Balochistan looks for “Child-Friendly Schools”

By:  Sana Samad  
There is no doubt that education is the most important source for getting development and teachers are the backbone of progressing education in any nation. The foremost responsibilities of the teachers are to create creative students, train them for the upcoming generation and make them the individuals and protectors of the nation. Unfortunately, the education system in our country is divided into two different classes including lower and upper classes which are not good for our country. 

The lower status schools are called governmental schools and being facilitated by the government. Still the government is not giving any purity to the lower schools and these schools are present across the country including provinces, districts, sub-districts towns and villages. These schools are having several problems. The teachers are not willing to attend the classes and many of schools are called ghost schools. If teachers are present then there is lack of qualified teachers. The untrained teachers lack professional knowhow.

The upper classes are called the private schools in the country. These schools are run by private organizations and they are very expensive.  But the education system in private schools is much better as compared to the governmental schools. They are paying full attention to the students. The teachers never do absentee and give full times to each student and they know how to convince them. If we talk about power then government is very much powerful even can close the private schools, but government is not willing to create an educational environment in the schools. The private schools are always ready to have individuals of their own.  

The Ministry of Education Statistics estimated that around 32.7 percent of the government schools are lacking boundary walls, 33.6 percent are suffering from drinking water, 36 had no toilets and 60 percent of the schools are without electricity. The responsibility goes to the Ministry of Education to provide these facilities but in spite of knowing these all problems, nothing is being done. Due to these problems, students disagree to be enrolled in education. The rich people send their children into private schools and poor are deprived of education just due to worst behavior and attitudes of the teachers. 

Violence in government schools of Pakistan has taken a horrible shape. The teachers do not have tolerance and they mostly punish the students without any reason. The teachers are just following their own laws and rules, and they are not serious in their teaching and they prefer corporal punishment which is called a serious violation of human rights. The practice of corporal punishment has been focused by different children rights activists and they have explained that corporal punishment cause physical and mental abuse. According to the Human Rights of Pakistan, every year more than 35,000 high schools pupils are dropped out from schools because they have been punished or abused in schools. Around 47 countries have banned corporal punishment in their schools to protect the children but our government is not willing to take any serious action against it. 

Corporal punishment is a crime which is against the rights of children and those students who are willing to read in governmental schools. Last year, the Pakistan government took an action to resolve this problem as the corporal punishment Bill 2016 was launched and prepared for the teachers who would be consider a criminal by trying the corporal punishment in the school. The bill is not being followed by the teachers as they have created their own rules in schools. 

This is the right time for the government to take serious actions against these teachers who apply corporal punishment in the schools. The well qualified teachers should be brought in the schools that can create friendly learning atmosphere. 

Published in The Balochistan Point on March 12, 2017