Comparative Analysis of Municipal Powers in Karachi

This study aims to draw a comparative analysis of the powers of local governments in Karachi. The subject of local government structure and its authority has become more important in the current local scenario. The findings of the study reveal that in past successive civilian governments in Pakistan did not pay attention to developing a solid local government system and instead preferred controlling districts and tehsils through the bureaucracy, with the absence of democracy and accountability at the local level. Instead of using this third tier of the government for the delivery of swift and better municipal services, they always made an effort to keep them weakened through legislation at different levels. The situation has now got worst in the biggest city and economic hub of Pakistan where people are deprived of basic facilities due to a handicapped system. The Mayor of the biggest city of Pakistan felt powerless as the provincial government through the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 deprived the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation of its main functions. The local bodies will have to be given the authority and essential powers. Only then these institutions can be made capable of providing basic services to the people.

An Evaluation of English Language Teaching Course Offered by PAF Teacher's Training Institute Islamabad

A large part of the English teachers teaching at various schools across Pakistan have little or no sound knowledge of modern developments in English Language Teaching (ELT). Such teachers are partly to blame for the poor standard of ELT in Pakistan. Training such in service teachers is of utmost and immediate importance for two main reasons. First, it is the untrained fresh graduates who are employed as teachers. Second, Pakistani universities training graduates and post-graduates hardly provide any training in ELT. The research was undertaken to evaluate the English Language Teaching Course (ELTC) offered by PAF Teachers' Training Institute, Islamabad, with four main objectives: to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of ELTC, to assess the impact of ELTC on the teachers' skills, to find out the attitude of English language teachers and principals of PAF Fazaia schools towards in-service teachers' training, and suggest ways to improve language teachers' training courses in future. For this study, five PAF Fazaia schools, thirty English language teachers, five principals, and three master trainers were taken as samples. The director of the Institute was also included as a part of the study. Three questionnaires were designed: to know the views of English language teachers regarding the course, to find the masters trainers' views about the course and the teachers, and to study views of the principals heading PAF Fazaia schools. An interview was conducted to get the views of the director of the Institution. Three questionnaires and an interview brought the data which was statistically analyzed by using the formulae of Mean, Standard Deviation and Range. It is recommended that: the ELTC duration be increased, the courses be preferably conducted during summer vacations, the number of master trainers at Institute be increased, subject specialist in various fields of ELT be appointed, a language laboratory be established, the library be updated by including new books on ELT and providing the internet facility, a greater number of classes in phonetics and phonology be included in the time table, to obtain feedback from the principals of PAF Fazaia schools about the performance of trained teachers, some mechanism for the purpose be developed, for further research, greater number of institutions, students, teachers, master trainers be increased, and it is suggested that instead of questionnaire technique, classroom observation technique be used in future studies.