Education or Ignorance

In Pakistan, people talk a great deal about education, but they do not speak as strictly about language and teachers as they should. We send a child to school, put a book in the child’s hand, open a notebook in front of him and then assume that education has begun. Education begins only when the child understands what is being said, can ask questions, can follow the teacher’s instructions and can express his difficulty. If the child does not understand the language, then the book in front of him is merely an object, not knowledge.

A five- or six-year-old child speaks the language that is spoken at home. If Pashto is spoken at home, the child will understand Pashto. If Punjabi is spoken at home, the child will understand Punjabi. If Sindhi, Saraiki, Balochi or any other language is spoken at home, the child will understand that language. There is no fault of the child in this. A child does not choose his language by his own will. He learns language from his home, his parents, his siblings and his surroundings.

The problem begins when parents do not speak Urdu with their child, but then expect the same child to go to school and immediately understand the teacher’s Urdu, the book’s Urdu, the homework’s Urdu and the examination’s Urdu. This is not an expectation; it is an injustice to the child. The mother tongue should remain in its place. This is not about ending the language of the home. The point is that pushing a child in Pakistan into the field of education without giving him a foundation in Urdu is like tying his feet and then making him stand in a race.

Urdu is Pakistan’s national language of communication. If a child cannot express himself in Urdu, cannot ask questions and cannot understand the teacher, then even while sitting in school he remains outside education. He is present in the classroom, but the lesson does not reach him. Then we say the child is weak. The child is not weak. Weak is the home that did not connect the child with Urdu. Weak is the thinking that assumes language will come automatically. Language does not come automatically. Language is spoken at home, taught, repeated and then it settles inside the child.

But the matter does not end by placing the entire burden on parents. A bigger issue is the teacher. When a child enters school, the teacher is his first guide. If the teacher cannot speak clear Urdu, cannot give clear instructions and cannot speak according to the child’s age and understanding, then what will that teacher teach the child? The teacher’s job is not only to deliver a lesson. The teacher’s job is to create a path to the child’s mind. If that path is blocked by language, how will education enter?

In many places in Pakistan, a degree is mistaken for teaching ability. Someone receives a paper, gets a job, is given a class and becomes a teacher. But being a teacher is not just a job. A teacher must have language, teaching method, patience and an understanding of child psychology. If a teacher speaks broken Urdu, cannot explain a matter clearly, does not understand the child’s difficulty and then demands a clear answer from that same child, then this is not education; it is a drama.

When a child does homework incorrectly, it is immediately said that the child is lazy. When a child does not answer, it is said that he is incapable. When a child remains silent, it is said that he does not want to study. Why does no one ask whether the child understood the instruction or not? In which language and in what manner did the teacher explain the matter? Was the child given a chance to ask questions? Was the child silent because of fear, or did he truly not know? When these questions are not asked, injustice against the child begins.

The worst form of this injustice is physical punishment. In many areas of Pakistan, children are still “taught” through sticks, slaps, humiliation and fear. This is not teaching; it is breaking a child’s personality. To hit a child who did not understand the language is ignorance. To call a child incapable when homework instructions were not clearly given is ignorance. To shame a child in front of the class because he did not understand the teacher’s tone or language is ignorance. A stick does not turn a child into a scholar. A stick turns a child away from education.

In a classroom where the teacher’s language is weak and the teacher’s hand is strong, knowledge does not arrive; fear arrives. The child is not afraid of the book; the child is afraid of the teacher. Slowly, he also moves away from the book. The idea settles in his heart that studying means beating, scolding and humiliation. Then he runs away from school, from lessons and from questions. Later, society calls him ignorant, but it does not look at who pushed him toward ignorance.

Now look separately at the situation in Germany. Not everything there is ideal either. There is also a shortage of teachers there. Children with foreign backgrounds also face language problems there. Not every school is the same there either. But becoming a teacher there does not simply mean receiving a piece of paper. A teacher is educated at university and then receives practical training in the school environment. He observes classes with experienced teachers, learns how to prepare lessons, learns how to speak with children, reflects on his own mistakes and then goes through examination phases. He is taught that a child is not a machine but a human being.

In Germany, a teacher is expected not merely to give orders to a child, but to explain things. If a child does not understand, the matter does not end with blaming the child; the teacher’s method is also examined. How was the lesson explained? Was the language clear? Was the child’s level considered? Was support given to a weaker child? This is the difference that changes the atmosphere of the classroom. If the teacher becomes a guide, the child moves forward. If the teacher becomes a ruler, the child is suppressed.

In Germany too, children speak different languages at home. Some speak Turkish, some Arabic, some Russian, some Polish and some other language. But the school’s responsibility is to bring the child toward the German language of education. A child is not immediately called incapable simply because he is weak in language. There is a concept of support, extra practice, language training and teacher guidance. There are shortcomings there as well, but the principle is that language is the foundation of education, and the teacher is the builder of that foundation.

Pakistan must also understand this, but according to its own circumstances. Here, the child must be strengthened in the national language, Urdu. At home, parents should certainly speak their mother tongue, but they should also speak Urdu with the child. The child must know enough Urdu to speak with the teacher at school, understand the book, follow homework instructions and express his difficulty. This is the parents’ responsibility. They cannot simply place the child in school and consider themselves free of responsibility.

On the other hand, the teacher must also understand his responsibility. The teacher must speak clear Urdu. He must know how to explain things to a child. Instructions should be short, clear and suitable for the child’s age. A child’s mistake should not be turned into a crime. If a child does not understand, he should first be taught again; if he still does not understand, the method should be changed. A teacher who raises his hand against a child is hiding his own weakness, not giving knowledge.

In Pakistan’s education problem, three things are connected: the language of the home, the language of the teacher and the fear of the classroom. The home does not give the child a foundation in Urdu, the teacher does not guide clearly in Urdu, and then the child becomes trapped in fear. After that, the book, the school and the examination all become a burden for him. In such an environment, expecting creative thinking, questions, reasoning and success from a child is self-deception.

If education is to be strengthened, language must first be strengthened. The child must be made confident in Urdu. The teacher must truly be made a teacher, not merely a degree-holding employee. Sticks, slaps, humiliation and fear must be removed from the classroom. Before calling a child incapable, parents should look at their own responsibility, the teacher should look at his language, and the school should look at its environment. If the child receives language, guidance and peace, he will learn. Otherwise, we will keep filling schools, but knowledge will remain empty.

Shahid Shakil

2026-07-08