SCHOOLS IN PAKISTAN

                                    Pakistan is my homeland and I came to the US for the first time about 6 months ago. The difference in culture and educational system surprised me a lot. I remember my first day in school that was two weeks after coming here as a complete shock. I have never been to a co-education school before and the thing that most surprised me was the level of education and discipline.

                                   Institutions in Pakistan up till high school level are never co-ed and always have uniforms and strict discipline. Before coming here when I was in 10^th grade I went to a private school which taught English and Urdu (national language) both from first grade. Science is given the most importance as a subject and curriculum is like totally excluded from school but some schools still have a bit of sports. In Pakistan there are no computers in school, music and drama is something that kids don’t know about at school level. A class consists of 30-35 students and they sit in particular arrangement in rows not just randomly anywhere also students sit in the same class all day while after every period a different subject teacher comes to class to teach her subject. Students stand up as a gesture of respect when the teacher enters the class and sit when they are told to. We are not allowed to enter class or speak in class without the teacher’s permission. There are strict rules for proper uniform and we used to have assembly every morning where we gathered in the grounds before the start of the day to recite Holy Quran, then we are given a golden piece of advise (like a quote) for each day by our Principle (who by the way had so much dignity that students literally were afraid to face him). The assembly lasts about 20 minutes.

                                 School mostly starts at 8:15 and each class is of 45 minutes and there are 8 periods each day. From first to 4^th grade my subjects were English, Urdu and Mathematics. Some schools include social studies and religion or stuff like geography or drawing till middle but we didn’t have any of it as a subject. We read a bit of social studies in English and religion in Urdu and arts in free periods. After 4^th grade we just add science along with the three subjects but even with four subjects it’s pretty tough. Teachers although strict know each student personally.

                                 Students do written assignments and have to cram huge books (creativity is not much involved). Science is pretty advanced and we study things in 7^th grade that I did here in my junior year. From 8^th to 10^th grade we have 8 subjects which are Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths, English, Urdu, Islamiat and Pakistan history every year. That’s where we graduate from high school after that we go to 2 year college and than later universities.

                                 Students in Pakistan don’t do jobs of anytime, part time or full time until they graduate from university because parents are responsible to provide for everything their kids need. Frankly it’s not a burden on parents because they can earn a decent living to support their family easily.  So basically all Pakistani students have to do is study till they graduate from university and get a job.