The
issue of expensive schooling in Pakistan and connected disparities came up
during a discussion with a friend who is a young mother of two. It was noted
that one of the schools she had been exploring to put her child in was charging
about a colossal Rs. 20,000 a month for preschool classes. The harshness of the
state of affairs hit us as we went on talking about how that is more than what
a large population of Pakistan earns. The analysis grew grimmer as we went on
applying the parameter to people who apparently earn better. To our sad realization, the quality of life
of a parent at a middle income level is likely to drop drastically just by
admitting a child in a ‘good’ school. The discussion diffused at the ways a
salaried person can try and economize their children’s education by either
homeschooling or may be sending them to the government schools with
inconsistent qualities of education and may be compensate for the rest at home.
For
me, the thought process did not end there, as I ended up compulsively reading
about the practicability and prospects of these actions, especially
homeschooling. I was also driven by the curiosity as to what other researchers
and writers have to say about the economic and social aspects of education in
general. The findings were interesting as they were grave.
Perhaps
the best way to give my account on the matter would be to being with Mr. John
Caldwell Holt views on modern schooling. Mr. Holt, American author and
educator, was a staunch advocate of homeschooling
or unschooling,
and is believed to be one of the pioneers of youth rights theory. Of more
relevance to this account is his former portfolio. Holts advocacy of
unschooling was driven by his thoughts like “ it’s a nutty notion that we can
have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of
life." and “most of what I know I did not learn in school, and indeed was
not even 'taught.’”
In
the context of education, it is important to discriminate between “teaching”
and “educating”. Most of the schools claiming to provide quality education and
merely teaching, and the children at the receiving end are made to learn and
absorb what is taught to them and nothing beyond. Those who are not able to mould into the
strongly defined hard bound curricula of the schools are perceived to be dull
and ill-fitted for the society. The limits are set to the capabilities of even
the ones who do well.
While
it would be unjust to portray the situation as all bleak, generally the schools
have been but able to produce conforming masses creating an overly homogeneous
society, that lacks creativity and out of box thinking. Most of these lack the
capacity of doing things on their own and at best become good employees, good
conforming employees. A quick glance at the most successful ventures gone big
shows they are run by college drop-outs and non conformists. This is not to
undermine the importance of education, but to underscore the need to think of
better measures and alternate means for improving the outreach and depth of the
education.
Issues
like language barriers, inconsistencies and redundancies in teaching techniques
and curriculum, and different classes and classifications of schooling are just
a few that make alternate teaching systems indispensable. On many occasions,
the teachers themselves lack necessary expertise, training and even knowledge.
A product of government schools myself, I recall contesting, with all due
respect, the English teacher’s point that Christmas eve is on 24th
December, as opposed to her unshakable belief that it is on 25th December.
Sure as I was, upon insistence the
fifteen year old me was snidely told that my mother-in-law would not stand such
attitude. The learning of other subjects each offered yet other challenges. I
remember preparing two-fold for that matriculation exam, the set of answers my
teachers wanted, and a set of right answers I would be writing in the board
exams.
Then
there are a number of well-known private schools, whose sole aim is making
money. Their industrial approach spreads from making pretentious yearbooks with
accounts of joys of learning in the best educational environment. In the
audacious race of good grades, they would go to the extent of uprooting the meritorious
students from other schools. Not to mention, falsely convincing the unassuming
parents to opt and pay big fees of Oxford and Cambridge education when they are
barely managing in the local education stream.
Based
on various unpleasant experiences, realizations and re-evaluations, an unrest
and weariness towards prevalent schooling is slowly growing among some devoted
parents. They are generally dissatisfied for the reasons enlisted earlier, as
well as for the reason that they are not generally satisfied with the set
spectrum of subjects taught in the curriculum. Their concerns are valid for the
reason that the early years of a child’s life are most pivotal in determining
their outlook towards life, attitudes towards learning and perceiving things,
and shaping their personalities.
An
understandable concern in this regard that is naturally going to arise in any
reader’s mind is the very ‘qualification’ of the parents. Generally the parents
that struggle to not conform to the set educational standards and practices are
at least as qualified as any teacher in the schools, and at times even more due
to the transcendence needed to fight the clichés and aptitude for research. The
only issue is that of facilitation and training. After necessary scrutiny by a
panel, licenses may be issued to such parents for homeschooling their children.
Many western countries have successfully managed to incorporate homeschooling
in their education systems. There is no reason we cannot.
There
is no denying the fact that it would take a lot of commitment, time, devotion
and ‘running an extra mile’ for them to
transcend the very system most have them have been a part of. Assuming that a
parent has overcome all hurdles vis-à-vis meeting the education requirements,
they’d still need necessary policy measures whereby the children could be
evaluated outside the conventional education systems for them to acquire
necessary certifications they’d need for college admissions and employment.
Breaking the clichés is easier than breaking traditions, what might get
children through school might not get them through college and industry
requirements, without necessary modifications in the existing policies. In
order to facilitate if not encourage the idea of homeschooling, the boards and
universities should be mandated to create necessary provisions for
homeschooling, with due consideration towards curriculum development and
evaluation processes. The homeschooling parents who would be able to meet all
the necessary requirements would eventually want their children to be absorbed
in the society as its useful members.
This
debate may seem rather farcical in a country where basic education itself is a
privilege many do not get. But amidst measures to improve the figures of
numbers of school and enrollment, due thoughts may also be given to making room
for alternative education systems, where parents are able to customize their
children’s education needs based on their best knowledge of the children’s
aptitude and their own standards of religion, society and the world itself. Many
of us would still opt for schooling, the kind they can afford, and it’s
alright. Not all children do badly in school systems. Nevertheless, for the
children with special needs, those with social anxieties and are unable to fit
well among the school crowds, homeschooling could offer a good education
system.
We
do not need only conforming employees for various institutions; we also need
sound decision makers and free thinkers. No matter how much in control of the
state of affairs we consider ourselves, we would need to give the reigns of the
future to the youth. The question is, ‘are we doing our best to help prepare
them for it’. A reasonable approach to their education could answer that
question.
