Failing education

Annual exams are starting and majority of schools in the rural areas have only completed 30 percent of their syllabus.

As the capital city of Islamabad is growing, its population is increasing and its boundaries are getting wider.

As per a survey conducted by the census department in collaboration with the Federal Directorate of Education and the local administration, the capital’s current population is 1.7 million which was approximately 100,000 when the capital city was shifted here from Karachi and only 800,000 in 1998.

Due to the rise in population, multiple problems at the administrative and management level have raised their ugly heads and one of these problems is disparity in education at educational institutions in Islamabad and other rural areas.

Though, there is a separate department to meet the educational requirements for the residents of the capital territory, the pathetic conditions of schools and the non-availability of teaching staff in rural areas shows that the concerned departments were made to meet the requirements of education in just a few sectors and the rest of the capital was left at the mercy of a miracle.

The situation stands as such: with annual exams about to start, a majority of schools in the rural areas have only managed to complete 30 per cent of their syllabus.

The discriminatory attitude of the departments concerned, towards village schools, seems to be the main reason behind the situation. For the future of their children, inhabitants of surrounding villages are compelled to migrate to Islamabad but those who cannot afford expensive education for their children, it seems, should just forget about their child’s future.

An influx of people in the capital is causing a number of other issues such as shortage of houses, disparity in education, security threats, increasing crime and lawlessness, etc.

This situation should be checked so that it does not lead to further law and order chaos, as is present in Karachi now, and the authorities concerned should work towards reducing — if not removing — disparity, not only in the education sector but in other spheres of life as well.

Read more by Shazia here.