Let’s be honest. Education in Pakistan is no longer about learning; it’s about the transaction. As a teacher in Kot Addu and a student myself, I have seen this system from both sides of the desk. And frankly, it’s failing us. We talk about “syllabus completion” like it’s a holy ritual. But what are we actually teaching? We force kids to memorise subjects they hate, just to get marks that don’t matter in the real world. We aren’t building concepts; we are building parrots.
And then there’s the money game. Schools have turned into marketplaces. You can’t just buy books from anywhere; you have to buy them from the school’s specific vendor at double the price. Why? Because the commission matters more than the parent’s pocket. Here is something that nobody talks about enough.
Schools charge full fees for June, July and August. Parents pay it, thinking it supports the staff. But do teachers get that money? Rarely. I know this because I am part of this system. Teachers are often left unpaid during summer vacations or forced to work on half-pay. It’s wage theft, plain and simple. In a country where jobs are scarce, teachers stay silent out of fear. The owners know this, and they exploit it perfectly.
We need to stop pretending this is education. It’s a cartel. To the government: Wake up. Regulate the private sector. Stop the summer pay cuts for teachers. If we don’t fix this now, we aren’t raising a future generation. We are just raising customers for your business.
Uzair Ahmad
Kot Addu, Punjab
