Educating The Stars Of Tomorrow

THE CHALLENGES 

The mountain ranges of Pakistan stand prominent on the world stage with five of the top 14 ‘highest independent peaks’ in the world (the eight-thousanders) found in Pakistan. K2 is world renown for being the second highest mountain in the world, standing at more than 8,600 meters high, just 237 meters short of its rival peak, Mount Everest. In addition to that, if we survey the vast mountain ranges of the Himalayas, the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush we would discover the fact that Pakistan is home to many other majestic mountains too. There are more than one hundred peaks which climb above the 7,000 meters mark, and another one hundred peaks standing above the 6,000 meters mark. It is therefore fair to say that Pakistan can be considered a country of many mountains, with so many of these majestic and towering peaks lying within its borders. Just in the same way, as climbers seek to take on the challenges of conquering some of these great peaks, there are other mountains that need to be conquered.

OTHER MOUNTAINS 

Few would argue that every nation finds itself faced with a huge mountain to climb when it faces the task of educating its own population. This is undoubtedly true of Pakistan with its huge and growing population. In fact, since 1950 the population has increased fourfold, making Pakistan the world’s sixth-most-populous country. This snowballing population expansion, which is currently growing at a rate of 2% per annum, is already in excess of 200 million people and presents a huge challenge to the nation. How does a country ensure that its citizens receive an education?

LITERACY LEVELS

In 2015 figures presented by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics reported literacy levels of people in Pakistan at just 56%. This figure, based on both male and female Pakistani’s aged 15 and above, is well below the World literacy level of 83%. When comparing World literacy levels of men to that of literacy levels of Pakistani men we note that Pakistani levels fall almost 14 points at 69.6% Literacy levels of women in Pakistan are also of concern, where figures of 45% are reported compared to a world level of 82%, showing that women in Pakistan are in general significantly behind women across the world. The picture is even more gloomy when we compare the gender differences inside Pakistan. An analysis of the figures reveals that there is a 26.9% difference in the literacy levels of Pakistani men compared to that of women. This gender imbalance of almost 27% is glaring and stands out as a huge concern, with only Yemen, Liberia, Mozambique and Afghanistan with a higher male to female literacy level differential. There is a great deal to be done to narrow the gap between male and female literacy. Literacy levels also vary based on where in Pakistan you live, there is a great deal of variation across the provinces. Statistics show that when comparing the provinces Punjab scores the highest levels of literacy (73%), but still falls way below the International World literacy average of 86%. 

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE 

Added to that, currently it is estimated that more than 22,000,000 (22 million) children are out of school. Figures released by the National Education Management Information system (NEMSIS) reveal the startling news that as many as 44% of children aged between 5 and 16 are not in education and only 30% of those in education remain from class 1 to the 10th year! Not surprisingly those provinces that score lowest in literacy rates score highest in having the most number of children out of school. More than half of the ‘out of school’ children are girls (55%) reaching more that 13 million children not receiving an education. Reasons for this range from; the school being too expensive, the school being too far from home, or parents themselves being unwilling to send daughters to school. Boys are more likely to display an unwillingness to go to school and 7 % were required to help out with work at home and were not allowed to attend school by their parents. A shocking figure of 70% of those out of school children have never ever been to school while a third of those ‘out of school’ children had dropped out of the school system for a variety of reasons. Of those who drop out 29% are girls who drop out to help with the work at home.

SCHOOLS 

Perhaps an answer is to have more schools? It has been reported that there are already more than 228,376 institutions in the country, all seeking to advance the educational journey of their children. However, it is estimated that 21% of these schools are being run by a single teacher, raising questions about the quality of the education of these children and the practicality of meeting the wide-ranging needs of students across the age ranges in each school. Further to that, 14% of these schools have only one room, which makes us consider questions such as - what sort of educational curriculum can truly be delivered in a small contained space and how varied and enjoyable is the child’s experience of something (school) that ought to be the best years of their young lives? There are many who are calling for education to be a more urgent priority and one that needs to be more seriously addressed now. Some are calling this an ‘educational emergency’ but whatever it is called - I’m convinced that this is clearly a huge mountain to climb. Despite such a challenging picture being painted before us by the statisticians there are reasons for optimism. Though we may agree that the situation may not be easily overcome, like the climber who looks at the steepness of the climb it is not a reason to quit or to shrink back from the climb.

SUCCESSES 

There are green shoots of success and the following are among them: 

• The National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) last year promised to establish 12,000 new schools 
• A pledge to build 141 new schools has been made by the TCF 
• The budget for education has been tripled in Peshawar in a bid to build 100 more primary schools 
• Punjab Education Foundation approved a public-private partnership initiative to open 225 schools in the province. 
• Added to that is the new school I have the privilege of leading – NIS

NORDIC INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL 

The Nordic International School is owned and operated by Glocal Eduproject, which is a joint venture between the Saigol Group of companies in Pakistan and the Swedish school developer and operator, NordicEd. The school will open its doors to students in September with its first campus based in New Muslim town, Lahore, close to major roads and transport links. Classes will start from Early Years 1 (aged 3) and go up to Year 5. The New Muslim town campus is the first of several schools to be opened in Pakistan in the Nordic International system and there will be opportunities for students to progress to other Nordic campuses for secondary education in the future. The new NIS campus is a boutique campus designed to host a maximum of 300 students.

In this inspiring environment, it is intended to focus on the development of the whole person with the major investment being in the intellectual and personal development of every child. The school motto of “Educating the Stars of Tomorrow” is consistent with its philosophy to inspire personal and leadership development so that each student realizes their potential. As we embark on opening the first of a chain of schools, under the umbrella of Nordic International schools, one could ask the question, “What difference is one more school going to make in the face of such a challenge? I answer it in the same way as the response of one famous climber to the question - how did he climb Everest? His reply was no great revelation and yet very profound – “I climbed it by putting one foot in front of another, one step at a time!” 

Not distracted by the steepness of the climb, every successful climber achieves success by keeping one foot in front of each other, one step at a time. When faced with the challenges of educating its citizens the same rule may apply – one step at a time. For each new school and for each new teacher who enters the profession and joins the other 1.4 million teachers currently teaching in Pakistan today, it is another step towards climbing the huge mountain placed before Pakistan – the country of mountains. The challenge is huge but I see a determination among the Pakistani people to find its true place on the world stage, to develop and grow and to achieve the heights that all aspiring students deserve.