Contribution to international development report: 2018-2019

Chapter Four: Pakistan

4.1 Introduction

Scotland is home to a vibrant Pakistani diaspora, many of whom maintain close links with communities in Pakistan. The community’s contribution to Scotland, culturally, economically and socially, is significant. The Scottish Government is therefore committed to maintaining a strong bilateral relationship with Pakistan.

Currently in Pakistan there are an estimated 21.5 million out of school children and of these, 55% are female which increases to 66% in Pakistan’s poorest areas. For those girls that do succeed in completing twelve years of critical education, attaining a higher education becomes an even bigger challenge. The Scottish Government therefore believes that creating educational opportunities for women and girls would greatly benefit Pakistan, both economically and socially.

Since 2013 we have provided funding under the IDF to create a scholarships programme in Pakistan that enables women from disadvantaged backgrounds to study Masters courses in education and subjects relating to the environment. These scholarships were inspired by Malala Yousafzai, who continues to advocate for girls’ education. More recently, we provided funding for a Children’s Scholarship Programme in Pakistan. In 2018-19, the Scottish Government’s two scholarship programmes, run by the British Council Pakistan on behalf of the Scottish Government, completed their final year in that phase of funding.

In addition to our dedicated Pakistan Scottish Scholarship Programmes funded under the IDF, the Scottish Government also provides skills development programmes in Pakistan from the International Relations budget. These include initiatives on apprenticeships, social enterprise and sharing water technology in Pakistan.

There are links to the Scholarship Programmes’ End Year Reports in Annex A.

4.2 British Council Pakistan – Pakistan Scottish Scholarship Schemes (IDF)

4.2.1 The Project

In recognition of the success of the 2013 Masters Scholarship scheme for Pakistani women, Scottish Ministers approved a further two year programme, which provides £650,000 from the IDF, to support a new round of scholarships for women (2017-19). The Pakistan Scottish Scholarship Scheme for Women aims to make higher education more accessible to underprivileged women across Pakistan by providing them with scholarships in the fields of: Education; Sustainable energy; Agriculture and food security; Health sciences; and STEM education.

Our Pakistan Scottish Scholarship Scheme for Children was initiated because Pakistan has one of the highest rates of out of school children in the world. The Children’s Scheme 2017/19 aims to make education more affordable, allowing parents to support their children to complete one year of school education at both primary and secondary levels in Pakistan without any financial or economic burden.

4 Quality Education

5 Gender Equality

10 Reduced Inequalities

4.2.2 Contribution to Development 2018-19

Pakistan Scottish Scholarship Scheme for Women:

• this Scheme has to date enabled over 500 young women from disadvantaged backgrounds of Pakistan to study Masters courses at Pakistani Universities;
• in 2018/2019, the Scottish Government’s implementing partner (British Council Pakistan) awarded Masters scholarships to 195 women;
• having completed its fifth cycle, these scholarships continue to assist ambitious women from disadvantaged background in pursuing Masters degrees in fields that are of critical importance to the overall development of the country; and
• these scholarships not only allow for increased female participation in higher education but will promote greater gender equality in fields that women in Pakistan do not typically pursue.

Pakistan Scottish Scholarships Scheme for Children:

• this Scheme has to date enabled over 4,000 children from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds to complete one year of school education at both primary and secondary levels across Pakistan.
• they have not only provided children with the opportunity to pursue and continue schooling but also supported the Pakistani Government in decreasing the number of out of school children, without any additional financial or economic burden on their families.
• in 2018/2019, the Scottish Government’s implementing partner (British Council Pakistan) awarded scholarships to 2,000 children. This was an increase of 800 children over the project target of 1,200 and was secured through effective negotiations and collaborative partners. Of these scholarships, 60% were allocated to children from disadvantaged households, 20% were from religious minorities, and 20% were awarded to children with disabilities.

IDF Case Study 11: Getting an MPhil in Biotechnology – Ayesha’s Story

Due to the gender disparity in Pakistan, the chances for a woman to pursue higher education are low. For a large percentage of women in the country, the dream of attaining a masters degree remains just that.

From a young age, Ayesha was fascinated with biological life and how that could bring welfare to the society. After her father’s death, the financial burden of higher education would have proven to be too much for her family. Luckily Ayesha was successfully awarded a scholarship through the Scottish Scholarship Scheme.

“The Scottish Scholarship has had a great impact on my life”, recalls Ayesha, “I can see my mother [is happy] as she has to do less work now in order to support me financially.”

Ayesha now plans to go abroad for her PhD in the same field and find treatments for genetic disorders.

4.3 The Pakistan Scottish Apprenticeship Programme

4.3.1 The Project

In 2016 the British Council in collaboration with the Scottish Government launched the Pakistan Scottish Apprenticeship Programme. This project, funded from the Scottish Government’s International Relations budget, aimed to promote apprenticeship training in Pakistan as a means of skills development. This was done by highlighting and creating awareness around the role of employers in successfully introducing and implementing apprenticeship programs across various industries in Pakistan.

4.3.2 Contribution to Development 2018-19

This pilot project built upon the success of the 2017/2018 Scottish Apprenticeship Model involving nine small and medium enterprises across Pakistan. The results of the project 2017/2018 project surpassed expectations when more than 75% of the 110 apprentices hired were retained at the end of the apprenticeship program. In 2018/2019 the Scottish Government funded the British Council to use the success of the Scottish apprenticeship and work with the Pakistan National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) to develop a policy implementation toolkit for the Apprenticeship Act 2018.

This toolkit acts as a reference guide for all stakeholders including government Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) officials, training providers, employers and apprentices. The Scottish Government provided funding for training of 100 employers, 20 training providers and 50 government officials to learn from the success of the programme. The toolkit provides a guide for greater implementation of the Apprenticeship Act 2018 to ensure it impacts more people utilising lessons learned from the 2017/2018 project.

4.4 Clean Water for Pakistan

4.4.1 The Project

Pakistan is facing drastic water challenges due to rapid increase in population alongside poor water and waste management. According to the Pakistan Council of Research for Water Resources (PCRWR), it’s estimated that 40% of all reported diseases and deaths are attributed to poor water quality in the country.

Access to safe drinking water in rural and urban areas is decreasing and and the provision of potable water is a key issue that people face. This is likely to further drop and Pakistan is likely to transition from a “water stressed” to a “water scarce” country (National Water Policy 2018). Moreover, the leading cause of deaths in infants and children up to 10 years of age, is that of contaminated water.

The Scottish Government in partnership with ADVESWater, James Hutton institute and the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Pakistan, are researching methods to improve drinking water and sanitation in Pakistan; by deploying water treatment systems based on Electro Chemical Activated Solutions (ECAS) under the banner of ESOL™ by Bridge Technologies. ESOL is an innovative, environmentally friendly, safe alternative to traditional chlorine disinfection.

4.4.2 Contribution to Development 2018-19

Research produced from 2018/2019 shows that the ECAS system is working in an efficient and economically sustainable way to provide water purification as part of the campus water system. This is providing clean and safe water to students. The next stage of the proof of concept research is to test a system in other places and use the findings to create recommendations to create opportunities to develop this technology to benefit more people in Pakistan.

4.5 Social Enterprise Development

4.5.1 The Project

The Scottish Government is part-funding Social Enterprise Academy (SEA) to help foster the social enterprise eco-system in Pakistan. 2018-2019 was the end of the first year of this programme in Pakistan.

4.5.2 Contribution to Development 2018-19

The SEA ran a selection campaign to find five promising Pakistani Social Enterprises, providing them with seed funding and Scottish mentors who can coach them on development, growth and sustainability. They also selected 15 promising runners up who receive general social enterprise development training.

The SEA’s capacity building and seed funding approach develops a social enterprise eco-system which brings about positive social change. Their stakeholders seek to make profits, but are committed to reinvesting these into a social mission, for example, delivering local community projects or services, creating employment for disadvantaged people or protecting the environment.

IRS Case Study 1: Social Enterprise Pakistan

The Fellows and Finalists participated on a two day Impact Leadership programme on March 23 and 24 2019.

This learning programme focused on the learners’ leadership skills, as well as looking at their business models and drawing on experience from across SEA’s global network of Hubs.

Feedback from the programme included:

“I think this will help me solve few managerial problems that were major issues for me.”

“Seeing that your org. [SEA] took six years to scale up… It is comforting to see that it is ok to have slow progress.”

“This workshop allowed me to slow down, look at things in a different perspective and then reflect on them.”

“Clarity is what I needed and I got that!”

Another impactful area of the Impact Link Pakistan programme has been the mentor connections between the Scottish social entrepreneur mentors and the Pakistani social entrepreneur fellows.

Social Enterprise Academy recruited a pool of 12 mentors working across sectors, with knowledge and experience in multiple disciplines. As well as being matched one-to-one with a mentor with relevant experience, the fellows were invited to attend online group mentoring sessions in ‘Technology and Online Approaches’ and ‘Business Development, Sales and Marketing’.

Further information on the Fellows, their social enterprises and all aspects of the Impact Link Pakistan programme can be found here: https://www.socentsupport.scot/pakistan