IN the midst of the furore over the non-availability of textbooks, Global Action Week was celebrated in Pakistan as part of a world-wide campaign for education. Organized by Pakistan Coalition of Education, four consortiums networked in the four provinces, with Indus Consortium (under the auspices of Indus Resource Centre) coordinating in Sindh.
A number of activities were organized by the consortium to request leaders and decision-makers to give due attention to education and to highlight educational issues — such as getting letters and messages written by children regarding educational problems faced by them delivered to the President, and conducting walks.
But perhaps the most unique event was the one in which about 250 children from Karachi representing nine NGOs were given the chance to visit the Sindh Provincial Assembly building with placards and banners in hands, demanding quality education for all. It was quite a pleasant change to observe a peaceful demonstration at the Assembly building and that, too, executed by children.
Some of the kids had prepared brief speeches pertaining to the problems they have personally faced in seeking education. The Speaker of the Provincial Assembly, Muzaffar Ali Shah, presided over the session which was also attended by various members of the Assembly and officials of the education department. Nisar Khoro, leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, attended the tail-end of the session.
Among the most common complaints of the students was their inability to pay the school fees. There were grievances against the attitude of teachers as well as parents, and the lack of facilities in schools. One girl said that she worked in the morning to support her family and wished to study in the afternoon, but the school in her area did not have an afternoon shift. Probably the most poignant speech was made by the kid who described his life at a madressah where he was sent at the age of four, and was allowed to visit his family just once a week. When he turned eight, the visits were restricted to only once a month.
Some interesting facts emerged from the comments made by various officials of the education department. The chairperson of the education committee, secondary schools and colleges for boys, Shamim Mumtaz Wasi, complained that although they are elected representatives, they have no powers and the EDO is never available to meet them. In fact, he keeps so busy that headmasters carry out the EDO’s duties of monitoring schools. She claimed that although they do all the work of monitoring at the grass-root level, it is the MPAs that are called to the meetings by the federal minister for education, Zobaida Jalal. They are not taken into confidence in policy decisions and their recommendations, submitted every three months, are not looked into. She also pointed out existing anomalies in government-run schools, such as a school with 10 students and 16 teachers, and another with 100 students and only one teacher.
Another speaker mentioned that out of 35 schools in Dadu, only five are functioning and union councils such as Tong, near Karachi, have no schools at all. Saddiqa Sallahuddin suggested that schools that are not in operation should be handed over to NGOs who should be allowed to run them under the supervision of the government and should be provided some funding from their budget for schools. Currently, NGOs have to seek funds from international donors to run schools and are thus restricted in their efforts.
One hopes that the pleas of the children, if not of those involved in education at the grass-root level, will not fall on deaf ears this time.
IN the midst of the furore over the non-availability of textbooks, Global Action Week was celebrated in Pakistan as part of a world-wide campaign for education. Organized by Pakistan Coalition of Education, four consortiums networked in the four provinces, with Indus Consortium (under the auspices of Indus Resource Centre) coordinating in Sindh.
