CGS: High School Education in South Asia

Monday, June 27, 2005 marked the beginning of a professional development course called The Life of Kids Around the World by Center for Global Studies that I had heard about through a listserv. The program on global education lasted a week at the University of Illinois.

I was quite happy to find my first readings in my thick 3-ring binder to be on Pakistan: Private Universities in Pakistan by Robert Sedgwick and The State of Education in PAKISTAN 2003-04 by the Policy and Planning Wing of the Ministry of Education of Pakistan . Also included in the day’s reading were South Asian Emerges as Anti-Education Zone by Ranjit Dev Raj, The Seven Lives of the Madrassah by Nazeer Ahmed, Pioneering Support for Girls Secondary Education: The Bangladesh Female Secondary School Assistance Project, and Bharat Shiksha Kosh’s report on the Education Structure in India.

I read the statistics on Pakistan with unusual relish – because I was excited to enter the conference and its first workshop on the subject of my future home. I know that these statistics do not paint the whole picture, or even the average student at ISOI, but a glimpse of this region in the American absence of readily available, quality information is pleasing to me.

The first speaker of the weeklong course on global education was Irfan S. Ahmed of the University of Illinois who spoke about High School Education in South Asia to a group of teachers hosted by the Center for Global Studies. Mr. Ahmed is a scientist, assistant director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, and Pakistani citizen. His powerpoint presentation covered so many aspects of education in South Asia, with a case study on Pakistan. I took rough notes on my computer to catch the essence of this region of the world; I was hungry for information and was fed over three hours.

My brief impression of his presentation was that there were organized education systems throughout the region. These systems are active engaged in improving on broad measures of education with mixed results. South Asia is both highly populated and developing; poverty and illiteracy are taking a toll on many parts of the region.

In a case study of Pakistan, there are madrassah for the poor, public schools for the commoner, and private schools for the elite. He described the average day of a high school student as:

•5AM Wake up and pray
•6:00 Take breakfast- milk, bread, and egg
•7:00 Wear school uniform
•7:15 Walk or take an overcrowded bus to school
•8:00 Bell Rings, mostly have assembly and sing national anthem and a prayer
•8-10 Various classes*
•10- break
•10:10 to 12 Classes
•12 Lunch Break
•12:30 to 2PM Classes and PE
•2:15PM Walk in scorching heat or wait for bus (sometimes wait can be up to 30mins or more)
* actual schedule may vary from school to school

The formal education system (public and private schools) in Pakistan is similar to the U.S. system with elementary, middle, and high school - but the last two years of high school are considered higher secondary school and are college preparatory. Subsequently, the bachelor's degree is reduced from four years to two years in many cases; masters and doctoral degrees can be earned "faster" in this way. I consider madaris (pl. of madrassah) to be informal education, but students can still continue on to a post-secondary degree.

The madrassah provide an education, and often room and board, for free. According to the presentation, madaris are defined as any schools taught in Arabic (or Urdu). These schools are known for their religious education, which even has about 1/3 of students memorizing and reciting verses from the Qur’an even before they can understand the Arabic.

Dr. Ahmed concluded by giving exchange suggestions to this group of teachers to be conducted with overseas schools. Many cities have sister cities in the world; why not have your school adopt another school. There could be exchanges of ideas and resources, like school supplies and cultural artifacts. While students could physically travel to their adopted school, they could also have a corresponding discussion of the best way to spend the cost of a soda drink. I liked the idea of establishing a joint website – since many other schools lack the training or infrastructure to do so independently. Let’s promote communication across borders.

*** Update ***

Dr. Ahmed has contacted me about setting up an exchange:
“Once, you settle down in Islamabad, one of the things, I am proposing is to initiate a collaboration and exchange visits with the University Laboratory High School http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/and with your school in Islamabad, which in turn, should be tied to a remote school nearIslamabad (say Nila Dullah High School, near Chakwal, about 90 miles south west of Islamabad).”

For me, this is another opportunity to fulfill the third goal of Peace Corps – which is essentially to teach about other people to Americans at home.