength. Furthermore, the disturbance in Afghanistan and ultimately the incident of 9/11 proved instrumental in providing the terrorists an opportunity to bounce back by inflicting serious to the state in total in terms of human deaths and economic losses. But among them all, the APS incident on December 14 2014, proved to be the worst in terms of human loss and exposed the terrorists as the ones who deserved no mercy. This paper reviews the historical accounts and tries to fix where the state and its institutions committed a mistake. It suggests that had Pakistan not been soft to individual incidents of terrorism, and had it not involved itself so much in Afghan affairs, the issue may not have worsened to cause so much damage and loss.

Factors contributing to distress among school and college-going adolescents during COVID-19 Lockdown: A cross-sectional study conducted in Sibi Balochistan, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND:Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have implemented nationwide lockdowns. While this leads to a decrease in disease transmission, there is a concurrent increase in the levels of psychological distress. To estimate the levels of psychological distress in school- and college-going adolescents currently under lockdown and to determine the factors associated with this psychological distress.MATERIALS AND METHODS:A cross-sectional study conducted in Army Public School and College (APSAC) Sibi, Balochistan province of Pakistan between March and May 2020. Students of APSAC Sibi were enrolled in this research. Modified Kuppuswamy Socioeconomic Scale, Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, and Kessler-10 were used for data acquisition. Chi-square and t-tests and univariate analysis (nonparametric test) were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 (IBM, Armonk, US).RESULTS:Out of 225 participants, 57.4% were studying at school. Sixty-four percent of the participants were likely to be suffering from psychological distress. There is a significant effect of physical activity, sleep duration, bedtime at night, screen-time duration, and COVID-19 positive family member on the levels of distress. A moderate positive correlation was between psychological distress and bed-time at night (rho[223] = 0.328, P < 0.001) and screen time duration (rho[223] = 0.541, P < 0.001). A moderate negative correlation of physical activity (rho[223] = −0.340, P < 0.001) and a weak negative correlation of sleep duration hours (rho[225] = −0.158, P = 0.018) was found with psychological distress levels.CONCLUSIONS:The COVID-19 lockdown and pandemic have had a considerable psychological impact on both school-going and college-going students, showing increased level of stress. A strong public health campaign along with mental and physical and social support programs are the need of the hour.

Online Teaching Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a remarkable economic impact worldwide, including in Pakistan, and was soon declared an international public health issue. The education sector in Pakistan, specifically school (K-12) education, has seen a staggering impact due to obstacles in delivering alternative forms of education during the pandemic. Educational institutions in Pakistan closed on March 13, 2020, and then, on April 13, 2020, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, announced the launch of a “tele-schooling” initiative. Teaching staff, who are arguably the most vital resource in any schooling system, faced considerable physical, mental, and financial challenges due to an overnight shift to an online mode of teaching, with issues concerning inadequate digital pedagogical knowledge and infrastructure limitations relating mostly to power connectivity. The current study investigated the perception of Pakistani school teachers regarding their online teaching practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the study, a qualitative research strategy was adopted, with semi-structured interviews conducted via Skype with 10 school teachers from Pakistan’s renowned Army Public School and College System (APSACS) schools located in the Rawalpindi and Islamabad regions of the country. Saldana’s (2016) structured inductive data analysis method was used in analyzing the collected data. The study’s results highlighted the issues and challenges confronted by school teachers in delivering online lessons via Google Classroom, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams such as high-cost Internet packages, uncooperative learners, low attendance of learners, teachers’ technology confidence, limited availability of educational resources, lack of ICT knowledge, and poor network infrastructure. However, the creativity, dedication, and community spirit which the school teachers demonstrated in working with very limited facilities were exemplary. Hence, based on the study’s findings, changes were proposed as a way forward. It is hoped that the study’s findings will help policymakers and the Ministry of Education in Pakistan to focus more on human capital development, interpersonal development, communication and technology management training, and support programs, especially for school teachers as the foundation of the next and future generations.

Role of Media in Securitisation of Terrorism: A Case Study of Pakistan

This paper explains the media process in reporting political communications in the securitisation dialogue. Securitisation is the process of declaring an issue a security challenge and requires an urgent and existential cause which is too important to be put to a normal political process and merits to be dealt decisively by the top leaders on priority basis. This paper also explores media agenda and framing practices along with their ensuing effects on the process of securitisation of terrorism in Pakistan. Media has always been inclined to highlight the sellable story line, using the propaganda and interests of dominant groups in the society. Defining the relevance of media in securitisation process, this paper takes the Army Public School (APS) attack in Peshawar in 2014 as a watershed event to examine the impact on media and evaluates its contribution to securitising terrorism as a threat to the country. Two influential newspapers, Dawn and Jang were examined through content and discourse analysis. A comparison of media framing and agenda setting, before and after the APS attack, highlights the level of securitisation of terrorism in the country and the role media plays in this process.

Military Courts: Credibility and Capacity Implications for Superior Judiciary of Pakistan

Pakistan is going through turmoil of terrorism. The State is doing what it can to eradicate this menace and in so doing established Field General Court Martial commonly known as Military Courts in wake of barbaric attack on Army Public School in December 2014. However, it is not the solution to the long standing problem motivated and nurtured by various factors like political, religious etc. Instead drastic changes are required to amend and update the existing criminal justice system including legal framework, training for judges, prosecutions, protection of witnesses as well as prosecution/defense. This will pave a way for reforms and improve security situation in Pakistan instead of challenging the credibility and capacity of the superior judiciary. In this way, violence can be countered by respecting Fundamental Rights and following due process of law. Also this will enable the state institutes to cooperate in a better way

Assessment of Nutritional Status and its Determinants among Students of Army Public School, Okara, Pakistan

Background: Malnutrition is a health problem affecting growth and development of young children. Children under 15 years of age are the main victims of malnutrition. Malnutrition is attributed to a series of diverse etiological factors.&#x0D; Objective: To determine the nutritional status of the children of various age groups of school going children of Army Public School and to find out the association of socio-demographic variables and dietary habits with nutritional status.&#x0D; Methodology: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at Army Public School, Okara. Sample was selected through non-probability consecutive sampling. Duration of study was 6 months (Dec 2017 to May 2018). The study was conducted after getting formal approval from Institutional Ethical Review Board AFPGMI. The children were randomly selected for study from the enrollment register available in the principal’s office. Participation in the study was voluntary with guaranteed confidentiality. The participants were given full right to quit study without mentioning reason at any time during data collection. After ruling out the exclusion criteria, 500 children fulfilling inclusion criteria were selected for study. An informed written consent was obtained from all selected children and their parents to take part in the study. Data for the assessment of nutritional status was obtained using anthropometry, biochemical laboratory test and eating habits / food preferences of the children.&#x0D; Results: In our study, mean age of children included in the study was 9.58±1.72 years. Out of 500 children, 252 (50.2%) were male while 248 (49.8%) female. The mean height of children was 134.88±11.69 cm. The mean weight of children was 30.25±8.47 kg. The mean OFC of children was 51.43±1.75 cm. Out of total 500 children, 85 (17%) were having BMI less than 18.5, 338 (67.6%) were having BMI within 18.5–24.9 while 77 (15.4%) children having BMI within 25-29.9. None of child was observed with BMI of ?30. Among 85 children with below normal BMI, 63 had mild malnutrition (BMI between 17-18.4), 19 had moderate malnutrition (BMI 16-16.9) while 3 had severe malnutrition (BMI &lt; 16)&#x0D; Conclusion: Malnutrition is a significant public health problem among preschool and school going children. And improving socio-economic condition along with literacy of mothers and preventing infections through personal hygiene might help in improving the nutritional status of children.

Assessment of Nutritional Status and its Determinants among Students of Army Public School, Okara, Pakistan

Assessment of Nutritional Status and its Determinants among Students of Army Public School, Okara, Pakistan

Smart Security Framework for Educational Institutions using Internet of Things (IoT)

Educational institutions are soft targets for the terrorist with massive and defenseless people. In the recent past, numbers of such attacks have been executed around the world. Conducting research, in order to provide a secure environment to the educational institutions is a challenging task. This effort is motivated by recent assaults, made at Army Public School Peshawar, following another attack at Charsada University, Khyber Pukhtun Khwa, Pakistan and also the Santa Fe High School Texas, USA massacre. This study uses the basic technologies of edge computing, cloud computing and IoT to design a smart emergency alarm system framework. IoT is engaged in developing this world smarter, can contribute significantly to design the Smart Security Framework (SSF) for educational institutions. In the emergency situation, all the command and control centres must be informed within seconds to halt or minimize the loss. In this article, the SSF is proposed. This framework works on three layers. The first layer is the sensors and smart devices layer. All these sensors and smart devices are connected to the Emergency Control Room (ECR), which is the second layer of the proposed framework. The second layer uses edge computing technologies to process massive data and information locally. The third layer uses cloud computing techniques to transmit and process data and information to different command and control centres. The proposed system was tested on Cisco Packet Tracer 7. The result shows that this approach can play an efficient role in security alert, not only in the educational institutions but also in other organizations too.

Portrail of Afghan Refugees in the Wake of APS Attack

After the Russian invasion in 1979, most of the disturbed Afghans fled their homes. A huge number of refugees rushed to Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan. Their influx increases infrastructure problems in the targeted countries. According to the United nations available resources, more than 4 million registered Afghan refugees, took shelter in Pakistan. These refugees were given nominated spaces throughout Khyber Pakhtunkhwa &amp; Baluchistan to live there. After the fall of Kabul, refugees remained in Pakistani provinces. During their stay, so many incidents took place in Pakistan. According to the intelligence reports, in many terrorists' activities, Afghan refugees found responsible. The recent attack of Army Public School showed a strong connection between Afghan refugees' involvement in the incident. Pakistani Media also portrayed them with angles.

Social network analysis of Army Public School Shootings: Need for a unified man-made disaster management in Pakistan

This study evaluates the effectiveness of inter-organizational collaboration in response to the Army Public School (APS) Shootings that happened on December 16th, 2014 in the city Peshawar, Pakistan. After reviewing the major changes in terrorism related policies and frameworks before and after September 11, 2002, this article applies a social network analysis to compare the disaster response networks enacted in the formal disaster management plans with the actual response networks formed during the APS attacks. Data were gathered from content analysis of the APS Shootings incident, national and international newspapers, situation reports and after-action reports. The timely response to shootings is attributable to the long term planning efforts of law enforcement agencies. However, for improved results, the response and relief efforts should have been coordinated with the national disaster management framework under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) - the lead authority for disaster management in Pakistan.

Army Public School Attack; A Comparative Study of Daily Dawn and The News International – The Elite Newspapers of Pakistan

Army Public School Attack; A Comparative Study of Daily Dawn and The News International – The Elite Newspapers of Pakistan

Punishing Terrorists: Military Courts and Public Opinion in Pakistan

Terrorism is one of the menaces that inflicted huge human losses to the state and society of Pakistan. On December 16, 2014, the brazen attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar killed 141, including 132 children and nine members of the school staff. In reaction, on January 7, 2015, the government adopted the 21st amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, which entailed the establishment of military courts to punish the terrorists and their facilitators. This study gauges the opinion of young students towards this new counter-terrorism policy. The results suggest two outcomes: firstly, the public admits that terrorism is one of their main problems and secondly, there is an ethnically diverse view on the military-led public policy to curb terrorism.