2 - Primary Education - Role of the Principal (Pashto)

A discussion with Kashif Azam from Pawaka, Peshawar. Kashif Azam served as the Minister of Population Welfare and Member Provincial Assembly of KPK from 2002 to 2007.  In this segment, we discuss contributions of his father Mohammad Azam Chishti, born in 1930, who started his political activism in Pakistan’s Referendum of 1946 and then spent all his life in local governments serving the poor residents of Peshawar for political, educational and economic rights till 2014. Additionally, he discusses his uncles Ajmal Khalil who has played a key role in establishing banking sectors in Pakistan and Dubai, Hassan Khalil, who worked in civil services as Deputy Commissioner and Tehmas Khalil, a leading figure in construction and transportation. He credits his family’s educational background to his grandfather Mohammad Umar, who was a matriculate in 1900s and worked in the Military Engineering Services. 

This is a second interview with Jawaid Khalil from Peshawar.   He stresses the importance of using purer Pashto by institutions such as Pashto Academy, Peshawar University's Pashto Department and Television Channels (AVT Khyber, Mashriq and PTV) . Many people listen to them and can learn Pashto from them. We apologize for the background noise. 

There have been about ten historical time periods that spans Pakhtoons' history. The most recent one has been Superpowers' (American and Soviet Union) involvement. This episodes lists all ten time periods. In the future, we will take a deeper dive into each period.

Why do floods occur in Pakistan and what can be done about them? It is because of Global Warming. 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been devastated by wars on its soil and its adjacent regions.    Peace and stability are prerequisites for the development of this area.   

This episode contains an interview with Jawaid Khalil from Peshawar. He is a huge proponent of Pashto Language and has worked as a Senior Banker in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Singapore. We discuss how other languages have influenced Pashto and what needs to be done to maintain and uplift it. He proposes that institutions, experts and individuals pay special attention to it. Google Translate for Pashto is mentioned as a tool that can make a big difference.   https://translate.google.com.  Additionally, geography and its relation to the two main dialects in North (khey) and South(shey) are explained. We apologize for the background noise. 

Medium of instructions (language) used in schools plays a critical role in success of students. Those students that are weak in English language lag far behind and are at a disadvantage.  In this episode we discuss challenges faced by those who come from government/Urdu Medium schools. 

Get a snapshot of what takes place in a primary school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A discussion with headmaster Imtiaz Khan and Sr. Teacher Amjad Khan on education details in Government Primary School #2 for boys in Pawaka, Peshawar. Credits for the visit goes to Abdal Khalil and Sajjad Khan from village Pawaka (Union Council 57; Peshawar Town 3).

A principal can play the most vital role in the success of an elementary school. Key responsibilities of a principal/head master/head mistress are Academic, Managerial and Leadership. These are explained in detail along with recommendations in this podcast.

The primary education in KPK, Pakistan,  faces many challenges. Most students are unable to read a simple story and are unable to divide a two digit number. In this episode, we discuss the need for proper teachers,  teaching methodologies suitable for little kids and the importance of having small class size.