According to? a news report, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) after its privatisation is losing revenue and connections due to its declining services and increasing tariffs. The recent revenue generating tactics of the PTCL unfortunately, are detrimental to subscribers’ interests and will most likely deepen the digital divide in the country because it has made internet surfing costlier by at least three times. The worst affected of all, are the dialup connection users and in particular the students.

The PTCL has silently started charging internet users a new local call after every 15 minutes of net surfing. All the consumers who use any PTCL line (for a dialup connection) but a non-PTCL Internet Service Provider (ISP) are badly hit by this hidden tariff, as they unknowingly add up several digits to their bills as they are being charged at the rate of four local calls per internet hour. This means that an internet user has to pay about Rs 10 per hour just to remain connected, in addition to the tariff paid for the internet service. Previously, however the dialup connection required only one local call to connect. After connecting, one could continue the online session for as long as one needed, without being charged a new call. This made the internet easily accessible and affordable for the students and many ISPs had introduced special packages for the students providing internet access @ Rs. 2 per hour. However, now thanks to the new PTCL policy, internet is no more affordable for majority of the students.

Now due to a fresh local call being charged after every 15 minutes, one hour of net surfing would cost between Rs 12 to 20, depending on the ISP tariffs. "It is going to discourage the use of internet amongst the students," says Rana Ghulam Mohi-udin, a student of UMT, Lahore. "The students should not be deprived of an easy access to databases, because of such high tariffs," he says.

The only alternative now to other costlier ISPs is PTCL’s own phone & net service. The company provides the internet service at the rate of Rs 6 per hour plus a local call to connect. However, this service comes with its own set of problems like slow speed, poorer quality, no technical support, and is still higher priced than the other ISPs.

Unfortunately, PTCL being a telecom giant has manipulated a price structure that compels the subscribers to switch over to its internet service. By penalising the subscribers for using non-PTCL ISPs, PTCL is actively depriving them of choice. Moreover, the PTCL has unilaterally fixed the internet tariff which is at least three times higher than was previously available in the open market.

The PTCL offers a so-called Value Plus package for the net users. According to the package, 20 hours are offered for "free" at Rs 75 per month. A cursory look at the package reveals that the net cost of internet usage has been in fact increased from what has been available to the net-users through private ISPs and one "free" internet hour costs Rs 3.75. Thus, the package actually offers nothing to the subscribers. It’s just an advertising gimmick to sugarcoat the reality of raised tariffs.

The most unfair thing is that PTCL has not informed the subscribers about the hidden tariffs. So much so that most of the ISPs and also reporters from the electronic and print media, covering PTCL were found unaware and uninformed. It is highly unethical to charge people without informing them.

Moreover, the organisation has already earned a bad image for its one-sided imposition of the so- called ‘Pakistan Package’. Losing good will of the people means losing the business, it’s due to these reasons that the PTCL is losing revenue and connections but the lesson is lost on the management of the PTCL. Instead of reclaiming the lost ground and winning back the public good will, the PTCL is trying to overcome the deficit through the deceptive tariffs. "Such tactics may work in the short term but no company can earn profit after losing its soft image," says Zia-ur-Rehman a Karachi based marketing manager.

In the best interest of the people at large and the PTCL itself, the management should rethink its unfriendly policies. It should immediately reverse the indirect tariff on dialup connections; as it is hitting hard majority of internet users as just three hours a day net surfing would cost around Rs.1000 per month. Hussain Ahmed a lecturer in English complains: "the recurrent disconnections terminates online session abruptly; it disallows you even to send and receive the mail." According to Sibghatullah a Virtual University student, "the PTCL new tariff has made downloading the courses and uploading the assignments difficult and costly for us."

Unfortunately, throughout the last decade, most attempts to use technology to facilitate higher education all over the world and Pakistan have been very haphazard due to the lack of proper implementation. Today, however, technology is creating a new educational platform and is reconfiguring the way a student learns. Learning through information technology is evolving a new era of education all over the world.

Open and distance e-learning is one of the most rapidly growing fields of education, and its potentials impact on all education delivery systems has been greatly accentuated through the development of internet-based information technology. This is nothing short of a blessing as for students distance e-learning means increased access; it may also mean a more learner-centered approach, enrichment, higher quality and new ways of interaction.

In this regard, the Virtual University of Pakistan is generating new patterns of teaching and learning through information technology. Along with this the Allama Iqbal Open University is also contributing a lot towards the development of e-learning.

Learning through information technology leads to innovation in mainstream education and may even have effects beyond the realm of education itself in Pakistan. For instance, this form of teaching and learning has the key advantage of reaching many geographically distant people at a single instance thus playing a significant role in the creation of a global knowledge-based society.

The fee structure in case of e-learning is quite different from conventional fee structures. It is widely assumed that students involved in e-learning programmes should pay a higher proportion of the costs than conventional students since they are provided with world class education at the door steps at a very low cost. However, the virtual university of Pakistan has set a good example against this assumption by providing fairly inexpensive and quality education to even the remote areas.

To the students, e-learning offers freedom of access and thereby a wider range of opportunities for learning. Besides, e-learning is also provides equal learning opportunities irrespective of financial and personal constraints, cultural and social barriers and lack of educational infrastructure. Above all, it is a cheaper alternative to the conventional educational setup.

Since many people who are employed cannot afford to leave their work in order to study, therefore, it is important that e-learning should be made work friendly. In this case it will lead to professional development in the workplace and will allow upgrading of skills, increased productivity and development of a new learning culture.

Unlike the concept of virtual university, where teachers educate a large number of varying individuals, conventional universities still believe that learning is dependent on a single informed person imparting information by word of mouth to a small group of listeners in a classroom.

Internet is one of the many modern tools of information in this age of information technology. Million or more people use the internet to obtain information on various topics. According Google, Yahoo, MSN, Altavista & other search engines approximately more than 6 million use the worldwide web to find the information they need.

In Pakistan, people (teachers, students, researchers) also use this facility for exploring new information as well as specific information they need on relevant websites.

The use of internet has increased to such an extent that every second someone or the other is engaged in using this tool. Even at this very moment thousands of people around the world are engaged in searching websites for some professional purposes, students for their school, college or university assignments, some of researchers for finding information about their research, teachers for upto date information regarding their concerned subjects etc.

While searching internet for any information, we usually end up getting a lot of unnecessary information. Therefore, I suggest that the following points be adopted while searching for information to get reliable and accurate information which will save both your time and effort.

Authority

Whenever using a website to find information you always check the authority of the website, whether the website is working under any recognised organisation, association or professional bodies or not. Using reliable websites to search information will help you to a great extent. Mostly, the data related to the authority of the website is given in the ‘about us’ section of the websites.

Content

After checking the authority of the site the second step is to check the content of information. This means that you should check whether the website provides full text information, meta data information, bibliographical information or an index. Along with this the content present on sites is either freely accessible or requires subscription charges, sign-in or mail login to access of content.

Accuracy

In order to check the accuracy of information, one needs to check whether the website has a referral or peer review system (a system where subject experts judge the information and its content’s accuracy) to judge the information (article, news, research paper, statistical review etc) before it is put up on the website.

Security

Security in case of websites refers to the fact that it is free from bugs which are encountered while downloading required material or information. This ensures that your system and mail box remain secure of any viruses. Security also refers to providing protection from hackers so the content remains untampered.

Currency or update

While searching for information on websites, make sure that it contains of the latest and most up-to-date information. Some websites like www.geo.tv and www.jang.com.pk update their information a number of times a day and even in some cases on hourly basis to keep the users up-to-date with the latest happening. The home pages of such websites display when they were last updated.

Timeline

Timeline refers to the time period after which the information available on the website is changed, edited, modified or removed. For example, sometimes search engines display the names of certain websites but when the page is opened a message reading, "the site is under construction or information no longer exists" is displayed. Therefore, before using information from websites, make sure that the information is still present on the site in its original form.

Support

Last but not the least, while using the internet you should always check how user -friendly the website is, whether it offers any help, or user support in shape of e-mail to resolve your problems, direct frequently asked questions (FAQs) from author/creator, discussion forums etc.

As heated debates, addressing the issue of student unions, are in full swing, there is another aspect dealing with the same issue that must be pointed out. The fact that students’ organisations, factions or political groups are still surviving and working, at large, in our educational institutions, even though such activities and entities have been banned since 1984 requires serious attention.

The answer to this subject will probably be a complex of diverse thoughts. First, we have to refer to the students’ psyche in relation to our schools’ environment and culture. A student’s life up to at least ten years of education is full of restrictions, fears and meekness. It is because of this that when our adolescents experience freedom and independence at a higher seat of learning they begin to react in a forceful and dominating manner, being unaware of the actual meaning and importance of this newfound freedom. Therefore, without any mature thought of political concern and party’s manifesto, they join the party or association that already has its roots deeply penetrated into the institution’s soil. By making this move, they endeavour to assure their security and power over others. The incidents, related to thrashing bus drivers and conductors, and taking out violent processions, are a few examples that lay bare their crude ambitions to dominate others and to show their valour and integrated strength. It does not involve any political or intellectual insight on the behalf of the students. So, it is not fair to blame the revival of students unions for the acts of such so-called political students’ organisations.

With the volatile national situations and changing socio-political approach of the citizens, the reputations and the vote banks of all the political parties have to face ups and downs. Quite surprisingly, we are bound to note that these upheavals in the national politics seldom affect their students’ wings in their several strongholds, the educational institutions. For example, in Punjab and especially Lahore, the students’ wing of a religious party, which does not have a substantial vote bank in main political stream, has been enjoying nearly unopposed sway in most of the universities and colleges, for the last half a century. A more astonishing fact is that most of the office-bearers and active members of such associations shun politics after entering practical life, and even if some of them remain in touch, they join different parties on the national horizon. Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Ahsan Iqbal and Khavaja Asif are some examples, in this regard.

When Benazir Bhutto, during her first term, lifted the ban on students’ unions, elections were held after a lapse of 5-6 years. I was a student of Govt Forman Christian College Lahore then. It was a hub of modern, fashionable and the secular students, but despite the fact, that religious party, being popular amongst the students’ circles, won all the seats unopposed. Same was the case in many other colleges of Lahore, Pindi and other cities of the Punjab. Here it must be kept in mind that the vote bank in the colleges does not remain unchanged as it does in national politics.

Students enter and leave every year, but the parties with firm and decades-long foundations in several colleges and universities seldom face any decline or retreat due to this. Therefore, it is more than obvious that a student, who enters a college, in his first year, will join the party that has already occupied the college, without any deliberate consideration, analysis and thought of an element called "manifesto". His major objective is to amalgamate with his brethren. Another reason for this willingness to join is out of courtesy and moral obligation since, it is these unions that, from the very first day, help them in the admission process and later on arrange other functions as well. If the managements as well as the teachers fulfill their responsibilities and solve the problems of the students by guiding them appropriately, then the students won’t be obliged to join these parties.

April 23rd is especially reserved to celebrate the magic of books. Renowned authors of literature like Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega are paid tribute on the World Book Day since they are the fathers of literatures of various subjects.

The decision to celebrate World Book Day was taken by UNESCO followed by an initiative to observe Copyright Day in 1995 which was announced in Paris at UNESCO’s General Conference.

The history of book publishing can be traced back to 1440 when Guttenberg invented the printing machine in Germany. Since then there has been no turning back and the publishing industry around the world has advanced many folds and has evolved from paper to digital format. Due to the repaid growth of technology books are now even available on the internet and this trend of e-books has proved to be extremely beneficial for the students.

However, the publishing industry is facing many problems in Pakistan. Analysts and experts describe that the low literacy rate (47 per cent) is main factor due to which 53 per cent of our population does not have access to books. Besides, due to low per capital income and high inflation rate the general public prefers to spend their money on basic necessities of life rather than books thus further harming the book publishing industry.

Teachers, students, scholars, researchers and libraries are the main beneficiaries and stake holders of the book industry. Unfortunately, the reading habit among the general public, students and teachers has rapidly decreased over the years. Moreover, public libraries due to limited budget find it hard to purchase books in bulk quantities and adding more to this situation the students do not prefer to study beyond the curriculum and thus stick to the prescribed books. This, in turn results in the further decline of readership. Same is the case with teachers of government schools and colleges who do not go beyond the course requirements and thus do not update their knowledge using reference books.

Piracy is yet another major threat to the book publishing industry. Mostly pirated books are imported or smuggled from the neighboring countries thus, this severely affects the publishers and suppliers since the pirated books being cheaper in price take up their rightful market share. Besides, the government also suffers as it bears the loss of taxes and import duties due to the unlawful smuggling of such books.

On the bright side, International Book Fairs that are being held since last three years provide a little relief to the publishers and suppliers since these remind that there are still a few people left who have a genuine love for books.