Impact of Hajj on Muslims With Special Reference to Pakistan

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and is obligatory, once in life time, on adult Muslims having physical and financial capacity. Historically, ‘Hajj’ has been a rigorous undertaking. Although technological advancement has made it easier in many ways, yet there are hardships owing to ever increasing number of pilgrims visiting Makkah Mukkaramah i.e. A city with finite resources including all available resources. The Government of Pakistan, being a facilitator, endeavors to make the Hajj experience as comfortable as is possible within the resources available and standards affordable by Pakistani Hujjaj by making extensive arrangements, through a transparent process, so that the pilgrims could perform their manasik-e-Hajj as enshrined in Quran and Sunnah. The Pilgrim accounts stress that the Hajj leads to a feeling of unity with fellow Muslims.  It increases belief in equality and harmony among ethnic groups and Islamic sects and leads to more favorable attitudes toward all the people of Pakistan including   women with greater acceptance of female education and employment. Hajjis show increased belief in peace, and in equality and harmony among adherents of different religions. The evidence suggests that these changes are more a result of exposure to and interaction with Hajjis from around the world, rather than religious instruction or a changed social role of pilgrims upon their return to Pakistan.

Exploring the Influences of Teacher Performance Appraisal on Teachers Motivation: A Case Study

The study explored teacher performance appraisal (TPA) and its influence on teachers' motivation in a secondary school in Karachi, Pakistan. TPA is perceived as an important tool for improving the quality of teaching and learning in the domains of content knowledge, teaching skill and attitude. However, TPA is also considered as an instrument for administrative purposes such as the provision of merit increment, promotion, demotions and weeding out the incompetent teachers from their services. It is the general impression that TPA influences teachers' motivation in both negative as well as positive ways. In order to have an in-depth understanding, the study explored TPA and its influence on teachers' motivation in a Secondary School in Karachi, Pakistan. Moreover, the nature of the study made me opt for qualitative research method and case study approach, in which I examined the perceptions, beliefs and live experiences of research participants in a real context (school). Moreover, semi-structured interviews, informal conversations and document reviews were used in the study as methods of data collection tools. Findings reveal that TPA serves two major purposes that is the improvement-oriented and accountability-oriented purpose. The former is to find out the strengths, weaknesses and plans for further improvement, which influence teachers' motivation positively towards their work. The latter is to give judgments, and this judgment makes teachers de-motivated. In its improvement-oriented sense, TPA is used for providing feedback and professional development opportunities to teachers in order to improve their teaching and learning. Accountability-oriented TPA is nestled with merit increment, promotion and dismissal of low performing teachers. Decisions are taken on the basis of academic and non-academic performances, based on multiple sources of data such as; classroom observation, peer-appraisal, gathering evidences from student learning outcomes. Finally, findings pointed out some of the key factors, which influence teachers' motivation, that are: the nature of individual and institutional interests, nature of appraisal feedback, reward and recognition, merit increment, shared and unshared purposes and criteria of TPA.