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Channel NewsAsia’s GET REAL investigates why Pakistan has more children out of school than anywhere in the world apart from Nigeria.
Children in Pakistan interviewed by the Channel NewsAsia GET REAL team
For those who do enroll, over half will drop out before they complete primary school.
Poverty and unemployment, corruption and the threat of terrorism have made schools very unappealing for both children and parents. This has left one-third of Pakistan’s youth illiterate.
In 2015, Pakistan’s unemployment rate soared to 8.3 per cent, the highest it has been in 13 years.
GHOST SCHOOLS AND TALIBAN THREATS
There are an estimated 8,000 ghost schools in Pakistan, where 40,000 teachers regularly do not attend their own classes, but still get paid every month. These teachers are known as ghost teachers.
According to Mr Mosharaff Zaidi, campaign director for Alif Ailaan, an education advocacy group, the decision to build a school became a "political one and the decision to hire teachers became a political decision as well”.
“I think this part of the world has always struggled to invest in its people. This part of the world is always invested more in the politics that defines those people rather than the actual people themselves.
“This is the case for Bangladesh, it’s the case for India and it is, without a question, the case for Pakistan as well.”
Abject poverty also forces many parents to choose a working life for their children to earn money rather than to send them to school.
Compounding the problem is the ever-present threat of violence from those against education. Between 2009 and 2012, the Taliban attacked more than 800 schools, citing them as undesirable “Western” institutions. The militant group famously targeted teen activist Malala Yousafzai who has been pushing for female education, shooting her in the face.
Out-of-school children roaming the streets have been easy targets for terror groups as well.
In 2013, Pakistan’s army cracked down on widespread Taliban activity in Karachi. Since then the situation has started to ease across the city.
But for Dr Bilal Ahmed, head of the Department of Economics and Finance at Greenwich University in Karachi, there is only one way to permanently sever ties between street children and terror groups.
“Send back these 25 million out-of-school children to school," he said. "If they were in a school, this thing (terrorism) will settle down. It is the only way to success. It is a key to success and if we are doing these things, automatically the link of terrorism with the street children will be discontinued.
In August, Channel NewsAsia’s GET REAL team took to the streets of Parkistan to talk to children both in school and out of school, and asked them about their daily life and their ambitions.
ALI AKBAR
Q: Do you go to school?
A: No.
Q: Do you want to go to school?
A: Yes.
Q: What would you do after getting an education?
A: I would become a soldier. Long live Pakistan. Long live Pakistan!
ZAID
Q: What do you want to be?
A: In the army. I would join the army.
Q: What do you want to do?
A: I want to join army to eliminate terrorism.
AHMED
Q: Why don’t you go to school?
A: I was never interested.
Q: Are you interested now?
A: School? No, I prefer work.
Q: What do you want to be in life?
A: I want to become a policeman or at least to join the traffic police.
Q: What would you do after becoming a policeman?
A: As a policeman, I would kill terrorists.
ARIB KHAN
Q: Do you want to go to school?
A: Yes.
Q: Would your family allow you to go to school?
A: Yes.
Q: Have you ever told your family that you want to go to school?
A: No.
Q: Has your family ever asked you to quit work and go to school?
A: Yes.
Q: Then what did you say?
A: I said we are poor people. We are very poor.
IBRAHIM
Q: Where are your parents?
A: They have died. Both died.
Q: Where do you live, with your friend or at another place?
A: No, in Godown.
Q: In Godown? What do you do?
A: Scavenging.
Q: What do the police demand when they catch you?
A: They wrongly accuse us of smoking charas (a hashish form of cannabis).
SHANU AND SALMAN
SHANU (LEFT)
Q: Which drug do you use?
A: I am addict of samad bond (glue), charas and cigarettes.
Q: Since when have you been doing this?
A: For one year.
Q: Have you ever sold that?
A: No.
SALMAN (RIGHT)
Q: Have you ever gone to school?
A: Yes sir, just once.
Q: For how long?
A: For a month or two.
Q: Do you want to go to school now?
A: Yes sir, I do.
Q: Why?
A: If I get an education, I can move forward in life.
Q: What would you do after that?
A: I may become doctor or something like that.
Q: Does anyone disturb you while you live on the roads?
A: Yes sir, police and traffic officials.
Q: What do they say?
A: They beat us and don’t let us sleep.
Q: What do you do to save yourself from them?
A: Sometimes we run or sometimes we hide.
- By Mabel Chan, Channel NewsAsia
- POSTED: 23 Nov 2015 22:58
For those who do enroll, over half will drop out before they complete primary school.
Poverty and unemployment, corruption and the threat of terrorism have made schools very unappealing for both children and parents. This has left one-third of Pakistan’s youth illiterate.
In 2015, Pakistan’s unemployment rate soared to 8.3 per cent, the highest it has been in 13 years.
GHOST SCHOOLS AND TALIBAN THREATS
There are an estimated 8,000 ghost schools in Pakistan, where 40,000 teachers regularly do not attend their own classes, but still get paid every month. These teachers are known as ghost teachers.
According to Mr Mosharaff Zaidi, campaign director for Alif Ailaan, an education advocacy group, the decision to build a school became a "political one and the decision to hire teachers became a political decision as well”.
“I think this part of the world has always struggled to invest in its people. This part of the world is always invested more in the politics that defines those people rather than the actual people themselves.
“This is the case for Bangladesh, it’s the case for India and it is, without a question, the case for Pakistan as well.”
Abject poverty also forces many parents to choose a working life for their children to earn money rather than to send them to school.
Compounding the problem is the ever-present threat of violence from those against education. Between 2009 and 2012, the Taliban attacked more than 800 schools, citing them as undesirable “Western” institutions. The militant group famously targeted teen activist Malala Yousafzai who has been pushing for female education, shooting her in the face.
Out-of-school children roaming the streets have been easy targets for terror groups as well.
In 2013, Pakistan’s army cracked down on widespread Taliban activity in Karachi. Since then the situation has started to ease across the city.
But for Dr Bilal Ahmed, head of the Department of Economics and Finance at Greenwich University in Karachi, there is only one way to permanently sever ties between street children and terror groups.
“Send back these 25 million out-of-school children to school," he said. "If they were in a school, this thing (terrorism) will settle down. It is the only way to success. It is a key to success and if we are doing these things, automatically the link of terrorism with the street children will be discontinued.
In August, Channel NewsAsia’s GET REAL team took to the streets of Parkistan to talk to children both in school and out of school, and asked them about their daily life and their ambitions.
ALI AKBAR
Q: Do you go to school?
A: No.
Q: Do you want to go to school?
A: Yes.
Q: What would you do after getting an education?
A: I would become a soldier. Long live Pakistan. Long live Pakistan!
ZAID
Q: What do you want to be?
A: In the army. I would join the army.
Q: What do you want to do?
A: I want to join army to eliminate terrorism.
AHMED
Q: Why don’t you go to school?
A: I was never interested.
Q: Are you interested now?
A: School? No, I prefer work.
Q: What do you want to be in life?
A: I want to become a policeman or at least to join the traffic police.
Q: What would you do after becoming a policeman?
A: As a policeman, I would kill terrorists.
ARIB KHAN
Q: Do you want to go to school?
A: Yes.
Q: Would your family allow you to go to school?
A: Yes.
Q: Have you ever told your family that you want to go to school?
A: No.
Q: Has your family ever asked you to quit work and go to school?
A: Yes.
Q: Then what did you say?
A: I said we are poor people. We are very poor.
IBRAHIM
Q: Where are your parents?
A: They have died. Both died.
Q: Where do you live, with your friend or at another place?
A: No, in Godown.
Q: In Godown? What do you do?
A: Scavenging.
Q: What do the police demand when they catch you?
A: They wrongly accuse us of smoking charas (a hashish form of cannabis).
SHANU AND SALMAN
SHANU (LEFT)
Q: Which drug do you use?
A: I am addict of samad bond (glue), charas and cigarettes.
Q: Since when have you been doing this?
A: For one year.
Q: Have you ever sold that?
A: No.
SALMAN (RIGHT)
Q: Have you ever gone to school?
A: Yes sir, just once.
Q: For how long?
A: For a month or two.
Q: Do you want to go to school now?
A: Yes sir, I do.
Q: Why?
A: If I get an education, I can move forward in life.
Q: What would you do after that?
A: I may become doctor or something like that.
Q: Does anyone disturb you while you live on the roads?
A: Yes sir, police and traffic officials.
Q: What do they say?
A: They beat us and don’t let us sleep.
Q: What do you do to save yourself from them?
A: Sometimes we run or sometimes we hide.
