Only an educational revolution can help make a better future for people living in Lyari
LAHORE: “Seek knowledge even unto China,” is a famous Muslim proverb, which means seeking knowledge is mandatory upon everyone, even if it means going across continents. And in the Lyari area in Karachi, the students didn’t have to travel miles to seek knowledge. According to the news story published on May 29th, the enrolment of students in the district municipal corporation (DMC) schools in the locality has surged for the new academic session, by exceeding the 12,000 mark in just the first two months. Last year, the enrolment of students in 52 schools of Lyari zone from class one to nine was around 8,632. Pakistan’s education system, perhaps, should take a few notes from the DMC schools in the vicinity which was one of the worst-affected areas due to gang wars for years and considered the most dangerous.
The government-run schools have successfully managed to attract students by adopting a number of reforms and encouraging students to take extracurricular activities that have benefited the enrolments. To get out from the turmoil that haunts the vicinity, the residents of Lyari have realised the importance of education to change their existing conditions for the better. The government-run schools which are often plagued with low enrolment, are effectively functioning with science laboratories in a few of them that were built with the help of the Edhi Foundation at a cost of Rs5 million. But what counts for much praise are the 100 volunteer teachers that have been hired from Lyari to teach science subjects without any stipend. At a time when most teachers are absent from the classrooms or don’t show up at all, the selfless determination of these teachers is commendable.
Many former underdeveloped countries, such as China were strongly dependent on their education reforms to increase literacy rate for the development and growth of its economy. The DMC schools are also paving the way to a success story. The story of Lyari, a dangerous no-go area, is reminiscent to that of Pakistan and only an educational revolution can help make a better future for them.
Sadia Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2017.
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