TEACHING HUMAN RIGHTS IN PAKISTANI SCHOOLS: WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL BARRIERS?

Education plays an important role in development of any country. Education is considered one of the major contributors for developing success at local, national and global levels. Human Rights Education (HRE) promotes awareness about human rights and a way of information sharing among students, parents and the community at large, to develop skills in people to understand and combat violations of human rights. If children receive a high quality education, embedded with Human Rights concepts and principles, they can become responsible citizens and promote the human rights.Pakistan ranks at the lowest end of human development in the world. In the Human Development Index 2017, Pakistan ranks at 147th position (out of 188 countries). Pakistan is signatory to a number of international human rights Conventions and thus has pledged to protect the rights of citizens. However, recent international and national reports portray the overall human rights situation in the country as inadequate. The teaching of Human Rights is not formally included in Pakistani curricula, and there is lack of research on the subject of Human Rights Education in Pakistan.This paper attempts to explore the place of human rights within the existing policy documents and school curriculum in Pakistan and barriers in teaching human rights concepts in primary schools of Pakistan. The paper will focus on the situation of human rights education with reference to the policy documents and existing curricula of Social Studies and Islamic Studies subjects and a review of textbooks. The study seeks to identify the opportunities and constraints related to teaching of human rights concepts in schools, and possibilities of teaching human rights concepts in Pakistani schools. The paper will provide recommendations for improved practices of teaching human rights in schools. The study will provide implications for policy makers and education practitioners and will set the ground for future research. The study will also suggest further research human rights education in Pakistan.&nbsp

Developing teachers’ skills in Thar desert area, Sindh, Pakistan

This paper aims to present AKU-IED’s experiences about working in the Thar Desert Area of Sindh. AKU-IED aimed to develop teachers’ skills and to help them provide quality education to the children of the said underprivileged and remote area of Pakistan

Protective effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ARBs) on microalbuminuria in diabetic patients

This review assesses the protective effect of ACEIs and ARBs on microalbuminuria in diabetic patients and identifying the preferred type based on their beneficial effects in addition to their blood pressure-reducing effect in diabetic patients with microalbuminuria and adverse drug reaction profile. In this review, articles published between 2001 and 2019 are included and MEDLINE search was used with key words such as diabetes, microalbuminuria, angiotensin II receptor antagonists, and ACEIs. ARBs reduced the risks of end stage renal disease (ESRD) and two-fold rise in the serum creatinine level; ACEIs did not reduce the risks of ESRD in an analysis of studies including both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients. However, a meta-analytical review or study needs to be conducted to evaluate the comparative effects of ARBs and ACEIs in either type 1 or type 2 diabetic patients. Early treatment with ACEIs or ARBs decreased the risk of microalbuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes. Telmisartan is found to be beneficial in microalbuminuria or diabetic nephropathy. Long-term therapy with higher dose of irbesartan resulted in consistent protective effects on the renal functions even after its withdrawal. ACEIs or ARBs are consideredas the 1st-line therapy in both type 1 and 2 diabetic patients with microalbuminuria. ARBs are definitely preferred for patients who cannot tolerate ACE inhibitors. ARBs may be preferred over ACEIs due to their predominant renal protective effects in addition to their beneficial effect of improving blood pressure in type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the comparative effects of ARBs and ACEIs in either type 1 or type 2 diabetic patients with microalbuminuria needs to be further evaluated in a randomized controlled study

Investigating Cell Senescence in Basal Cell Carcinoma

PhDThe Aim of the project was to investigate cell senescence in basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Although the concept of oncogene-induced senescence (OIS) was originally confined to cultured cells, it is now well established that this mechanism has an important role in tumour biology. OIS represents a physiological response that restricts the progression of benign tumours into their malignant counterparts e.g. nevi to melanoma or adenoma to adenocarcinoma. Full malignancy is associated with the loss of important tumour suppressor genes including RETINOBLASTOMA and/or TP53. BCC of the skin is the most common skin tumour and is associated with mutational inactivation of the PTCH1 tumour suppressor gene (and less frequently oncogenic activation of SMOOTHENED). Although BCC does not appear to stem from precursor lesions - though mouse models of BCC display areas of basaloid hyperproliferation - and it is relatively stable at the genomic level, we sought to determine if these unique tumours display any characteristics of OIS. Human BCCs were positive for Senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity (pH 6.0) and expressed known markers of senescence including DCR2, DEC1 (SHARP2) as well as the cell cycle inhibitors p15INK4b and p16INK4a. Interestingly, SA-β-gal activity was observed in stromal cells surrounding the tumour islands and this may account for why BCCs are difficult to culture in vitro as senescent cells are known to express increased levels of growth factors, cytokines and ECM proteins. To determine if OIS is associated with Hedgehog signalling in BCC, I employed a novel in vitro model of BCC created through PTCH1 suppression in human immortalised NEB1 keratinocytes. NEB1-shPTCH1 cells are viable and proliferative (albeit more slowly than control NEB1-shCON cells) and do not display SA-β-gal activity but they express higher levels of several senescent markers including DCR2 and p21WAF1. I also investigated senescence in a Mouse model of BCC in which one allele of Ptch1 is mutated and which on x-ray irradiation results in BCC formation. The expression of known markers of senescence including DCR2, DEC1 (SHARP2) as well as the cell cycle inhibitors p15INK4b, p16INK4a and p53 were all with the exception of p21WAF1 detected in these tumours. Together these data suggest that senescence is a characteristic of BCC and may explain why these tumours rarely metastasis

The Impact of Corona Virus (Covid-19) on E-Business in Pakistan.

This study documents the impact of Covid-19 on the E-Business in Pakistan.COVID-19 has a significant influence on public health and induces hasty changes in way of life, social distancing and home alienation, with social and economic implications. This indicates the socioeconomic expansion in the country has deteriorated. It's now messed up all sorts of industry on a global scale including the e-commerce sector. Big retailers had their stores turned off temporarily. In addition, due to declining footfalls, medium-sized and small- sized retailers are battling the situation. For fact, online companies are not off the list as well. Pakistan is also heavily impacted by them. Several e-commerce firms depend on China for most of their goods. In China, lockdown restrictions drastically decreased the production of goods, Thus it is expected to have a big impact on the Pakistan online sector, in particular Chinese goods. Primary research through a sample survey analysis is executed to boost outcomes.The result shows that because China is the biggest producer and the largest number of industries are locked. That’s why all the shipping processes which have hampered domestic economic growth are hindered by the influence of corona viruses

Association of blood lipids, cortisol and Hemodynamics Under stress: A possible role in early Atherogenesis

Introduction: High blood cholesterol is claimed as a risk factor but recently it is accepted that cholesterol is increased under psychological stress. When raised in blood, cholesterol plays role in atherosclerosis formation; a role which is being debated since last many decades but still various questions is un-answered. Role of stress in early atherogenesis with association to alteration in blood lipids has been proposed but the available literature is scanty on the subject. Objective: To explore the association of alterations in blood lipids, cortisol level and hemodynamics under mental stress in youth with no apparent heart disease. Methodology: 114 male participants were selected from 397 volunteers as per ‘selection criterion’ approved by scientific committee. The volunteers were examined two times: during stress task as ‘stress-study’ and during non-stress period as ‘control’ according to ‘paired sample’ design. Thus, 56.54% apparently healthy subjects were included with exclusion ratio of 43.58%. All experiments were conducted under standard methods at LINAR-Larkana and Physiology Department of Sindh University, Jamshoro. Blood sample were taken between 9.00 am to 12.00 pm. Results: Cortisol, systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rate were significantly increased during stress session. Different lipid levels were changed with different significant values. Correlations of some altered lipid levels with raised values of hemodynamics and cortisol detected were positive and significant. Conclusion: Most changes in the level of variables were found prone to be “atherogenic in pattern” due to psychological stress. This work may pave a way for better understanding of relationship in between lipid alterations, mental stress and early atherogenesis. For that further studies are needed.   Key Words: Cholesterol, Hemodynamics, Cortisol, psychological stress

Health action schools Pakistan: Towards school improvement

Health education and promotion is a key determinant of quality education particularly in primary schools in Pakistan. This has been affirmed by an action research project entitled Health Action Schools (HAS) headed by Dr. Tashmin Khamis, based at Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED). The HAS project began initially as a three-year (1998-2001) action research project using the Child-to-Child approach in partnership with Save the Children, UK. The objective of the project was to develop prototypes of health-promoting schools in different social and educational contexts in Pakistan. Initially the HAS project was launched in five pilot schools from various social and educational backgrounds in Karachi. The primary focus of the project was upgrading teachers\u27 skills through continuous training and classroom support, which would contribute to improving children\u27s health knowledge and self-esteem. Results of the pilot project show that the HAS project met success in the area of teacher development, and has contributed towards improving children\u27s health knowledge and skills. Following the successful pilot, the HAS project expanded nationally and regionally through outreach and expansion activities. Lessons learned from the HAS project have influenced policy and practice and led to the development of health education curriculum and materials and the establishment of a Child-to-Child resource centre at AKU-IED, which aims to support teachers in providing health education. This poster presentation aims to present the processes and outcomes of the HAS project. The HAS project has contributed remarkably towards schools improvement, and major achievements and challenges of the project will be presented through the findings of the HAS Final Evaluation supported by pictures from schools and training sessions