Though there has been legislation in Pakistan, yet corporal punishment in schools is very much in practice hunting thousands of brilliant students across the country. The corrosive practice has been a source of drop-outs from schools, child labor and increasing number of street children.

Psychologists and researchers believe that hitting a child has very damaging effects on minds and hearts. I was shocked, when I heard a so-called educationist saying that corporal punishment is an integral part of learning. He went on to say that physical punishment works wonders while disciplining children. Unaware of the fact that punishment in any form is not only detrimental to the intellectual growth of a pupil but may lead to moral corruption in the long run. Thrashing a child is a matter which, goes beyond ‘a physically hurt child’ but to one with multiple complications. Besides, childhood is the time period, wherein a child gives rise to experiences. The significance of childhood lies in the fact that it is the time to learn and reflect the memories in the upcoming days. Ideally, it should be a season of mellifluous sounds and gorgeous colours to sharpen one’s cerebral faculties for the adulthood challenges.

A humiliated child is expected to wear the mantle of violence in his adulthood as a sign of dignity. Further, the victim may consider force as the only passport to get things done and rectify matters in life, since this is the training course he or she ever attended in the childhood. In addition, children usually tell innocent lies to escape punishment and hence unconsciously assume dodging as a means to freedom and success. In a nut shell, both physical and verbal punishment when meted out to children can result in a complete distorted personality. Therefore, we may conclude with a broken heart that a harsh teacher is the one who ploughs field for violence, aggression and fighting in the society.

The government efforts may not bear any fruit till they handle the issue with very proper mechanism. Attempts to launch awareness and sensitization drive have met with less than partial success. Pedagogy is hardly au fait with the child psychology and thus physical punishment is the real bane of school life. It is unfortunate that a large number of teachers have not been able to define a ‘child’ when contacted by this scribe. They were unaware of the legislations and notifications being issued by the government or different education departments.

More importantly, we should plumb the reasons and causes of the government’s failure to eradicate the menace (corporal punishment in schools) even after a good number of executive orders, notifications and legislations. Mere legislation may not be enough since the issue of corporal punishment enjoys a great deal of social acceptability. The real toughie is to transform the mentality which deems slapping, smacking and kicking a student as a moral, religious and legal right. The tip of the iceberg is that majority of the teachers are not in the know that hitting a child can lead to certain psychological problems. Tragically, the conservative pedagogy not only promotes the corporal punishment but badly impedes the journey from myth to reasoning and rationalization.

Actually, I will blame the government for its failure for not providing proper trainings to the teachers. The teachers should be drilled in ‘humane teaching’ with profound understanding of social psychology of human growth and development. Soft teaching skills are the prerequisite for dissemination of information, paving way for mastering the art of critical thinking. Teaching is not meant for only passing on the crammed information, but to create a quest for knowledge and providing students with a chance to realize their full potential. Besides, they are the engines to update the knowledge banks of the pupils and to develop their melodic understanding and adjustability with the ever changing world. This opens up the reality that pedagogy is responsible for forming and building the personality of a nation rather an individual. And to indentify the latent potential of the students demands of the teachers a higher level of commitment and professionalism. This is unfortunate indeed that people land in the profession of schooling with little heart and after exhausting all other available opportunities. Being mediocrities, teachers cannot deliver in terms of character building and handle ‘flowers’ with an iron fist.

The story does not end here as teachers have their own miseries to narrate. They usually upbraid the absence of congenial atmosphere coupled with scanty remunerations. Truly the government has not taken any tangible or worthwhile measure to reckon with pessimism and frustration prevalent in the teaching community. Similarly, lack of proper monitoring system to evaluate the performance of teachers is also a factor attributing to the problem

Pakistan is signatory to the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which implies that it will take every appropriate step to prevent and eliminate all kinds of physical and mental torture inflicted upon children in any form or anywhere.

Under UNCRC a child is supposed to live in the environment which is full of protections and replete with opportunities to turn him/her into a useful youth. Though Pakistan was the first Muslim country to ratify and sign the convention, yet practically it went belly up to comply with the principles of the convention.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/40/

A slim build bloke having agile and nimble body structure covering half of his emaciated face sheltered with first copy of branded dark glasses renowned with the forename of some Don was exposed by one of the leading news channel a few months back while showing use of massive unfair means during board examination of one of the large city of interior Sind.

This all was aired and shown and apparently yielded source of amusement and was an effort to make rating of channel higher, at that time, many thought. The reporter spilled the beans one step forward and averred that this particular Don replies to mayday call of needy candidates promptly in more than ten districts of interior Sind in all examinations of board and universities. News really amused me for some time and Don clambering roof tops carrying booties and pharras (slang used for cheating stuff) looked to be nothing more than self conceived story of some one to catch the eyes only but definitely exists with some variation in features somewhere.

Last month one of my low grade employee initiated extra ordinary leave request and on probe he disclosed me that he was desirous to appear in matriculate exam during the period of vacation granted. This make me amazed why to go out and appear to a comparatively remote place to whom one does not hail or has any acquaintance when a mega city offer all educational opportunities where he was there. The answer was indifferent - probability of qualifying form those places are much higher and a mere appearance on schedule can take you to the list of successful.

This was indeed revealed true during live coverage of secondary school certificate examination unanimously by all news channels in which use of unfair means seems essential ingredient inside testing halls where all amongst invigilators, vigilant teams, monitoring staff and educational office bearers seems to be on long leave allowing freedom of action to candidates in manner whatsoever they want to do. Ironically, those concerned appears to be turning deaf ear to the growing drumbeat of media on such as important issue. Efficacy of caretaker government is also in question alongwith social role of many accepting use of unfair means in judging educational level of our youth.

Few other models of assessing pupils such as Cambridge University Ordinary and Advance level and NTS remains still very effective in combating the evil of cheating. Organized countrywide, these places reflects model discipline in every corner ranging from scrutiny of student to announcement of results including smooth conduct of exam.

Staff knows the business they are in and students there are well aware of the consequence of even some unfair attempt. Question is simple if youth can be tested in disciplined manner there why not in the board or university exams.

Leading institutions are all out in cleansing of politician from fake degree currently and the difference is meager when compared with a degree earned through appearance in examination though substitute candidate or usage of unfair means with possession of fake degree. Silence in this issue is not justified and nation seeks instantaneous checking of this trend in our educational practice.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/40/

THE predictions of those observing the education scene in Pakistan seem to be morphing from mental images into ground reality. Callous disregard for the welfare of the people combined with unhampered fecundity has resulted in an avalanche of unlettered and frustrated humans.

However, the crack in the wall of gloom is that our political parties seem to realise the need for urgent action. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) states in its manifesto that it will increase the budget for education from 2.1 to five per cent of GDP. The MQM has similar plans. The PML-N also underlines the need to improve education.

Our current allocation for education is lower than even Bangladesh’s, so 5pc sounds good. However, the parts of the manifestos that ring an alarm bell are the parties’, especially the PTI’s, assertion that the education system will be “uniform throughout the country”. Before treading this path the parties should study Bhutto’s well-intentioned but disastrous move of nationalising educational institutions.

Over the years since Partition, the gulf between the two major systems of education in the country has been widening, to the extent that, in education, there are ‘two nations’; one whose chances for improving their skills and lives are fair to good; and the other whose chances are nil to few. The less troublesome way to achieve uniformity between the two groups, an approach that also seems egalitarian, is to pull down the higher group and maybe push up the lower group slightly.

Political parties who come into power should beware of this, for it would mean destroying or at least weakening what little has been achieved. They should concentrate almost exclusively on pushing up the weaker group. Also, a common system or curriculum is not the solution for improving education. This can only be done by improving standards in government schools by introducing a good curriculum, contemporary with universal progress that encourages critical thinking and problem solving in any language.

Examinations should be based on the curriculum and not on textbooks as they currently are, because that makes rote-learning essential. Teachers need to be supported through incentives, security, training to keep them abreast with good teaching. High quality textbooks need to be introduced, and school libraries to encourage supplementary reading.

Children in state schools suffer from three glaring disadvantages: 1) there is no education in their background; 2) little familiarity with the language in which they start their education, and none with the language of advancement — English; and 3) no pre-school experience (government schoolchildren start school at age six or more, in class 1, with no preparation). These disadvantages can be addressed with sincere, sustained effort at formulating appropriate public education policies and implementing them effectively.

We have not explored one powerful medium with the potential for delivering education which is television. While we have been oblivious to its enormous capacity, television has found its way into most homes. Our political parties should invest some of their 5pc in a programme of attractive pre-school education.

One entire state TV channel should be devoted to supplementing the education of those who are deprived of an educated background and pre-school preparation, as well as good teaching in schools. Strong emphasis should be placed on supplementary teaching of mathematics and language. Foreign experts and donors would no doubt be interested in supporting such an endeavour.

Training teachers is not the only answer to raising educational standards. Training is for teachers the proverbial icing on the cake. But there has to be a cake to spread the icing on. That cake is sound education. The teaching profession attracts only a tiny percentage of the well-educated in the country because it offers neither prestige nor high salaries.

The new government that believes in change could start from here. The reality now is that teachers emerging from a worsening state of education can only be worse-educated teachers from one generation to the next. Therefore improving the state of education will not only directly benefit students but also ensure better teachers.

At the same time salaries in the teaching profession should be made more attractive and various measures such as annual government awards and best teacher awards should be given to teachers to raise their status and attract people of better calibre to the profession. More ways of enhancing their prestige should also be devised.

In Pakistan the role of libraries in education has been sadly neglected. From class and school libraries to public libraries this institution abounds with unexploited potential. Yet few schools give regular library time to their students and a follow-up consisting of activities such as writing book reviews or class discussions is almost nonexistent. School libraries should be teeming with books that can attract students to the book culture and encourage them to acquire the habit of reading. The reading habit provides a child with an alternate and independent way of accessing education.

The number of public libraries should be increased and located where students and especially teachers can easily reach them. Libraries should offer courses, arrange lectures, hold discussions and generally become vibrant hubs for self-education, radiating a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere. Teachers should be honoured guests there and given the importance that will ensure repeated visits and be a boost to their prestige.

Of course there are many other aspects to improving education in Pakistan and many of them have been tried albeit half-heartedly and not very successfully. However, exploiting the reach and untapped potential of the television and a network of vibrant and active school libraries is worth the effort and is bound to bring rich dividends to efforts for the improvement of educational standards.

The writer is managing director, Oxford University Press.

http://dawn.com/

A report published by the Brooking's Institute recently has painted a rosy picture of the state of education in Pakistan. The report, authored by Sir Michael Barber, Department for International Development's (DfID) Special Representative on Education in Pakistan and Chief Education Advisor at Pearson, expresses optimism that the country is making progress in this particular sector.

"Progress is quietly being made in thousands of schools located in the Punjab, Pakistan's largest province," the international expert claims.

His observations could not be rejected outright as he is one of the world's leading education reformers, and from 2001 to 2005, he served as the Chief Advisor on Delivery to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
However, it appears in some fields he has been provided wrong or exaggerated data. His report says "Pakistan has invested heavily in the Higher Education Sector and its progress is seen as a benchmark with other countries. Several dozen Pakistani universities now have world rankings."
Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr. Javaid Laghari told Cutting Edge Pakistan slashed its budget for higher education by 10% in 2011-12, while the neighbouring country India raised it by 25%. Also, in 2009-10, budgetary allocation for the higher education sector was cut by 73%, according to the Planning Commission data.
According to Quality Standard World University Ranking 2010, only two Pakistani universities ranked among the top 200 technology universities of the world.
In the face of these hard facts, how can one say that Pakistan is investing heavily in the Higher Education Sector and several dozen Pakistani universities now have world rankings?
However, the fact mentioned in the report that Pakistan has the largest youth population in the world is, no doubt, good news. This is the youth dividend that the world is talking about. If harnessed, this would propel Pakistan far ahead. If indications on the ground are any indication, Pakistan is on its way to garner this huge dividend and move forward very quickly. The results will be seen in a decade or so, adds the report.
Barber says that the process of education promotion in the Punjab is so successful that it should be emulated everywhere. His report has a byline which says "How a revolutionary new approach to education reform in the Punjab shows the way forward for Pakistan and development aid everywhere."
Referring to Daanish schools, he says that the Punjab government has established dozens of schools which are of international standard (similar to Aitchison College) - where orphans are admitted from the lowest strata of society. Based on global evidence of what works in school system reform, the Punjab Education Reform Roadmap targets: Access, Equity and Quality.
However, the said schools have also found a number of critics. They say the huge funds doled out to only a small number of schools is a sheer injustice to thousands of schools, which lack even basic facilities, latrines, boundary walls and furniture for students.
There is other good news. The UK is funding 60,000 new schools which would bring about 100% literacy in Pakistan, it is hoped. All school-going children will be enrolled in government schools. Though it appears to be wishful thinking in the current circumstances.
According to Barber, this is a joint effort by Pakistan and England and the Pakistan People's Party shares the laurels: "The Pakistan Education Task Force was born and announced later in 2009 by Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, and President Zardari of Pakistan. It would be co-chaired by Shahnaz Wazir Ali, the impressive Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on the Social Sector, and me. The wheels of bureaucracy turned in both countries."
The report also highlights a campaign, recently launched by the electronic and print media of the country. "The media and civil society has joined in this jihad for Education", what the PTI calls "Emergency in Education". "The Mir Khalil Ur Rahman Foundation, in collaboration with Geo News, the country's largest media organisation; Pakistan Television (PTV); and other regional channels, have led this campaign, which has reached 107 million Pakistanis so far. It has used a combination of religious advocacy - the Quran places great weight on education - compelling facts and outstanding cases to build its momentum."
According to Barber: "The overwhelming majority of the funding for the Roadmap comes from the Punjab government. The donor funding from the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the World Bank - which combined make up less than 5% of the Punjab's education budget - nevertheless provided significant leverage at the margin."
Barber claims that they are very close to universal enrolment at the primary level. "We are grinding out increments, but there remain significant challenges. Even as we approach 90% enrolment across the five to nine age range, we see the importance and urgency of accelerating now if the Millennium Development Goal, set for 2015, is to be achieved.
"Moreover, much of the additional enrolment of primary age children is of six year olds into Kaachi (or kindergarten) classes. We have much more to do to increase enrolment across the entire six to 11 age group, where progress over the past year has been insufficient. And of course, primary enrolment is not enough."
If these projects are successful, and its seems that they are working, then there is no reason that Pakistan's goal of universal education - as enshrined in the constitution is not achieved within a short period of time, believes the report.
The report adds that over the past two years there have been increases in student enrolment, teacher presence and the availability of functioning facilities in the regions where the program has been implemented.
r Student learning levels in the Punjab have also improved. An independent, citizen-led household-based study, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), assessed over 60,000 children from all 36 districts in the Punjab and profiled almost 2,000 public and private schools in the region.
r It reveals significant gains in learning outcomes for literacy and numeracy.
r Grade 4 English language learning levels have improved 12% since 2011; arithmetic levels in Grades 4 and 5 have increased 10%. Perhaps even more remarkable, the study indicates that gaps between public and private education are closing. Whereas private schools have historically performed better in terms of teacher attendance rates and learning outcomes, now public and private school attendance rates for children (86%) and teachers (87%) are on par.
r Public school facilities are also improving. There are more functioning toilets and available drinking water in government schools, which has further reduced discrepancies in relation to private schools.
These claims and wishes aside, it's also a bitter reality that Pakistan has the second highest number of out-of-school children in the world, five million.
A report released by Unesco revealed that the country has reduced the amount it spends on education to less than 2.3 per cent of GNP. Only nine low- and lower-middle-income countries spend a smaller share on education. The barriers to education faced by Pakistani girls are stark in comparison with the rest of South Asia. A two-thirds of the out-of-school children in Pakistan are girls; only 16 countries have a worse rate.
However, the report is partly true and there is some development in some sectors. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and other parties are proposing village-based autonomy, where the locals would be able to hire and fire teachers, build schools and hospitals. This sort of mechanism, if implemented by the PTI or stolen by other parties would bring about grass-root enfranchisement of the villages, and improve their lot quickly.
Barber, however, blames the Sindh government for lack of progress: "The DfID has created the Education Fund for Sindh in collaboration with Pakistan's senior business leaders. This will draw on the experience of the Punjab Education Foundation and purchase places in the low-cost private and voluntary sectors through vouchers and other means. It is a major innovation, applicable to places where direct collaboration with government proves challenging."

After the Punjab, the DfID's biggest investment is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), adds the report.

"For the whole country, an Innovation Fund has been set up by DfID to support innovations that might have the potential to accelerate educational progress at scale in the future. The idea is that as the big system reforms advance, it may be possible to introduce proven innovations that will enable Pakistan to make more rapid strides to catch up with the educational performance of the developed world, as Korea or Singapore managed in the past 50 years. However, it will not be possible until and unless the upcoming governments place education on priority and allocate at least seven per cent of its GDP for education."

http://www.weeklycuttingedge.com/

Setting curricula and syllabi in accordance with the national needs and world standards has always been a serious issue during the past over six decades of Pakistan's history.

Academics and scholars have always pointed out flaws in our school and college curricula. Historian Ayesha Jalal in her 1995 article raised concerns over the trends of official historiography in Pakistan's history textbooks.

Yvette Rosser, in an article based on her Ph.D thesis, regarded such curricula as a composite of patriotic discourses. She identifies significant defects, inherent contradictions and inaccurate information within educational syllabi in general and the Pakistan Studies textbooks in particular.

Various organisations working in the field of education and development have also been giving their recommendations from time to time. In 2003, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Pakistan published a report that had emerged from a survey of textbooks of Urdu, English, Social Studies and Civics subjects, being taught at the secondary and higher secondary school levels. The survey identified inaccuracies of fact and omissions that appeared to distort the significance of actual events in the country's history. Some of the prominent issues included the lack of understanding towards civil society, religious diversity, and gender relations.

The SDPI report called for major structural reforms and establishment of a National Education Advisory Board to centralise the curriculum development and carry out regular revisions. The report claimed that "associated with the insistence on the ideology of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against India and the Hindus. For the upholders of the ideology of Pakistan, the existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation to Hindus, and hence the Hindus have to be painted as negatively as possible."
Another report prepared in 2005, by the National Commission for Justice and Peace, a non-profit organisation, found that Pakistan Studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policymakers have attempted to inculcate towards the minorities.

Also, an editorial in daily Dawn commenting on a report in the Guardian on Pakistani textbooks noted: "By propagating concepts such as jihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, India's ingrained enmity with Pakistan, etc., the textbook board publications used by all government schools promote a mindset that is bigoted and obscurantist. Since there are more children studying in these schools than in madrassas the damage done is greater."

Professor Mubarak Ali, a known historian and author of various books, says that the textbook reform in Pakistan began with the introduction of Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1971, into the national curriculum as compulsory subjects. Former military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, under a general drive towards Islamisation, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. "The Pakistani establishment taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion - that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe-out all of them."

Pervez Hoodbhoy, a professor at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, also agrees with Mubarak Ali. He says that "Islamising" of schools in the country began in 1976 when an act of parliament required all government and private schools (except those teaching the British O-levels from Grade 9) to follow a curriculum that includes learning outcomes for the federally approved Grade 5 social studies class such as:-

"Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan";
"Make speeches on Jihad";
"Collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and national guards";
And, "India's evil designs against Pakistan."

Again in 2006, an extensive media debate and academic reiteration was launched for the need to update the curricula at all levels of education. The government carried out measures in 2006 to improve the national curriculum for Pakistan Studies. These actions were based on the earlier studies and recommendations by the former University Grants Commission in 2001, and then later by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) in 2003. The new curriculum, for secondary and higher school certificates, was implemented from 2007, to include the political history from pre-partition to modern times, international relations, evolution of the country's economy and demographics, diversity of regional cultures and languages, and the status of religious groups with specific reference to Muhammad Ali Jinnah's views that he expressed at his speech of 11 August, 1947.
It also attempted to eliminate prejudice against non-Muslims. Efforts were made to exclude all such material that tended to promote prejudice against the non-Muslims of pre-partition India. Subsequently, the need was also realised to standardise the subject framework across the university degrees. As a result, in 2007, the Curriculum Division at the HEC revised the syllabus for the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Pakistan Studies.

However, it appears as if the issue could not be resolved fully. In line with the attempts to expunge the textbooks of hate material and historical mistakes, various other things were also removed which should have always been part of Pakistan's curricula.

According to the Ministry of Education sources, Quranic verses on the universe, and creationism were ordered removed from the government-issued textbooks on June 24, 2003, as per the decision of the National Review Committee, which also blocked the role of the rightwing Majlis-e-Aharar in deciding what is to be incorporated into textbooks. Also, the number of Quranic verses in Biology textbook for grades IX and X was halved from 12 and Surah Tobah was replaced with three shorter verses from the Holy Book.

Later on, a federal curriculum review committee was formed to review curricula for school and colleges textbooks. In the light of the recommendations, made by the committee, syllabi were revised and new books were introduced in educational institutions. However, again objections were raised.

The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) reviewed the content of the new books and launched its report in the last quarter of the year 2012. The report titled Education or Promotion of Hatred claimed that hate material had been increased from 2009 to 2012. In 2009, there were just 45 lines that have been increased to 122 lines in 2012. In this study, 22 textbooks from Punjab and Sindh were examined, that were for students of class 1 to 10.

Another study was conducted by a journalist-cum-educational policy analyst, Amir Riaz, and presented in September 2011. In his report titled What We Are Teaching Our Children, he pointed out the flaws in the textbooks of various subjects, including English, Urdu, Islamiyat, Ethics and Pakistan Studies.

The report was based on content analysis of 34 textbooks published by the Punjab Text Book Board, for classes one to 10. The report claims errors of dictation, history, misquotations, cultural bias and hatred against minorities in the textbooks.

The researcher said that the text of the Lahore Resolution, Allama Iqbal's famous 1930 Allahabad address and Jinnah's speeches were either misquoted or twisted in books published during the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid government in the Punjab, and reprinted during the PML-N government that completed its tenure the last month.

The report said that "all the 34 books (reviewed) had 871 lessons, while only 11% content was related to peace and tolerance." In the Punjab textbook, "there were only 35 lessons out of 871, that contained information about Punjab", which was less than 5%. There were overall 90 lessons introducing and promoting scientific achievements and very few lessons, 35 in all, which were based on information about developed nations, the Muslim world and South Asia.

However, the latest development in this regard took place this year, in January 2013. The Lahore High Court annulled an eight-member provincial committee formed by the Punjab Textbook Board (PTB) chairman to select manuscripts for the books of different subjects distributed free-of-cost in public sector schools.

On the other hand, the Punjab Textbook Board chairman, meanwhile, formed his own provincial committee comprising eight members including headmasters of schools to select books of his own choice. A notification was also issued in this regard, though the Punjab Curriculum Authority Act 2012 says that the academicians of vice chancellors' level could be part of the selection committee for selecting the best books. It all shows things are still not moving in the right direction as far as the syllabi and curricula for school and colleges are concerned. It very clearly shows that the authorities concerned not only lack vision but also are incompetent to resolve this very important issue once and for all.

http://www.weeklycuttingedge.com/

A few days back I happened to attend a “mingle party” for the freshmen in my university. The agenda of the party was to introduce the new comers to their seniors so that they can cope up with the different and challenging environment of the university and also to encourage them to take maximum part in the university’s events, since it was up to them to add to the achievements and name of the university. The idea, as it seems, is simply remarkable and no doubt a healthy effort on part of the administration except for a single fact that the party was just for the “A-levelers”.

The intermediate qualified students were not considered to be of such caliber to be made part of the meeting. Primarily because the intermediate students come from diverse areas of the country and due to a clear education standard distinction between the two modes of education systems prevailing in the country, generally lack the proper English language communication skills and confidence. Ironically, this is not the only difference between the qualifiers of the two disparate systems. The differences among the two are quite evident as day from night.

The GCE and BISE represent two totally different genres of education. The former is a well organized system that targets the excellence in education by designing a curriculum that mold brains into creative, analytical and innovative entities and provides modern education in such a way as to ensure maximum knowledge acquisition by students.

Whereas the latter is a poorly administered system with outdated curriculum, that falls decades behind the modern education standards. A system much indifferent to the quality of education it is providing to its young generation, a system that is violating the very basic purpose of education- to widen the thinking dimensions of the people, enhance their innate abilities and induce new skills in them. Apart from the curriculum, the other major differentiating element is the extracurricular.

As the GCE system does not approve overburdening students with study load, its students get ample opportunities to propel in extracurricular activities and discover their hidden talents and polish them, which add self confidence to their personalities. Whereas on the other hand, the BISE Pakistan has over strained its students with the heap of books laced with information that is not meant to be acquired for the sake of knowledge and enlightenment rather just to cram every word of it and copy paste it in exams, like a photocopier machine.

The students, so preoccupied with this tiring task, hardly ever find time for extracurricular and hence get little opportunities to discover and enhance their abilities and skills, which obviously leave a vacuum in their personalities because beyond their crammed knowledge they are not capable of much, obviously except their God gifted talents.

Here, many people will differ and argue that the situation as mentioned above is however not so bizarre and is unwittingly and extravagantly sketched. They will probably argue that the ratio of BISE graduates to GCE graduates is considerably high and hence we cannot put all the BISE students in one box and judge, their ground of argument will be that in higher educational institutions the proportion of inter qualified students is much higher than those of A-levels which explains the fact that there lies not much difference among the two groups. But what they might be overlooking is a fact that BISE caters to a wide range of public from low class to upper class of the society, from rural to urban natives of the country, from people with literate backgrounds to those with not even a slight shadow of education on their far off relatives leave alone the instant ones. So it is the responsibility of BISE that irrespective of the background these students come from, they must enjoy the same education induced intellectual level, they must be equally proficient in communication skills, there should lie no difference between these students depending upon the education they have acquired with equal vigilance and hard work as any other student, it is their right- a right that shouldn’t be violated.

Apart from the curriculum, the BISE has also failed in providing an efficient education system in Pakistan. The education of the native residents is the responsibility of the state but our state has repeatedly failed in providing this basic right to its citizens.

There are no doubt many government schools in our country which provide education for the minimal cost but their situation is so bizarre that attending them is like wasting one’s energy and time. The infrastructure and maintenance of schools is so poor that they depict the facade of derelict historical ruins rather than that of a school.

The teachers are least interested in teaching the students, whom they think more of animals than young humans prone to mistakes. Physical and verbal abuse is common in such schools. The teachers don’t bother to attend their classes; all they are concerned with is the cheque that they receive at the end of each month for doing absolutely nothing. They have no check and balance from higher authorities whatsoever.

Most of the teachers are not even hired on merit rather on the basis of nepotism, reference or bribe. It is not unusual for the government teachers in the remote areas to have no knowledge of their assigned subjects at all. One of my class fellows, who was from a rural area and had no education background, told that he studied in the government school of a far off district till 10th grade.

The teachers there were least competent and hardly knew anything about their subjects. He was a sharp student so he would study the topics himself and his teacher would ask him to teach the class while he himself enjoyed coffee and snacks with his colleagues. But now that he has made his way into the university, he is facing many problems because of his lacking in English communication and writing skills, analytical and critical thinking skills etc. He, who was the topper of his district, is now finding it hard to survive in the competent environment of university where most of the students have come from high standard private schools of the city.

This depicts the standard of education that BISE provides for its students. Contrarily GCE teachers are most competent individuals with PhD degrees in their respective subjects. They focus on conceptual clarity of their students and use various techniques to develop analytical and critical thinking skills in students to enhance their learning which subsequently helps them in their higher education and jobs as well.

The acute difference in the two education systems does not only develops disparity among the students based upon their knowledge and skills but also upon their level of confidence, which in recent times is essential for success. When the students of the two systems encounter each other in higher education, they develop complexes. The GCE graduates become the victims of superiority complex whereas BISE students develop inferiority complex which is majorly because of language skills and confidence.

This by no means imply that GCE students are more intelligent than BISE students, it just becomes their perception that they are the superior ones which normally makes them over confident while BISE students not being able to compete in just language skills and confidence develop inferiority complex and recede in their shells, not discovering their full potentials and using them to bring out the best in them.

So what should we do in such a predicament? The answer is clear, we should learn from educational policies of developing countries like India and China where just a single education system prevails in the whole country. Their student body is not bifurcated into two distinct groups rather is homogeneous in nature. They do not allow any foreign education system to enter their market. They have their own system of education which they keep updated with the technological advancements in the world and try to provide international standard education to their students through their own system. When there will be a single unbiased education system for all classes and areas of the country in Pakistan, the education standard will rise in due course.

When the children of ministers and industrialists will have to study the same curriculum as those of poor people, the education standard will eventually improve giving us more number of highly talented and competent professionals. Thus by adopting correct measures to improve education standard and system in Pakistan, we can bring radical change in society with more proficient labor force working towards the development of the country and its economy.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/40/

Recently, I read an article in a foreign newspaper highlighting the fact that it is very difficult for a nation with a less than 50% literacy rate to elect their true representatives in the upcoming general elections.

On May 11, 2013, the people of Pakistan would elect their representatives to the assemblies for the next five years, once again. Some people are optimistic about a 'revolution' this time. But how? They fail to explain, as little change has taken place as far as ground realities are concerned, during the past two decades.

According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), only 56% of Pakistani adults are literate - in contrast, South Asian neighbours India and Sri Lanka boast literacy rates of 74% and 97%, respectively.

The literacy rates are even lower for the rural poor and for women, which make the major part of the vote bank. UNESCO estimates that some 70% of the country's rural population is illiterate, with even higher rates for women.
While the illiterate cannot be barred from voting, Saadat Ali Khan, a research associate at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, warns that illiteracy plays into the hands of the corrupt politicians who try to win votes on the basis of biradaris and religious, tribal or ethnic affiliations, rather than on their contributions to the nation.

The assertion makes me recall some childhood occurrences. The first recollection I find down the memory lane is a meeting of my village elders, going on in our baithak. Over 30 people were sitting on charpoys and moorahs (stools) and discussing some serious matter. What we children came to know from their heated debate while peeping through windows or sometimes moving around was that they were discussing the credentials of two electoral candidates as the general elections were round the corner.

They were trying to reach a consensus as to who they should collectively vote to power. One of them was an MBBS doctor, Dr. Bari, and the other was a local landlord, Mr. Jatt.

Dr. Bari was not unknown to us at all. He used to go village to village through dusty roads in his car, examine patients of all age groups, and give them medicines from his car, mostly free of cost.

And the other person, Mr. Jatt, being a son of a local landlord, was famous for resolving local issues through panchayats, though mostly in favour of his favourites. He had all qualities of a young and tough Chaudhry. He found no fault with entertaining his friends, who would shift cattle-heads from others' dens to other places, and 'fetch' him whosoever he wanted at his dera. I could not recall all speeches made at the panchayat but I clearly remember what was announced at the end of the meeting.

"Doctor is a very good man. No doubt, he has served people of the area a lot in the past years. But he is a simple poor fellow. He could not speak even for himself; how can he raise a voice for us in the assembly, where one has to speak very loudly. We respect the doctor, but vote should be given to Mr. Jatt, who is a macho man."

With this approach and wisdom, how are the upcoming polls going to change the destiny of the nation and status of education is anybody's guess.
The second happening I recall is about a speed bump, raised on the Marot-Fort Abbas Road. There was no school, no hospital, even no village around, but only farmlands. Anyone travelling that road knew very well who had built that road bump: the local MPA. But why there? One of the new arrivals in the area asked the Chaudhry. And the reply was a classic example of innocence. "Look these are my farmlands. My men daily come here from my village to work on these fields. But these ungrateful bus-walas do not stop here, some times saying this is not a regular bus stop, and some times only to punish them for not paying the fare for this short travel. And now they are paying for it. Ever since, I have got it built, all bus-walas have to slow down here, and meanwhile my men jump out of the bus."

As there has been almost no change in our election pattern during the past decades, that bump could still be seen there, though its location might have changed if any other Chaudhry had been elected to the assembly.

These Chaudhrys mostly get a good education themselves and reach the assemblies. But they never want their voters to get an education. During the Dark Ages of Europe, the church purposely kept the people uneducated so as to continue its influence without facing any accountability. One sees that the pattern in Pakistan is similar, where the ruling elite keeps the people uneducated in order to exploit them for their selfish motives.

The foreign newspaper said that in Pakistan's rural hinterlands, voters (most of whom are illiterate) often vote for candidates who have paid them off with money or food or promised favours. And the statement again makes me recall some other vivid memories.

On the election day, people saw Allah Diwaya was auctioning his vote. "Whoever would pay me more, my vote would go to that candidate," he shouted, waving his fist in the air.

Representatives of three candidates showed interest in his vote, and the matter was settled on a hundred rupee note.

Someone asked Allah Diwaya, why he did such an immoral thing.

"What immoral thing," replied Diwaya. "These shameless candidates and their representatives won't show up till the next elections if elected to power.
"I know they won't do anything for me after reaching the big assembly house, like in the past. Then why shouldn't I encash my vote on the spot. At least, today, my ever-ill wife and six children would have a good meal."
His reply was bitter but a reality.

At the same place, a fight was going on for food. The men of the contesting Chaudhry had brought there a number of rice "degs". They knew who had already cast his vote and who not. They preferred feeding those who had not cast their vote as yet. While serving them plates of rice, they would extract a promise from the 'beneficiaries' to cast their 'precious' vote in favour of the Chaudhry.

There is no denying the fact that education helps people elect their true representatives and the lack of it deprives them of their ability to make an independent decision.

"Illiteracy undermines the very foundations of … democracy," warned UNESCO in its report on Pakistan recently. "Illiterate citizens inevitably lack in awareness and reasoning skills. How can we expect a voter to make an informed decision when he/she is unable to even read a newspaper? Illiterate voters are easily misled," added the report.

Pakistan faces many obstacles in educating its people as its school infrastructure is in shambles. According to Dr. Azeem Ibrahim, a strategic policy adviser to cricket star and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, the average number of years that a Pakistani spends in school is just under four years - versus 5.1 in India, 6.8 in Malaysia and 12 in the United States.
"Pakistan's schools need a radical rebuilding and modernization programme as 59% of schools do not have electricity, 33% do not have drinking water and 40% do not even have desks," he told Cutting Edge while shedding light on the dire underfunding and underdevelopment of the education sector.

According to the foreign newspaper report, Pakistan will have to overcome deep-seated cultural values in order to educate all of its people. "Education is one of the key priority areas of the government of Pakistan, but to increase the overall literacy rate of the country, it is essential to change the mindset of the communities, especially in this patriarchal society," said the United Nations resident coordinator in Pakistan, Timo Pakkala.

For the upcoming elections, all major political parties have made pledges to give education priority if elected to power. The incumbent Pakistan People's Party has promised to more than double the country's education budget to 4.5% of GDP from 2.2%; and to raise the literacy rate to 85%.

Imran Khan's PTI seeks to raise the literacy rate to 80%, while Pakistan Muslim League-N vowed to increase allocations from 2 to 4% of GDP by 2018. However, Syed Munawar Hassan of Jamaat-e-Islami has promised 100% literacy within five years.

All these promises and pledges seem to indicate a bright future for education in the country. However, how these pledges will be translated into reality depends on the selection of candidates on election day. Democracy and education are interlinked and promotion of the latter would definitely benefit the former in the long-run.

http://www.weeklycuttingedge.com/

Many a time we hear when faults and shortcomings of people in Pakistan are discussed that education is needed to put things right. It is because of missing education or bad education that many problems are created and hurdles cannot be overcome.

Though this is partly right but one has to give it a closer thought. One thought that comes to me is that we have been ruining education in this country. Why Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalized educational institutions in 70ies, and then on foreign pressure allowed missionary schools to remain in private management, this was the first blow to create two cultures and serious division in our youth, the future leaders. Nobody has objected to commercialization of education in 90ies when we have seen a sudden growth of franchised schools and colleges emerging in two room rented apartments and even professional universities imparting professional degrees in Medicine, Engineering and Business Management by charging hefty fees from the parents who are only interested in child bringing a paper degree that is generating better marriage proposals and more and more unemployed graduates. Would any such education be helpful to solve our social and economic problems? What education do we need then? Is this not a fact that Western countries recognized our professional degrees including Medicine and Engineering then what has gone wrong now?

One problem consists in understanding what education actually is? Most of the time now, we have mistaken education for a method of transferring certain facts and knowledge to the students only by neglecting to develop his or her personality. But in today’s age of internet it is true a sea of knowledge is available on internet and students can access to facts and figures quite easily and relevant portions are easily copied and pasted by many students who do not want to study course books seriously, then we see these graduates are not accepted for jobs.

Thus, while in primary school still transfer of factual knowledge might be important later it is rather how to handle, understand and interpret certain information what is more important. To achieve that open mindedness, discussion and questioning is the right method rather than old quest for learning and studing at nights under the lamp post. And in both phases of education not only knowledge and skills but ethics are a most important part of education. Any education that does not make the student a better human being is basically useless.

Thus education is a major factor in nation building also. For that educational concepts and teaching plans have to be developed carefully and nation-wide. There should be no difference in education between different provinces, between urban and rural places or between wealthy and poor neighborhoods. Only equal treatment of the young generation can bring them closer together and can contribute to the overcoming of economic, social and other disparities among the population.

That is why not only equal education has to be imparted to all but equal access to education has to be ensured by the state. To revamp our educational system Danish schools in Punjab is a very good idea we can adopt it at national level and establish one school for girls and one for boys at each district headquarter in the first phase by doing so we can develop a much needed youth to take responsibility of tomorrow.

Education up to class 12 should be a state responsibility side by side technical education and training institutions are also needed. The state and its representative institutions have to make sure that quality education is available to all children everywhere in the country. Given the high poverty rate schooling should be free and compulsory for all upto class 12 at least.
That also means that educational institutions in that range have to be run and financed by the government.

The division of schooling into private schools with high fees and free but low quality education in government schools for those who cannot afford to pay is fatal for the national fabric of Pakistan and it is a national wastage of talents among children from poor families who will lose the chance to fully develop their capacities.

While private schooling might be allowed in certain specialized fields of higher education with the condition that such schools keep 20% reserved seats for students who cannot afford to pay as special students selected on merit, when basic schooling until class 12 and good quality higher education in public universities all over Pakistan is a basic demand for the future of Pakistan.
Given the fact that ethics and values are an essential part of education the Islamic republic of Pakistan can not afford to use foreign/Western teaching plans or textbooks in our country to make sure that the right values are taught to our children. In this regard, much damage has been done so far: while in western school types western culture and values have been taught and thus have created a westernized elite Urdu schools have played a role in teaching a type of Pseudo-Islam that has contributed to the development of militancy in the minds of young Pakistanis.

That is why special attention has to be given not only to develop a national curricula but it has to be monitored as to what Islamic interpretation is taught in school so as to avoid more strife instead of creating national harmony, keeping in mind also that all values and ethics are based on religion.

In order to achieve this not only home-made textbooks and teaching plans are necessary but well educated teachers are a first priority.

They need not only know the subject that they teach but need to have a firm grounding in teaching methodology, psychology and ethics themselves. Only honest, highly dedicated teacher can help our children to become useful members of Pakistani society, good Muslims and human beings.

For that a thorough teacher education with attractive service structure has to be developed. No teacher without degree for the appropriate level of schooling, experience and the subject of specialization should be allowed inside a school.

This is of course a program that costs money and that is not achieved in a short time. What has been neglected and allowed to decay during the last 65 years cannot be put right in two to three years it needs few decades of dedicated work of thousands of people. Money is important and it has to be public money made available on priority. Education is too crucial than to be allowed to be made a salable good and the source of money making. Salaries for teachers and educationists have to be attractive but public esteem for them is also an important good.

Creating a unified and public educational system in Pakistan will overcome social and regional divide, effectively battle militancy and create a unified national fabric for our young generation. Corruption will be gone by itself when self esteem of every member of society stands to realize responsibility.
Then our people will break the begging bowl and work to develop national industrial infra-structure through our own resources which have not been tapped by our corrupt rulers who just looked towards West to perpetuate in power by breaking the back of the people. God bless Pakistan.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/40/

During the past two decades, a mentionable change has taken place in people's behaviour towards girls' education, at least in the Punjab, the biggest province of Pakistan. Now people appear to be more convinced of the need for girls' education, even in rural areas of the province.

Historically, circumstances have been worse for girls as far as education is concerned. Girls and women have been disproportionately excluded from education worldwide. They face more challenges and have fewer opportunities to access, complete and benefit from education than boys. According to the 2012 UNESCO's Education for All Global Monitoring Report, girls are the majority of the 61 million children that are out of school at the primary level alone.

However, the situation has changed relatively at a fast pace during the past decade or so. The tragic Malala attack incident in Pakistan last year helped a great deal in drawing parents' attention towards the importance of education of their daughters. On October 09, 2012, the international community was shaken by the brutal assassination attempt against Malala Yousafzai, a 14 year-old girl from Swat. She was attacked by extremists while she was on a school bus, because of her known efforts from an early age to promote the right to education for girls, defying obstacles and even death threats.

Since 1999, school enrolment in Pakistan has gone up by over 3 million, yet more than 5 million children are still without an education; 63% of them -over 3 million- are girls. Two-thirds of the 49.5 million illiterate Pakistani adults are women. Despite these difficulties, the percentage of poorest girls out of school has fallen from 78% to 62%.

Recently, a case study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Social Sciences, showed that now people express more concern about the education of their daughters also. The study has been conducted by Hassan Ali, M. Iqbal Zafar and Sabir Hussain, students of the Department of Rural Sociology and Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
Southern Punjab is one of the most underdeveloped regions of the country.
The study has been conducted in tehsil Darya Khan of district Bhakkar of this underdeveloped region.

According to study findings, a large majority of the respondents i.e. 99.3% were in favour of child education. However, relatively a small number of people, about 44.0% of the respondents, agreed that education would make females into good housewives.

The researchers said people believed that after getting a good education women would become good teachers or good doctors, but they might not prove to be good housewives. According to their perception, educated women become earning-hands, and independent in their decision-making; therefore, they might prove to be good wage-earners but not good housewives.

According to the study, a significant association existed between education of the respondents and their rational behaviour towards female education and employment.

As far as comparison with other nations of the world is concerned, Pakistan is one of the countries with a poor literacy rate in the world, which is 61.3% for males and 36.8% for females (Government of Pakistan, 1999-2000). However, independent sources report a much lower literacy rate in the country, as the government statistics also count a person as literate if he/she could write his/her name only.

In the country, a large number of people want to educate their sons and daughters, but only one third of the total prefer their daughters to be in jobs.
An employed woman is not only disapproved of but also strongly discouraged in our society. The socially prevalent attitude is that a father or a husband feels undignified to live on the earnings of his daughters or wife. Such an attitude had been responsible for discouraging many qualified women from joining various vocations, according to the study findings.

The findings of the study showed that a huge majority of the respondents i.e. 97.3% were in favour of their daughters' education. Majority of the respondents i.e. 86% wanted to send their daughters for education, and 88% of them agreed that women's education enhances the family's social status.
The study found out that 76.7% of the respondents did not approve of preferring males over females in provision of an education facility to their offspring. However, in rural areas many a times parents stop sending their daughters to schools when they pass their primary or middle class examinations and they have to go to another village to attend their schools.

As many as 32% respondents said they wanted their daughters to go to college to get an education. But only 44% of the respondents believed that education would make their daughters good housewives and 38.7% of the respondents agreed that education would teach them good manners.

It was strange to note that only 42% of the respondents believed that education would create more awareness about religion. According to the perception of a large majority of respondents, general education is different from religious education and the school and college education helped little in creating true awareness among the students, be they males or females.
The study findings showed that about 38.7% of the respondents agreed that educated girls could bring up their children in a better way. This was again a shocking response. But those not believing in the ability of educated mothers, claimed that such mothers give more liberty to their sons and daughters, and thus spoil them.

However, it was a good sign that a huge majority of the respondents were in favour of female employment. As many as 82.7% of them encouraged their daughters to join an occupation after completion of education. About 23.3% said that teaching is the right profession for women.

Also, a large number of the respondents, i.e. 83.3%, agreed to the suggestion that "economic condition of the family can be stabilised through female employment." 76.0% of the respondents agreed that the working women have higher social status compared to non-employed women.

Over 65.3% of the respondents agreed that "people consider below their honour to rely on their daughters'/wives' income. Despite approving of education for their daughters and even allowing them to work and earn for themselves, they find it disgraceful if they have to be dependent on their earnings. 50% of the respondents believed "if a woman earns more money than her husband, it is almost certain to cause problems (in the family)".
More than half, i.e. 52.7%, of the respondents agreed to the suggestion "working women are better companions of their husbands". 51.3% agreed to an opinion "working women are independent, so they do not respect their elders".

The study recommended that adult literacy programmes should be extensively carried out in rural areas for females, so that education may influence their decisions regarding females' education.

The study says that many a times parents are convinced of the need their daughters' education and working in the field, but they do not send them to schools or workplaces due to unfavourable and insecure environments in educational institutions and workplaces. The study recommends that in case of appointment to educational and vocational institutions, preference should be given to local females. It will definitely encourage parents to allow their daughters to seek jobs.

Even deeply conservative families agree that girls could be allowed to work if they get a job in the education department. Therefore, more job opportunities for females should be created in the education sector.

The study suggests that more programmes on electronic media should be presented and more stories in the print media should be published to create awareness about the importance of girls' education. Recently, a series of programmes on private TV channel Geo News has played a crucial role in creating awareness among the viewers about the need for education for girls. If all private TV channels, and especially the state-run PTV, launch campaigns in this regard in an interesting style, from time to time, it could help achieve the Millennium Development Goals and Education For All (EFA) goals set for the year 2015.

http://www.weeklycuttingedge.com/

I was shocked when I saw a 13 years old boy serving chick plates at a road side shop in Dera Isamil Khan who was speaking fluently Waziristani dialect. It was Gulnaz Khan hailing from Makeen Area of South Waziristan. Gul told his story as he came here along with his family in early 2008 when military operation Rah e Najat started there. He told that he and his brother were studying there in a private school but at the present they both are working for their livelihood as there was none to support him.
“We have to pay rent for our twin rooms’ house, pay for the treatment of my ailing patients and also we have to buy food for our seven- member family” Gul said adding that he too wanted to get education like other students but could not.
Gulnaz and his brother is not the sole example of those tribal students who left education due to the growing militancy in the region. There are thousands of tribal students who left schools due to one reason or another.
Some students were displaced while others have to say good bye to education because their schools are either ruined or running without proper staff.
Ali Muhammad an official from South Waziristan Education Department said there were more than 36,000 students displaced from South Waziristan as a result of Operation Rah E Najat in 2008. He said almost all the schools numbering in hundreds were totally demolished in the operation and only those areas have schools now where army have rehabilitated the IDPs in the areas of Sara Rogha and Sarvekai.
According to the official statistics, 447 out of 638 schools in South Waziristan Agency were declared non-functional in the Mehsud area in the wake of military operation. Before army operation, militants had also occupied schools and turned the buildings into hideouts. This situation in North Waziristan is no different.
There may be other reasons behind it but militancy is the main reason in the increase of dropout ratio and the number of ghost schools. On 5th of October 2007, an unannounced military operation was started for the third time in NWA and a rough estimate revealed that more than 80,000 families had migrated to Bannu, Peshawar, Dera Isamil Khan and other parts of the country.
Owing to these operations, over one million persons became homeless and about 0.5 million children from the age group of 5 to 18 got out of their schools only in North and South Waziristan.
But operation is not the only factor of the highest dropout ratio of the tribal children from the educational institutions; there are other factors that have also contributed to the calamity. Rehmatullah is a senior educationist hailing from North Waziristan, says that after 9/11, the high-ups of education departments lost control over the institutions and the system of check and balance almost ceased to exist.
“Teachers are free of any fear for being accountable to anybody. All depends on their mood and if they want to go to school otherwise they stay at home or run their shops” he said adding that the schools once crowded with students are now practically turned into ghost houses.
An official in Fata secretariat who is working in the education department says that not only the government is spending billions of rupees over education but the drop-out ratio in Fata is going up and up. Though some people may raise fingers over the amount spent on education but not on the drop-out ratio especially due to displacement.
The Fata annual school census report 2011-12 reveals that dropout rate is 63 per cent among boys and 77 per cent among girls, while 54 per cent children quit schools before reaching grade 10. Officials said that these figures might be the highest dropout ratio in the country.
Nasir Khan Burki an official of a NGO working in Education in NWA and SWA is of the opinion that social taboos as one cause of the dropout increase in the tribal areas.
“Though poverty and social taboos associated with girls’ education are the major factors contributing to the high dropout rate, militancy and large-scale displacement of population has acted as a bomb shell,” said Nasir. He said that a large number of schools had been destroyed in the violence-ravaged area that had not been rehabilitated.
A social worker at Mirali said that although, at present there is no massive military offensive in the North Waziristan Agency but the news of Military operation in the area from time to time have caused a good number of people to migrate beforehand to safer places which in the long run have caused more than 20,000 children to be dropped out from their schools.
Yasir Assad is a student of second year in Government degree college Mirali, North Waziristan. He takes private tuition in Bannu along with his two brothers.
“Actually, we don’t find any teacher in our college and if we find someone for one or a half period, that is not enough to prepare us for the competition going on now a days in the field of medical and engineering” Yasir added that the principal had assured them many a times but unfortunately all proved wrong and we cannot afford to waste more time for just empty promises.
Last but not least is that after the operation, about 10014 families have returned to their homes in South Waziristan Agency and according to a local journalist army has focused over education and 55 new schools have been established in the area properly facilitated with teachers, furniture and books for the students.
Another 33 schools and a Cadet college have also been established in Tehsil Sara Rogha and Sarvekai. The teachers are also being checked by the army personnel and there is a ray of hope but still a lot of work is yet to be done in both the sister agencies as the education is the worst sufferer in the ongoing war on terror.
With the appointment of the new governor Engineer Shaukatullah, it is hoped that education will be given more attention in FATA especially in North and South Waziristan.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/40/