How can we solve this problem

Dec 17, 2012   //   by Bahauddin   //   Uncategorized  //  3 Comments

How can we solve this problem

Today I was announced best speak­er in our debate train­ing arranged by IEFS. I was oppo­si­tion leader on the issue of, is gov­ern­ment oblig­at­ed to lessen the gap between rich and poor? As the train­ing end­ed I didn’t leave the cen­ter with cher­ish­ing mem­o­ry of my suc­cess but with a ques­tion on my mind.
In the end of the class every­body was talk­ing about learn­ing pay which is about to. I dis­cov­ered that each of the stu­dents is paid 500AFs ($10) for each class they attend. I was hap­py with this I will be able to return half of the mon­ey that I bor­rowed from my friend. But I also didn’t approve the idea of pay­ing in train­ing like this. Because you can­not find learner’s with a real desire to learn. In this kind of train­ings you have two options to 1st Get edu­ca­tion 2nd Earn money?
I first faced this sit­u­a­tion when an expat want­ed to train some doc­tors in pub­lic health hos­pi­tal. I was help­ing him arrange this train­ing. We could not get the doc­tors to attend this unless we pay so final­ly the expat doc­tor agreed to pay. This train­ing in Nan­garhar, we paid 500 AFN($10) per day to par­tic­i­pants who work in Jalal­abad (who still col­lect­ed their reg­u­lar salary) and 1500 AFN per day to par­tic­i­pants from out­side Jalal­abad (those com­ing from out­side the province got five days of pay for a three day train­ing, because they were paid for two trav­el days). This mon­ey is called a “per diem” and it is com­mon inter­na­tion­al­ly when some­thing for your job requires you to be out of town, but uncom­mon while you’re in your own town. Our part­ners help­ing to orga­nize the train­ing felt that our per diems were very low. One of the pri­ma­ry doc­tors coor­di­nat­ing the train­ing left before the final day because he had an oppor­tu­ni­ty to go to anoth­er train­ing in Kab­ul with a high­er per diem (I believe it may have been $90 a day). This is a very nor­mal part of the rou­tine of doc­tors who work with the min­istry of pub­lic health.
When I land­ed in Kab­ul inter­na­tion­al report after return­ing from World inno­va­tion sum­mit. I run into an acquaint­ed pro­fes­sor in the air­port who was going to Japan for train­ing in edu­ca­tion. The sec­ond ques­tion he asked after where am I com­ing from, was how much am I paid. I had no answer but I sim­ply said I spend $8 by mis­tak­en­ly drink­ing a red-bull in the hotel room. This was anoth­er sit­u­a­tion that poked same ques­tion in my mind is he going to Japan to learn or to earn? I noticed he didn’t believe that I am not paid, and this ques­tion is what most peo­ple have asked since I am back in the country.
I think this is not NGOs or peo­ples mis­take. We have been in war for over 30 years; we need­ed relief in refugee camps and war torn vil­lages. This is what most Afghans have learnt because since they are born they always need­ed help in their life. Major­i­ty of the cur­rent Afghan pop­u­la­tion has lived in war. On the flip side help­ing for too long also devel­ops a ten­den­cy in once per­son­al­i­ty to expect from oth­ers. This sit­u­a­tion can also effect the pop­u­la­tion which can’t help the coun­try to revive and be self-reliant. Edu­ca­tion is still a major chal­lenge in Afghanistan and very much need­ed. I have noticed both prob­lems lack of edu­ca­tion and prob­lem of expect­ing from orga­ni­za­tions. Edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams can­not enroll stu­dents if they are not paid.
Should mon­ey be giv­en to peo­ple for learn­ing, if yes how can we avoid devel­op­ing a ten­den­cy in them to desire for mon­ey in learning ?
This is ques­tion for orga­ni­za­tions and pol­i­cy mak­ers that they should think of. The world is still going through war and crisis.

Pages

Categories