Saturday, July 31, 2010

Give Pakistan a fresh image ...Change YOURSELF !!!

Pakistan needs a fresh & revived image … and who can produce it ? Only its people..
My visit to Pakistan after 3 years gave me a lot to think. While there has been maasive physical development in infrastructure and technology during this period, it is easy to see a major shift in urban thinking ..
People, in general, seem to be more knowledgeable, but less willing to get up and do something. They are more energetic but dont know where to utilize their talent. We are more aware but have become very fond of talking, long discussions and debates, still while being seated.
We have a good system of interactive media but are now used to just shrugging our shoulders for whatever is happening as if its not our concern. Most of the people keep bragging about their resources (obviously limited) in a way as they hold the keys to strong rooms of a few banks.
Fake degrees scandals have brought a confusion among the genuine graduates as, if anybody even relies on their abilities now.
We also need to look into a large number of educated female population, while they just spend their time at home, watching TV dramas and movies & waiting for the maids to come and do the daily chores for a meager wage.
Then, there are children, who are sent to expensive schools only to pass written exams and no practical training for tomorrow’s competitive world.
On the other hand, there are friends and relatives, who expect great spending on the parties, one is going to throw, on the occasions like marriages, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, etc.
Then, there this lifestyle thing comes…One feels the need to show off their “status” to fit in this scenario.


Who will START ?
Remember, its not only us in Pakistan, who have such problems, but we need to be very quick to address them
It sounds so weird if someone even utters anything against all these traditions, which have crept in our society… but now seems a right time to do that as we are close to our National Day on 14 August 2010 !!! Its time when we really should look back and learn what have we earned and lost.


We need to stop for a while.. and see, where are we going? Who are we fooling? Who are we going to impress and who is actually being impressed ?
Its us, who have to live here and prosper. Its us who have to make the best use of our time to do something fruitful and positive for ourselves and others. This is the only way we can help  unhappy, unwell, frightened, confused, and totally frustrated  beings in our society.

Its time to change ourselves…

Men, women, children, educated, illiterate, working, non-working..no matter whosoever is there ...
Just start doing something productive, without wasting the time, the best natural gift to us.
We are a nation with one of the largest human potential, yet we remain dull and backward… I know, such things have been said to previous generations too and now they have grown old.. and things forgotten.. Do we want to be like them?
We need to be different.. and that’s where we will be so… OUR THINKING !!!

 Be Positive.. Be Green.. Pakistan Zindabad !!!





Saturday, July 24, 2010

پیغام ~ [ MESSAGE]

 [A Poem written by me a decade ago.. seems true today too]


یہ ویران پتھرائی ہوئی آنکھوں میں


... مایوسیوں کے بوسیدہ پھول


....یہ سناٹے ، یہ آہیں ، یہ سسکیاں


... یہ سلے ہوئے لب


... نہیں ہے جن میں کچھ تاب بیاں


... یہ کچھ پیغام دیتے ہیں


... ... کسی کا لال تھا یا کسی کی آنکھ کا تارا


... کسی کی ساری امیدوں کا مرکز


... کسی کی زیست کا واحد سہارا


...یہ قدم قدم پہ بے سر و سامان


، بکھری ہوئی، خون آلود انسانی جان


...یہ بھی کچھ پیغام دیتی ہے


... کسی مغموم لہجے میں


.. کرب سے بوجھل، کانپتے ہوئے زرد ہونٹوں سے


..یہ سوال کرتی ہے


... آخر یہ سب کب تک ؟


.... یہ کہتی ہے ، اٹھو


.. بازی گروں کے سجاۓ ہوئے تماشے


... حقیقت کی نظر سے پہچانو


.. کہ ان کے اندر بھید بہت گہرے ہیں


.. یہ کہتی ہے


... چمکتے آئینوں کے خو ل سے نکلو


... کہ آئینے منزل کا پتہ نہیں دیتے ...

Monday, July 5, 2010

The Dilemma of Education

It is irony of the fact that still some people underestimate the importance of education in our society. Even till the end of 20th century, our political slogans only depicted all the other basic needs but hardly anyone talked about educating people. However, there has been a change in mindset as this issue has been brought forward, thanks to the widespread use of media and communication.

Present Scenario:
The problem arises when we see various systems prevailing in Pakistani educational institutions. We have:
1. Public / Government schools (all provinces having their own set syllabi and books)
2. Private schools ( comprising the teaching of Government syllabi / private boards / foreign boards/ some incorporate Hifz Quran in their curriculum )
3. Religious institutions (mostly covering memorizing Quran/ some also follow government approved syllabi )


Lets see what they have to offer :


1. PUBLIC SCHOOLS :


These schools have been monitored and administered by Ministries / Directorates of Education. They have their boards comprising a panel of highly qualified educationists, who usually select the curriculum according to the requirements and traditions of diversified Pakistani society including urban and rural areas. They curriculum includes National as well as at least one regional language.


2. PRIVATE SCHOOLS :


Majority of these schools were established during the privatization drive of the government in early 80s. They are divided into two groups : Pakistani Curriculum (leading to Matric/ SSC ) and UK/ US Curriculum (leading to British O Level or American International Baccalaureate). Many schools opted for foreign educational syllabi, like Cambridge / Oxford or American High School Diploma. The main reason to choose such systems was to avoid the regular inspections by government authorities, as these schools did not come under their jurisdiction. These schools have their syllabi, subjects, content,book s and even teaching methodologies approved by foreign boards. Urdu is taught but not as a core subject, with main emphasis on simple write ups and translation into English and vice-versa. You will hardly find any regional language being taught in these schools.


3. RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS :


These Islamic seminaries teach mostly Islamic subjects leading to graduation as a cleric (called maulvi, maulana or mulla) in Pakistan. There are five major governing bodies of Madrassas in Pakistan. Tanzim-ul-Madaras (Barelwi), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Deobandi), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Shia), Wafaq-ul-Madaras (Ahle Hadith) and Rabita-ul-Madaris (Jamaat-e-Islami) . A 2008 estimate puts this figure at over 40,000 out of which most cater to the dominant Sunni sect. There are, however, some madrassas for the minority (estimated at from 14 to 20 per cent) Shias.
Their students read accessible books in Urdu as part of comparative religion or training in the beliefs of their sub-sects (maslak). These texts are taught in a rational manner in order to promote reasoning among students and to understand the logics of differences and similarities. This process results in sectarian harmony. Similarly, students are taught about Western ideologies—capitalism, individualism, freedom, feminism, socialism, democracy, human rights—in lessons in order to understand heresy and dangers propagated by the western world.


Future Scenario ?

Now, in near future, our society is going to face a major change as we will see these different groups of educated people entering job market, administration and politics.


The social divide between these various systems of education is easily understandable. A student from his early years till attaining youth, is surrounded by a specifically modified environment. The students have hardly any idea that there exist some parallel educational systems, to which they will be exposed after the completion of their own course. Each student thinks very highly of his own way of education, as they put in hard and serious efforts to study and pass their exams.


This raises the question that who is going to keep a balance in the future set up of our society. Does it call for a “QUOTA” system for all these segments of our educational scenario. Are we inviting another conflict of biased selections of the administrators of this country? Will we need another BOARD to settle such matters as how many will be taken from PRIVATE / PUBLIC & RELIGIOUS SCHOOL SYSTEMS? And finally, who will decide the quality of education being imparted therein at large.


 Hopefully, some light can be thrown on this important issue of our future generations. We need authorities comprising educators, having full background knowledge of these local & foreign educational systems, having the capability of incorporating the graduates stepping out of them, in various spheres of society.
Do we have such professionals available? Has anyone thought about integrating this diversification into one whole grand educational structure? … We will certainly need this structure in near future.