KARACHI:
Last month, I had the first experience of being in a government school to take my Matriculation examinations. What I witnessed was utmost tragic. The classrooms had broken furniture, and there was no seating plan according to roll numbers. A teacher came after 30 minutes and wrote the room numbers and roll numbers of candidates on their exam copies.
Surprisingly, there was no availability of power connections in classrooms either, while the switchboards were broken and wires hanging out, causing potential electrical hazard — and the list goes on. The exam started 10 minutes late, but ended exactly when it should have, giving students a loss of 10 minutes. There was no stamp pad for putting a thumb impression to mark our attendance and students used their ink or markers instead. It was an immensely disturbing experience altogether.
On the contrary, last year I took my Class 9 examination held at a private school. The school had a big, neatly painted building with a marble floor. The room numbers and roll numbers were already arranged, while the furniture and architecture of the building was in an immaculate condition. Everything was functional as expected. The examination started and ended at the scheduled time and there was commendable decorum maintained throughout the duration of the exam.
Isn’t it concerning how these government schools are maintained? I am wondering about the quality of education given in these schools and received by the students when a single day of examination turned out to be so distressing for me.
Education and examinations are the most important phases of a student’s life. With such deplorable conditions leading to students’ mental torture during the phases, there is no doubt about why our overall academic performance suffers.
Faqiha Eman
Kasur City
Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2024.
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