Every day is like Sunday

“PAKISTAN is a nation of holiday makers. Everyone here loves to take the day off, and students are no exception,” is the favourite refrain of a very popular teacher at a private school whose students, upon hearing these words, look at one another with guilty smiles playing at their lips. Try as they might, these students, and indeed students in most educational institutions, cannot deny the fact that they love holidays and they will never miss an opportunity to avail them whenever they can.

To this end, summer vacations have been the subject of much speculation and debate at most official education meetings. In fact, on January 3, 2006, the Sindh Education Department announced that starting this year, all schools would close down for summer vacations from July 1, and commence their academic activities from August 16. This meant a 15-day increase in summer vacations, since prior to this change, academic sessions commenced on August 1.

The decision was changed in an All-Private Schools Management Associations (APSMAS) meeting, Sindh, on June 11, 2006. The APSMAS decided that all private schools would resume their academic activities on August 1, 2006, as they had originally planned to do, the main reason for this being Independence Day celebrations and their preparations.

Not to be left behind, the Sindh Education Department swiftly reiterated that academic activities could not resume before August 16, 2006, and any school defying these orders would be penalised. To add to the confusion, the Federal Education Minister, Javed Ashraf Qazi, asked for the vacations to be extended till August 31 with all schools reopening on September 1, 2006.

But to date, the Sindh Education Department’s stance is that since they have not received any official directives from the Federal Education Ministry to extend vacations, it will stand by the original notification; that is, reopening educational institutions on August 16.

Previously, students would have been overjoyed at the prospect of having more holidays at their disposal. Now, however, it is a different story altogether: “I am not at all happy with the extra holidays and I sure hope the authorities don’t increase the vacations to three months. Two-and-a-half months are bad enough,” says Fatima Ahmed, an O-Level student.

One can’t help but wonder why students like Fatima would feel this way about more holidays. “Statistics has been made compulsory in our curriculum, and the Cambridge Board only offers that subject in the October-November session. There is no way we will be able to complete that course in time for the exam. Besides, my school year is still going to end around mid-March after which I will get study leave, so I am going to be left with a shorter academic session. We must also bear in mind that national elections are scheduled to be held in January 2007, so we can all expect a lot of unscheduled closures. Thus, even if the government does cut down on unnecessary holidays, there is no telling how many times educational institutions may have to be closed down due to our country’s law and order and political situations,” explains Fatima.

Asma Jabbar, a teacher at a private school, voices similar concerns: “All these extra holidays are a waste of time and are making the students lazy. Most students while away their time, watching television all day because their parents cannot afford to take them on a vacation out of town. So overall, students become more unproductive in their free time.”

Then, there are parents who feel that extensive summer vacations are only going to make matters worse. “Personally, I find this appalling. Schools have been made to close on the smallest of pretexts throughout the year anyway, whether it was to celebrate winning a cricket match or giving our government a winning hand in their games of politics,” laments Atefa Jamal, mother of school-going children. “Not only does lengthening the vacations make things inconvenient for the schools, but the kids have to then forfeit their Saturdays to go to school to make up for lost time, and parents must rush around to find out whether the schools are open or not.”

Atefa completely agrees with the fact that all these holidays will give rise to a lazy generation. “By constantly giving our kids days off, aren’t we breeding the next generation to be lazy? Can we hope that our future generations will bring a positive change to our country when we are programming them to become slobs?” These are pertinent questions but there are people who actually believe that some good can come out of an increase in vacations.

There are others, of course, who feel that an increase in vacations will be beneficial to them. “I am definitely glad that the vacations have been increased, simply because I am too busy with my tuitions, summer courses and sports practices throughout July. I am hoping I’ll get some time to relax in August and to stay at my grandmother’s place,” explained Fizza Hassan, student of a private school.

“I think in a country like ours where the weather conditions are at such an extreme, summer vacations must be extended,” opines Maryam Masood, an ex-student. This is a valid point, considering the fact that it is not only the blistering heat which goes on till August, but also the monsoon season which is in full swing, causing hassle to the students and parents alike.

Fatima Saleem, who has just taken her matriculation exams, pointed out the dilemma of class nine students and the importance of an extended summer break to them. “Extending summer vacations this year was what the students of class nine deserved. They had their exams in mid-June and now their practical exams await them. If the vacations hadn’t been extended, they would have had only around 25 days left to relax and enjoy.” Other reasons cited in favour of the extension include the travelling factor. Many students go out of the city or country during vacations and the two-and-a-half months allotted for vacations allows them more flexibility and convenience.

However, in spite of its advantages, increasing summer vacations at a time when schools already have suffered from unscheduled closures owing to the unstable political environment in the city shows lack of foresight and planning among the powers that be which control the system of education in Pakistan. Consider the current year, for example. Schools are still trying to cope with the damaged caused because of the reopening of schools after an extended winter vacation on January 9, 2006, which were closed immediately afterwards for Eid holidays along with holidays on strikes and after Pakistan team’s victory in cricket matches.

The fact of the matter is that teachers have their courses to complete and exam papers to set. When the course isn’t completed on time, students either have to finish it on their own or rely on the mushrooming substandard coaching centres. Sometimes, teachers shorten the courses themselves which means that students are learning less than they should in a given academic year.

With all this in mind, one is forced to wonder why education suffers during crises. Ours is a country with one of the most atrocious literacy rates in the world and it is about time there was some semblance of order where educational decisions are concerned. Unfortunately, the situation is only going downhill by the day. Today it is a question of summer vacations. Tomorrow, there will be another issue to deal with, one which will cause further misery to students, teachers and parents.