Future in Freeze

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: In the remote Leepa Valley of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, schoolgirls attend classes in freezing temperatures without adequate warm clothing, highlighting the difficult conditions faced by children in the region’s mountainous communities.

The situation reflects a broader challenge confronting residents of remote parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where harsh winters, difficult terrain and limited resources can make access to education particularly challenging.

For decades, the wider Kashmir dispute has remained unresolved at the international level, with Pakistan and India maintaining competing positions over the region. The two nuclear-armed neighbours have fought several wars and experienced repeated border tensions, with thousands of lives lost over the dispute.

Yet, amid the long-running geopolitical confrontation, everyday challenges facing communities in areas such as Leepa Valley remain a pressing concern. For these students, the immediate struggle is not the politics of the dispute but having safe and suitable conditions in which to continue their education.

The image of schoolgirls facing severe cold without proper winter clothing underscores how the region’s children continue to bear the consequences of limited resources while the Kashmir question remains unresolved.

It is pertinent to ask, how many countries are armed with nuclear arsenal but it would be more pertinent to ask, how many are without it but have progressed leaps and bounds in health and education of their citizens? This is another debate and something to reflect upon.
Sitting in the open, it appears that these students are taking a school test. The building in the background houses other children who may have either taken their test or are awaiting their turn.
This whole scenario depicts the lacklustre approach of those responsible for the education, welfare and the development of the nation’s children. Their lack of vision and incompetency is clear to see.
The unfathomable tales of corruption in the education sector are countless but just to cite a few examples of the reported ghost schools in Pakistan make a disturbing reading.
For example, there are plentiful stories about schools without playgrounds, without water and washrooms, without numbers and lacking in proper teaching structure and curriculum.

Reports of these ghost schools are frequently written and indexed and occasionally referenced for feedback and updates but nothing really changes. Over the time, they get buried and forgotten without action in sight.
From books to uniforms, there is always a monetary consideration, money to be made by directing parents to specific shops to secure paybacks in commissions.
The national curriculum presents another dilemma that awaits consensus of people with perhaps right intentions but get swayed by extraneous motives which are not necessarily about the education of children. There is much confusion around this important subject matter without clarity of direction.
Much of the produced syllabus is not productive. The human talent which Pakistan has plenty of is being wasted and those responsible for the country’s education fail to grasp this basic fact because they can’t see beyond their perks.
There is plenty of data showing how well Pakistan is doing educationally but the ground reality is very different. The picture by Shabbir Anjum rightly depicts the plight of our nation and it’s freezing future in conflict zone that has consumed three generations in over seven decades.

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.

Photo Credit: Shabir Anjum