WHILE inflation during Ramazan is a fact of life in Pakistan, this year things have been rather tough for the salaried class as the misery has been compounded by the fact that the start of new academic year has coincided with the blessed month. New admissions incur hefty admission fee and costly uniforms.

In fact, the last nail in the coffin of the middle-class salaried person is the textbooks that one has to buy for each child. Published by foreign franchises, a set of books averages Rs15,000 per child studying in some not-so-elite school. However, one fails to understand why private schools prescribe the books of foreign publishers when they do not employ teachers capable of teaching those books.

The books published by government textbook boards are not substandard; they simply do not have the element of ‘glamour’. It is said that a teacher can teach without books, but books without a qualified teacher prove more deleterious to pedagogy. We should keep that in mind.

M. Nadeem Nadir
Kasur

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2024