DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS

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initiatives but only one well known example may be mentioned here. This is the Citizens
Foundation which set up its first school in Karachi in 1995. It is a ‗not-for-profot
organisation run by businessmen and professional‘ which runs ‗76 primary schools, 24
secondary schools, one teacher training unit as well as an information technology
institute. With more than 18, 000 children from katchi abadis enrolled at TCF schools in
17 cities, the organisation is clearly bent on making a difference‘ (Hussain 2003: 89).
While it is true that philanthropists are needed to help the government, the problem is that
the government is giving up on education. After all, providing hopelessly inadequate
education in government schools, and that too in the urban areas, is tantamount to giving
up on good and equal education for all citizens. In these schools the tuition fees is Rs 100
per month which makes them out of the reach of the poorest people anyway. However,
the donors pay the rest of the cost per students which comes to Rs. 5000 per year--- like
that of the best government schools which are almost free.
Conditions in Urdu Schools
The low salaries which these schools offer attract those who fail to get other jobs.
Thus the quality of instruction in most schools catering to the common people is very
low. The class rooms are bare and in rural areas classes are often held out of doors
because of lack of space. There is no heating or air conditioning though, in the cities, the
headmaster‘s office is sparsely furnished. The teachers, at least in boy‘s schools, often
carry canes and corporal punishment in given. That is one reason why children tend to
drop out of school.
Just as the poorest children have the lowest enrollment in schools, they also tend
to drop out more than others. Thus 53 per cent of the poorest quintile dropped out before
completing class 6 compared with only 23 per cent of the richest quintile (HID 2002: 15).
Parents explain this as lack of motivation as do teachers. This shifts the burden of failure
on to the pupil. However, if one considers the extremely harsh conditions at home and the
cruel treatment children receive at school, one wonders why more do not drop out.
Other Influences on Urdu-Medium Students
Urdu-medium students, being from the upper-working and lower-middle class
backgrounds, are less exposed to Western discourses available on cable T.V, English
books and in the conversation of peer group members, family and friends who have been