Spring Break
Organizations meet in Chicago to discuss reform for Pakistan's failing public schools
June 9, 2008
Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah - Chicago TribuneIssue date: 6/5/08 Section: Real News
CHICAGO _ Troubled by Pakistan's struggling education system, Pakistani-Americans who step in to build and improve schools in their ancestral land face obstacles ranging from official indifference to power outages to attacks from extremists.
So groups working to upgrade education in Pakistan _ ranked last in literacy among the most populous developing countries _ gathered in Chicago this weekend to seek ways to work together.
With Pakistan at the front lines of the war on terror, many hope that by improving the nation's 50 percent literacy rate, they can offer the poor better alternatives to the failing public school system or extremist religious schools, called madrassas. They hope that young people, armed with education and hope, will turn away from radical Islam.
Among those sharing tips and troubles were the Citizens Foundation, the Muslim world's largest non-governmental education group; Developments in Literacy, which was started by a group of Pakistani-American women in California; the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, which works to moderate instruction in madrassas; and the organizer, Human Development Foundation, which is based in Schaumburg and operates 217 schools in Pakistan.
Improving education in Pakistan is an uphill battle. The Pakistani government's focus on defense has produced a failed public school system, experts say. Less than 2 percent of the country's gross national product is allocated for education, and sham schools and teacher absenteeism are rampant. Power outages have left some schools' computers little more than doorstops.
Over the last two decades Saudi riyals and American dollars have helped spread Islamic radicalism through Pakistan with the growth of madrassas, which today number 15,000, according to Azhar Hussain of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy.
So non-profits have stepped in, building schools, training teachers and creating curriculums. In return, they've seen more girls going to school and changing rural attitudes toward girls' education.
So groups working to upgrade education in Pakistan _ ranked last in literacy among the most populous developing countries _ gathered in Chicago this weekend to seek ways to work together.
With Pakistan at the front lines of the war on terror, many hope that by improving the nation's 50 percent literacy rate, they can offer the poor better alternatives to the failing public school system or extremist religious schools, called madrassas. They hope that young people, armed with education and hope, will turn away from radical Islam.
Among those sharing tips and troubles were the Citizens Foundation, the Muslim world's largest non-governmental education group; Developments in Literacy, which was started by a group of Pakistani-American women in California; the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, which works to moderate instruction in madrassas; and the organizer, Human Development Foundation, which is based in Schaumburg and operates 217 schools in Pakistan.
Improving education in Pakistan is an uphill battle. The Pakistani government's focus on defense has produced a failed public school system, experts say. Less than 2 percent of the country's gross national product is allocated for education, and sham schools and teacher absenteeism are rampant. Power outages have left some schools' computers little more than doorstops.
Over the last two decades Saudi riyals and American dollars have helped spread Islamic radicalism through Pakistan with the growth of madrassas, which today number 15,000, according to Azhar Hussain of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy.
So non-profits have stepped in, building schools, training teachers and creating curriculums. In return, they've seen more girls going to school and changing rural attitudes toward girls' education.
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