By Dr. Abdul Sattar
A four-year-old boy stood before me. His school bag was bigger than his frame. In one hand he held a homework diary, and his face showed exhaustion. I smiled and asked, “Son, do you get to play?”
He replied without hesitation, “Uncle, I don’t have time. I have an academy in the evening too.”
This is not just the story of one child. It is the mirror of our education system, where the childhood of millions of Pakistani children is imprisoned today.
The purpose of education is to develop the ability to think, understand, question, and solve the problems of life. But sadly, we have turned it into a heap of information and a practice of memorization. The more a child memorizes, the more “intelligent” he is considered, whether he understands what he is saying or not.
In Pakistan, education has become the biggest business. The growing race among private schools has made “more syllabus, more homework, and more exams” their brand. Parents too often fall for the misconception that the school which burdens the child the most must be the best.
The biggest business in Pakistan today is playing with parents’ psychology. Private schools choose fancy English names, build huge glass buildings with fountains, and create an illusion of “elite education.” Then they charge fees like universities. And parents, due to blind herd mentality, rush to admit their children to these schools whether they can afford them or not. They mortgage their homes and take loans, just to say “my child studies at XYZ School.” They believe that a beautiful building and a heavy fee means quality. In reality, they are buying the burden of their child’s childhood on installments.
The tragedy is that many of these institutions are run by businessmen who have never taught a single day in their lives. They have turned education from a sacred service into a profit-making machine. These businessmen spend millions on marketing and “open house” events.
Many schools hire untrained teachers at low salaries, people who themselves do not know the basic principles of child psychology and teaching. While some expensive schools prefer smart appearance and fluent speaking over actual teaching skills. The result is that the teacher himself does not understand the philosophy of the curriculum. He is
only making the child parrot the textbook.
Here is the real difference: In developed countries, education is a service. In Pakistan, it is a business.
There, the government regulates fees, checks teacher qualifications, and inspects curriculum. Schools compete on quality of teaching, not on the height of their building. Here, we compete on who can put more pressure on a 4-year-old.
The biggest deception of our system is that to make children look “outstanding,” we force them to memorize everything like parrots. Hence, the greatest damage is being done to children in their early childhood.
At the age of three and four, when they should be living in a world of colors, games and stories, we burden them with the generations of computers, commands of AI, definitions of technology, Six Kalimas and many such Duas that even their parents don’t remember. Parents proudly say, “Look how much our child knows,” but the truth is, he neither needs it at this age, nor will he remember a single word after the exams. What wisdom is there in making a 4-year-old memorize the funeral prayer? When the time comes for him to stand at a funeral, he will learn the dua then. Right now he needs love, stories, and play, not the weight of words he cannot understand. We have turned both academic and religious learning into a product and started selling “rote learning” at a high price. Sadly, even government schools have now joined this race to attract parents. This is not education, and this is not religious training. This is just another form of rote.
A child goes to school in the morning, to the academy in the afternoon, and does homework at night. In between there is Quran and tuition. Where is the time to play? To meet friends? To sit with family? This is why we now see so much stress, anxiety and fatigue in children. We have mistaken good grades for success, while a happy, confident, ethical and curious child is the real asset.
Global research consistently confirms that the early years are decisive for brain development. That is why play, language, creative activities, music, stories and social interaction are given primary importance in early education.
In Finland, there is no formal schooling, no homework, and no exams until age seven. Children only play and learn social skills.
In Japan, the first 3 years of school are not about academics at all. Children learn manners, cleanliness, and how to serve lunch to each other.
In Denmark, they have “Forest Schools” where 5-6 year-olds spend the whole day outdoors, climbing trees and learning through nature.
In the UK, children until age 5 follow the “Early Years Foundation Stage” where the focus is only on play, communication, physical development and creativity. There are no formal tests or homework.
In Germany, there are strict laws against homework in primary grades. The focus is only on creativity and critical thinking.
In Canada and Australia, standardized testing does not start until grade 3 or 4. Before that, teachers only assess through play and projects.
Here, we send 3-year-olds to school just to get them out of the house. There, children start formal academics at 6 or 7. The difference is clear: they protect childhood, we outsource it.
And what about private schools there? They are not businesses. They are non-profit. There is strict government regulation. Every teacher must have a 4-year professional degree and a license. The curriculum follows national standards. Parents pay for facilities and teachers, not for the brand name. The goal is personality building, not show.
I have always believed that children should not be taught any formal subject until the age of eight to ten. Except for two to three languages – Urdu, Arabic and English – and basic mathematics. Once a child gains command over the languages, he will then be able to learn history, science, Islamic studies, geography and general knowledge on his own by reading books. There is no need to make him parrot everything. First give him language and the ability to think. He will find his own way to information.
Unfortunately, the government has so far remained a silent spectator with no effective monitoring of private schools, no check on fees, and no minimum qualification required for owners or teachers, but real reform must begin at three levels. The government must enforce strict laws, regular inspections, a ban on homework and exams in early years, and make a professional teaching degree mandatory for both owners and teachers. Schools must shift from rote to play, experiments, reading, art, dialogue and practical activities, where a teacher acts as a mentor, not a result-producing machine. And parents must accept that an intelligent child is not one who memorizes everything, but one who has the courage to ask questions, learn from mistakes, and find new paths. Without this state intervention and collective responsibility, the commercialization of education will continue to destroy our children’s future.
The progress of a nation does not depend on how much information its children can remember. It depends on how much they can think, how much they can create, and how boldly they can ask new questions.
If we truly want to see a bright future for Pakistan, we must give our children not just the burden of books, but the freedom to think. We must give them vision, not just marks. Understanding, not rote. Confidence, not competition.
Because if childhood is protected, the future will protect itself.
