This paper investigates the issues and challenges encountered by students obtaining distance education in Pakistan. We conducted interviews with students obtaining distance education and they were enrolled in different study programs. Qualitative interviews were conducted to understand the perception of the study participants regarding the issues and challenges faced by them in learning. Students from five distance learning programs were selected and five participants from each study program were interviewed in this study. The findings reveal that distance learning students encounter impediment in their learning due to their personal circumstances, teachers’ related issues, and due to assessment and evaluation issues. These factors negatively affect distance learners learning experiences. Based on the study findings, we provide recommendations to universities for enhancing distance learners experience.

This research explored rural state school teachers’ perceptions concerning parental involvement in children’s education in a developing country context. The data were collected through thematic interviews with teachers of public schools situated in the rural areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. The study findings revealed teachers’ frustration and disappointment regarding parental involvement. Teachers believed that susceptible socioeconomic circumstances and adherence to local customs hindered many parents from participating in their children’s education. In line with this, teachers frequently held negative perceptions regarding children’s parents, and these perceptions have the potential to adversely affect parent–teacher communion and children’s learning. We offered several policy implications for enhancing parents’ roles and teachers’ competency in supporting parental involvement, which could also be practical in other developing countries sharing similar impediments, such as widespread illiteracy, poverty, and a lack of qualified teachers.

Drawing from focus group discussions, this study reports 40 school-aged children’s (12–14 years, boys and girls) perceptions of parental involvement in the context of a developing country with a collectivist culture. The results indicate that despite parental interference, adherence to local customs, poverty, and illiteracy, children felt encouraged by their parents through strategies that reinforced their motivation to continue their education. Extended families’ educated members can also compensate for parents being unable to support their children in learning. The study highlights the role of the socio-cultural context in understanding parental involvement.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how organizational unfairness impedes fulfilment of various needs of non-managerial employees at Islamic banks. Methodology: The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews from sixteen non-managerial employees of different fully Islamic bank branches located in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. Findings: The study findings indicate that issues in the distributive, procedural and interactional justice elements of Islamic banks impedes fulfilment of basic, social, security, self-esteem, and self-actualization needs of non-managerial service employees of Islamic banks and adversely affects their wellbeing. Significance: This research contributes to the literature on organizational fairness by unpacking the ways in which issues in the organizational justice elements impeded non-managerial service employees’ life needs fulfilment. This study investigates the above-mentioned issue from the Islamic banks non-managerial employees’ perspective, which was not empirically investigated earlier. Limitations: The qualitative research findings might lack external validity or generalizability. In the future, a study could investigate this topic through survey research. Second, this research merely investigated how organizational unfairness impedes employees’ life needs. In future, a study could explore the strategies employed by the employees encountering organizational unfairness for resolving the issues relating to stress and other socio-economic aspects. Practical and Social Implications: This study findings provided an avenue to offer a number of practical implications to enhance fairness for non-managerial service employees in Islamic banks.