I WONDER why we have failed to produce even a single philosopher of note in Pakistan in the last 72 years. The reply that comes to mind is that we are not educating our children but making them to learn by rote the information given in an obsolete curriculum.

While the world is advancing with every passing day, Pakistan is at a standstill and stuck in the same puddle. The fault does not lie in our universities but in our primary schools. Even today a majority of the students are forced to memorise ‘the thirsty crow’ and ‘hungry fox’, thus suppressing the youngsters’ creative and critical abilities. As a result our children do not develop their reasoning skills at an early age because our education system is not letting their minds to open up.

Following the conventional line and narrow path is so main stream, that if anyone tries to do anything that is different or in a different manner we reject it as unacceptable.

Our educational system needs to work on students critical abilities in their examinations. Many a detractor would negate my views, instead pointing out that we have produced the likes of Allama Iqbal, but the great philosopher and poet of the East too, was a product of the West.

The crying need is to revamp our education system now.

Momina Hussain
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2019