Islamabad:The public sector development programme ‘Launching of STEM in Pakistan- Phase-1’ has achieved various milestones during the fiscal year 2021-22 to give impetus to Pakistan’s preparations for developing a workforce for the Fifth Industrial Revolution.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1033613-various-milestones-achieve...

According to an official source, the project is being executed through the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), Ministry of Science and Technology. Since the initiation date of the project (August 10, 2021), training modules are being developed for the grade IX-XII for which correspondence with national stakeholders including the National Curriculum Council (NCC), Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and Agha Khan University (AKU), was made, paving the way for making a consolidated document in this regard.

Furthermore, 76 best national scientists were contacted throughout the country and were requested to provide experiments for STEM. A tender for the Development of Training Modules on STEM Education is also in process and is expected to be completed by December 2022. Under the STEM project, 50 higher secondary schools (HSSs) or cadet colleges have been selected by transforming their existing labs into Mini STEM FABLABs, in addition to teacher training programs and module development on STEM education.

The payment of rupees one million was being provided to each school for developing the FABLABS which will provide students an opportunity to get hands-on training regarding state-of-the-art equipment, including design computers, 3D printers, vinyl cutters, and robotics ultimately enabling young minds for a better future. The task of purchasing IT Equipment was completed during FY 2021-22 through a tender and different IT Equipment were purchased and installed in STEM PSF Academy.

The PSDP ‘Launching of STEM in Pakistan, Phase-1’ was initiated as an umbrella project which shall be simultaneously executed across the country with the support of federal and provincial stakeholders or education departments. The major objectives of the STEM project were to officially launch STEM, the modern tool for the promotion of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in Pakistan in 50 HSS/cadet colleges in the first phase and to coordinate the provision of specialised national and international capacity building programmes on STEM education for science teachers and pedagogues.

The objectives included coordinating the development, introduction and adoption of modern pedagogical tools and interventions for STEM including STEM framework/global best practices; equipping the youth with meaningful learning through hands-on experiences, and improve their cognitive abilities and developing entrepreneurship skills amongst students through STEM education to make them job givers instead of job seekers. The development project ‘Launching of STEM in Pakistan, Phase-I (Revised)’, was approved by the Developmental Department Working Party (DDWP) of the ministry in the meeting held in August 2021 at a total cost of Rs993.784 million with 36 months duration. The administrative approval was issued by the ministry on October 15, 2021.

There is an elitist attitude among some Pakistanis who harp of "poor quality" of Pakistan's STEM education.

They resent rapid increase in access to public higher education, citing quality as an excuse.



Quality is in the eye of the beholder. Pakistani STEM grads are good enough to work in major SiliconValley tech firms. Many NED grads are highly successful here. I know many FAST grads working for Facebook HQ in MenloPark.

https://www.riazhaq.com/2017/11/marvell-to-pay-75-billion-for-caviu...

Karachi NED grad Sajjad Khan was the head of Mercedes Benz SelfDriving Cars and EV division for many years. He is now on the executive board of Porsche in Germany.

https://www.riazhaq.com/2021/01/karachi-born-ned-university-alum-le...

Pakistan brain drain accelerates in latest threat to ailing economy
Experts warn of talent erosion after nearly 1m workers left in 2022

https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Pakistan-brain-drain-accelerates-in...

Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis are leaving for jobs abroad amid the country's financial and security woes -- a brain drain that threatens to further damage the struggling economy.

Figures from the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment show that 832,339 Pakistanis went overseas for work in 2022, the most since 2016 and the third-highest tally on record. Saudi Arabia was the most preferred destination, attracting 514,909.

Ahmad Jamal, an immigration lawyer in Quetta, said the actual number of people leaving is much larger since the data only covers work visas. He said many categories of emigrants are not included, such as those traveling out on permanent residency visas, student visas and family settlement visas.

The dire state of the Pakistani economy offers few reasons to stay. It is on the verge of collapse, with foreign exchange reserves down to $2.9 billion, enough to cover barely three weeks of imports. Inflation hit 27.6% on the year in January. Per capita income stands at $1,658.

Last week, talks with the International Monetary Fund for the revival of a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility -- vital for keeping the country afloat -- ended inconclusively.

Young Pakistanis, who account for the majority of the population, face bleak prospects. Pakistan's National Human Development Report in 2017 said 64% were younger than 30, while 29% were between the ages of 15 and 29.

"From security to the economy there are many repelling factors, which push youngsters like me away from my homeland," said Atiya Khan, a 25-year business development professional who has been living in the United Arab Emirates with her parents for two decades. She said she does not want to go back to Pakistan and is looking for options to settle in the West.

Tania Baloch, a journalist who previously published a magazine called Balochistan Inside in Karachi, emigrated to Canada a couple of years ago. "I left Pakistan because the future of my kids was not secure there," she said.

Such security concerns have only grown recently, with a surge in terrorism. But many worry that the exodus, particularly skilled workers who accounted for about 90,000 of the departures in 2022, will only compound Pakistan's problems.

Yousaf Nazar, a London-based economist formerly with Citigroup, said anecdotal evidence suggests that Pakistan's business graduates do relatively better abroad. "If some of them leave, it makes the capacity issue [in Pakistan's economy] even worse," he told Nikkei.

Young people are not the only ones rushing for the exit.

Multiple immigration experts said people in their 40s and 50s are also trying to move out of the country.

Jamal, the Quetta lawyer who deals with dozens of hopeful migrants on a monthly basis, said many of his customers are middle-aged or older. "It's unbelievable that a rising number of relatively older people are seriously exploring options to move out of Pakistan due to security and economic issues," he said.

Jamal added that most of the people are liquidating their assets or borrowing loans in Pakistan for immigration and leaving with no intention of returning.

"I know people who once settled abroad and then returned to Pakistan to serve their country," he added. "Now they are also doing their best to revive their immigration status and move out of the country again."

Some downplay the issue. A government official dealing with immigration, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, argued that the issue is being blown out of proportion.

He said that "800,000 moving, out of a 220 million population, barely makes 0.4% and hence it's not as big an issue as the media is making it."

Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Report on NRIs (Non-resident Indians) and POIs (Persons of Indian Origin)

https://mea.gov.in/images/attach/NRIs-and-PIOs_1.pdf

POIs: 13.5 million

NRIs: 18.7 million

Total: 32.2 million

Top destinations:

USA 4.5 million

UAE 3.5 million

Malaysia 3 million

Saudi Arabia 2.6 million

Myanmar 2 million

UK 1.8 million

Canada 1.6 million

Sri Lanka 1.6 million

South Africa 1.6 million

In mid-March 2022, Innovate Educate & Inspire Pakistan (IEI), a nonprofit organization that works to make high-quality education accessible in the rural northeastern Gilgit Baltistan region, launched the country’s first-ever climate education program for teachers. The region is particularly vulnerable to climate change due to rapidly melting glaciers, and locals have struggled to find economically viable ways to adapt.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/17/pakistan-floods-climate-change...

Seven educators from across the country took part in the program, which equipped them with the resources to teach children from sixth to eighth grade about climate change and climate action in their schools by translating materials into local languages and engaging in play-based activities. The program was the first of its kind in a country that would months later be reeling from a summer of deadly super floods.

Those floods were one reason that state parties to last year’s United Nations climate change conference in Egypt, known as COP27, approved the creation of a loss and damage fund. Though rich countries had for decades shunned the prospect, Pakistan and other vulnerable countries in the global south helped move climate reparations into the mainstream conversation.