Sana Fatima, a student of Lahore University of Management Sciences, recently visited two primary schools in the District of Kasur, where she witnessed first-hand the plight of children in the public education system of Pakistan. The following is a pictorial account of her visit.
Her first stop was at a local public primary school for boys in Kot Nawaz, where grades 1 to 5 were being taught. Due to the lack of funding, the school did not have an actual building. Trees served as classrooms and rugs as chairs for approximately 60 boys enrolled in the school.
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An English class being held as the teacher manages multiple classes at the same time. The younger children assemble in their class with the usual chaos that accompanies 5 year old kids. |
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The kids clamor to have their picture taken as class is dismissed. |
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As the children leave their class the primitiveness of their classroom comes into stark focus. |
Her next stop was the Government Girls’ Primary School, Jhugian Chur, where again classes 1 to 5 were being taught. This school did have a proper building, but it only had two rooms which were used to teach five different classes. At the time of visit, a joint Urdu class was being held for two different grades where the level of education was constrained by the level of younger students (from lower grades).
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Government Girls’ Primary School, Jhugian Chur. |
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A class in session. The girls are trying to get through their lesson even though most of them are distracted by the visitors. |
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A joint Urdu class being held for the different grades resulting in all the children being taught the same rudimentary level of language. The sole teacher does not live in Jhugian Chur herself and takes a half an hour rickshaw ride everyday to get to school. |
While the pictures merely provide a window to what is common scenery in most of the rural and suburban areas in Pakistan, they also serve as a stark reminder to the ground realities of the educational system in the country and to how far we have yet to progress in this area. With an estimated population of 174 million, Pakistan is a country rich in labor force. However, it often falls victim to its populace looking up to the government and developed nations for the solutions to its problems, even for those where innovation or (in many cases) will and hard work alone can go a long way. This is especially true in the area of literacy and basic education. Make no mistake, government’s lack of funding and oversight is the root cause for the deteriorating infrastructure of the public education system. However, as members of the community, our ruing this fact alone and taking solace in placing the blame on the right entity is not going to help anyone. Where most, who witness similar scenes during their daily routines, blame the government and get on with their lives, there are others who have shown that individual efforts can make a huge difference in the education scene of Pakistan.
Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greg Mortenson stumbled into the Pakistani village of Korphe in 1993 after a failed attempt to climb K2 where he witnessed poverty, lack of health care and education system and decided to do something about it. What followed was an amazing story of determination and sacrifice that has since resulted in about 80 schools in some of the most remote areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan providing education to over 24000 children (including about 14000 girls) who previously had little if any education opportunities. He is the director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute (CAI) and is also the founder of Pennies for Peace, an organization that educates American children about the world beyond their experience and shows that they can make a positive impact on a global scale, one penny at a time. His journey has been detailed in his best-selling book, “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School at a Time,” and is a must read for all those who want to make an impact in any public sector in Pakistan.
Mortenson’s success is not incidental. There are many other examples in our country where the vision of individuals and application made significant impact on the society. In 2000, a group of students from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI) noticed stark contrast between their educational facilities and those of the school-going children in Topi, and Project Topi was born. The project aims to create an environment for the children of Topi so that they are motivated enough to think that they can study and succeed. Students of GIKI take time out of their hectic schedule in order to teach local students and provide them with the motivation and aspiration they desperately need. The Citizens Foundation (TCF), a non-profit organization set up in 1995 by a group of citizens concerned with the dismal state of education in Pakistan, has established 600 purpose-built school units nationwide with an enrollment of 80,000 students. Developments in Literacy (DIL), another nonprofit by Pakistani-Americans, establishes, adopts and manages primary and secondary schools for underprivileged children in partnership with non-governmental organizations in all four provinces of Pakistan. DIL currently operates and manages 150 schools with an enrollment of nearly 15,000 students. READ Foundation, one of the largest educational NGOs of rural Pakistan, caters to around 60,000 students through 330 READ institutions, largely in the areas of Azad Kashmir and western NWFP.
Sana Fatima herself is a member of the projects team of LUMS Community Service (LCS). LCS is involved in coordinating and carrying out various charity campaigns and events. LCS website features this beautiful quote from Helen Keller that encapsulates the spirit of this article:
“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” – Helen Keller
Editor’s Note: STEP envisions playing an active role in bringing together different societies working to achieve a common goal, i.e., promoting science, technology and education in Pakistan. The website will provide a common platform to feature key projects in this area, developing relationships, and collaboration between these groups as well as individuals with a vision. If you know an individual or an organization that is doing good work in this area or if you have innovative ideas for improvement, we would love to hear from you.
