School 4 - A Government's Challenge

Riding for Education
Stephen McCutcheon
Tue 11 Oct 2005 04:12
Lat: 32:27.000000
Long: 74:07.000200
 
School 4 - A Government's Challenge
 
School: Government Girls Primary School Verokey Cheema
Organization: Government Girls public school
Location: Verokey, Nr. Wazirabad, Gujrat District:
Date: 11th October 2005

Head teacher:
Ms Fatebha
Teachers: 5 female
No. of students: 108 girls
No. of Classes:

The condition of the school was more like a construction site than a place of learning. It was only one of two Government schools in the village (of about 5000 people) located just off the main GT road in Pakistan ’s Punjab province. Now it would be easy of me here to start by slating Government schools and promoting NGO ones but that isn’t the point. This visit only showed that the Government is making efforts but still isn’t placing enough importance on education as a national policy.

I arrived at the school late morning. There were around 3 classes in progress, all in windowless/walless rooms on the outskirts of Verokey. The girls were aged from 5 to 12 and were excited to meet myself and the PTV crew accompanying the visit. The building was basically a ruin but the girls showed no sign of care about such minor issues as they concentrated on their work.

In Pakistan most girls finish their education after Class 5 often because their parents see no value in a future education for them. One of the biggest hurdles to achieving a full education for all is changing traditional attitudes amongst a population that is still predominantly rural. Pace of change in rural areas is slow as the infrastructure to implement it doesn’t exist. Case in point is Hamida Shokat School near Gujranwala where Sarwat Ali is bringing change through the availability of a further education for girls and changing attitudes through a youth group.

The girls all stared expectantly at me as I stood at the head of the class ready to give a presentation on the ride. The teachers all huddled in the corner nervously grinning and wondering what I was going to do. This is always my favourite part. To see the apprehension at the start of a visit dissolve to laughter when I leave; and this visit was no exception. Like all students in difficult learning conditions these girls made the most of the opportunity they had. When I asked them about what they wanted to do when they were older, I got the standard answers of teacher, doctor etc. Yet this time one or two different answers cropped up advocate, actor. The girls were outspoken and shyly confident.

Learning Environment

The teachers told me that the current school building was eight years old and that renovations were underway (workmen were adding an overdue toilet facility as we arrived). The boy’s school next door had also been completely rebuilt - albeit before the girls! However, their school was located in a busy part of town in which the girls said they didn’t feel secure. Local youths come at night to smash the place up for fun and as usual local education loses out. One of the main problems that bothered the teachers the most, aside from the low pay (5-6000 Rs per month), was the lack of teacher training refresher courses. They did everything they could to help the students given what they had.

Without exception, all the teachers here were proud of teaching the kids as their own as a “duty of responsibility as these kids are the future of Pakistan .” I had to admire their determination. What frustrated them the most was the lack of facilities available. This school had bars for windows, open air classrooms and crumbling concrete walls. It was more like a prison. Yet this is what the girls managed with and they had to.

Closer to home

Girls in Pakistan have other problems closer to home to worry about. Most people tell me that in rural Pakistan , it is the present generation of mothers who are most resistant to their daughter having an education. Fathers often want their daughters to have a good life. It is going to take a concerted national effort by the Government to not only rebuild their educational infrastructure but to change people’s attitudes as well.

NEEDS: Verokey Public Girls School needs everything from new blackboards to classroom furniture and classrooms. It was a sorry building for the girls to learn in. However they made do and their attitude and the determination of their teachers still shone a ray of hope on the future of Pakistan.

CONTACT:

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