Dismal Situation of Education in Pakistan

I was surrounded by young children bare foot and half naked. Their eyes were questioning about future as their infant hands were still covered with grease. This was Sialkot, an industrial city of Pakistan which exports surgical instruments and sports goods to Europe. More than seventy percent of labor employed here are children aging 7 to 15years.

Even after sanctions placed on import of Pakistani footballs by European nation due to this reason, Pakistani government had done  little to resolve the issue. Questioning why these children are employed here, a local merchant told that this abundant labor costs cheaper whereby reduce their production cost. But when asked about their future he remained silent.

Child labor is a menace in our society that drags our nation’s future into darkness. Not only in Sialkot but from the ports of Gwadar to the teams leading expeditions to virgin glaciers up north, children are used as cheap labor throughout Pakistan.

What I observed during my three day stay in Sialkot was that the society is immensely dispersed in two Socio-economic classes: The rich merchants and the poor worker. Where industrialists are so rich that they construct an airport from their private funds, workers struggle whole day long for two time meals.  Much like what London was during industrial revolution : factories are practicing little labor laws and workers work up to 12 hours a day.

The children belonging to elite families take little interest in studies but they are sent to private schools by their parents. Some are lucky enough to graduate while majority joins their family business even before completion of matric. Those belonging to working family can’t afford education. Moreover, parents (who themselves are illiterate) finds education less important and encourage their children to find work.

During my stay, I was lucky enough to visit a local school. Different advertisements were pasted on wall outside and the gate was almost non-existent. I dwindled through the gate and walked down the corridor. Children were learning by rote and teachers were paying little attention to each individual. The funds provided to this institution were barely enough to pay of staff salary, and the staff employed was without any specific quality standard.

There is a little incentive provided by government to encourage these children to come to school. Although some private NGO’s work over the case and give each coming student some monetary benefit for each hour of stay but such campaigns need to be launched on massive scale. Furthermore, the labor laws should be tightened and factories must be inspected regularly to check if they are implementing these laws. Parents must be encouraged to send their children to schools and funds provided to this education must drastically increase.

Although there were efforts done to restore worsening education situation of Pakistan during Bhutto’s regime, since then no serious effort has been made by the federal government over the issue. If the education is not standardized and child labor not curtailed, the nation would suffer enormously in future.