While harried moms in her neighbourhood rush to pack off
their kids to school every morning, Sadaf Farooqi’s day starts on a
relaxed note. Her six-year-old daughter A’isha Irfan rises early, makes
her own breakfast and starts the day by unleashing her creativity using
pencils, colours, water colours, scissors and paper. A’isha later
switches to reading one of the books from her curriculum set, going to
her mother for questions whenever she feels the need. Her four-year-old
brother Abdullah Irfan soon joins her; he scribbles with colour pencils,
experiments with Lego and peppers his mother with numerous questions
throughout the day.
A’isha and Abdullah do not go to school, for them their home is their
school — a place where they are free to learn in a natural setting. But
that’s not because they have special needs or couldn’t get into a
‘normal’ school. Sadaf, a freelance writer and blogger, has been
homeschooling her kids for over a year now and says she prefers this
unconventional approach to schooling.
She follows the official Oxford University Press curriculum with
books for Maths, English, Urdu, Social Studies, General Science and
Islamiat along with daily Quran lessons, but prefers to let her children
choose what they want to study. She says this approach hones the
children’s natural inclination to learn.
Sadaf’s not the only one who has decided to opt out of the system.
The Irfans are part of a community of like-minded parents who are
choosing to homeschool their children. The concept, though relatively
new in Pakistan, is gaining popularity among families who are
dissatisfied with the traditional schooling system and prefer being more
involved in their children’s education. Parents like the Irfans got
together and formed the Pakistan Home Education group which consists of
an online community with approximately 150 members comprising
homeschooling parents and those interested in home education. They also
launched a quarterly magazine focusing on their activities and various
issues related to home education.
The group, comprising of roughly 20 homeschooling families, also
holds regular social events where moms and children get together for
combined social activities and support. Such meetings are held every
second Monday of the month at someone’s home where kids play with each
other and moms discuss problems and solutions, and Bookworm’s Book Club
is held weekly and consists of story-telling followed by craft
activities and snacks.
Laila Brence, a Latvian convert to Islam and a former teacher
herself, was the pioneer of the Pakistan Home Education group. “I feel
that I am more in control of what is going on in the lives of my kids
than I would be by sending them to school,” says Laila, who is currently
in her seventh year of homeschooling two kids with a third baby in
line. “The schooling experience has greatly changed since I myself went
to school. These days, kids don’t have the time to be kids any more.
Society puts so much pressure on them to become high-achievers that
their own life gets lost somewhere in the rat race.” Laila says that she
is glad her kids are getting plenty of time to do the things they want
to do and enjoy doing. “Even boredom is a great opportunity for
creativity and spontaneity — they always invent new games to play and
come up with endless art projects of their own.”
For Sadaf, one of the big motivations of opting for homeschooling was
the whole school routine, which involves, “ironing the uniforms and
laying them out along with shoes and socks at night; packing the bag
according to the timetable; forcing the child to finish her homework;
making and packing the lunch in the mornings, forcing a few mouthfuls
down a reluctant mouth, then sending off a sometimes mildly sick, or
screaming toddler with a tear-ridden face, to school with a heavy heart
and a shackled mind that never ‘dared’ to question the necessity of this
so-called ‘must-have’ system of education”.
Despite these misgivings (which other parents might share as well),
she didn’t seriously consider homeschooling until she met a few mothers
who were educating their children at home in Karachi.
Homeschooling does not come without its fair share of critics. From
the incredulous stares that these parents get every time they say their
children are being educated at home to the reasonable arguments in
favour of formal schooling, homeschooling families do get a lot of flak.
Critics fault the system for isolating children, reducing confidence
levels and limiting their interaction to only like-minded people and
groups.
“Homeschooling does not set them apart from the real world — schools
do,” rebuts Laila. “In schools, kids are grouped into unnatural age-wise
segregated situations, which never occur in the real world.
Homeschooled kids experience the reality of this world — they deal with
their family members, household issues, relatives and friends of
different ages. And, of course, as kids grow older, we will look for
opportunities for them to do more things outside of home — sports
activities, workshops, etc.” Laila finds that homeschooling gives her
children an advantage as she can choose the people they interact with.
“In the formative years, it is of utmost importance to have good role
models around, which would help to strengthen their core values. When
they get older, I don’t mind that they face difficult situations and
people on their own — I hope by that time their own internal values will
be developed enough to withstand peer-pressure, bullying and other
negatives of our society,” she explains.
Atefa Jamal, a homeschooling mother of seven, says her kids get a
fair share of interaction with the outside world. The four boys are
attending Taekwondo classes thrice a week, the elder two also
participate in scrabble competitions and during the summers, the kids
get to choose from a wide variety of summer camp activities. This
summer, they chose to take Arabic classes and swimming classes. “I also
send my older kids out to buy groceries,” says Atefa. “They meet a lot
of different people and learn to deal with bakers, butchers, the driver
or the man down the street who comes for groceries at the same time they
do. It’s a misconception that you are isolating them, that you will
choose their friends. That doesn’t happen; you can’t control your
children’s lives. My kids go out to bike and play in the park; they are
attending swimming, Quran and Taekwondo classes. I think they actually
end up meeting more real people in everyday roles and interact more
realistically.”
But what about the absence of a formal curriculum? Do institutes not
know what they are doing when they invest great amounts of money and
time in designing a curriculum? And are parents skilled in all subjects
that are required to be taught?
“There is a misconception that homeschooling means you have to do it
all by yourself and that you have to do it all at home,” says Atefa.
“There are so many books available and it’s not like tuitions are not an
option. Homeschooling merely means that the parents are more actively
involved in their children’s education. If you feel you can’t do
something you can always try to learn it yourself and search on the
internet or you can get tuitions for your child for a particular
subject.”
Every few days, Atefa sits down and draws up a plan of what she and
her husband want to achieve with the children. Atefa is quick to say
that the learning is flexible and that there isn’t any fixed schedule.
“The learning is more need and situation-based,” she says. “For example,
when we got a kitten, we researched how to take care of it. When the
kitten died, which was a traumatic experience for the kids, we discussed
death, souls and the hereafter.”
As the children grow older, some parents prefer making the routine
more structured with fixed slots for studying different subjects as in
school. Many homeschooled children appear as private candidates to get
the required certifications of O and A levels or matriculation after
which they choose a college for formal degrees. Zahra Omer, who is
currently in the second year of her textile design degree at Indus
Valley, has passed successfully through a homeschooling experience and
is in no way behind her peers. Zahra, along her with her two brothers,
was homeschooled till Class 6 after which she was enrolled in a
mainstream school. During her homeschooling years, Zahra developed a
reading habit that kept her well ahead of her peers. She ended up with
seven As and three Bs in her O levels and straight As in her A levels.
Asked if she had any problem adjusting with conventional schooling when
she joined in Class 7, Zahra says “I didn’t have a problem adjusting.
Everyone was very nice and cooperative. In fact, when I went to school
it was a step back from the level I was at. Even when I gave the
entrance test I faced no problem. I never felt my base was weak in any
subject except for Urdu which we weren’t taught at home regularly. But I
was given extra attention at school for Urdu and I caught up by the
next grade. The only difference I encountered at school was the
competition among students. At home, there was no competition.”
Homeschoolers say home education nurtures the natural genius and
focuses on passion over requirement as children aren’t forced to study
subjects they have no interest in, nor are they made to feel dumb if
they can’t achieve certain targets.
Maintaining discipline may be a challenge at times, but parents like
Sadaf view the naughty “pranks” as disguised learning through
“experimentation” with different materials. “I do not have a TV at home
and I do not live in a joint family, so I have no problem in
‘controlling’ the amount of television viewing or other distractions.
Our home is crawling with children’s books, materials and toys, so my
children get to unleash their creativity without restraint.”
Anila Omer, Zahra Omer’s mother, however, says she never had a
problem maintaining discipline at home despite having a television. “I
would choose which movies or cartoons to show to my children and we
would watch those,” she says. “Since they were homeschooled from the
beginning, there was no outside influence that would make them
disobedient or naughty.”
However, the idea of homeschooling is still unfathomable to a
majority of parents. Kamila, mother of four-year-old Orhan and a teacher
herself, expressed surprise when told that families were opting to
educate their children at home in Pakistan. “I wouldn’t choose to
homeschool my child, not in this country,” she says. “Schools offer
children a routine and exposure that they don’t get at home. You can’t
keep your kids in a bubble. I want my kid to get the kind of exposure
that school gives because life isn’t easy. When you are at school, you
get different perspectives through different teachers. When you are
studying from only one person your mind is stuck in a rut. I don’t want
that for my child.”
Although mothers are more involved in the homeschooling process (with
many moms having given up full-time jobs to homeschool their children),
support from fathers is considered a necessity. Atefa’s husband Azeem
Pirani says his focus is to give time to his children whom he calls his
“team”. His time is utilised in discussions about current affairs at
meal times, regular visits to the swimming pool with them, involvement
in matters relating to vacations, events etc, guidance and coaching in
academic matters requiring further support and being part of the
audience or judges for any presentations they may be working on.
Azeem feels the fact that homeschooling is less expensive allows the
family to spend on more beneficial things like family vacations, getting
books or materials from abroad and getting memberships for clubs
allowing better access to sports facilities etc. “The educational value
of visiting new places is many times greater than sitting in a classroom
and listening to a teacher who is there just because she needs a job
and not due to any desire to impart knowledge to our children,” he says.
Azeem feels the decision to homeschool his seven children has been a
very positive one. “We have been able to interact more as a family. The
children are able to have their lives revolve around their family
rather than around their schools. This in and of itself means a strong
and close-knit unit.”
However, homeschooling is not for everyone, warns Laila. “Schools are
very much necessary for families that for various reasons cannot
homeschool. I always advise new families not to take this step, unless
they are sure they are ready for it. Excitement over the advantages of
homeschooling may push families to go for it when they are not ready —
this way, they may end up disappointed. Researching about home education
and evaluating the situation of your family is necessary before taking
this step. It is also important that both spouses agree on this mission —
if only one is for it, the tasks may prove to be very difficult.”
If all parents homeschooling their kids in the country possess the
same spirit and vision as these families, we might just be witnessing
the beginnings of a new movement in education in Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, October 9th,
2011.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the name of the parent.
