Thursday, September 16, 2010

2. EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS

Rather than increasing, in the last sixty years, the literacy rate has decreased as the schools have not kept up with the population explosion. Sadly, most people in the villages cannot read or write. There is no national standardized educational system. Because of the large number of children, many poor parents, who do not practice family planning, send their children to madrassas, religious schools, as they get free food and shelter in those institutions. It is ironic that many of these madrassas are funded by Saudi Arabia to promote their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam and literal interpretation of Quran. For children to accept blind faith rather than learn critical and creative thinking can be a serious concern for any nation.

Pakistan is the only country I know where many children do not get their primary education in their native language. Rather than studying in Punjabi, Pushto, Balochi and Sindhi, many children are taught in Urdu, English and Arabic which are not their mother tongues.

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