Just today i got a chance of speaking to one of my school days' friend. It was a short chat on the net. I asked him about his children, and he told me that the eldest one is in the university and the other one is doing his O level. My friend lives in Pakistan and i am out of Pakistan. We both had done our matriculation from the Government Boys Secondary School No.1 Nazimabad, Karachi, way back in the year 1969.
He told me that now no one wants to send their children to a government school in Karachi. I do know that.. In his own words,"it has now become a fashion to send the children, for A or O level education". I joked that perhaps we in our days did not need such schooling, because we were all LEVELLED: We both laughed.
In fact, what he said is true. I have spoken to quite few people in karachi, who laugh at the idea of sending their children to a government or urdu medium school. I wonder, why the mentality of karachi people has so grossly been changed . Why our parents were not so curious about our education? Why they had not thought of sending us to english medium school? Why they had not thought of sending us to the A or O level?
Our parents, were not penniless. They were not too wealthy too. But i am sure they were able to manage sending us to english medium schools. Why did they opt to send their children to an urdu medium, government school.
Getting admission in a government school was not that much easy during the 1960s. Why? The reason was very simple. The top positions in the matriculation examinations in karachi had usually been won by the students of government schools. Actually the standard of the government schools used to be very high. Honestly i put it that way. Some may argue that the overall education standard of karachi schools had been so low in those days that a government school student could get the highest marks. But i do not agree with such logic. It was not like that. Mr. Zeeshan Qureshi, who was my senior in the Government School Nazimabad, had topped in the matriculation examination. He later on went to UK and got the highest marks in the Chartered Accouıntancy examination. Later on i came to know that he had become a senior partner in A.F.Ferguson & Co. Chartered Accountants, Pakistan. He was just a simple boy from a government urdu medium school.
I know quite a many karachites , who had studied in urdu medium government schools, but later on succeeded in acquiring advanced education in pakistan and foreign countries. Quite a many had made their marks in foreign countries.
We all learnt english through the same book, with the characters of Ali and Jameela. I myself and quite many good friends of mine, never went to any tuition centre. I myself and many of my friends never thought of learning english language from some institiute with big name. We were simple people, and we used to concentrate on what we were taught by our honest teachers.
We did enjoy innumerable social and sports activities in our school. Debates were common. Drawing competitions were there. We used to compete with other sections of the class in making the most beautiful small garden in the school ground. We used to have our cricket, hockey and basketball teams. I remember that our school had once invited one of the famous celebtrities of the then most hit TV program KASAUTI, to our school. I remember, we had been running from here to there, just to get his autograph.
The government schools, in those days , used to TEACH and EDUCATE the students. That was all. In fact that was all that we needed in those days. There had been so beautiful atmosphere of harmony and co-operation among the students, and between the teachers and students, that we had never thought of being a mohajir or sindhi or punjabi or pathan. We were all students and that was all. We were neither shia nor sunni in the school. We were not the activists of any political or religious party or group. We were students, who were their to gain knowledge from our teachers. There had been an indepth relationship based on respect and love between the teachers and the students.
True, that everyone misses one!s past. But what my generation is missing is not just missing, it's more than that, just because we feel bad seeing how the education system of karachi has deliberately been spoiled by the vested interests.
Here i would like to give a small example, which would clarify what i want to say. The Karachi Circular Railway was a very brave and perhaps the best solution to help solving the karachi traffic problem. But once the vested interests saw that the general public is prefering the circular railway instead of their mini-buses, they started letting the criminals and the well known drug users (heroinchis) sit and settled in the railway wagons. Their very presence , and the problems that they used to create in the railways wagons, forced people to use mini-buses instead of the circular railways. The ultimate position os the Karachi Circular Railway is known to everybody.
The same technique was applied to divert general public from the government schools, towards the schools with big names and big fees. Groupings, in the name of politics and religions, was deliberately inducted in the government schools. Every day problems of law and security were deliberately created in the government schools, just to fill pockets of vested interests. The vested interests once again succeeded in achieving their goals. The already filled pockets are still being filled. Thanks to the political and religious leaders of karachi.
He told me that now no one wants to send their children to a government school in Karachi. I do know that.. In his own words,"it has now become a fashion to send the children, for A or O level education". I joked that perhaps we in our days did not need such schooling, because we were all LEVELLED: We both laughed.
In fact, what he said is true. I have spoken to quite few people in karachi, who laugh at the idea of sending their children to a government or urdu medium school. I wonder, why the mentality of karachi people has so grossly been changed . Why our parents were not so curious about our education? Why they had not thought of sending us to english medium school? Why they had not thought of sending us to the A or O level?
Our parents, were not penniless. They were not too wealthy too. But i am sure they were able to manage sending us to english medium schools. Why did they opt to send their children to an urdu medium, government school.
Getting admission in a government school was not that much easy during the 1960s. Why? The reason was very simple. The top positions in the matriculation examinations in karachi had usually been won by the students of government schools. Actually the standard of the government schools used to be very high. Honestly i put it that way. Some may argue that the overall education standard of karachi schools had been so low in those days that a government school student could get the highest marks. But i do not agree with such logic. It was not like that. Mr. Zeeshan Qureshi, who was my senior in the Government School Nazimabad, had topped in the matriculation examination. He later on went to UK and got the highest marks in the Chartered Accouıntancy examination. Later on i came to know that he had become a senior partner in A.F.Ferguson & Co. Chartered Accountants, Pakistan. He was just a simple boy from a government urdu medium school.
I know quite a many karachites , who had studied in urdu medium government schools, but later on succeeded in acquiring advanced education in pakistan and foreign countries. Quite a many had made their marks in foreign countries.
We all learnt english through the same book, with the characters of Ali and Jameela. I myself and quite many good friends of mine, never went to any tuition centre. I myself and many of my friends never thought of learning english language from some institiute with big name. We were simple people, and we used to concentrate on what we were taught by our honest teachers.
We did enjoy innumerable social and sports activities in our school. Debates were common. Drawing competitions were there. We used to compete with other sections of the class in making the most beautiful small garden in the school ground. We used to have our cricket, hockey and basketball teams. I remember that our school had once invited one of the famous celebtrities of the then most hit TV program KASAUTI, to our school. I remember, we had been running from here to there, just to get his autograph.
The government schools, in those days , used to TEACH and EDUCATE the students. That was all. In fact that was all that we needed in those days. There had been so beautiful atmosphere of harmony and co-operation among the students, and between the teachers and students, that we had never thought of being a mohajir or sindhi or punjabi or pathan. We were all students and that was all. We were neither shia nor sunni in the school. We were not the activists of any political or religious party or group. We were students, who were their to gain knowledge from our teachers. There had been an indepth relationship based on respect and love between the teachers and the students.
True, that everyone misses one!s past. But what my generation is missing is not just missing, it's more than that, just because we feel bad seeing how the education system of karachi has deliberately been spoiled by the vested interests.
Here i would like to give a small example, which would clarify what i want to say. The Karachi Circular Railway was a very brave and perhaps the best solution to help solving the karachi traffic problem. But once the vested interests saw that the general public is prefering the circular railway instead of their mini-buses, they started letting the criminals and the well known drug users (heroinchis) sit and settled in the railway wagons. Their very presence , and the problems that they used to create in the railways wagons, forced people to use mini-buses instead of the circular railways. The ultimate position os the Karachi Circular Railway is known to everybody.
The same technique was applied to divert general public from the government schools, towards the schools with big names and big fees. Groupings, in the name of politics and religions, was deliberately inducted in the government schools. Every day problems of law and security were deliberately created in the government schools, just to fill pockets of vested interests. The vested interests once again succeeded in achieving their goals. The already filled pockets are still being filled. Thanks to the political and religious leaders of karachi.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSome reasons which I feel are following.
ReplyDelete1. More than one education systems which are making our nation confuse.
2. Mother tong is Urdu but English is official language.
3. At college or university level major subject’s books are not available in Urdu only available in English, especially when you are doing research work on any subject, therefore majority of parents prefer O or A Level education or other English based schools.
4. Available environment for a child is another problem, so parents are also paying for better environment, because day by day govt. financial support for education is decreasing.
5. Political activities in our education institutions are another big problem.
You have hit the nail on the head. We are living in an unlucky country. Unlucky in the sense that our leaders and rulers have corrupted our people so much that they have forgotten what a civilized nation is.
ReplyDelete