DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS

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11 In general, education seems to have been a neglected subject by liberal scholars and social scientists. By writing Education: Critical Perspectives, Rubina Saigal, a sociologist, has made a good beginning (Saigol 1993). This book comprises essays on subjects such as ‗education and social class‘, ‗education and religion‘, democracy, violence, women etc from a liberal point of view. Saigol‘s later work, on the way educational discourse creates notions of identity which subjugate women in a maledominated social system, are excellent examples of sophisticated theoretical analysis which illuminates much that was not clear before (Saigol 1995 and 2000). She also refers to the way education creates classes and identities which enable us to take action. If our identities are constructed on hatred we will be violent. This, unfortunately, is what our anti-India, anti-women texts are doing (Saigol 2000: 73 and 254). Saigol had referred to Pervez Hoodbhoy‘s book Muslim and Science (1991) which was perhaps the first attempt to challenge Zia ul Haq‘s regime‘s ‗view of education as an ideological tool which should serve the interests of the religious lobby‘ (Saigol 1993: 1). Hoodbhoy also went on to confront those elements of the state and the educational lobby who filled childrens‘ textbooks with anti-India and pro-war views (Hoodbhoy and Nayyar 1985). This is a struggle which goes on even today as will be brought out later in this book. Hoodbhoy also edited a book, Education and the State (1998) in which there are essays on the economics of education, the examination system, the role of NGOs in education, madrassas, universities and so on. Most of these essays are of high quality but some lack an understanding of, or familiarity with, primary sources. Moreover, the book does not touch upon the cadet colleges or the private universities which are proliferating nowadays. Nor does the book does look at education from the point of view of socioeconomic class and the students‘ world view i.e. what do they think about militancy (as in Kashmir) and tolerance (of minorities). The objectives of this book are: to give a historical overview of the development of educational institutions in British India; to describe how schools and universities are situated in contemporary Pakistan; to understand how Pakistani society is polarized along socio-economic lines and how, at least at the school level, this results in polarization in world view as well.
12 Let us keep in mind that Pakistan is a poor country. Poverty is defined as the condition in which, among other things, one cannot even get the minimum caloric requirement of 2,350 calories per day. In 2000-01 one needed an income of Rs 748 per month to buy food containing these many calories. According to a survey of 726 households in February 2003, about 31.8 per cent people are below this poverty line. Even worse, this poverty is unevenly spread out with tremendous differences between the rich and the poor, the city and the village, and between men and women. For instance, the class-wise share of income in the country is as follows: Percentage Share of Income Between Socio-economic Classes Year Lowest 20% Middle 60% Highest 20% 1998-99 6.2 44.1 49.7 Source: GOP 2003: 50 Poverty has increased since 1979 when the share of the lowest 20% was 7.4% while that of the highest was 45%. The ratio of the highest (22%) to the lowest (20%) rose from 6.1% to 8% (GOP 2003: 50). The disparity between the cities and the villages too is striking. In 2003, while 38.65 per cent people are below the poverty line in the villages, those below that level in the cities are 22.39 per cent. In short, inequalities in income---and related to that many other factors including access to quality educated---are acute and, what is worse, seem to be growing. One of the major emphases of this study is to find out what differences are there in the educational institutions of the rich and the poor and to what extent the state itself creates them or, at least, perpetuates them. For the historical part of the study I have consulted historical sources. For the contemporary, descriptive part I have looked at the budgets of institutions, their model of governance, their fees structure and other relevant facts about them. I have also interviewed and interacted with students, teachers and administrators to obtain insights into their experiences. For the third part I, assisted by my research associates, have carried out a survey using the non-random stratified, cluster sampling method (see
Page 1 and 2: DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS: A Study o
Page 3 and 4: 2 List of Abbreviations Glossary Pr
Page 5 and 6: 4 Jihad Madrassa Maktab Maulvi Muns
Page 7 and 8: 6 being unsupported by any institut
Page 9 and 10: 8 CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION There are
Page 11: 10 Another book, by Naseem Jaffer Q
Page 15 and 16: 14 ones. There is much new data in
Page 17 and 18: 16 quarters with the sole object of
Page 19 and 20: 18 capable of being employed in sub
Page 21 and 22: 20 (GOP 2003: 159). Examples of the
Page 23 and 24: 22 It was in this document that the
Page 25 and 26: 24 Because of such laws, academics
Page 27 and 28: 26 strengthening unity of the ou
Page 29 and 30: 28 Thus, their role in universaliza
Page 31 and 32: 30 whereas provincial government sc
Page 33 and 34: 32 Dr. Qurat began this work in 199
Page 35 and 36: 34 Thus the most representative of
Page 37 and 38: 36 Most of the 25,995,068 (GOP 2002
Page 39 and 40: 38 Class-6 Class-7 Class-8 Class-9
Page 41 and 42: 40 Conclusion: the Muslims from the
Page 43 and 44: 42 B.A (B. Ed) 16 14,099 Headmaster
Page 45 and 46: 44 abroad. Their families are conse
Page 47 and 48: 46 possible that Pakistan and India
Page 49 and 50: 48 Gender-wise Tabulation of Attitu
Page 51 and 52: 50 the madrassas and those whose pa
Page 53 and 54: 52 charge tuition ranging between R
Page 55 and 56: 54 schools, whether the administrat
Page 57 and 58: 56 Box 4.5 Average tuition fees per
Page 59 and 60: 58 non-elitist schools, as we have
Page 61 and 62: 60 parents of the Badin PAF Model S
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62 national language is given at be
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64 Aitchison 196 Kohat 144 Larkana
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66 Militancy Among Cadet College/Pu
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68 These figures should be taken wi
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70 Box 4.14 Tolerance Among Elitist
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72 1997 21 34 1998 20 31 Source: An
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74 children mostly speaking in Khan
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76 world. This war is represented a
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78 This fluency and spontaneity in
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80 believed—that the best ideas w
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82 English novels filling us up on
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84 The Peripatetic Tutor Arif Khan
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86 CHAPTER-5 MADRASSAS The madrassa
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88 Box 5.2 Sect-Wise Increase in th
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90 (Sharia) was the path to mystica
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92 modern subjects in some measure
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94 taught there, even now---and the
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96 controversial issues‘ (Ibid, p
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98 appalling poverty of rural, peri
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100 students and 1000 day students,
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