Your views on our educational system?

[desirous of desire]

My niece is now going to such a school which is affordable for a middle class family.They make sure you have a certain amount of wealth before admission. Besides high fee children and parents have to come up with dishes and certain kind of shoe type and dress color every now and then in school events. Saying "ghari" is paindu while "wall clock" is nice.

Rich,Upper middle,middle, lower middle,poor and very poor go to separate kind of schools. Every class of society lives in its own bubble. Our social experience is very limited.

I have seen the environment of government school, madrasa, private school and college , government university and a private university such as LUMS. I have seen exploitation of the poor,struggles and some brilliant success stories. While my niece goes to a Private school and learns how to recite Quran from a neighbor and in both places she meets people of same class. In a recent event of celebrating the completion of reciting Quran first time of a peer, she and my sister is asked to attend the ceremony in off white dress,which have been bought. Will she understand deprivation , poverty and the true sense of struggle. We are making children more materialistic.

The understanding of good manners and fashion sense is different in every group. In one class you must come neat and clean and that is enough while in another you must dress up in certain colour and demand goes up and up.

I know this gap in rich and poor is prevalent in every society and every country. It is difficult to address and correct this issue but it is painful to see it in our education. We must atleast eradicate this in our educational system. Let the children see misery and let them socialize. Let them empathize and sympathize. Perhaps in this way we can produce more people like "Edhi".

 

[Madplayer]

Top post.

The education system has become purely commercial. I know schools need funds too but the level of exploitation is pathetic. The school fee of a good school amounts to an average guy's entire salary. Add to this the useless and forced expenditures like asking parents to buy high priced notebooks, stationary and God knows what compulsarily from the school.

In some cases parents are interviewed and their English speaking capabilities are checked. If the parents aren't up to the mark, the kid suffers.

And i agree educational institutions are becoming agents of social stratification based on class and other factors.

Government schools might have been able to overcome such problems but we know how incompetent the people involved with it are. A local MLA here suggested that it should be enforced upon all the government employees to admit their children in government schools so that the standards of government schools gets raised. I wonder if that would work?? What might be the repercussions of such a decision?

Overall the future of education looks more commercial with it becoming a means of aggrandizement more than anything else.

 

[aloo paratha]

"Rich,Upper middle,middle, lower middle,poor and very poor go to separate kind of schools. Every class of society lives in its own bubble. Our social experience is very limited."

This is really weird for me and probably anyone else who has gone to school in US or Canada. Over here, everyone goes to the same school. Whether they're rich, middle class, or poor, and everyone is friends with everybody.

It's a poor way to run education. Public >>> Private.

 

[Syed1]

The Pakistani society is a very class-ist society. In every segment you have divide between rich and poor and it is only natural that the rich have built up a parallel education system for themselves which opens several doors for them whether in Pakistan or abroad. While the poor are left to study in government schools with their mediocre inter matric standard and an emphasis on rote learning rather than proper understanding.

The exams for the rich come from Oxford university while for the poor it comes from Urdu university.

This way if a kid is born in a rich family he will always have the upper hand and will ensure that he is always one step ahead of the kid from the poor family.

One thing that I liked was that the admissions to Pakistani universities gave preference to kids from the local inter matric system however then the rich came with their own universities which gave preference to kids from the O and A levels system. On top of that most graduates from the O/A Level system find it very easy to get admissions to top notch universities abroad (case in point, yours truly) while the graduates from the local universities are not afforded the same opportunity. This further increases the divide between the classes and continues and seth and gulaam mentality that has been prevalent since the British era.

There is a very, very easy solution to this problem (atleast in my mind). Make it compulsory for all the ruling elite and members of parliament to have their kids admitted to government schools in the inter matric system. You can bet your bottom dollar the government school system will become top notch in minimum possible time since this decision will effect the hukmaraan directly and we all know they don't take any initiative unless it directly benefits them somehow.

Once the government system is upto the O/A level standard we can do away with the British system and have a uniform system across the country. This will ensure that whether you are the child of a big industrialist or the child of a car mechanic, you will study the same curriculum and you will appear in the same exams ensuring that you have a level playing field to succeed and move ahead in life.

 

[sjahmed23]

"Rich,Upper middle,middle, lower middle,poor and very poor go to separate kind of schools. Every class of society lives in its own bubble. Our social experience is very limited."

This is really weird for me and probably anyone else who has gone to school in US or Canada. Over here, everyone goes to the same school. Whether they're rich, middle class, or poor, and everyone is friends with everybody.

It's a poor way to run education. Public >>> Private.

Not really true. Here aswell school systems are divided amongst the rich and poor. Most schools in the urban areas have high drop out rates and poor standards in education while suburban school kids enjoy a more lavish school environment. Also, you won't really find that many kids from a poor background in Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Columbia as those schools are for the elite here and middle class usually end up in state colleges which are less expensive/public.

I agree with what the op has mentioned, in Pakistan every class lives in their own bubble and that has much to do with the rising income equality which is seen all around the world tbh. In America its probably just as bad.

 

[Slog]

"Rich,Upper middle,middle, lower middle,poor and very poor go to separate kind of schools. Every class of society lives in its own bubble. Our social experience is very limited."

This is really weird for me and probably anyone else who has gone to school in US or Canada. Over here, everyone goes to the same school. Whether they're rich, middle class, or poor, and everyone is friends with everybody.

It's a poor way to run education. Public >>> Private.

Ignorant comment

The very well off go to private schools even in North America

most of these schools cost in excess of 40-50,000 USD per year so it is likely that you dont meet or interact with kids from such schools hence dont know about them

Rich and poor dont go to same schools in most instances

Secondly. Even as far as public schools are concerned. In the US atleast, the public school you go to depends on the area you live. So generally kids from upper class areas will be going to public schools in the same upper class area whereas kids from the ghettos and inner city will be going to the public schools which fall in their area. The public schools in the richer areas get more funding and hence are generally better. So again. Not going to same schools

 

[Bewal Express]

The single best investment a country can ever make is to educate its young people. No amount of money spent wisely is enough. Give young people clear paths to careers, whether through Tertiary Colleges or University. This leads to more economic progress and a more tolerant nation, which can also progress socially. Instead in PK, you have 2 brothers desperate to say in power so that they can fleece the poor but like the Pharaohs found, no money can be taken with you and Allah awaits.

 

[GoUgandaCranes]

Ignorant comment

The very well off go to private schools even in North America

most of these schools cost in excess of 40-50,000 USD per year so it is likely that you dont meet or interact with kids from such schools hence dont know about them

Rich and poor dont go to same schools in most instances

Secondly. Even as far as public schools are concerned. In the US atleast, the public school you go to depends on the area you live. So generally kids from upper class areas will be going to public schools in the same upper class area whereas kids from the ghettos and inner city will be going to the public schools which fall in their area. The public schools in the richer areas get more funding and hence are generally better. So again. Not going to same schools

top post this. the class divide exists in every society. however in poorer countries like pakistan it is visible to a higher extent.

that said, pakistani education system is part of the problem and not the solution.

 

[aloo paratha]

Ignorant comment

The very well off go to private schools even in North America

most of these schools cost in excess of 40-50,000 USD per year so it is likely that you dont meet or interact with kids from such schools hence dont know about them

Rich and poor dont go to same schools in most instances

Secondly. Even as far as public schools are concerned. In the US atleast, the public school you go to depends on the area you live. So generally kids from upper class areas will be going to public schools in the same upper class area whereas kids from the ghettos and inner city will be going to the public schools which fall in their area. The public schools in the richer areas get more funding and hence are generally better. So again. Not going to same schools

I assumed it'd be the same in US. I live in Canada and that's how it is here. Obviously there are exceptions, there are some people who do go private but not even close to the amount in Pakistan.

 

[Pakistanian]

Fortunately in America, most people don't have to worry about paying for the child's education or worrying about classism. People here trying to compare it to Pakistan are out of whack, you can't compare income inequality and classism in Pakistan to America, it's not comparable at all. I'll write a more detailed comment latter.

peace out.

 

[Pakistanian]

Ignorant comment

The very well off go to private schools even in North America

most of these schools cost in excess of 40-50,000 USD per year so it is likely that you dont meet or interact with kids from such schools hence dont know about them

Rich and poor dont go to same schools in most instances

Secondly. Even as far as public schools are concerned. In the US atleast, the public school you go to depends on the area you live. So generally kids from upper class areas will be going to public schools in the same upper class area whereas kids from the ghettos and inner city will be going to the public schools which fall in their area. The public schools in the richer areas get more funding and hence are generally better. So again. Not going to same schools

America still has a far more superior public school system to Pakistan, only Canada's is better and only cause they don't have the class and racial issues we have in the inner city areas.

 

[Mamoon]

Pakistan's education system has a lot of holes, but a lot of people blame the education system for their own incompetence.

If you are hard working and committed enough, you will find your way. People from govt. schools with parents who work as farmers in villages have managed to get into state medical colleges on merit.

 

[Sub-Zero]

I feel the same way bro
I've seen the upper class, middle class and lower class universities and schools, there's a huge gap between them, be it the quality of education or their behavior overall.
The education system is flawed obviously.
The only people who can change it are the politicians, but unfortunately they are corrupt and don't care about the poor people of the country.
The elite class can make a huge difference by charity work and NGOs but they also don't care, it's not their problem the country is messed up.
But there are also people who are working for the people, like Shehzad Roy, he did some excellent work, tried to fix the system a bit but there are so many problems and so much corruption that it seems very difficult to fix the system as a whole

 

[Slog]

I assumed it'd be the same in US. I live in Canada and that's how it is here. Obviously there are exceptions, there are some people who do go private but not even close to the amount in Pakistan.

ofcourse majority go public in US still

but my point was generally public is not better than private even there.
also even in public schools thers a divide

however the point is that the public schools are still good quality generally

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Good system with equal opportunity.

If you don't want to study, blame the teachers for being incompetent.

Go home and ask mom and dad to help you join a tuition center.

Complain that it's hard to study in two places.

Enjoy in both places all the time.

Complain education system is not good enough.