What's new

School first, fish later: Little fishermen now getting an education

ajtr

BANNED
May 25, 2010
9,357
0
7,799
School first, fish later: Little fishermen now getting an education


Education-Photo-Athar-Khan-Express-640x480.jpg

KARACHI: You know something is afoot when a madrassa shuts its morning shift to allow its students to attend the new school that has opened in the neighbourhood. But this is exactly what Qari Ahmed Raza did to make way for the Dawood Usman Goth Primary School in Rehri Goth, Bin Qasim Town.
“Most people in the area believed Nazrah and Islamiat was enough for their children,” he says. “I shut down the morning shift because I believe students should be educated so that they can excel in life.”
And while the foundation that funds the madrassa stopped its support, Qari Raza feels he has done the right thing. He’s noticed that the children are more polite now and want to dress up properly.
The school has been adopted by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and Indus Resource Centre (IRC) who fixed up its skeletal frame and opened it six months ago. According to PPAF education project manager Bilal Hasan, they received an overwhelming response. The sheer number of Montessori enrollments indicates that parents are making the right choice.
“The school was not functional ever since it was set up in 1992,” he says. “There was only one room and the teacher who was posted here would be absent most of the time.” According to its records, only 40 children had enrolled and none of them had progressed beyond the fifth grade.
Amir, along with 173 other poor children, can now march to school every day in Rehri Goth, a small fishing village, where boys are expected to set out to sea with their fathers at a young age.
Principal Abida Mehmood says the residents were so encouraging that she started a remedial class for girls who have missed out on their primary education. Thirty-six girls are enrolled in the six-month programme today. “Getting the older boys to come is difficult,” she says, though. “Most of them start going out to sea during the fishing season and lose interest in their studies at an early age.” It is either school or earning up to Rs1,000 a day catching crabs.
Tasneem, who has three children studying at Dawood Usman, says she is happy with the opportunity. Her husband has also been telling their daughter to keep it up and they even hope she can pursue higher studies as well.
The school has not just tackled education, teachers have been tackling the children’s gutka addiction.
Even the Montessori students found it difficult to quit. But one summer camp, the school roped in students and parents to warn them about its dangers and now they keep a check on all students.
The project has gone so well that the IRC has acquired another ghost school right across Dawood Usman and is planning to open a secondary campus by April. Remedial classes for boys will be housed in the building for seniors then. Space is an issue for now as Dawood Usman’s second, third and fifth classes all sit together in one room. Irfan Ali who teaches all three, says a lack of space has forced the administration to cram the students together in one room. He divides the blackboard into three parts and teaches each grade individually. There is currently no fourth grade, however. None of the students qualified for it when they took the admissions test.
For now the syllabus consists of English, Sindhi, Urdu, General Knowledge and Math but the teachers and administration hope to open a college section soon.
And if the drop-out rate stays low, its is likely the students of today will be taking college Mathematics tomorrow.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2011.
 
Sitting out fifth grade


Student-640x480.jpg


SIALKOT: Over 15,000 students in the Sialkot division have been unable to appear in the fifth grade board examination because they were not issued their roll number slips in time.
On Tuesday afternoon, parents of thousands of students protested outside the offices of the Sialkot EDO (Education). Fifth grade examinations have commenced all over the province and thousands of students have been unable to sit their exams this year. “We have been complaining to the Education Department for over a month because of issues with the registration but nothing was done,” said Razia Farooq’s mother Naila. The new registration involves downloading the forms and processing them online and there have been repeated issues with the Education Department’s server.
Residents said that the Sialkot Education Department needed to be held accountable for the fact that over 15,000 students were not issued roll number slips for this year’s exams. “These students might miss an entire year of schooling because of computer glitches and delays and no one seems to care enough to do something,” said government school teacher Kashif.
Parents of several fifth graders complained that even students who were allowed to sit their exams faced a lot of problems. “The exam papers arrived three hours late and students remained locked in the examination hall for hours,” said fifth grade student Liaqat’s father Rahman Qamar. Parents said that many exam centres did not even have furniture or stationary and students were forced to sit on the floors or outside in the sun. “If anything, these exams should make the education department improve services for students but things are only getting worse,” said a government girls’ school teacher Sadaf.
Over a thousand protesters gathered outside the EDO education’s office on Tuesday and protested for several hours. “While our children were waiting to get their exam papers in the hall, we have decided to protest to make the authorities take action,” Qamar said.
The EDO’s office refused to comment on the situation and Education Department officials have previously stated that the new online system is being implemented throughout the province. Earlier in the year, parents protested about registering their children online and Education Department officials clarified that several glitches in the online database were being repaired. “We have been hearing about the repairs for nearly a month now but it isn’t making any difference. I understand that the new system will take time but that doesn’t mean that my children shouldn’t get into school,” said Fatima Sultan’s mother Iraj.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2011.
 
High achievers: On top of the (Cambridge) world


graph-design-samad-siddiqui-640x480.jpg


KARACHI: “Are you sure it’s ‘in the world’?” asked Meiryum Mohammad Ali of the Karachi Grammar School after every five minutes. She topped in the world in mathematics in her O’ Level exam and she could not believe it. Her parents could not either. “They kept saying, ‘What, what, what?’ when I told them,” she said.
The University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) announced on Monday the winners of the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards of secondary school learners in Pakistan for the June 2010 Cambridge examinations. Around 250 learners will receive awards for an exceptional performance in the examinations, according to a CIE press release. Fifty-three students achieved the highest marks in the world, while 48 attained the highest marks in Pakistan in a single subject.
Learners who have achieved the highest cumulative total of marks across a number of subjects will also be recognised. These students outperformed thousands of candidates worldwide who sat the Cambridge O level, IGCSE, AS and A’ Level exams.
Abdul Rafey Siddiqui of St Patrick’s High School topped in the world in O’ Level statistics. He has started making a list of things he is going to ask his parents as his reward. “This year’s paper was not easy and quite confusing. But when I completed it, I could not spot many mistakes,” said Rafey, breathless with excitement. “But I had never expected a distinction!” The “quiet nerd of his class” is also a scrabble and chess champ and is also known to have the best finish in football, said one of Rafey’s classmates.
Unlike the all-star Rafey, Husnain Habib Malik was surprised to know he had topped in A’ Level history as he considered himself an average student. He modestly passed on the credit to his teachers. “It all goes to say that my teachers taught me really well. Kudos to them!”
Meanwhile, Zain Umar thought it was all a prank. A Nixor College student, Zain came second place for having the best score in five A’ Level subjects. His parents dismissed the news and simply stared at him, confused, as they were not used to their son being a high achiever. “I wish the results had been announced a few weeks earlier because I just sent all my college applications – and this really would’ve really helped,” regretted Zain.
William Bickerdike, Cambridge’s regional manager for Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan said in a press release, “I am very proud to congratulate learners across the country. The results are a reflection of the enormous talent in Pakistan, not only amongst the learners but also within the teaching profession.” He told The Express Tribune via email later that Pakistani students have been consistent high achievers. “This year, students from Pakistan have scored the highest marks in the world in no less than 26 different syllabi, demonstrating mastery not only in popular subjects but also in subjects that are less widely taken, like psychology, sociology, law and thinking skills.”
Karachi Grammar School (KGS) has been the most consistent high-achieving school in Karachi, bagging the top positions every year. But some lesser known schools now entering the list of high achievers: Sargodhian Spirit Trust Public School, Rashidabad and Bahria School. However, St Patrick’s High and St Joseph’s Convent saw a decline in high achievers this year as compared to their previous years of glory.
After KGS, the relatively new Nixor College also grabbed a number of top positions in A’ Levels. Nadeem Ghani, the Nixor College Dean, said while he believes that there is no such thing as competition among schools, he does feel proud of his students for achieving the top positions without tuitions.
Meanwhile, some educationists stressed that achieving the highest in the world rank was only part of the picture. Happy Home School principal Ghazala Nizami said, “Even if we don’t have the tops any year, we have really good results overall.” However, the top position is a motivation, not just for the students but for teachers too, she added.
(Disclaimer: Meiryum Mohammad Ali is a columnist for The Express Tribune. She writes Khayaban-e-Nowhere each Sunday.)
Published in The Express Tribune, February 1st, 2011.
 
School first, fish later: Little fishermen now getting an education


Education-Photo-Athar-Khan-Express-640x480.jpg

KARACHI: You know something is afoot when a madrassa shuts its morning shift to allow its students to attend the new school that has opened in the neighbourhood. But this is exactly what Qari Ahmed Raza did to make way for the Dawood Usman Goth Primary School in Rehri Goth, Bin Qasim Town.
“Most people in the area believed Nazrah and Islamiat was enough for their children,” he says. “I shut down the morning shift because I believe students should be educated so that they can excel in life.”
And while the foundation that funds the madrassa stopped its support, Qari Raza feels he has done the right thing. He’s noticed that the children are more polite now and want to dress up properly.
The school has been adopted by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and Indus Resource Centre (IRC) who fixed up its skeletal frame and opened it six months ago. According to PPAF education project manager Bilal Hasan, they received an overwhelming response. The sheer number of Montessori enrollments indicates that parents are making the right choice.
“The school was not functional ever since it was set up in 1992,” he says. “There was only one room and the teacher who was posted here would be absent most of the time.” According to its records, only 40 children had enrolled and none of them had progressed beyond the fifth grade.
Amir, along with 173 other poor children, can now march to school every day in Rehri Goth, a small fishing village, where boys are expected to set out to sea with their fathers at a young age.
Principal Abida Mehmood says the residents were so encouraging that she started a remedial class for girls who have missed out on their primary education. Thirty-six girls are enrolled in the six-month programme today. “Getting the older boys to come is difficult,” she says, though. “Most of them start going out to sea during the fishing season and lose interest in their studies at an early age.” It is either school or earning up to Rs1,000 a day catching crabs.
Tasneem, who has three children studying at Dawood Usman, says she is happy with the opportunity. Her husband has also been telling their daughter to keep it up and they even hope she can pursue higher studies as well.
The school has not just tackled education, teachers have been tackling the children’s gutka addiction.
Even the Montessori students found it difficult to quit. But one summer camp, the school roped in students and parents to warn them about its dangers and now they keep a check on all students.
The project has gone so well that the IRC has acquired another ghost school right across Dawood Usman and is planning to open a secondary campus by April. Remedial classes for boys will be housed in the building for seniors then. Space is an issue for now as Dawood Usman’s second, third and fifth classes all sit together in one room. Irfan Ali who teaches all three, says a lack of space has forced the administration to cram the students together in one room. He divides the blackboard into three parts and teaches each grade individually. There is currently no fourth grade, however. None of the students qualified for it when they took the admissions test.
For now the syllabus consists of English, Sindhi, Urdu, General Knowledge and Math but the teachers and administration hope to open a college section soon.
And if the drop-out rate stays low, its is likely the students of today will be taking college Mathematics tomorrow.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2011.

And while the foundation that funds the madrassa stopped its support, Qari Raza feels he has done the right thing.

Foundation has money for madrassah but not for a proper school. Never mind. More power to Qari and people like him. A ray of hope in darkness indeed.:tup:
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)


Pakistan Defence Latest Posts

Back
Top Bottom