In Karachi, the ‘rat race’ is no longer about what brand you wear or what car you own, but about which school your child attends.

Overly concerned parents, most of whom are successful professionals, go to absurd lengths to get their children registered into ‘known’ schools in the city. Some go as far as to register a child as soon as it is conceived, as a number of top schools have waiting lists of up till two years.

The idea is to let a child become accustomed to a particular class, its norms and values, and to excel academically. “Students from these schools are the ones who occupy some of the most powerful positions in society. Such schools allow them to make useful contacts, which helps them throughout their life,” claims one parent.

“A child’s schooling is very important: if the roots are strong the tree will grow steady,” says Zil-e-Huma, an expecting mother, who is worried about which montessori to register her unborn child in.

There are some parents who consider this ultra-competitive trend to be “madness”, yet are faced with a dearth of quality schools in the city. “I always looked down upon parents who went to such extremes, but when my first son became three years of age, I found out I was already late, far too late, for admission. Therefore, I was extra careful when I had my second son,” says Faaria Ali, a university professor.

Salman Asif Siddiqui, Director of the Education Resource Development Centre (ERDC), blames such a mindset on a “mindlessness” that is prevalent in society. “Over 90 percent of all parents think all education is exam-oriented; they want an A+ from their child even if it means killing the child’s creativity.”

He is highly critical of most schools, and claims they are the primary reason for the stunting of a child’s creativity. “Children are born curious and creative; schools try to tame them. For a school, it is more important for a child to be obedient and un-questioning; these are the prime qualities of a well-behaved student.”

A few parents who have rejected the existing school system, which they feel does nothing more than produce ‘cookie-cutter’ individuals who maintain the status-quo, have considered homeschooling as a viable alternative option.

“In the US homeschooling is a rapidly growing phenomenon and there are millions of children who are homeschooled”. In Karachi, a small group of parents have also begun homeschooling their children. They have created an online group, which they use to discuss issues such as what books to use. The site is a forum where suggestions are made, arguments put forward, and like-minded families can socialize, so that their children have a peer group network.

While some want to form a registered education board for homeschoolers, others argue that an education board means “regulations, red tape, and bureaucracy”, and ask if home-schooling is supposed to be about “thinking out of the box, why go back into the box again”.

Such parents believe that the traditional twenty three year long formal education process is far too ‘theory-based’, and that is the reason why more and more MBAs and MBBS are still left looking for jobs, instead of using their own skills to ‘create jobs’. The parents realise, however, that the process of homeschooling is difficult and time-consuming in an age that promotes specialization and individuals with a narrow and focused skill-set.

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— Illustration by Faraz Maqbool the news

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