THIS is apropos of Hikmat Khaleeli’s article ‘Textbooks: tomorrow never comes’ (March 25). I agree with the writer that the moment of updating the textbooks -- which comes only annually -- plays a very significant role in children’s future, as well as in the country’s development.

Internationally, most textbooks contain latest information and they also include real-life applications of things mentioned in textbooks.

In our country, however, textbooks that are designed for use in secondary and higher secondary schools do not even engage or involve the student’s self. These books lack hypothetical questions.

Besides, teachers in Pakistan do not allow students to ask questions about the subject/topic they are reading, whereas in European countries teachers ask students to present their ideas, questions, explanations, etc., about the topic being studied.

This type of learning involves the learner’s self and positively constructs the minds of students. What students are learning today will help them in their professional life. Students know this because textbooks, teachers, etc., inform them about real-life applications of what they are reading/learning.

Real-life functions make children enthusiastic about study. The Pakistani conventional education system encourages children for rote-learning. If a student of Class X is asked to apply Newton’s first law of motion on a situation he will be unable to do so.

It is not because they have not learned the law but because they have only learnt it by heart. They can only recall its definition but cannot apply it in real-life situations. If you ask the same question to a student of IGCSE/O level, he will instantly explain it with an example.

As the majority of our population cannot afford British or American education, the government should try to improve our conventional education system to enable our children to compete with the world.

If youngsters are not benefiting from what they are learning, how would they be able to serve the country? Pakistan needs more talented people like Arfa Karim who cannot be produced by rote learning.

RAHUL KARAMAT BARLAAS Bagh, Azad Kashmir