MubeensBlog #MubeensLaw
This Article has been written in response to a successful Twitter Trend run by Pakistanis around the globe to create an awareness and state of emergency to wake up our nation to our deteriorating values and Educational System.
The past two months have been buzzing with more or less the same Political nonsense in Pakistan. As usual the point of focus has been our distinguished Leadership. The never ending debate on inflation, power-cuts and cowardly foreign policy has been the driving force for many social networking sites. Television has practically become a Political forum for politicians to come together and deface each other.
Amidst this hue and cry, I began to come across snippets of a
strange kind of viral disease infiltrating our society silently but surely. “A
topper Kamran, from Grade 7 committed suicide by burning himself over not being
able to wear a new uniform which his parents could not afford coming from a
poor family. His father earned his living through odd jobs. His treatment was
an estimated 2 million rupees of which the parents were able to collect just
50,000. Before his treatment began, he lost his life owing to some incredible
desire to wear a new uniform.”
No sooner than that happened news of another young 7th
grader studying and residing in an elite school’s hostel in Abbottabad started
to make waves. “The name was Mobeen and he often spend weekends at home with
his family. One dreadful weekend, he came home to wrap up his entire life into
a loop of shame and humiliation that he faced at the hands of the teachers who
taught him and the misbehaviour of management at the hostel.
Mobeen left a note
in his school jacket that revealed his frustration and shocking revelations on
being punished and fined Rs. 5 for using Urdu in school. More evidence of his
trying days at the school was printed in his personal diary that he mentioned
in his last note.”
And to add to this grievance, a 6th grader in Karachi
made a successful suicidal attempt at failing an assessment in school in North
Nazimabad.
Along with these shocking tales of dead ends, off and on we hear
the news of physical beatings and sexual abuse in lower level schools by
teachers and headmasters alike. News of children being rushed to hospitals
because they were unable to answer the teacher’s question should become a matter
of grave concern for all of us.
Our Education System has failed to deliver the sanity of learning
to our children and playgrounds are slowly becoming harsh realities of
graveyards.
Education aims primarily to provide equal opportunity to each
child and equips them with the tools to reason well. The above examples of
students as old as 12, claiming their lives indicates a huge shift of priorities
and clearly reflects the presence of a rigid force that adamantly denies a
system failure.
There would be much debate upon government schools versus
private institutions. The middle class struggles to get their children admitted
to Private schools despite the high fee structure. Once they are able to get
in, the entire pressure to perform is shifted to the child who neither applied
for the honour nor anticipated the cut-throat competition. Here the child’s
ability becomes irrelevant to the result expected. The father wants the fee to
be justified through an “A” performance and the school sends reminders
consistently to meet their high standards.
Government schools on the other hand hold no motivation what so
ever for either student or teacher. The concept of interactive learning is
almost nil and the future for these children is acceptably decided which kills
their dreams to think big. Here the teachers set no expectations of their
students and the parents harshly unveil their disappointment by reminding them of
the effort being made to educate them despite being poor.
Crushed between these two forces, the school and the parent, the
child begins to struggle more with his weaknesses than his strengths. The focus
is always the failure, the inadequacy or the childish attitude! This vicious
cycle leads the child to believe and take responsibility for these failures,
inadequacies and childish attributes. Any abuse at this difficult time,
physical or emotional, can damage the reasoning ability of the child. At such a
tender age the amount of stress to produce expected results ignites a spark of
frustration. There is dislike for oneself. This dislike and constant negativity
leads to drastic consequences which are sometimes fatal.
A perfectly harmonious system begins with a fair distribution of
resources to schools from the government. Standard Training programmes for teachers
to promote desired teaching methodologies and incentives to progress and grow
in the profession. Create standard criterion for hiring teachers and indulge in
regular school inspections to evaluate the learning happening. Children should
be involved in etching their learning graph. Provisions for support classes and
teachers should be made available to all schools to release the stress of being
alone in the process. The focus should be to enhance the strengths of each
child and provide equal opportunity to move ahead.
Parental involvement in academic and social changes should be
welcomed and voluntary work should be encouraged. This will awaken the parents
to the reality of most situations related to their child’s fundamental growth. It
will help them relate to their children’s problems. Communication will
definitely identify the working of the mind and maybe the hopelessness of
meeting with a dead end could be avoided. Faith in our children encourages them
to admissions and confessions.
But most importantly, the impact of over-competition needs to be
aborted at once. Every child needs to experience a moment of glory which
remains the responsibility of the teacher. Identifying the strongest needs and
desires of the pupil and creating a stage for its attainment is indeed one of
the most noble gesture and efforts made by a teacher.
Punishment of any physical nature should be labelled a criminal
act by law. The parliament of our country should work in collaboration with
school systems to devise a law that protects and safeguards the rights of these
innocent children who deserve a happy school life. Any teacher who raises the
hand to exhibit his power should be expelled with a heavy fine and be barred
from this noble profession.
It’s difficult to imagine those young chaotic minds that carried
such huge scars. The little hearts that dreaded another day at school. The fear
that engulfed them on announcing their failure and the injustice that devoured
their sense of pride.
Children are the future. We must take charge of this drowning situation
which is growing at an alarming rate. Our government needs to take notice of
this epidemic and invest its energies into formulating a much needed Education
System that runs a fair and Balanced Academic Programme for all and is
monitored by firm Laws and Strict Accountability!
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