Afghanistan has been wrapped in insurgency since the Russian withdrawal in 1979, followed by civil war. The emergence of Taliban to power with their self-styled type of imposition of Islamic law compelled the great powers to interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. September 2001 was a turning point in the history of Afghanistan as the NATO forces made their entry under the garb of security. The establishment of a democratic government in the country could not help in uprooting terrorism and insurgency from the country. Since the period of Russian Withdrawal, the country witnessed different eras of Taliban and the democratic governments coupled with the NATO mission. It is a fact that during the long stay of the presence of coalition forces in Afghanistan, insurgency could not be completely uprooted since new threats from different groups of insurgents have overpowered the country. Some of the provinces are hit hard by insurgency and terrorism. Efforts to hold peace talks were always dashed to the ground when the ISAF started its military operations against the terrorists.

This paper overviews socio-economic factors as determinants of working women earnings in education department of district Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For this purpose, a primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire from 126 working females in September, 2017. Multinomial logistic regression technique has been used for the estimation of results. The main findings of the study are that education, experience, family income, and locality of job area showed positive relationship with working women earnings. However, marital status remained insignificant. Based on the findings of this study the researchers recommended that females are significantly contributing in family expenditures. Therefore, government should invest more in female’s education and prioritize it.

History of the politics of agitation and protest indicate that political agitation has always been converted from any point to the issue of provincial autonomy in Pakistan. The case of Pakistan Tehrik-E-Insaf (PTI), on alleged rigging after the general elections of 2013 also suggests that the protest after general elections 2018 would at last be transformed from rigging to demanding the redressal of provincial grievances over devolution of power under 18th amendment. Since, provincial governments including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) had continuously been registering grievances about the transfer of liabilities without transferring corresponding assets and resources to provinces. In current scenario under the slogan of "New-Pakistan" the registering of complaints by political leadership against federation though the card of provincial autonomy would have more and prolonged potential and attraction for the general public rather than merely protest on rigging. Therefore, the biggest challenge for the government in new Pakistan would be addressing the provincial issues. Because sooner or later the protest led by opposition political parties over rigging in 2018 elections would be transformed within one year into the protest for provincial issues. In the backdrop, this study highlights the challenges for newly established government of PTI in-terms of center-province relations over provincial autonomy. Further, conventional approach of federalism (extreme centralized federalism) still prevails in Pakistan which ultimately poses impediments to center-provinces virtuous working relations. That’s why it would be significant to investigate that on what issues working relation between federal and provincial governments may potentially be deteriorate. Political and economic measures have also been suggested in this study for PTI government to address the regional grievances and disparity in New-Pakistan.

This study examines the impact of increasingly challenging nature of classroom observation as part of teacher evaluation in English Language Teaching (ELT). This paper highlights the complex nature of evaluative classroom observation systems in various educational contexts. It also considers various issues that embody the challenging nature of classroom observation and teacher evaluation in connection to the professional development of teachers. In a small-scale study of Teaching of English to the Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) professionals in Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, it adopts an interpretive approach and utilizes semi-structured interviews to collect data. The results, presented in four major themes provide a detailed account of teachers’ perceptions of the role of classroom observation in their professional learning and development. However, this development has not occurred due to the observation as a tool to elevate teaching and learning standards, alternatively, the managerial demands and the fear of being fired or transferred to remote campuses have stimulated teachers to develop professionally and offset this challenge. Despite their personal drive to professionalize themselves in a collaborative and professional culture, the challenge of observation still prevails owing to the teachers’ lack of autonomy and some insufficiently trained observers’ subjective approach.

This paper identifies and investigates the general perceptions of public sector teachers of both urban and rural localities regarding girl’s religious education. This research also explores the reasons for those perceptions through understanding the personal experiences of teachers with girls who were going to get religious education. To get the deep insight of the phenomena ethnographic method of research was used. In depth interviews were conducted with urban teachers group and rural teachers group. Five steps thematic analysis was conducted to find out the results.

Public diplomacy lies at the heart of modern development of information age and shapes the concept of social and political thought. This paper analysis the concept of soft power vis-a-vis counter terrorism strategy of nation states and discusses the significance of the soft power and public/cultural diplomacy in building image, nation branding and ultimately building a narrative. It will bring the reference point of Pakistan on the issue of relevance with today s world at the same time carrying a negative image of terrorist state. This paper establishes co-relation between nation branding and public diplomacy. Since the hard power is meeting with failure in order to curb the terrorism, there is limitation of state capacity to use hard power in bringing the structural changes needed for curbing terrorism. The paper recommends that there is a great need for revisiting religious narrative that extremists invoke for justification of their acts.

Federalism is created by a state having heterogeneous population with a desire to have provisions for adequate distribution of economic resources within a democratic form of government. The economic interaction is usually guaranteed by the constitutional arrangement of the land. The desire for the creation of a federation may be the economic interaction, interdependence on each other by the Centre and federating units. Proper distribution of powers between the Centre and Federating Units flourish when the residuary powers are vested in the federating units. The 18th Constitutional Amendment made a landmark in the history of Pakistan as it introduced a paradigm shift in the democratic set-up of the country. This shift had long been cherished by most of the mainstream political parties as it gives an opportunity to the ruling parties to complete the tenure of the government.

Employing a trade flow data from 1990 to 2013 within 50 countries, this study estimates terrorism effects on trade. The trading countries are grouped as trading partners (a) within developing countries (i.e. South-South), (b) within developed countries (North-North) or (c) within developed and developing countries (i.e. North-South). The analysis shows that all the standard gravity-type variables carry expected sign while the terrorism effect on trade is recorded significant on statistical grounds and negative when South trades with North.

This paper analyses the management of foreign languages in the language planning of Afghanistan after the fall of Taliban. The analyses assess the suitability of foreign languages performing developmental and peace-making roles in domains where distribution of power is contested by the Afghan ethnolinguistic groups. Primary data of the paper comes from a questionnaire based survey and followup interviews. Analysis reveals the presence of various modern languages such as French, German, Russian and English in Afghanistan. The acceptance of foreign languages especially English is overwhelming in Afghanistan. Among foreign languages, English happens to be the most vigorous and promising language. However, a significant portion of Afghans oppose the growing influence and power for the foreign languages in Afghanistan. The paper notes, an uneven spread of English as the dominant foreign language in Afghanistan. Therefore, foreign languages role in development and peacemaking may not be achieved due to lack of equal access. The paper recommends a wide-range of interventions to help in making foreign languages a resource for development and peacemaking. The intervention includes social, economic and political equality and equal opportunities in learning of foreign languages. It is also emphasised that the promotion of local languages is not to be affected by the availability of foreign languages.

Pakistan is signatory of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where promoting good health is at the heart of achieving various goals. Social marketing has earned its credit worthiness quite convincingly in influencing behavior change. It is, however, pertinent to see nature of the challenges that social marketing program tend to address are quite complex and each social problem need to size up with broader social context rather merely using conventional approaches. Number of scholars has questioned approaches that have been barely successful in bringing perceptible improvement. This gap quite pervasive as most of the techniques employed used one way communication, persuasive techniques of communication. The paradigm of participation in social marketing has shown better results in bringing about sustained behavior change. This study uses broad categorization of fear appeals elements using the explanatory power of participatory paradigm to induce behavior change. Study participants were randomly selected from a Public Sector University. The participants were randomly assigned to study intervention. Study participants were given treatment based on fear appeals in groups, based on activity theory. The qualitative data drawn was analyzed using NVIVO. The different themes were explored were grouped into four categories using activity theory like activities produced by artifacts, activities produced by subjects, activities produced by rules and transformational activities. The participatory paradigm using systematic interaction proved key factors to reinforce fear appeals that enhanced the value for social marketing program to achieve sustainable behavior change.

The study explores the effectiveness of integrated and traditional instruction method in developing reading and writing skills in Urdu language at primary level. As an experimental study it used Pretest, post-test and control group design in finding these effects. The researcher developed integrated instruction model for Urdu language by combining contents of Urdu and Islamic Studies by adopting multidisciplinary approach. Lesson plans were prepared by the researcher according to the integrated instruction model to teach the primary level students. In order to measure the performance of the students, teacher made achievement test was prepared by the researcher. The validity of the developed instrument was checked through expert opinion and reliability was checked through pilot testing. This experimental work was carried out for sixteen weeks in a public sector primary level school in Islamabad. Population of experiment was grade IV students. Seventy-six students were selected from class IV for experiment through the draw method. Students were assigned to experimental and control group after their performance in Pre-Test. Experimental group was taught through integrated instruction method while control group was taught through traditional instruction method. After the completion of the experimental period post-test was administered. The data were collected through teacher made achievement test. Data were then analyzed applying independent t-test. The results of study revealed that integrated learning was more effective in developing basic skills of reading and writing of Urdu language in students at primary level as compared to the traditional instruction method.

The paper analyses cost and effectiveness of academic staff working at government and private colleges district Bahawalpur. Therein, it focuses, (a) comparison of cost between private and Government Colleges, (b) finding the sector which readily adopts new trends in education through costeffectiveness, (c) evaluates the use of resources in government and private college in terms of quality efficacy, and (d) compare the achievement in education in government and private sector by utilizing cost-effectiveness analysis. Survey approach was used for data collection. So, two separate questionnaires were developed on a five point Likert scale. Cost and effectiveness in government and private college were then reviewed. The sample was selected from the universe of teachers and Parents of Bahawalpur district. Data were then analysed and presented through means and t-test. Major findings of the study indicated government college teachers’ salary fall between 50,000 to 100,000 and private college salary 20,000 to 50,0000. Majority of teachers in both sectors teach undergraduate and graduate level classes. Very few teachers teach higher level classes. Government college teachers show more flexibility in their behaviour as claimed by respondents, than their private counterparts. Private college did superior work in the category of ethic than Government College. It is observed that private college teachers encourage the students learning by doing in the classroom more than Government College.

The study evaluates chemistry curriculum at the secondary level. Chemistry is the science subject which help in technological advancement. It deals with the study of composition, structure, properties, and different changes which take place in matter. There are different careers in chemistry such as in food processing, industries, health etc. The progress of any country depends on the achievement in the field of chemistry. The successes of these reforms are associated with chemistry curriculum. Therefore, this study re-examines the objectives of National Chemistry Curriculum 2006 and identifies the nature of implementation of chemistry curriculum. Questionnaire based data from 138 chemistry teachers (male and female) teaching at secondary level in District Haripur determined that modern teaching techniques are required in teaching chemistry. So, it is recommended to improve curriculum at regular intervals according to global standards.

The base of a successful university in providing quality education and practical knowledge for improving the lives of the youths in terms of social, economical and intellectual development are only possible through promoting research culture. Research conduct and writing is the most important tool for identifying remedial recommendations for education and related problems. This research presents comparative analysis of the research in Public and Private Universities in Pakistan. The research identifies current research practices, their strengths and weaknesses and provides recommendations for improvement. Research supervision and writing are two different parts but in reality these are parts of a single activity which is called thesis writing process. In Pakistan, research culture is considered very difficult and complicated activity because scholars do not accept challenges and the supervisors do not take the required interest. The study highlights the areas where scholars and supervisors need improvement, more struggle, and scientific as well as academic zest.

This study aims at exploring and examining the causes of teacher s favoritism and its effects on the university students. Quantitative tools are applied to collect data for the study and to check its reliability. The results of the data reveal that the teachers favor the students on the basis of gender, race, area, similar political ideology and family/blood relation. The study also indicates that a teacher s favoritism in the class affects boldness, mutual trust and respects between students and teacher which results in the student s struggle for favoritism instead of studies and academic achievements. Moreover, the students may opt for leaving the institute in which favoritism exists. The study also shows that both male and female students have the same opinions regarding different factors and effects of favoritism. The study concludes that the students flair, potential, abilities and academic achievements should be emphasized as essential criteria for testing and evaluating the students academic performance. It will, further, compel the students to focus on their studies, rather than on gaining teacher s favor.

The current study is an attempt to critically analyze the role and politics of voice in Khaled Hosseini s The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns in terms of categorical and stereotypical representation of the Pashtuns. It is a critical discourse study (Norman Fairclough, 1989, 2018) of the selected data. Moreover, the data is viewed from the perspective of critical discourse studies. The novels under study are polyphonic in nature, and the characters belong to various Afghan ethnic backgrounds, like the Pashtuns, the Tajiks and the Hazaras. The study concludes that the novelist s choice of the characters with their respective voices and the roles assigned to them are political, ideological and somewhat biased. The Pashtuns have been stereotypically represented by categorizing them as the social, well-educated and more or less liberal Pashtuns, the tribal and traditionalist Pashtuns, extremist and fundamentalist Pashtuns, like Taliban. Misrepresentation of the tribal and fundamentalist Pashtuns as racists, ethnic nationalists, ideologists, sexists, exclusionists, traditionalists and power-abusers is indicative of the novelist s biasedness and exaggeration.

This study investigates the syntactic structures of spoken discourse of teachers in academic discourse. The knowledge of syntactic structure of a language helps in understanding the spoken discourse. So, the study identifies the wh-Movement in the syntactic structures of teachers in English classroom sessions. The data was collected from two universities of Federal government, Pakistan. The one was Air University Islamabad and the second was National University of Modern Languages Islamabad. The data was collected through the recording tool where the English classroom sessions of the teachers were audio-recorded and transcribed. The analysis of data was quantitative and qualitative in nature. The frequency of wh-movement in the structures of recorded English spoken data was analysed quantitatively. In qualitative analyses, the transcribed data was analysed syntactically, keeping in view minimalist perspective, with the help of parsing rules and figures. The analyzed data shows that the teachers at undergraduate level use language where wh-movement is employed in syntactic structure of English used in classroom sessions. They move whexpression into other slots like internal merge and pied-pipe. However, the minimalist parametric unit, wh-movement, was found in the sentence structures of the teachers in the delivery of classroom sessions. So, the minimal pairs of sentence structure impacts different level of language.

This paper examines the relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction among secondary-school-heads in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A sample of only 402 secondary-school-heads (Male n = 260, Female n = 142) was selected with the help of multistage sampling technique. A descriptive and correlative design was employed. Two standardized tools were employed i.e., "Occupational Stress Index (OSI)" and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) for seeking the responses. Pearson"s correlation and linear regression were employed to analyze data statistically. The findings exposed a strong inverse relation between occupational stress and job satisfaction. Furthermore, a substantial negative correlation between all the subscales of occupational stress and overall job satisfaction is also present. Eight subscales of occupational stress, i.e., role ambiguity, responsibility for persons, under participation, unreasonable group and political pressure, low status, strenuous working conditions, peer group relations, and unprofitability were found significant predictors and have negative effect on job satisfaction. So, the researchers recommend focusing reduction in the level of occupational stress among secondary-school-heads. Elementary and Secondary Education Department should have collaboration with policy makers to formulate rewarding and effective strategies for stress reduction for secondary school heads to have high spirit for yielding good outcomes.

The history of Pak-Afghan relations is dominated more by conflicts then by cooperation since emergence of Pakistan. In the ongoing pattern of peace process, it is proposed that Pakistan should pave the way to bring the Taliban on negotiation table for peace and stability in Afghanistan. The recent steps taken in the form of different Confidence Building Measures show flurry of diplomatic relationship in the emerging cordiality between the two countries. Diverse civil society groups of Pakistan are of the view that the drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan will ultimately create a power vacuum and plunge the country again into yet another civil war. Pakistan’s efforts to use its influence to bring the Taliban on table talk will smooth the way for peace, stability and prosperity of Afghanistan as well as security of the entire region. Keeping in view the geographical proximity of the two countries, Pakistan’s own vital interests are attached to peace and stability in Afghanistan. Pakistan took cognizance of this very fact and played highly constructive role in facilitating dialogue process in Afghanistan and improving bilateral ties of the two countries.

This study examines the impact of increasingly challenging nature of classroom observation as part of teacher evaluation in English Language Teaching (ELT). This paper highlights the complex nature of evaluative classroom observation systems in various educational contexts. It also considers various issues that embody the challenging nature of classroom observation and teacher evaluation in connection to the professional development of teachers. In a small-scale study of Teaching of English to the Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) professionals in Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, it adopts an interpretive approach and utilizes semi-structured interviews to collect data. The results, presented in four major themes provide a detailed account of teachers’ perceptions of the role of classroom observation in their professional learning and development. However, this development has not occurred due to the observation as a tool to elevate teaching and learning standards, alternatively, the managerial demands and the fear of being fired or transferred to remote campuses have stimulated teachers to develop professionally and offset this challenge. Despite their personal drive to professionalize themselves in a collaborative and professional culture, the challenge of observation still prevails owing to the teachers’ lack of autonomy and some insufficiently trained observers’ subjective approach.

This study conducts a regression analysis between the efficiency scores and the explanatory variables. Data was collected for explanatory variables like age of the mutual fund, size of fund family, number of funds in funds family, and volatility (beta). As this study used input oriented model, mutual funds were categorized and relatively evaluated on the basis of similar outcomes and inputs charged. Out of 44 mutual funds understudy, only 7 of the mutual funds were cost efficient. This indicates that nearly 37 of the mutual funds under study have more costs associated to them as compared to the return they are offering to the investors. It has been safely assumed that all the mutual funds, which are below the efficiency frontier, should compare themselves with the industry benchmark efficient mutual funds. In order to make these inefficient mutual funds reach the optimum and higher efficiency score, the fund managers should check every input and determine the slack they can afford to reduce the input without reducing the output generating from it.

Drawing on empowerment literature and intrinsic motivation, this study examines the relationship of empowering leadership and employee outcomes (service performance and organizational citizenship behavior; OCB), along with mediating role of employee engagement. Based upon data of 970 officer level employees working in banking industry of Pakistan, hierarchical regression results demonstrated that empowering leadership behavior is positively related to employee service performance and OCB. Further, the results also reveal employee engagement partially mediated the relationships between empowering leadership and employee behavioral outcomes.

The present study has tried to probe the relationship between English language proficiency and the use of language learning strategies. The 450 participants, who were MA English final year/semester students, were taken from 6 different universities of the two provinces (Punjab and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa) of Pakistan. The 50 item Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) was delivered to all the available and willing students in the class. The data obtained from SILL was analyzed via SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) by calculating the mean values for the three proficiency levels (low, medium and high proficiency). The data analysis revealed that there is a strong relationship between English language proficiency and the use of language learning strategies.

This study conducts a regression analysis between the efficiency scores and the explanatory variables. Data was collected for explanatory variables like age of the mutual fund, size of fund family, number of funds in funds family, and volatility (beta). As this study used input oriented model, mutual funds were categorized and relatively evaluated on the basis of similar outcomes and inputs charged. Out of 44 mutual funds understudy, only 7 of the mutual funds were cost efficient. This indicates that nearly 37 of the mutual funds under study have more costs associated to them as compared to the return they are offering to the investors. It has been safely assumed that all the mutual funds, which are below the efficiency frontier, should compare themselves with the industry benchmark efficient mutual funds. In order to make these inefficient mutual funds reach the optimum and higher efficiency score, the fund managers should check every input and determine the slack they can afford to reduce the input without reducing the output generating from it.

Curriculum which is considered as the main tool education cannot remain the same endlessly. With the expansion of spectrum of knowledge, upgrading of the curriculum is needed with the passage of time. It is nevertheless, the timely updates and restructuring of curriculum can enhance the standard of education. It is therefore, change in curriculum and comparative analysis of the curriculum has been a hot debated topic not only in Pakistan but also all around the world. Current design of the study can be used to analyze the curriculum of mathematics for secondary level of education prescribed by the Punjab Text Book Board. The sole purpose of this comparative study of mathematics is to better analyze the policy objectives of the subject of mathematics curriculum for education at secondary level in Pakistan. Secondly, the study was aiming to analyze curriculum processes while referring to certain objectives, content, methodology and assessment techniques. Thirdly, this research study was aiming to critically review the subject matter of mathematics while highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the subject of mathematics taught at secondary level of education in Pakistan. Fourth, the aim of this research study is to explore the suggestions of curriculum specialists about the salability of the value of mathematics curriculum in education of secondary level in Pakistan. Fifthly, the study used to recommend measures to upgrade the curriculum of mathematics implemented for secondary school education in the country. The population under study comprised of teachers, students, opinion of national curriculum professionals and materials provided about the mathematics curriculum from the Curriculum Bureau in Provinces of Pakistan. Suggestions and recommendations are provided in the end of the research study while better concluding the results and findings in the end of the paper.

This descriptive study investigates the failure in the English subject to find out the causes of failure in the English subject in Government High Schools for Boys in district Mardan, so viable suggestions to overcome the failure rate in the English subject in district Mardan, KP Pakistan are proposed. The population of this research is all public high Schools of district Mardan, which were 380 in number. 64 schools were selected through Stratified sampling technique. Questionnaire as research instrument was used for data collection. The collected data was analyzed, interpreted and results were shown in percentage in tabular form. The findings of the study highlighted the failure (33%) in English, (02%) Urdu and (04%) in Pakistan studies. Causes of failure like lack of qualified and well trained teachers, overcrowded classrooms, non-availability of language laboratories and A.V Aids, inappropriate teaching method and lack of Principals’ supervision were identified. At the end provision of qualified and competent teachers, facilities like language laboratories and A.V. Aids, principals’ Proper supervision of classrooms for teachers’ better performance are recommended.

The study examines socio-psychological orientations of students of technical education (commerce colleges, technology colleges, Technical training institutes, and vocational training institutes) towards the learning of English language. The study emphasizes the social psychological variables of attitude and motivation. In technical education the syllabus of English is different from the institutes of general education. The students of general education study English language till the last year of their graduation, while the students of commerce education study functional English in the 3rd year and business communication in 4th year. These courses relate to business correspondence. The study finds that students of technical education concentrate on learning of English for its utilitarian purpose. It is due to the reason that the absence of inadequate language policy and linguistic reality of Pakistan impact these essential socio- psychological elements of the student and his view point about English language learning. Further, students also like to learn English language due to "instrumental" purpose or for the purpose to acculturate themselves with the target language society.