Education in Pakistan

Pakistan is a rapidly developing nation that boasts the world’s sixth largest population. It is a country of great contrast. While new technology gives rise to improved communications systems and business growth, over 50% of the people live in poverty, with limited access to necessities such as potable water. The literacy rate is below 30% and educational facilities are sorely lacking in many regions.

Education is undeniably one of the greatest needs facing the country. Average student-teacher ratio in public schools is frequently in excess of 40-1. Teachers are paid very poorly and are often hired more for their availability rather than for their expertise. Even basic school supplies, such as pencils, paper, blackboards, and chalk, are often lacking.

The mandate of Family Educational Services Foundation’s Eduserve program is to strengthen the educational infrastructure by training teachers, administrators, and parents. Amongst other things, we emphasize how important it is to teach children to read at an early age. This simple step goes a long way to raising the literacy rate and improving overall educational standards.

Addressing the needs of the hearing-impaired is another program area that FESF identified some years back. In Karachi alone there are over 150,000 people who are hearing-impaired. Only a few special schools exist to meet the needs of deaf children, and there are very few educational or vocational training programs available for students over the age of 16. This makes it very difficult for anyone who is deaf to obtain an education or find employment.

We designed and conduct Deaf Reach, a specialized training program for deaf teenagers and young adults. Our goal is to provide them with teaching and training, as well as to assist them in finding employment so that they can support their families. The students are often quite poor and come from all parts of the city. Our Deaf Reach program has successfully trained hundreds of young deaf Pakistanis in communication skills, computer literacy, general knowledge, as well as vocational training.

Unsolicited comments, such as those below, encourage us no end and strengthen our convictions that Deaf Reach is helping meet a very real need.

"Thank you so much for helping me find a job. My family is very poor, and my father can’t work. Now I am helping to support my parents and brothers and sisters, and things are better. Thank you for teaching me. Thank you for everything!" -- Ghulam Abbas, 21 years old

"I never knew any English. Now I have learned very much. Also I learned computer skills, and I have a good job because of your help. My parents are so happy for me. Before I was sad because I was deaf and thought that I can never do much. But now I have changed." -- Abdul Nasir, 26 years old