What Does Education Mean to You: Opinion Essay

Every individual has the right to attain an education. However, in Pakistan over 50 percent of the population, aged 15 and above are illiterate. Only one-third of the women are educated. According to the latest Pakistan “Education Statistics Report” by AEPAM, there are 22.84 million children who are not going to school. Education must be prioritized in Pakistan. Education is a basic human right, unfortunately, it is not being fulfilled in Pakistan. This is the reason why my team members Amna Facial, Halima Tariq, Sara Tariq, and I aim to provide education to underprivileged students and improve their education standards by providing them with educational necessities.

In our team, the group leader (which was me) assigned all the roles. We visited two schools: Mishal School and Care Girls Middle School (Ghazi road). Amna and Sara went to Mishal School while Halima and I conducted a two-week-long session at Care Girls Middle School.

The condition of Care Girl’s school was even worse than my expectations. The students there did not have curtains to protect themselves from the harsh weather nor did they have access to water nor was their school painted; they did not even have books or copies. But the eagerness of the students to learn was the main reason why I continued to conduct sessions there. It was so reassuring to see the girls full of faith, ambition, and aspirations. In my conversations with the students, they were thrilled to tell me about their future goals. The common professions aimed at them included: doctors, nurses, and teachers.

What broke my heart was hearing the story of Humaira. Her parents, against all odds, allowed her to enroll in this school. She loves learning and wants to break the poverty cycle. Her dream is to become a successful pilot. But she spoke to me with grave concern. Her uncle has been trying to misguide her father as he wants Humaira to stay home now due to her gender and marriageable age. The dreaded “What will people say” was repeated to me by an eleven-year-old child; I was emotionally devastated by the patriarchal mindset that prevails in her culture. That is a hindrance in the future of these children; destroying this ray of hope for our country.

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We produced a lesson plan that is incorporated into the video and introduced the students to new activities such as debates and drama so on and so forth. These activities and lesson plans helped the students to become certain and overcome their fears. However, we faced difficulties communicating with the students because they were not comfortable with us. In order to overcome this problem I decided to play, sing and dance with the students. After the sessions were over, we made a list of the things that both of the schools lacked and compared the two schools’ deficiencies. Then we decided to improve the educational standards of those students who were working hard and were facing the most difficulties (Care Girls Middle school).

Later, we went to the local market and drew our hypothesis to set a target for the amount that had to be raised. I made a specially designed packaging that briefly described the purpose of the fundraiser: lack of education in Pakistan. This packaging was attached to the top of the box which contained homemade cupcakes. In total Halima and I raised around 56,000 rupees. From this funded money, we bought 40 liters of paint, 75 copies, 105 reading books, 55 awards and certificates, 3 UHU types of glue, 5 packs of pencils and colored pencils, 3 packs of board markers, and 1 box of spray paint. We ordered and bought curtains for the school which they received on the 31st of January 2019. Halima and I painted the school walls, we wrote educational quotes, promoted education, and discouraged child labor.

After painting the school, I developed the questions that were asked in the interviews. I interviewed two students from different classes, their principal, and their parents. Amna and Sara interviewed one student from Mishal school and their principal. We interviewed the literate and illiterate to create a contrast between the different perspectives of each. Sara and Halima conducted the cross-cultural collaborations by messaging people who belonged to India, the UK, and the USA which allowed us to illustrate the difference between the academic standards abroad and in Pakistan. When everything was done, I edited and compiled the video and Amna added the subtitles.

We divided our work equally and worked hard to achieve our aim. We fulfilled our tasks efficiently without any complaints but a dispute arose when we were deciding the outcome Halima and Sara wanted a leaflet to be our outcome but Amna and I were against it because we thought that we will not be able to describe our aim efficiently. After two days of discussion, we decided upon a video to be uploaded on social media as our outcome as it is suitable to achieve our aim. Apart from this, another challenge that we faced was the arrival of our mid-term exams which hindered our progress to an extent however we managed to complete our project before the school deadline. Moreover, while we were in the process of finishing our project my grandmother passed away. I had to go out of Lahore which in my opinion damaged our outcome as it was not as good as we expected. The main issues arose when I was emotionally unstable and I had to compile the video within the time limit which is why I was not able to accommodate all of the videos and pictures in the video. Therefore, I had to let go of most of the evidence.

Eventually, I learned a lot from this project. Group work is cooperative learning among the members. In order to achieve the corresponding strengths to promote knowledge of construction, explore their subject of distinct learning, and develop members' creativity and innovation. In today’s dynamic world gender stereotypes should be challenged. Girls should be supported, inspired, and encouraged to reach their potential and pursue their career ambitions. This project of ours allowed me to understand the true meaning of education. Education is not just about lessons in textbooks. It is about the lessons of life, staying with these students who belonged to a different societies, allowed me to understand different mindsets. I learned how these disadvantaged children and their families were living and the hardships they faced. After this project, I believe that I am more thankful and I avail each and every opportunity to help the needy to ameliorate their living standards. I visit the students every Friday and take some gifts and chocolates along with me to make them feel exceptional.