When schools turn into businesses

Dear parents,

Are you sure your child is getting the right education at school? Are you sure the marks he is scoring is what he deserves? Are you sure he worked hard enough to achieve the grades his report card shows?

How many of you actually demand to see the papers of every subject? Why do you trust your child blindly? Or the institution he goes to? Are you sure the teacher is knowledgeable enough to teach your child?

I have been closely associated to a school (one that is well known and having many campuses in Karachi) and its upsetting how the future of children is being ruined. High fees is demanded, low infrastructure is provided and when the parents complain, the compensation is dispersion of marks to pass a child. Not just 2/3 marks but as much as 12-15 marks in various subjects. A student was even passed when her paper went missing, one even when she didn’t appear in any of the exams. The point I am trying to highlight is not marks but how the coming generation will learn not to work hard and earn what they truly deserve. All their mistakes will be covered up without encouraging them to work hard or grow as a better person.

The concept of punishment has vanished. I remember during school days I used to be so fearful of my teachers and punishments that I would make sure my uniform, homework and grades are in the right order. Nowadays, if a child pokes or hits a teacher, or submits incomplete homework, or fails the exam; he has no fear of punishment, neither from the school nor from his parents. I just wonder how many criminals we are bringing up as these fearless kids.

Schools these days focus on events which involve singing competitions, dance competitions and play areas and fun fair. Where are those grand quiz competitions, art competitions, science competitions where children actually utilize their abilities to the most and learn for better? They grow while preparing for the competition, because they want to be the best but with their own hard work. The spirit of competition is lost and children just want to be number one even if they are not willing to work hard enough.

We talk about racism, cast, culture but we don’t realize what our children learn at school. Teachers are forced to dress up well, have perfect makeup, even demanded to quit hijab. Aren’t we teaching kids that only a person who is dressed well and looking at his best is a good person and if someone is inclined towards religion he is not considered to be good rather a threat and disgrace? A teacher wearing hijab is considered to be shallow and not eligible enough to teach at this particular school I am talking about. Well if they consider following the religion to be a degrading behavior then imagine what the students will actually be learning at that school.

Discussing further, it’s not just the appearance that is used to decide whether a teacher is good for the school but also his ability to satisfy the seniors of the school management. A teacher should be smart enough to involve in workplace politics and prove that he is right while others are wrong. He should be close friends with the seniors so he doesn’t have to do much work and always be saved by the senior’s favor even when he is wrong. If someone is not willing to involve in backbiting and wrongdoing, is honestly fulfilling his responsibilities, he will be targeted with all sorts of accusations and sacked from his job. On the other hand, teachers who are not even clear with the basic concepts and often dress up like beggars will be teaching for years in the same institution, just because they have strong bonds with the senior management.

It’s true that every child informs parents about his teacher, the good ones and even the bad ones. In my opinion the parents should have an option to select whether a teacher should stay in school or not based on the child’s results and what positive or negative reviews he has shared about a particular teacher. Maybe a teacher is strict but if the child is performing well in the subject the parents might want to continue with the teacher but if a teacher is very soft spoken but the child’s results are not satisfying then the teacher is not good enough because ultimately parents want their children to have the best of education and not spending money for free grades.