Education is our right: was resonating in villages of Sindh

"Education is our right! Education is our right! Education is our right!" This was the slogan echoing in the villages of Sukkur-a district located on the banks of mighty Indus River.

World Vision Pakistan, under its education project, “My Teacher is my role model” organised a series of awareness walks, in 20 villages of the Sukkur District. The walks were held to mark the Universal Primary Education campaign and bring together community members and government officials in raising awareness that primary education is a basic right deserved by every child.

“Let’s unite and ensure every child gains the primary education and hence make the country prosper!” was the starting note, remarked by Gul Muneer, World Vision Pakistan’s education coordinator.

During the activity, the World Vision education team shared information about importance of education and distributed pamphlets, banners and play cards amongst the children and community members with the same message.

It was a carnival like event in the Wariyam Buriro village where boys and girls, men and women, young, adults and elders were all were excited and enthusiastic to walk around their village for the great cause.

Having discussed the details about the activity, people from all walks of life started marching from the main gate of school to the streets of the village chanting the slogans: education for all; we need education; get your child enrolled in school, and education is a priceless gift for your child.

Passing by houses, shops and streets, there were surprising gazes, priceless smiles and joyful curiosity from the people around the village, wanting to know what was going on. Seeing and hearing the slogans, women left the dishes they were washing and men left their cattle and field to join and march along.

“I was giving fodder to my buffalo. I heard an uproar and came to see what’s going on,” says Altaf Ahmed., “When I came to know it is a rally for education, I also joined it and felt the endless joy for raising the voice for education.” 

While leaving from the main gate of the school, the rally comprised a good number of participants. By the time when it returned to school compound where people then sat and discussed the role of education in one’s life, there was a huge crowd.

“I’m feeling like as if it’s Eid (an important religious festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide),” shares Jaanul, a 34-year-old woman from the village. “ It is next to impossible to bring qualitative education until and unless parents, teachers and students unite and are determined to promote education,” she added.  

“Education, specifically primary schooling for all children, is a fundamental right of the Child. Education provides important skills that give children hope for a better future and it helps reduce poverty, lower child mortality rates and promote concern for the environment. It also helps promote gender equality,” commented Gul Muneer.

“We should not keep our children away from education. If we can’t afford the higher education, then we should at least send our children to schools to get the primary education,” she added. 

According to the Pakistan Government figures, the nation-wide literacy rate in Pakistan is 57 per cent. Not surprisingly, literacy rates among those living in rural areas are slightly below the national averages: 63 per cent of males and 35 per cent of females are literate in rural areas, compared to 69 and 46 per cent nationally. Literacy rates are closely related to school enrolment rates where girls are still behind but have made improvements. In rural areas of the Sukkur district, the enrolment rate in primary schools (ages 5-9) stands at 66 per cent (75 per cent for boys and 55 per cent for girls). 

Villages in rural Sindh are a site to behold. Some are as small as just a few houses. But, when counted together, they are home to the majority of the population in these areas. The people of rural Sindh need basic facilities. More than anything else, however, the most basic and facility they need is a primary school. Most of the primary schools in Sindh are one-room, one-teacher schools, many of which have become ghost schools for a number of reasons from the school building being used for other community activities, such as grain storage, to parents not sending their children to primary education as there is no hope for them to attend secondary school, just to name a few. To make matters worse, the majority of functional schools have jeopardised conditions, in terms of the conditions of the building, often times the electric fittings are torn apart; windows and doors are broken; students use inadequate desks, in which cases children are often sitting on the floors and bricks.

“Conflicts, high rates of poverty, and the dependence of many families on child labour, serves as an obstacle to education,” explained, Ms. Rehana the supervisor of girls’ education in Sukkur. She admired and acknowledged World Vision’s activities and efforts to promote education and urged the organisation amplify the scope of this project to other parts of the province as well.

Despite these horrifying facts there are some positive factors for the Education system in rural Sindh. The government has taken very bold and innovative steps to improve the state of education in these areas. They are providing direct funding to the school management committee for the improvement of schools’ facilities and are also providing scholarships to girls to boost female enrolment. The provision of free textbooks is also a major step forward and provides relief to the poorest of the poor. But still, more bold steps are required and changes needed urgently.

World Vision Pakistan started the ‘My teacher is my role model’ project in April, 2012, with the goal to ensure that School authorities, including teachers, deliver professional learning experiences, resulting in schools running at full capacity in terms of enrolment; improved student attendance, and improved and joyous learning.

People here in Pakistan are not against education, they want their children to get this fundamental right; what they need is the awareness and access to education and activities, like walks, social gatherings, forums and seminars. These are the doors towards the path of enlightenment.  The majority of the population has some basic education facilities around their localities but oftentimes they are unaware of the importance of education. Events like this can be the platforms to let people know the impact of education in their children’s lives.

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(Source: www.wvi.org/pakistan )