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July 29, 2004
Does anyone care?
Education is a necessity without which no civilization has ever advanced. In ancient times knowledge was well guarded and kept in one’s own civilization. It is only now in the post Industrial Revolution era that knowledge is available to all nations of the world.
Although there is no bar in sharing knowledge, there are numerous regions of this planet where people are uneducated and remain illiterate throughout their lives. Our country falls in this category. Past and present governments have quoted high literacy rates but in reality the literacy rate has always been low. Compared to women men are more literate but even their figure remains low.
Because of lack of education people of this region remain below the poverty line. Landlords continue to play a negative role. They maintain that if the peasants were to be educated then who would till their lands without asking for their rights. In the present circumstances the peasants are living a life similar to that of slaves.
The education system of the country is not of one type. On the one hand is the matriculation and intermediate system which runs parallel to the Cambridge system. The government-run schools prefer the matriculation system whereas private schools follow the Cambridge system. The Cambridge system is popular in major urban centres. The armed forces, too, have started Cambridge system schools.
The scenario of educational systems shows that for the citizens of this country there are many tiers of schools. This is creating classes among students. There is also discrimination by employers where these young people later go for jobs.
The common mode of learning is by rote instead of by understanding. From class one teachers expect students to answer questions word by word as they had taught them. This is also the case in universities. Teachers at universities dictate lectures and in the examinations expect the answers to be those that they had dictated. If there is any deviation in the words, more than half of the marks are deducted. If the answer is completely different in terms of words in spite of having the same meaning very low marks are given. Such expectations are completely unfair and many a student who learns by comprehension has been seriously affected by this policy of marking.
One observation made at examination centres is that use of unfair means by students is ignored by the teachers and considered a right by students. Students not only make meticulous plans about how to cheat, they also terrorize the teachers into letting them do so. This is a common scene at a government university here. The situation is so bad that if a student does not help the cheaters then he is beaten up by them. A change is needed in the attitude of teachers as this practice is severely harming the examination process.
The spread of knowledge is severely hampered by the absence of libraries in cities like Karachi, for instance. The culture amongst students is to study from lecture notes. Presence of libraries accessible to the general public would have spread the habit of book reading. Even for course work university students should consult more than one book.
The attitude of teachers in institutions can make or break a student. Some teachers have have a habit of putting down a weak student even if he prepares a good assignment. These people believe that if a student is weak he cannot work well without unfair means. This was the case with one of my friend’s physics teacher. As a result of this attitude many of his class fellows dropped physics even though they wished to pursue a career in engineering. The teachers must encourage all the students to work hard.
In Karachi, at least, it seems that education is a commodity which parents have to buy. Numerous schools are being run in small houses. Most of them charge exorbitant fees and do not have adequate playgrounds nor do they have a good teaching standard. Yet parents send their children to these schools as proper private schools are even more expensive. There should be some sort of legislation to stop the commercialization of education.
Another aspect of commercialization of education is the presence of tuition centres. Teachers at schools and colleges are minting money every month by giving private tuitions. They prefer not to teach well in their institutions. While at their tuition centres they are at their best forcing even their own school students to take tuitions from them. Tuition centres are popular also because very few teachers at school know how to teach properly.
The state of education is deplorable in the country. No government to date has provided proper funds in its budget for this sector. Like health, education must be provided by the government. It is time that primary education was implemented in the country. A law must be established to reprimand parents who force their children to work or simply do not allow them to study. We must act now so that the future becomes bright for our nation.
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