Suchergebnisse

Providing quality training that leads young people to jobs is critical for the economic and social development of the Province of Sindh, Pakistan. This working paper assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA) as a provincial apex body in Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET). The recent establishment of STEVTA was a major step to reduce fragmentation of training policies and programs. The paper assesses the Authority's legal foundation, governance, management, organization, human resources, financial resources and management, and networking with external organizations. The institutional assessment finds that Government of Sindh and STEVTA need to: (i) strengthen its governance by establishing a clearer reporting structure for the management of the authority's director, and by increasing the involvement of the private sector in the board, (ii) enhance its institutional capacity through hiring of teachers in its institutions based upon increased funding and a sustainable HR rationalization plan for the system that is coordinated with planned physical investments in institutions, and (iii) build strong operational capacity by establishing rules of business and management information systems, and drafting a strategic plan. Lastly, to fully achieve its mandate, continued and consistent governmental support is essential to give STEVTA stability and funding to fulfill its mandate: employment through skills.

In 2013 and 2019, the local government legislation of the province of Punjab in Pakistan saw two rounds of major changes – each of which led to a new local government Act being passed. In 2013 the changes were driven by constitutional and judicial requirements and in 2019 by the political will of Pakistan's new coalition government. This article analyses and compares the functional assignment (FA) architecture of the two Acts against a set of parameters. The study finds that marginal improvements to the FA architecture introduced by the 2019 Act are offset by continuing inconsistencies and lack of clarity over 'who does what' in the functions assigned to local governments. The authors suggest that improving the functionality of local governments requires full implementation of the design features of the new system, including institutional strengthening of provincial-level entities which regulate and oversee the local government system.

In 2013 and 2019, the local government legislation of the province of Punjab in Pakistan saw two rounds of major changes – each of which led to a new local government Act being passed. In 2013 the changes were driven by constitutional and judicial requirements and in 2019 by the political will of Pakistan's new coalition government. This article analyses and compares the functional assignment (FA) architecture of the two Acts against a set of parameters. The study finds that marginal improvements to the FA architecture introduced by the 2019 Act are offset by continuing inconsistencies and lack of clarity over 'who does what' in the functions assigned to local governments. The authors suggest that improving the functionality of local governments requires full implementation of the design features of the new system, including institutional strengthening of provincial-level entities which regulate and oversee the local government system.

In this article, we discuss our experiences learning how to do Foucauldian discourse analysis as doctoral students situated in a school of public health. We mobilize language of "learning through doing" as we reflect on the struggles of conducting doctoral dissertation research. While challenging, these struggles have been productive because they have resulted in epistemological shifts. We explore the following pivotal learning moments that have been central to producing changes in our epistemological positions: (1) realizing there are no predetermined methodological templates, (2) letting go of positivist notions of bias and representativeness, (3) recognizing the iterative nature of the qualitative research process, and (4) experiencing the centrality of writing to qualitative inquiry. Our article recognizes the profound relevance of "doing" within the process of learning critical and interpretive approaches to qualitative research and in unlearning positivist ideas about the production of knowledge that dominate the field of public health.