DENIZENS OF ALIEN WORLDS

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43 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
44 abroad. Their families are conservative and religious as Jasmin Mirza, a sociologist working on transformation of norms governing gender-specific behaviour in Lahore, has mentioned in relation to women (Mirza 2002). The Urdu newspapers, which their family reads or hears being read out in the bazaar, are also conservative and religious. Their teachers, being from the same socio-economic class, reinforce the ideas otherwise disseminated by the Urdu press (see the views of teachers given below), the school textbooks, the Pakistani official radio and T.V, the families and the peer group. These ideas---the worldview of the lower middle classes in Pakistan---favour the Islamization of the state though they do not favour rule by the clergy. This is often explained by saying that maulvis are harsh, or corrupt or not aware of modern ideas but that Islam, if implemented in its true spirit by honest and enlightened leaders, can solve all social problems. A corollary of this Islamic outlook is emotionality about religious issues and, hence, intolerance for the religious ‗Other‘ i.e. the Hindu, the Ahmedi 2 and, to a lesser degree, the Christian. Part of this emotion has also been transferred to Pakistani nationalism. Indeed, the use of religious symbolism to sacralize the Pakistan movement, the wars with India and particularly the Kashmir dispute with India has been partly successful though students seem to be aware that an open war with India would be disastrous. Thus teachers, parents and the peer group reinforce chauvinistic views in this socio-economic class in the urban centers of the N.W.F.P, Punjab and to some extent in Karachi. Militancy and Tolerance Among Urdu-Medium School Students and Teachers In the recent survey of 230 students and 100 teachers of Urdu-medium schools responses to questions about militancy in Kashmir and giving equal rights to Ahmedis (a sect declared as a non-Muslim minority in 1974 in Pakistan), Pakistani Hindus and Christians and women were tabulated as percentages. These students and teachers both come from the lower-middle class as their income indicates. The questions given to their samples of students and teachers in December 2002 and January 2003 were meant to find out whether they supported militant policies in Kashmir as students from these schools did in 1999. There were also questions to find out whether religious minorities should be given the same rights as Muslim citizens of
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 and 12: 10 Another book, by Naseem Jaffer Q
Page 13 and 14: 12 Let us keep in mind that Pakista
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: 42 B.A (B. Ed) 16 14,099 Headmaster
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
Page 63 and 64: 62 national language is given at be
Page 65 and 66: 64 Aitchison 196 Kohat 144 Larkana
Page 67 and 68: 66 Militancy Among Cadet College/Pu
Page 69 and 70: 68 These figures should be taken wi
Page 71 and 72: 70 Box 4.14 Tolerance Among Elitist
Page 73 and 74: 72 1997 21 34 1998 20 31 Source: An
Page 75 and 76: 74 children mostly speaking in Khan
Page 77 and 78: 76 world. This war is represented a
Page 79 and 80: 78 This fluency and spontaneity in
Page 81 and 82: 80 believed—that the best ideas w
Page 83 and 84: 82 English novels filling us up on
Page 85 and 86: 84 The Peripatetic Tutor Arif Khan
Page 87 and 88: 86 CHAPTER-5 MADRASSAS The madrassa
Page 89 and 90: 88 Box 5.2 Sect-Wise Increase in th
Page 91 and 92: 90 (Sharia) was the path to mystica
Page 93 and 94: 92 modern subjects in some measure
Page 95 and 96:
94 taught there, even now---and the
Page 97 and 98:
96 controversial issues‘ (Ibid, p
Page 99 and 100:
98 appalling poverty of rural, peri
Page 101:
100 students and 1000 day students,
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