Education Beyond Reach: Why University Access Remains a Dream in Chitral – By: Zarmish Javed
Chitral with its literacy rate above 70% with a love of learning that runs through generations, and its towering mountains with its road that disconnects her from Peshawar for months every winter. For thousands of students, that road is the only road to higher education — and most of them never make it.
Imagine a student- sharp, bright, hardworking, fluent in three or more languages top of her class in Mastuj. Passing her class with flying colors. Her teachers bet she will be the future doctor. Her family has saved however much was possible for them to see her in the white coat. The bus fare to Peshawar, the hostel costs, the Lowari pass that closes abruptly anytime in winter, cutting off the district for weeks. These calculations don’t add up and her dream fells prey to the arithmetic’s of it.
Her story isn’t unique. Its ordinary. And the ordinariness is the scandal.
A district that values Education but cannot afford it
Chitral with a literacy rate standing at 71 isn’t a district that neglects education- quite the opposite of it, making it the top district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the highest literacy rate. They know that knowledge is their treasure to pursue a great life. Here the education is the only means to climb the social ladder as agriculture isn’t a viable option with only 2 percent cultivable land, and the job market is struggling due to under development.
But this ladder misses a few essential rungs. For Chitral students to pursue education, they have only one option, Leave! Moving to Peshawar or Islamabad, finding home somewhere else. Paying for rents, food and tuition and all this just for their basic right to attain education. But all this seems nearly impossible for modest families that simply can’t carry the burden.
The literacy rate would be at astounding 100% if there was a single public university in Chitral with the right infrastructure and transport system. – A student from Mastuj
This statement of a student with her dream of wearing a white coat from Mastuj speaks volume. Geography of Chitral is a tragedy in students’ life. The Lowari cuts off the district for week from the rest of province in winters, student’s if caught on other side can miss their exams, life events and may more. Lowari pass has made the way back home quite accessible for these students but still the road access in this most rugged terrain of Asia persists as a challenge.
The University of Chitral is the first step on a long journey
The university of Chitral in 2019 was a milestone for the localities to represent genuine progress in the way to make education accessible in Chitral. But still a lot more needs to be done. Before the university, sub campuses of SBBU and Abdul Wali khan University Mardan with their limited capacity was providing the bare minimum education to students.
University of Chitral is the first step toward progress in education but it still falls short of addressing the broader needs of the district. It’s a developing university with limited faculty and students wanting to seek engineering, medical, law, computer science as a profession still has only one option, Leave. As these programs aren’t offered at the University of Chitral. The Peshawar branch of the university is somewhat useful but again it doesn’t solve the problem rather shifts it. As student still must leave home for education.
Although it’s commendable that the Virtual University of Pakistan operates a center at Muldeh, Chitral but the distance learning heavily relies on two supply lines, electricity and internet both remains unreliable making it an ineffective means of education.
The cost isn’t just financial
Money is certainly a barrier but not the only barrier. For a fact students even with merit-based scholarship must worry about hostel, food, transportation for their 4 years education in other cities across Pakistan.
The cost extends beyond the financials
Education of girls and boys isn’t equally impacted. A society where the families are hesitant to send off their daughters to unknown cities, 1000s of kilometers away for education it seems quite impossible for them. This makes impact of it on women education is hardest as even if their family supports education, they simply can’t permit their daughter to live thousands of miles away alone for education. Establishing a well-equipped University in Chitral would change this calculation in entirety and would make higher education more accessible for women.
The issue of inaccessibility ripples down to other issues as well such as brain drain. The students that moved to Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi for education never returns home. And who can blame them. As there are hardly any professional opportunities for them in their district. These educated produce of Chitral become an asset for other cities, countries and regions. And that again is quite a loss of Chitral.
What Chitral needs- and what Pakistan Owes it
The Agha Khan Development Network has identified the problem, but state hasn’t acted upon it yet. The education improvement plan of AKDN has provided the basic school infrastructure to Chitral and has also helped to reduce gender gap in education to some extent but it’s still not enough. These interventions show that the communities here are hungry for investment. They engage with it and build upon it.
But civilian and international organization can’t do as much as state can do for making education accessible in Chitral. Its sits at the crossroads of geography connecting Pakistan to central Asia. Yet its students are forced to travel 1000s of kilometers away, spend their families entire saving, suffer from loneliness in alien cities just to attain higher education.
What they need is equity not charity. First step is to expand upon the programs offered at the university of Chitral- particularly in engineering, medicine, Information technology, and teacher education. It also needs infrastructure for on campus housing so students from upper Chitral and Mastuj don’t face another relocation to access education. Along that they will also need stable supply of electricity and internet to make blended classes accessible. Targeted scholarships should also be provided to students so that not only tuition but living expenses as well- because in Chitral it’s the living expenses not the tuition fee alone that makes education unattainable for most students.
Potential awaiting development
Despite these obstacles Chitral’s young people have made their way to top notch engineering universities, medical colleges and graduate program across Pakistan. And for all that they had to bear enormous personal and family cost. They have made it evident that talent exists. What has not existed is government willingness to provide for the talent where it exists.
Issue isn’t whether Chitrali students can compete or not. They have already competed against students from far more privileged backgrounds, only with their strong will power.
Imagine if a student form Mastuj, Booni or Torkhiw doesn’t have to pick between her education and her home. When a man with an aptitude for technology invents something for his home, when highly trained teachers stay within their district to teach. When the knowledge retains.
Pakistan has 64 percent of its population under thirty. That’s why it’s critical that education should be made accessible to the edges of Pakistan as well and not just centers. Chitral doesn’t stand at the edge because its unimportant- it’s on edge due to the systematic design of Pakistan’s education system.
The student in Mastuj with her dream to become doctor should not have her dream fell prey to inaccessibility of education. Pakistan can change this equation. The question is whether it chooses to.
The literacy rate would have been at 100 percent if there was a single well-equipped public university in Chitral with the right infrastructure, resources and transport system.
Authored by:
Zarmish Javed
The writer has studies project management in USA and has experience working as student academic counsellor with Upper Iowa University USA
