Child Labor and Deprivation of Children from Basic Education

Pakistan’s deteriorating socio economic condition coerces the underprivileged and lower income families to make their children work at a very early age due to which they stay deprived from basic education. It is very disheartening to see many children on the streets looking at the other children in school vans, with regret of not being able to go to school in their eyes.

These ill-fated children have this silent wish in their hearts to play cricket with the other children together in an educational institution, but the poor financial condition of their families keeps them distant from their innocent dream. Some of them are made to work consistently for entire day. When asked, parents of such children have just one thing to say i.e. they are left with no choice. Due to the rising rate of inflation they have no option, but send their children to contribute in earning for the family. They have this in their mind that, if they send their children to school then the rest of the family members would suffer because of that.

Most of these children work in workshops, as barbers, waiters, etc. Many of them work in factories for entire day due to which they suffer from various health problems as well like abnormality in their spinal column and vision problems.

Three years ago Punjab government came up with the campaign launched by them in which their major goal was to provide admissions to all the street children present in the province, ranging in the age group between five to nine years. In this campaign the schoolteachers were supposed to visit the children and the poor families residing nearby the school and convince the parents to send their children to school near their house and the government would take care of the provision of books, uniforms and stationeries for the children. This campaign failed to be executed as most of the children did not show up in schools.

According to the Executive District Officer (education) Qazi Zahoorul Haq  for this year their provincial government has been allocated this target in which they will have to enroll at least 12,000 children overall, so far 25% of the target has been achieved till April. Efforts are still being made to achieve the remaining target by the end of 2014.

Recently the former MNA and PML-N leader Malik Shakil Awan initiated a survey in his district in which data was collected regarding the children who were deprived of basic school education. After the completion of this survey the PML-N leaders would be asked to visit the parents of such children and would try to convince them to send children to school.

It is high time for the governmental authorities to endeavor to save the future of Pakistan and cease it from getting ruined in the form of child labor and street children.

Protection of Child Rights in Context to Education in Pakistan

The major reason behind the economic backwardness of Pakistan is that despite adequate efforts, Pakistani government still fails when it comes to promising increase in the level of literacy and the provision of proper education across the country. This lack of education and awareness is also supposedly the major reason behind the escalating violence within the country and is intimidating Pakistan’s peace and progress.

Although mostly the educated sector of the society is expected to make efforts in carrying out the movements for the improvisation of the educational system of the country but, this problem can be eradicated from the society by just extensively addressing and creating awareness about it amongst the people to create a positive impact on some extent.

In context to the educational system, there is one thing that is common between India and Pakistan’s history, i.e. the approval of Right to Education (RTE) Acts in Pakistan in 2012, followed by in India in 2009. On comparison, one would find out that although Pakistan’s model has a lot of points exactly the same as those present in India’s model, but still Pakistan’s version is still much better and has less flaws than India.  

In this article, the major focus is on the height of power and strength the authoritative body of the educational sector of the country must have. In India, the government had apparently given authority to the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) but, there still are some rules it is coerced to practice according to which this act has no appropriate control over the relevant governmental departments and cannot practice its rights quickly. 

On the contrary, Pakistan’s legislative authority comes with the Education Advisory Council whose main purpose is to keep a check and balance and also acknowledge the government on various requirements of the educational sector. Its responsibilities also include that they should make efforts to make sure that every child in the country attends the school. 

In the upcoming years, it is expected that those who have the charge of setting up rules for Education Advisory Council of Pakistan in their hands, will come up with a stronger vision for the better education system and also for the sake of effective education for the underprivileged children.

NGOs Joining Hands To Promote Education In Pakistan

Education is very essential for the progress of any country. It not only just frames up the mind of the countrymen, but also provides them with ultimate direction about how they can pursue their life efficiently. Education not only just mobilizes a particular nation; it is also a trigger for the society's appropriate socio-economic development.

Every nation that invested in the improvisation of its educational system has enjoyed fruitful results later. It is a very saddening fact that Pakistan even till today, lacks behind in the universalization of its basic educational system. The factors that happen to be the biggest barriers in the progress of educational system of this country are the cultural, economic as well as the political factors. Since government alone cannot handle such extensive pressure, many non-profit organizations have emerged, specifically the civil society to, in collaboration with the government, promote education in Pakistan.

Recently, a goal has been set by the National Education Policy 2009 to escalate Pakistan’s literacy rate up to 86%. They want the concerned authorities to achieve this target till 2015. The government of Pakistan with the help of NGOs is primarily focusing on the rural areas where due to lack of awareness and gender inequity a lot of people are deprived of education.

The latest researches have revealed that the stupendous efforts made by the government of Pakistan with the NGOs are successful and educational sector within Pakistan is improving a lot.

Though there are still many flaws that prevail in the schools initiated by the NGOs. Despite the provision of free education and books to the underprivileged children many NGO official and teachers complain that the furniture being used within the schools and sometimes the buildings also are in ultimate bad shape and do not fit up to the standard of education they are aiming to provide.

Since the students who are being provided the educational services by the NGOs usually include the underprivileged and the poor families of the country, incentives should be provided to them to encourage them to enroll their children to such schools for the better future of their children.

Government also needs to financially support the NGOs so that they can provide wages good enough to drag talented individuals to join teaching profession. This way the quality of education would also get better.

Traits Of A Good Teacher

Teaching is undoubtedly a very noble profession indeed. A teacher ranks on the third position in a person’s life right after parents. If a person is learning under the surveillance of a good teacher who has all the appropriate attributes of being an ideal, then that person is more likely anticipated to become a better individual in the future.

These days teachers are quite talented, but there are some areas where they, despite of having talent, lack behind.  There are many teachers who are unable to clearly explain a particular topic to their class. Many of them lack patience when it comes to dealing with the students. It is also observed that sometimes teachers become so lenient that students start taking them for granted. What they need to do is to meticulously give a thought over how exactly they can improvise their skills to escalate their performance level in front of their class. 

Teachers must evaluate themselves as whether they really have what it takes to frame a mind of a student into that of a responsible, active and hard-working citizen or they don’t. If the answer is no, then quitting is absolutely not an option, there is always a room for improvement in everyone.

In many schools, it is seen that those teachers who are too lenient with their students forget to make students pay respect to them. In a recent survey, it is observed that almost 80% students of every class do not respect their teachers. The reason behind their reckless behavior is that the teachers are either not well educated and even if they have adequate education, they fail to have polished teaching skills. They just enter into their respective classroom, pick up a piece of chalk and start writing on the board. The careless delivery of lectures remains their only concern and when they finish doing that, they leave the class right away. They don’t pay any heed over how their pupils are behaving within the class. This situation increases the disturbance and also negatively influences the learning atmosphere of the entire classroom. What such teachers forget is that the purpose of teaching is not just to deliver a particular lecture, but it is also their responsibility to make sure that every single student comprehends that topic they are teaching.

It should be a major concern of every teacher to inculcate moral values in students. They must be strictly acknowledged about what exactly comes within the confines of right and wrong. If a teacher is educated, then students not only listen to him, but also obey him throughout. A teacher must have all those qualities in himself, which he wishes to see in his student, to make him a proper and educated person.

Students these days usually prefer those teachers who are aware of the tactics practiced in modern teaching methodology, over those who stick to the old teaching principles and methods. The gist of their lectures should be creativity and observation. Students always enjoy in a motivating and learning atmosphere so teachers should create an engaging environment for them, where they do not only study, but enjoy in the class activities as well.