Classroom: no place for guns!

Expecting teachers to do what state should do, but is unwilling or unable to do, is a sign of miserable failure

In the backdrop of conversations on education, arming teachers and the national discourse on security, let us start with three simple, but undeniable facts. First, we have a national education crisis of the grandest proportions. The manifestations of this crisis come in the form of millions of children out of school, lack of access to quality education for the masses and a fractured education system that is unable to produce graduates that society needs desperately. Second, becoming a teacher in Pakistan is not the first choice for most people. There are few, if any, incentives to become a teacher. Paltry salaries that are often delayed by months, classrooms without resources, schools without leadership and no mechanism to professionally develop do not create a workforce that is motivated. Third, recent tragic incidents have made the element of security now an inescapable part of our education system.

Given these different but interconnected realities of a broken education system that employs teachers who are overburdened, underpaid and rarely trained, the last thing we should go for is to arm them with guns in the classroom. Asking teachers who are barely able to do their jobs to now also be security guards is beyond unreasonable. It is dangerous and morally wrong. Regardless of where one stands on gun control in the state, everyone agrees that gun safety is an extremely serious business that requires training, years of experience and focus. Lacking that, even if there is no continuous external threat, tragic incidents with irreparable consequences can still occur. Self-inflicted fatal injuries make up the bulk of gun-related casualties around the world. On top of this, expecting teachers to fight trained terrorists is as absurd as it is sad. We also cannot deny that due to a variety of reasons, including financial and social strains, our teachers routinely get their frustration out on their students. The expression of this frustration often manifests in the form of unacceptable physical abuse. The last thing one would want in the hands of a frustrated teacher is a loaded gun!

Most importantly, in addition to the high chance of tragic incidents, arming classroom teachers will negatively impact the learning environment that is meant to be comforting, inclusive and focused on knowledge. A student, regardless of age, but particularly at a young age, needs an environment that enables her or him to be curious, to engage and to enjoy the material discussed. Decades of research have demonstrated how learning environments influence and impact learning, and the last thing one needs in a learning environment is the constant reminder of fear and danger. Students look up to their teachers and should see them with a piece of chalk, a pen or a book, not a semi-automatic.

The argument, made by many, including those in government, that our ground realities require us to arm individual teachers is fundamentally flawed. There is no debate over the fact that our security needs are complex and the need to provide safety to our educational institutions cannot be compromised. However, guaranteeing safety is the responsibility of state institutions that are trained in safeguarding life and freedom. Expecting teachers to do what the state should do, but is unwilling or unable to do, is not only a sign of miserable failure, it is also the creation of a dangerous society where sanctity of an educational institution is no longer intact. Most importantly, it squarely plays into the hands of those who are bent on destroying our values and instill a sense of fear in the hearts and minds of everyone, most of all, the next generation.  And that, we should be never ready to accept.

If our recent bloody history of intolerance tells us anything, it is that our impulsive, poorly thought-out and myopic policies on education have had a devastating effect. Let us not play any more dangerous games with places of learning. An educational institution should always be a place of inspiration – a beacon for a better tomorrow and a sanctuary that celebrates our best ideas. There should never be any space for ideas that destroy our most prized asset: our future.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2016.

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