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This small scale study aims to analyze the question papers of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in the subject of computer science with reference to item analysis and Bloom's taxonomy. Data were collected from 100 students of Grade 9th and 10th from the schools of Lahore city using convenient sampling technique. Data collected on the papers developed by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education for the year of 2015 and 2016. Item analyses were performed using Conquest software. Findings of the study shows that in the question papers conducted by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education the majority questions were measuring the student abilities of knowledge and comprehension and only few questions were given to measure the student abilities to analyze, synthesize and evaluate, and this can be very helpful for the policy makers. Result of item analysis shows that many questions were not in the acceptable range of item difficulty and item discrimination. Items in the question papers were either too easy or too difficult. Findings revealed that the papers conducted and administered by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education were not up to the mark, with reference to Bloom's taxonomy. The researcher recommended to train the assessment committee/panel developing the items.

The major focus of school education is the intellectual development of students and mathematics is a very effective subject in this regard, if taught and assessed properly. For this study, papers of SSC (Grade-10) for the years 2014 and 2015 set by the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi were scrutinized to know if the items of these papers had measured essential mathematical skills or not. These items were then compared with the items set by General Certificate of Education (GCE: O-Level), University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) for mathematics papers, serving as a benchmark for this study to highlight the shortcomings. The results revealed that the items of SSC papers were highly biased towards 'Factual Knowledge' and 'Routine Procedures'. The study concluded that these items assess knowledge of facts and algorithms only and do not measure essential mathematical skills (involvement of higher levels of thinking processes) of students. The study recommends to improve the items of papers so that essential mathematical skills can be measured rather than the capacity of memorization because with this practice, thinking habits cannot be inculcated among students.

The marketisation of higher education is a global phenomenon in the new millennium as the universities are facing intense competition to manage their financial resources and maintain their academic growth and reputation. Pakistan is also influenced by the globalisation of higher education. In this context, this study is a genre analysis of the introductory pages of prospectuses of Pakistani universities. Through Bhatia's model of Applied Genre Analysis, a six-move generic structure has been identified in the introductory pages of prospectuses to establish it as a complex hybrid promotional genre. The most significant communicative purposes are welcoming, informing, and persuading. The universities appear to borrow discourse from genres like accounts, advertisements, management, and the tourist industry. The analysis reveals that marketisation is deeply rooted in today's higher education in Pakistan.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role that technology plays in the education of students with hearing impairments. The paper delves into ambitious topics like assistive technologies and languages, access and inclusion, teacher education and practice, and the challenges encountered. The research employed a quantitative approach, selecting 172 teachers from Punjab's special education department as a study sample using a simple random technique. Primary data was collected using a self-developed questionnaire. The collected data was, therefore, analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Overall, the findings presented a positive outlook, demonstrating how technology enhances the learning experience, communication, and academic performance. The study clearly highlights several challenges, including insufficient specialized tools, inadequate teacher training, financial constraints, and more. The study highlights the significance of precision, aggregative processes, and teamwork in addressing the challenges of limited resources, teachers' preparedness, and accessibility. recommendations include incorporating specialized digital tools, focusing on continuous teacher professional learning, requesting funding, and creating awareness and/or cultural shifts. Such findings provide an understanding of the possible pros and cons of technology integration, which will help educators create an inclusive learning environment for students with hearing impairments.

This paper examined students' performance through diverse assessments in MS first semester curriculum module in a women university. The module "Curriculum models and theories" incorporated three different assessments: a home assignment, a classroom presentation and a final term paper. A three step approach using mixed research method was used to investigate students' responses to the different assessment tools. First a quantitative analysis using descriptive statistics was conducted on the data from students' marks. Second, an examination of students' perceptions about different assessment was carried out through a questionnaire. Last a qualitative study was conducted using semi structured interviews. The findings revealed that majority of the students preferred more structured tasks having clear aligned learning outcomes. Familiarity with assessment types was also preferred by many students. The present study suggests that by making changes in assessment design and using more formative feedback, students' learning experience across diverse assessment tools can be enhanced.

Countries in the global South, such as Pakistan, face challenges to determine their education policies without any external pressures. The national sphere of authority of the state has to deal with both global and national policy pressures. The travelling policy gets embedded in the local context adjusting to the local demands. However, for this embedding to take place smartly, the host/adopting country needs to demonstrate critical engagement. The developing countries are faced with a plethora of policy prescriptions from the global space; sometimes in the name of 'best practices' and at others in the name of funding conditionality or priority. Due to the absence of multi-actor critical engagement, the policies exist only during the project and as soon as the project is over, the policy is shelved. The article presents the case of a critical policy engagement -- 'teaching license policy dialogues'. This is an independent university-led effort to improve the teacher management system in Pakistan. A four-stage policy advocacy process is adopted to create critical policy space. It comprised (i) development of concept, (ii) preparation of green papers, (iii) policy dialogues and (iv) launch of the White Paper for policy consideration. The case shows a critical way of engaging with a global policy along with all stakeholders, assessing its efficacy, and make alterations as per contextual needs. We hope that our attempt at critical policy dialogue, which promotes critical engagement of multiple stakeholders on equal footing without pressure from a donor, might offer a better way forward. In this way, the policy may not be seen as a push from global space, rather it would be seen as a negotiation between global-national space. We further highlight the crucial, yet rare role of academia in the global South, which is desperately needed.

This article is the second in a series of three articles about academic fraud. The first, "Diploma Mills and Counterfeit Operations, Part 1" by Allen Ezell College and University v94 n3 Sum 2019 described the history and growth of diploma mills and counterfeit operations. This article provides an in-depth look at the operations of the world's largest diploma mill, Axact, Ltd., a criminal enterprise with more than 8 million customers worldwide that has generated several billion dollars. The third article will detail how to identify diploma mills and Axact websites. [For "Diploma Mills and Counterfeit Operations, Part 1," see EJ1225180.]

This paper explores student experiences of language-in-education policies through the lens of colonial processes and traces such logic as they operate through educational institutions. Drawing on semi-structured interviews of high school seniors and recent graduates, I investigate how students in Pakistani secondary schools interact with intersecting modern/colonial structures that rationalize existing hierarchies of power along colonial, racial/ethnic, and gendered lines. The findings suggest that students have internalized dominant colonial ideologies and they also constitute key sites for decolonial resistance at the same time. Student experiences of colonial hierarchies in the school were mediated by their socioeconomic class, gender, ethnic and linguistic background. However, despite internalizing dominant hierarchies, many students understood their experiences through the framing of colonial power structures, which simultaneously positioned them as potential actors for decolonial resistance. In this paper, I analyze their experiences in detail, and in doing so, this study adds to the growing voices in the field of international and comparative education that critically examine the role of modern/colonial formations in the structuring of education globally.

The International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) is a rapidly growing field in education which has gained considerable attention of stakeholders across the globe. Historically, ILSA emerged from the developed context which has drifted to the developing contexts in a short span of time due to globalisation. Pakistan has participated in ILSA (i.e., TIMSS) for the first time in the 2019 cycle. In light of the global critique on ILSA, this paper presents a critical analysis on Pakistan's participation in TIMSS by raising questions embedded in contextual realities. The discussion adds to the understanding of ILSA in terms of historical developments, theoretical underpinnings towards participation in ILSA, and the general as well as context-specific critique on ILSA. The paper ends with the argument in favour of strengthening national LSA instead of relying only on ILSA.

The authority of the nation states and their capacity to govern their education policy has been reconfigured by the processes of globalisation. This paper examines recent education policy in Pakistan in order to reveal the nature of national authority in education policy-making in a challenging context. The central piece of analysis is the pre-policy text issued by the Ministry of Education, Pakistan--the White Paper. This analysis is further supported through interviews with senior policy actors and other significant policy texts. The paper identifies several tensions caused by the interaction of global and national education policy priorities and explores how the national government of Pakistan seeks to expand its SoA through "soft" governance approaches despite the material and financial constraints within which it operates.

This paper analyzes the risks to child development and school readiness among children under age 6 in Pakistan. Drawing on a nationally representative telephone survey conducted in the midst of a global pandemic, between December 2021 and February 2022, we present the first nationally representative estimates of child development for children under 3 years of age and school readiness for children 3-6 years of age, using internationally validated instruments. The paper examines how risk factors that were exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as parental distress, lack of psychosocial stimulation, food insecurity, low maternal education, no enrollment in early childhood education, and living in a rural area, are associated with children's outcomes. The data indicate that more than half (57 percent) of parents with children under age 3 were distressed and that 61 percent of households reported cutting down on the size of or skipping meals since the start of the pandemic. The data reveal that over half of parents fail to engage in adequate psychosocial stimulation with their child and enrollment in early childhood education is very low (39 percent). The paper finds that child development outcomes decline rapidly as the number of risks increase. Specifically, for children under 3 years, lack of psychosocial stimulation at home and higher levels of parental distress were most significantly associated with lower child development levels. For a child aged 3-6 years, early childhood education enrollment and the amount of psychosocial stimulation the child received at home had the strongest association with school readiness scores.

Skills-based education can provide a way forward to sustainable development in a developing country. It is a hopeful scenario that more than 60% of the population of Pakistan is less than 30 years of age and almost half of them are under 15 years of age. It is important for the policymakers and planners to learn from the societies where human resource development is integrated in educational planning at secondary and higher secondary schools level. The paper at hand presents the policy analysis part of a bigger study that was conducted for proposing changes in the current policies and practices of technical and vocational education in Pakistan. To fulfill this purpose three of the best models of technical and vocational education were reviewed and a comparative analysis was conducted to identify the adaptable policy measures in Pakistan. The three models reviewed and compared were from Germany, Switzerland, and South Korea. This paper presents the analysis of policies in the three aforementioned countries including the implementation strategy proposed; as well as lessons learned for improving the policy of technical and vocational education in Pakistan. This article is based on one part of a larger study.

Teachers' beliefs about teaching character values are pivotal in cultivating students' character. This study systematically reviewed teachers' beliefs towards character education in primary school. A systematic review following the PRISMA statement was applied to peer-reviewed papers published between 2011 and 2021. This review paper analyzed three main themes based on three research questions, namely, (1) teachers' beliefs of character education curriculum, (2) beliefs of values, and (3) pedagogical beliefs. Findings revealed that teachers mostly believed in an integrated character education curriculum with role model pedagogy. Moreover, there were seventeen (17) values teachers believed to instil which respect and responsibility were the two most dominant values to foster. This study implies that teachers' beliefs are significant factors in proper character education curriculum implementation. This study also provides significant implications for policymakers and curriculum designers in developing a character education curriculum that meets teachers' beliefs.

Employing neoliberal governmentality as a conceptual frame, this paper presents evidence from the mushrooming English language academies from Pakistan to demonstrate that how neoliberal rationality as a normative order of reason governs the minds of learners and teachers without governing. Drawing on the analysis of an open-ended interview protocol and semi-structured interviews, the findings suggest that learning more English is believed to render them competitive in the current linguistic market. The rationality is deeply interwoven with the logic of the market. English is considered instrumental for social survival, a tool that promises all forms of social, cultural, and economic capital. The paper discusses that how the knowledge that neoliberal rationality internalises, apparently governs participants' discourses, actions, and their self-technologies. Self-technologies manifest in their conduct of relentless self-development and self-entrepreneurship. Recurrent neoliberal lexicon embodies their subjectivities. The power of neoliberalism 'inserts itself into their actions and attitudes, their discourses, learning processes and everyday lives' (Foucault [1980]. "Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings", 1972-1977. New York: Pantheon Books). The study concludes that the transformative potential and promises attached to English learning are facile because English does not exist in some neutral social space; instead, it operates in a polarised society where the roots of socioeconomic inequalities are fundamentally structural than access to English.

In Pakistan, children with disabilities face a two-fold disadvantage with respect to education - First, lack of access due to the country's heavily constrained education sector, and second, if they do access schools then the quality of education imparted is questionable. In this paper, we investigate the access to education and learning performance of children with disabilities in four administrative units of Pakistan-Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Merged Region and Punjab. We use household data from the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) of 2018, which included questions on disability status of children aged 3 to 16 years, their enrolment in school, and their performance of reading and arithmetic. Broadly, our findings indicate that children with mild disability are more likely to enrol in schools compared to children without disabilities. On the other hand, children with severe disability are less likely to access schools, when compared to their counterparts with no disabilities. In terms of type of school (government, private, religious) access, there are regional differences. In terms of learning outcomes of children with disabilities, we see a small gap between children with and without disability. This paper underscores policy considerations for children with disabilities based on the severity of disability faced.

Purpose: The pandemic's health and social issues have significantly altered the character and manner of teaching and learning in higher education across the country. The use of technology to replace or integrate face-to-face learning with online learning has become a necessary requirement for promoting and continuing learning processes. Furthermore, integrating technology is a goal of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) to make teaching and learning more innovative and sophisticated. This paper is based on a systematic review grounded in a synthesis of research papers and documents analyzing the current status of teachers' pedagogy through online learning modes in the context of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: Through content analyses of academic studies in higher education and reflection on the online teaching experiences, this study discusses how students' learning is associated with teachers' teaching approaches in the modern era of digitalization and innovation. Findings: The review and analysis suggest that online teaching is not viewed as an innovative phenomenon; rather, teachers simply teach their traditionally designed face-to-face courses through the use of technology. The paper suggests that transforming teachers' pedagogical insight to make online learning sustainable is an urgent need for higher education. Originality/value: The analysis provides a basis for consideration of teacher learning and quality education (SDG #4) to fulfill the nation's agenda for sustainable development. The analysis helps educators and administrators in higher education institutions reflect on their policies and practices that have short- and long-term effects on students' learning outcomes.

Gender disparity in science and mathematics performance is being researched internationally. In a complex education system, like Pakistan, studying the difference in isolation may not generate holistic understanding. Therefore, this paper investigates changes in trends of performance in Science and Mathematics for both genders across public and private schools. Data were gathered from a nationwide sample of elementary grades students (n=15,391) using SATs/MATS. Independent t-test and two-way-ANOVA were employed to analyse data. Results revealed that girls outperformed boys in Science (p<0.01) while no gender differences in performance were observed in Mathematics. Gender and school systems demonstrated significant interaction effect only in mathematics, unveiling that girls perform better in public schools while this difference diminished in the private school system. The results show implications for employing gender-fair policies and practices in science and mathematics education.

The study aims to understand the foremost challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopts the PRISMA approach to screening the selection of journal articles and review papers according to the research aims and the inclusion criteria. The journal articles and review papers were extracted and stored in Microsoft Excel and Google Scholar, Academic. Microsoft, Semantic Scholar, Elsevier, and Emerald Insight databases searched relevant documents using formulated keywords. A statistical technique was applied using the M.S. Excel analysis tool (PivotTable and an independent t-Test) to analyze data and determine the differences between teachers and students. The review revealed the evidence that the majority of the studies were primarily focused on the individual developing countries and results from other developing countries were not considered. In addition, the foremost challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic were inadequate skills and training, inadequate Internet/Infrastructure, lack of supporting resources and lack of online student engagement and feedback. Finally, the independent t-test reveals there is no statistically significant difference in challenges in the transition to online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both teachers and students encounter similar challenges. The systematic review raised concerns that higher learning needs to effectively implement long term strategies and support teachers and students in getting into online teaching and learning.

This paper employs the feminist educational leadership perspective to analyse the ecological context and its influence on the leadership experiences of school head teachers within a patriarchal cultural setting. Methodology: This paper forms part of a mixed methods study that included a quantitative random survey during the first research phase to determine the leadership styles of 350 secondary school head teachers across nine districts in the Punjab province of Pakistan using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. This paper is based on the second research phase that analyses empirical data from semi structured interviews of a purposive-stratified sample of 14 head teachers, selected from among the 264 survey respondents, comprising of seven males and seven females. Bronfenbrenner's ecological development theory is employed as an analytical framework for thematic analysis. Findings: The study reveals that females must navigate gender stereotypes in a society where they have to fight to establish authority, encounter misogynistic attitudes, rely upon familial support to begin their career, gain spiritual support from a higher power, face work-family conflicts all while practicing educational leadership with high motivation. On the other hand, males assume themselves to be natural leaders and appear to be spared from ecological challenges that impede their leadership journeys. Implications: The findings confirm the prevalence of gender stereotypes that position leadership within the masculine domain in a patriarchal context. The study proposes a complete restructuring of the socio-cultural framework to create a gender neutral society that provides equal educational and professional opportunities to all social members in order to maximize human capital development that is crucial for a country's economic progress. The findings reflect several subtle and non-subtle socio-cultural challenges faced by female leaders around the world. Originality -- This study contributes to enhancing the literature on gender and educational leadership in a patriarchal cultural context.

A recent surge in textbooks studies has revealed a closer link with neoliberalism and the way they construct neoliberal subjects. This paper uses Foucauldian governmentality as the conceptual lens to analyze the neoliberal discourses in EFL textbooks used in English Access Microscholarship (EAM)--one of the US-aided global ELT programs in Pakistan. English language learners' views on course outcomes and textbooks were also examined. The study shows that among others, English as a neoliberal life skill, celebrity culture, consumerism, entrepreneurship, and individual and corporate social responsibility dominate textbooks. It is thus found that textbooks play an important role in neoliberalizing learners. Moreover, English language learners perceive English as a key to economic success. They also value consumerism, branding, and personal responsibility. In light of the study findings, we suggest a decolonial option, reflective activism, and post-method pedagogy as possible alternatives at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels to resist the discourses of neoliberalism and colonial power patterns entrenched in a postcolonial society like Pakistan.

This paper describes the process of customization and validation of scale that measures motivation for professionalization of English language teachers. This paper illustrates a systematic process to assist researchers in adapting, customizing and validating scale. This study presents results of a pilot survey of the five motivational factor scale, aimed to measure English language teachers' motivation to pursue professionalization with the help of HEC trainings. Study adapted and revised original Hildebrandt and Eom model of motivation for professionalization scale (MPS) aimed to measure five motivational dimensions such as improved teaching, financial gain, internal validation, external validation, and collaboration for professionalization. The revised scale contained 43 items whose reliability and validity were established. Self-administrative questionnaires were distributed among English language teachers of public sector institutions across Sindh for data collection to establish reliability and validity. Cronbach's alpha, corrected item total-correlation and confirmatory factor analysis tests were carried out to validate the scale. The customization and validation process along with results of the study have been discussed in detail in the methods and results section of the paper. The paper concludes by stating the findings of the research. [Note: The volume number (10) shown in the header of the PDF is incorrect. The correct volume number is 16.]

This article offers a global overview of the burgeoning field of micro-credentials and their relationship to lifelong learning, employability and new models of digital education. Although there is no globally accepted definition of micro-credentials, the term indicates smaller units of study, which are usually shorter than traditional forms of accredited learning and courses leading to conventional qualifications such as degrees. The paper aims to provide educators with a helicopter view of the rapidly evolving global micro-credential landscape, with particular relevance to higher education leaders, industry stakeholders and government policy-makers. It addresses five questions: (i) What are micro-credentials? (ii) Why micro-credentials? (iii) Who are the key stakeholders? (iv) What is happening globally? and (v) What are some of the key takeaways? Drawing on a European-wide perspective and recent developments in The Republic of Ireland, the paper concludes that micro-credentials are likely to become a more established and mature feature of the 21st-century credential ecology over the next five years. While the global micro-credential landscape is currently disconnected across national boundaries, more clarity and coherence will emerge as governments around the world increasingly align new credentialing developments with existing national qualification frameworks. The micro-credentialing movement also provides opportunities for governments and higher education institutions in partnership with industry to harness new digital learning models beyond the pandemic.

The present paper analyzed the reasons of low quality education at primary level in public sector schools in Pakistan. Education is considered as the foundation of all type of development everywhere in the world. One of the functions of the educational institutions is to produce efficient and skillful education managers and teachers. Mainly it helps the financial, social and social existence of the country. This study thoroughly examined the primary education system in Pakistan. The critical examination revealed that primary education in Pakistan from its financial and management side was most neglected. The quality of education does not only depend on preparing individuals for the successive educational level but to equip them with the required basic life skills. The striking agenda at global level is to strengthen the quality of education at all educational levels specifically at the primary level. The present paper aimed at different indicators for low quality as absence of money related assets, auxiliary and administration issues, expanded dropout, poor approach usage, obsolete examination framework, wasteful correspondence, absence of expert advancement, absence of learning assets, absence of supervision, lack of co-ordination and curriculum issues to gauge the quality of education at primary level in Pakistan.

Technology has influenced instructional styles and enhanced learning opportunities for teachers. These innovative trends enable teachers in developing self-motivated and effective learning environments. The present paper carries out a comparison between the teachers of public and private schools about their digital skills. The researchers recruited 216 teachers from both sectors through two stage simple random sampling method. The data was composed by employing self-developed instrument having 9 indicators of digital skills. However, the consistency and validity of research instrument was confirmed while results were reported performing t-test and ANOVA. The findings show that public and private institutes mostly vary regarding the use of digital skills. It was also noted that private school teachers were more innovative in accessing digital skills. The paper suggests that initiatives may be taken to develop interest in public sector teachers regarding practice of technology moreover the government can also collaborate with private sector to learn from their digital experiences and train teachers from public sector.

The study aimed to validate the factors that affect the inter-rater reliability of secondary school certificate (SSC) papers in high-stake testing. For this purpose, papers of Urdu and English of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) were selected. A survey method was used to collect marking on the same set of papers from each rater and their response to the questionnaire. The population of the study has comprised the raters for English and Urdu subjects. A sample of 98 raters was selected randomly from the list. Instruments of the study were solved papers of annual examination for both subjects and a questionnaire related to the factor that affects inter-rater reliability. According to consistency estimates of the inter-rater reliability approach, the Spearman correlation coefficient was applied to examine consistency in the scoring of raters. It was found that raters' training effect the inter-rater reliability in their scoring. However, other factors did not affect inter-rater reliability in scoring. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended to ensure the participation of all raters in the training session.

Through a comparative analysis of policy texts from UN organisations and scholarly work since the 1990s this paper examines how mothers are portrayed in simplistic terms, as educated thus beneficial for their daughters' schooling, or deprived of education causing detriment to their daughters' future prospects. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with mothers from rural Pakistan, these global comparisons are brought into conversation with local narratives showing how mothers' aspirations facilitate daughters' educational opportunities. It is argued that mothers' subjectivities have a potential to inform global policy discourses for investigating the aspirational and transformational potential of mothers in contexts of material and social constraint. The paper proposes an informed approach to educational research and policy making which seeks to understand the processes surrounding mothers' support for their daughters' education.

A national language policy reflects how a state looks at the languages used by its people. It assigns certain roles to languages, and addresses the issues of language education and language of education. Pakistan, a multilingual country, has yet no language policy at national level. This absence of policy has caused many issues, including the medium of instruction (MoI). Since the country is currently developing a single national curriculum, its success largely depends on resolving the issue of the medium of instruction. the paper, motivated by the same issue, introduces the problem, then, after discussing some major linguistic challenges faced by the country, it spotlights the difference between the Constitution (1973) and the National Education Policy on the issue of MoI. The paper takes insights from Integrative Framework (Hornberger, 2006) of language planning and policy, and Stage Actor Model (Zhao & Baldauf, 2012), to discuss actor agency and their role in solving the problem. The paper proposes a late-exit transitional bilingual model to address the issue of MoI in the country. It concludes with recommendations for a well-framed national language policy capable to de-stigmatise the national language Urdu, to give due recognition to regional or autochthonous languages, and to provide clear guidelines about the MoI in the formal education system of the country.

Purpose: This study intends to unveil the imbalance in gender portrayal, reflected in English textbooks, used at the primary level in the four provinces of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: Within the framework of feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA), this paper aims to explore the ways in which gender stereotypes and ideologies are inculcated through the discursive schemes in the selected textbooks. The methodology adopted is to connect the linguistic features in the texts (the Micro) to the social factors (the Macro). The analysis has been done on two levels: on the first level, the content analysis was employed to quantify the gender representation in the textbook. On the second level, the discourse analysis was carried out to view gender stereotypes in the wide spectrum of social norms. Findings: The results of this study reveal a significant disproportion and imbalance in gender representation in the four books. They clearly show that the textbooks in Pakistan contribute to the socialization of children in a very traditional and stereotypical way. The findings of the study recommend extensive awareness at societal level in general, and particular reforms in the education sector for a step toward a progressive and prosperous society. Originality/value: The current paper is innovative as it demystifies how gendered ideologies are ingrained in the curriculum, used for English language teaching in a developing country like Pakistan. It fosters the value addition in existing research since it investigated the gender disparity systematically by employing quantitative content and qualitative FCDA.

Governments and education systems worldwide have tried using additional cash transfers to encourage school enrolment and attendance, and to reduce the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. There are now many strands of evidence on the success of such schemes. This paper presents the results of international structured reviews of the existing evidence, coupled with a natural experiment in India and Pakistan, and a summary of the new findings from a 14-year evaluation of the impact of the Pupil Premium policy in England. The paper addresses the key issue of whether funding is best provided to poorer regions, to schools, families, or individual students. The synthesised results are clear. However, the results differ slightly in terms of whether attendance or attainment is the key objective, and with the age of the students, and the level of development of any education system. Regardless, cash transfers need to have conditions attached, and these conditions must be audited. A key condition for giving money to schools, rather than individuals, should be that it is only used to provide evidence-led programmes and processes.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore contribution of informal learning space -- Research Cafe -- to enrich research learning experiences of graduate students. Developing strong research skills among graduate students is a prime focus of higher education around the world. Thereby, universities are striving to maximise opportunities that can foster and enrich students' learning experiences of research; however, the focus is mostly confined to formal opportunities such as research method courses and thesis writing. The provision of informal learning spaces has been recognised as a useful tool for fostering research learning experiences of graduates. This reflective paper is among a few focusing on a model of student-led informal learning space for enriching research experiences in higher education in the context of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses a reflective approach to generate a metalogue. The research experiences shared by the participants were further reflected by the authors after each research café session. The authors then shared their collective metacognitive reflections with each other, generating a metalogue, which was used as the data set. The metalogue was analysed thematically to generate themes. Findings: Findings reveal that the research café is an informal space to promote academic socialisation by providing a conducive environment, peer support and informal supervision opportunities to foster the research learning experiences of graduate students. Importantly, the model presented in this paper provides a complimentary pathway for boosting learning experiences. Research limitations/implications: This paper would be useful for graduate students, faculty and university manager to acknowledge the potential of informal learning spaces in promoting research learning experiences. This paper highlights opportunities for replication, and further empirical research are needed to establish the efficacy of research café. Originality/value: This study contributes to the global debate about graduate research learning experiences through informal learning space, which is yet to be explored, particularly in developing contexts like Pakistan. The idea of the research café is original, as it was conceived keeping in consideration the contextual and cultural aspects. The methodology used in this paper was specifically derived which can be replicated by other researchers.

While ChatGPT has recently become very popular, AI has a long history and philosophy. This paper intends to explore the promises and pitfalls of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) AI and potentially future technologies by adopting a speculative methodology. Speculative future narratives with a specific focus on educational contexts are provided in an attempt to identify emerging themes and discuss their implications for education in the 21st century. Affordances of (using) AI in Education (AIEd) and possible adverse effects are identified and discussed which emerge from the narratives. It is argued that now is the best of times to define human vs AI contribution to education because AI can accomplish more and more educational activities that used to be the prerogative of human educators. Therefore, it is imperative to rethink the respective roles of technology and human educators in education with a future-oriented mindset.

Despite recent efforts to examine the political outcomes of social media use, little is known about the reinforcement of political empowerment and moderating effect of political interest. It is vital to understand the elements that influence the level of political empowerment. Therefore, this paper used a sample of Pakistani voters (n=410) aged 18-29 to offer insight into how social media use alongside other political behaviors, such as partisanship, political expression, and political interest, affect political empowerment. Social Identity Theory (SIT) and rational choice theory provided the theoretical underpinning for the variables of this study. The statistical analyses were performed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) to assess the effects of four variables i.e., social media use, political partisanship, political expression, and political interest, on political empowerment. This study made a significant contribution to the research literature by combining SIT and rational choice theory in one framework. This study also expands the literature on political interest by introducing political interest as a moderator between the inconsistent relationship of political expression and political empowerment. Our results demonstrated that partisanship and social media use positively influenced political expression among young voters. Moreover, political interest positively moderated the relationship between political expression and political empowerment.

This paper intended to analyze the practices of digital citizenship among university student in Pakistan. The quantitative descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of the study was 800 students of BS (Education) program in ten public sector universities in Punjab, Pakistan. Simple random sampling technique was used for the selection of sample. The sample of the study was 280 students (120 males and 160 females). The research instrument used for the data collection was a five-point Likert scale having nine aspects of digital citizenship identified by Ribble and Baily (2007). The validity of the research instrument was ensured through experts' opinion. Cronbach's Alpha value was used for the reliability of this instrument and its value was .89. The data were analyzed by applying both descriptive and inferential statistics. The research concluded that the majority of the students were involved in the digital citizenship practices in all the ten public sector universities. It was suggested that universities may manage digital citizenship education, formulate the laws for using digital citizenship for positive and healthy activities, conduct co-curricular activities to promote the knowledge of students and integrate digital citizenship education into the curriculum at all stages of education.