Three things reflect the state of education in Pakistan and the respect it gets: Pakistan’s only Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam’s persecution; the bullet that was fired at child education activist Malala Yousufzai’s head and consequent attempts to discredit her, and lastly the Army Public School attack followed by security provisions that were no better than band aids stuck on schools to stop future attacks.
You can also tell so much about the reverence we give education and independent scholarship through some of the people we glorify: a known nuclear proliferator who now runs a school system; leading Urdu columnists who regularly incite violence against minorities and free thinkers, and the televangelists who profess to know all religious scholarship but have been caught on camera being foul-mouthed and inciting violence against Ahmadis. This is all terribly sad and gut-wrenching but it is now also bizarre, with one self-proclaimed author reviewing his own book in a national newspaper and called his own research a milestone.
Pakistan is among those countries with a highest number of out of school children in the world. Day after day, there are stories that pour in about general incompetence of teachers, of corporal punishment awarded to young students and of blatant abuse. Our education system is in a shambles.
Shame is not heavy enough a word.
Read the complete story via The Express Tribune | Losing Dr Dean
By Aisha Sarwari Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2015.
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