A Business OF Education in Pakistan

It was my 7th birthday when my Father took me to a Govt. School that was 15 Kilometer far from our residence of a village located in Azad Kashmir. The school was not so good in terms of its building, furniture and other components that are essentials for an education center. Even we forced to sit on dusty ground considering negligence of ministry of education of AJK as the Government of Pakistan has abandoned education long ago.

I was still happy despite unavailability of basic necessities in school as it was my first day of schooling. My Father left me alone at school for next couple of hours and I had to be there with unknown hundreds of students until the last bell ring announces end of the school timing dishearten when I realized discomfort of nervousness.

In short and in a span of ten years of primary education comprises 10 classes termed Matriculation had been completed. Few days’ later my Parents told me that they have plan, moving Karachi with entire family because every child after completing its Primary education ultimately has to move and staying particularly in Karachi City, in order to continue further education and to find a job following cultural tradition taking dependents responsibility of entire family.

This was the time when a walk of 30Kilometer in a day has reached to its conclusion but brings new journey along of experiencing first time traveling by Bus from Muzaffarabad to Karachi took around 2.5 Days to reach at the last destination of this unwilling and tired journey of tears considering a peaceful life, naturally depolluted fresh air and clean water of a village known as Paradise on earth left behind. Now, finally we had moved Karachi leaving a beautiful 3Story House, Property, Shops, inherited small business almost everything behind. Later destroyed by a deadliest earth quick of the history happened in 2005.

My father, who had already been retired from his job and my elder brother was alone bearing burden of expenses of entire family to survive in these crucial days of life with few thousand bucks earns from a job he joined months before of our arrival. It was far from possible to continue our higher education while taking care of a family of 10 members paying rent of a house we availed and utilities bills including fees of sibling’s schools, colleges etc. The only possibility was to put effort working on multiple jobs of small salaries in order to arrange expenses of entire family while studying in a Govt. institution in parallel.

The quota system that is "unacceptable" but has been enforced through constitution of Pakistan differentiate rights between Urban and Rural residents of Pakistan helps nearly nothing in terms of getting seats in educational institutes or any other Quota predefined selective benefits rather forces people like us to pay bribe even to present in an entry test to qualify any Quota predefined facility. This quota of discriminatory system still doesn’t authorize us to behave like an activist on behalf of a separatist’s movement and demand independent state within a state on the basis of lingual or ethnic ground. Keeping unity and discipline within us we can surely achieve impossible.

The effort we put to complete higher education makes us possible to look around a relevant job in any organization that maintains its IT Dept. Interviews preparation in relevance to IT and its components make my confidence bit higher but goes down below than expectation when an interviewer and representative of a particular organization asks questions that has no relevance to a nature of job and has nothing to do with efficiency of a candidate in future prospective just to undermine as if recruited and proofs his, her abilities following fear pressure of a threat to jobs of those who have already been employed. 

Wasting a year on multiple interviews in different organizations made all the education of hard earned disappointing when I realize that the “System” which Pakistan and every component of the state has adopted, only assures your qualification for specific job if you follow a people to people connection of “PARCHI” means a “Influence Source” when it comes to private sector and if “God-forbid” looking a job in Govt. Departments then obviously a huge bribe is the only option.

The next nasty thing is, we must “Speak, Walk and Talk English”. Every Morning of educational institutes, Govt. Offices, Private Organizations even entire state rises with ENGLISH and closes at ENGLISH.

This inherited System of “GORA SAHAB” was adopted in full force when worst idea of Private “ENGLISH MEDIUM” SCHOOL came into existence within our society and now it has become an important component of a discriminatory System enforcing differences of Lower, Middle and Higher Classes of the society that generates complex between less privileged and rich families of Pakistan.

The current educational system of Pakistan pushing less privileged families to start arranging educational expenses of their Kids even before their birth sacrificing everything possible in terms to ensure affordability of Private English Medium School. Unfortunately it has gone far from the reach of less privileged families affording English Medium education due to huge fees the Education Mafia 

This is an incurable disease growing in a swift pace among people of Pakistan left far behind the basic reason of compulsory education. This is just because of adopted “Politically Corrupt” Democratic system produces illiterate politicians comprises governments repeatedly abusing Public Money establishing their personal businesses through corruption due to unavailable or poorly implemented system of accountability and justice.

These corrupt politicians shift their loyalty whichever political party comes in Power with rigged mandate through poor electoral system. These politicians and their families of families are direct beneficiary of current democratically corrupt Corporatocracy system which makes them able to pay huge amount of fees for their Children studying abroad availing luxury accommodation on tax payers money.

The discriminatory System of education in Pakistan has made these private educational institutes nothing but a money making machine and a lucrative business grows every year. The most private “ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOLS” either completely being run by these politicians or partially managed in terms of partnership.

Because a Clock ticks you once in a life when we are at right place to make a bold decision and take risk to correct the mistakes of others and to take fate in our own hand in order to end this Bigotry, Corporatocracy and Discriminatory System that only benefits elite and rich.

Dear my Country mates
ENGLISH is not an education but a mindset of a very small group of those rich people who have taken control of entire institutions of a Democratically ISLAMIC WELFARE STATE that came into existence in efforts of our founding father Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah long ago. These corrupt political elites only favor legislation, those are useful for them and nobody questions or holds them accountable.