More than a dozen book companies are present in the market, offering quality stuff to inspire creativity among the students.

Private publishers and owners of book companies make tall claims that their books would enhance critical thinking of the students. Some book companies provide even training facility to teachers on how to teach the books designed by them for various levels and school grades.

Despite being loaded with piles of books, if not all, many students still are unable to expand a simple outline into a meaningful and sequential story. Large number of them cannot write even simple applications and letters. Students sit for board examination most often are in the habit of rote memorising around 15 each stories, applications and letters given in their so-called ‘Grammar and Composition’ book.

Students are unable to do anything set outside their syllabus books prepared by school administration. Reading habit is not encouraged at any level. Having a library in school has become a far-fetched idea around most educational institutions.

Most schools run short of adequate funds, others may suffer from lack of space, yet many others would not prefer extra reading outside course books as they consider it wastage of both time and money.

Most students missed out to attempt a question, asking candidates to write a story with the help of a given outline in the 9th grade English paper of Board of Intermediate and Secondary, Peshawar (BISE) this year. The outline ran like this: A battle field … wounded soldiers … for water … gives water … another cries… gives water to the second one … the third dies before it reaches him … the second and third also … die thirsty …

Traditional way of teaching leads to dependence, rote memorisation, narrow-mindedness and frustration, says expert

The question appeared in the ‘essay type’ Section- C of the paper carried only four marks. The outline of the story was derived from a well-known Islamic parable signifying self-sacrifice. ‘Story telling’ being the most interesting feature of self-expression can inspire imaginative flight in young students.

Shahid Khan , a 9th grader, who recently sat at board examination and missed out one question in his English paper, said that he did not attempt the story question because he thought it would be equal to committing a sin to write a story from his own as he did not remember the exact content. “However, I had memorised all other stories written in my ‘Grammar and Composition’ book,” he told this scribe.

A fable is story in which animals and birds act like human beings and can inspire creativity while a parable is story with human characters playing different roles. The former inspires while the latter informs. One has roots in human psyche while the other has traces in human history. One conveys fictitious truth while the other portrays factual reality.

Inayatullah, a senior English teacher and an avid reader, told this scribe while quoting Rabindranath Tagore “truth not only must inform us but inspire. If the inspiration dies out, and the information only accumulates, then truth loses its infinity.”

“Our English teachers are birds of passage, they cackle to us, but do not sing. Their true heart is not in the land of their exile,” he went on to quot.

Nooran Shah, an expert teacher and trainer working with a private publishing house, said that traditional way of teaching led to dependence, rote memorisation, narrow mildness and frustration among the students. It again resulted in high dropout, social unrest, lack of opportunities and slower growth rate of Gross National Product (GNP), he added.

“We need to design books and relevant teaching stuff that could inspire creativity, competence, critical thinking and observational and social skills. The worst thing in a school for students could be an uninspired book and a dull teacher. A teacher should inspire, not just demonstrate,” Mr Shah said.

Another important question set in the English paper is that of comprehension -- a short paragraph followed by brief questions at its end. The purpose behind this question is to develop critical and analytical thinking of students but unfortunately it does neither. The pattern on which this question is set in the language paper is even laughable.

For instance, a typical comprehension paragraph reads: “Rahman Baba was a great Pashto poet. He was born in Mughal era. His shrine is located in Hazarkhwani village in Peshawar.” It is followed by questions asking who was great poet of Pashto, which era was he born in, where is his shrine located?

A student is quick to answer the question rather reproduce the paragraph.

The anomaly is not limited to paper setting only, it pervades through whole body of our rote education system. Frequent changes in the school syllabus are yet another issue. Culture integration, peace education and unified syllabus ideas that are floating around to address issues of intolerance, excessive violence and social injustice.

“We stand nowhere in the field of education,” experts said.

Mr Inayatullah shared another interesting quote from Tagore. “A language is not like an umbrella or an overcoat that can be borrowed by unconscious or deliberate mistake, it is like the living skin itself. If the body of a draught horse enters into the skin of a race horse, it will be safe to wager that such an anomaly will never win a race, and will fail even to drag cart.”

He said that heavy bags full of expensive books would never spur creativity in young students unless focus was laid on inspiring of ideas instead of rote memory. He said that school for their children was a place where ‘fear’ in the form of teacher reigned supreme, where the authority of a teacher could not be challenged and where creativity was locked and rote memory was considered talent.

“If a teacher and book fail to make us dream think and plan our future, how could we progress and compete with other advanced nations of the world. A small book can make us great if it has the spark to fire our imagination,” Rizwana Haleem, a book developer, said.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2015

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