Education with discrimination  by Ms. Masooma

It is said that if you want to see the world, see it from the eyes of women. Women are almost half of any population in the world. Life is impossible to go smooth without active participation of women in every field. The level of maturity and development of any society can be judged by the level of development and maturity of women of that society. But have our women been provided that vision through which we can see the world? The answer goes negative. To see is to think, to think is to know, this is how we make our vision about an object or world. Knowledge and education gives us the power not only to think but also how to think. The women of our society especially Hazara women are no different than the other third world and backward societies. They are submissive and oblivious of whatever is happening around them. They have no vision of what is happening, why and how to deal with specific problems.  Hazaras comparatively have higher literacy rate than other nations in Pakistan or in Quetta, yet we see no practical output. We are lagging behind to come to that stage of civilization where gender discrimination has no value.

       Regarding women, There are number of specific issues and areas only in education field that can be discussed, such as religion and education, economic dependence & education, traditions & education, social respect & education but they are overall a chain of problems intermingled with each other. But this time I will try to talk more specifically on discriminations a Hazara girls face in education.

       The very first day of the school the alien behavior of parents starts when there comes the decision about the selection of the school. Boys are admitted in private and high standard school and they are wished to have better environment and education while no care is given to a girl's educational path. The above problem is of secondary nature, before the selection of the school it is thought whether to put a girl in the school or not. Here I would not hesitate to say that even today most of the people admit there girls in the school, not because they have felt the importance of education of girls but because it has become a trend or because unlike olden days they have nothing to do at home.

         As she grows up, she faces much psychological harassment and she is made to feel that she can do nothing. This damages their personality, courage and confidence on themselves, but also their creativity. Many different kinds of psychological, emotional harassment and criticism go on even if they are getting education freely at Govt. institutes. No any extra support is given to them at home in any respect. Recently a student of mine told me that she asked her father to give her membership of any library, but her father refused saying there is no need of knowing lots of thing for you. While against her, the brother was given money to buy books and have membership of library. She herself told that she felt discouraged much. Many other small or big happenings of discriminations happen every day but what they are taught is to compromise with problems.

When it comes time for professional education, we belong to people who still think that investment on the education of the girl is useless because she has to leave. Therefore most often inspite of qualifying and being able, they have to forget the dream of higher education. In recent years the trend of getting higher education is said to be increasing in girls, because most of boys live their collage and university education incomplete of search of job. But even that is of no value. Getting a Bachelor or a Master degree from the sub standard and ill educational setup of Balochistan, will make the women just teachers in a Govt. or a private school. The boys on the other hand, are privileged with the opportunities of going out of the city or country for higher education. Professions thought suitable for women are still either a teacher or a doctor, which only few families can afford. They are blamed to have no practical and realistic approach towards life. How is it possible? Having a career path and then continuing it despite their martial status is never taken too seriously. Majority of educated women sits at home uselessly. The fear of social criticism never let them have the emancipation and freedom of thoughts to decide on themselves. She should rebel or stick to the old ideas, she can't decide. Because she has to live and survive in that society. So the situation remains an unsolved delimma. In most families doing a job is still considered a negative thing for a girl rather it is considered seriously as the matter of honor of the family. Otherwise the increasing number of working Hazara girls, is not due to maturity of our people but because of economical difficulties their family face.Here I am not neglecting the whole picture of social and tribal setup, the problems in education system and other social, political and economical difficulties of Hazaras in Quetta, which we face as a nation , not being a boy or girl. Inspite of all those facts we all have got to accept being unbiased that Hazara women do suffer from exceptional treatment and discrimination in the field of education. Our problems as a nation urge the active participation of female in every field. After all they are half of the population. Otherwise she will remain deaf and dumb member of society. Providing equal and even better educational opportunities will give them the vision and conduct that can change the face of our nation.

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