EDUCATION, CULTURE AND SOCIETY

EDUCATION

“Education is the most powerful weapon we can

use to change the world”

NELSON MANDELA
Education means to create the sense between right and wrong. Education plays an
important role to make the people wise and sensible. It enlightens the thinking
abilities of man. It provides the man with sensibility. It makes the man rational. It
tends the man to think and to use the brain to reveal the mysteries of life. It enables
the man to bring new facts of life to light. Every divine book has put the light on
the importance of education. In the Surah Rehmaan of Holy Quran, God defines
himself as a teacher. God says

“And your God, who taught you Quran”

In the first divine message to Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), God has
explained the importance of education.

Our beloved Holy Prophet said once:

“Seek education, no matters how far you have to go”

At another occasion, He said:

“I have been sent to you as a teacher”

The above references show that how God and his Holy Prophet have explained the
importance of education and how they have forced us to seek the education. Every
greet personality has convinced to get education and to improve their skills.

If we read the history of world, we would come to know that education plays an
important role in the progress of a nation. The nations who remained in touch with
knowledge, ruled the world. And those nations which remained ignorant were
made ruined. Unfortunately, literacy rate in Pakistan is very low. The literacy rate
is 58.5%. It varies by sex. Male literacy rate is 70.2% and female literacy rate is
46.3%. It also varies by region. Usually people living in capital and modern cities
educate their children while those living in tribal area don’t pay head to education
of their children. For instance, female literacy rate in tribal areas is only 3% which
is terrible.

Pakistan spends only 2.0% of its GDP on education which is very low while on the
other hand our neighbor India spent 4.26% of its GDP in 2000-01. Similarly,
Malaysia spends 21% of its GDP on education which is very high.

It can be said satisfactorily that literacy rate of Pakistan is increasing every year
and people are educating their children. If we compare the present condition with
earlier, we can see a lot of improvement in this regard.

In the tribal areas of Pakistan, people don’t send their children especially girls to
schools due to ignorance and some other misunderstandings. They should be
taught that education is necessary for their children. If they agree, that’s good
otherwise their children should be sent to schools by force because they are
creating problems for Pakistan. On the other hand, Government of Pakistan should
also pay heed to education and should devote more of its GDP to education. It
should also pay heed to standard of education in Pakistan. Our education system is
not working properly. It is creating only certificates not the men who have to face
the world. If we want to live with honor and die with dignity, we have to devote
our self to education. We have to re-establish our education system according to
requirements of present age.

CHILD LABOUR

Child labor is the major problem of every country. Education is the right of every
child but child labor is the major problem. The children in very young age are
forced to do a lot of work to earn a small amount of money. Parents force their
children to hold different tools instead of pen and book. Some children have to do
a lot of work due to their poverty. They share problems of their family at the age in
which they should study. It is the curse of major countries. The world is paying a
lot of heed to terminate this curse but still it is the major problem of education
sector.

Unfortunately, the rate of child labor is very high in Pakistan. The reason is that the
poverty rate is very high in Pakistan. People are poor and they ask their children to
earn and share the problems of their poor family. As a result of which the literacy
rate of country remains very low. In modern and developed cities, people tend to
educate their children and in tribal areas in under developed cities, people don’t
pay heed to the education of their children.
CULTURE
Culture can be defined as the overall life style of people of a specific region.
Actually the “culture” is a very wide phenomenon which covers the living of
people; what they eat, what they wear, what is their literature and how they behave
in different fields of life.

Here we will discuss the culture of different areas of Pakistan.

The culture of Pakistan consists of a number of ethnic groups i.e. Punjabis,

Sindhis, Kashmiris, Muhajirs, Pashtuns and Balochis. The national language of
Pakistan is Urdu but majority of people speak in Punjabi. People like to eat
proteinaceous food. The Urdu literature contains the personalities like Allama
Iqbal, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Habib Jalib, Munir Niazi and Mirza Ghalib. The historical
buildings are Faisal mosque (Islamabad), Minar e Pakistan (Lahore), Badshahi
mosque (Lahore) etc.
 FAISAL MOSQUE IN ISLAMABAD

Faisal mosque in Islamabad is a beautiful monument. It is a historical mosque

which was built in the reign of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. King Faisal of Saudi Arabia
helped a lot in the preparation of this mosque. It is amazingly beautiful.

BADSHAHI MOSQUE IN LAHORE

CULTURE OF PUNJAB

The word Punjab means “the land of five waters”. The reason of this name is that
the province Punjab has five rivers named as Ravi, Sutlej, Bias, Jhelum and
Chenab. These rivers are very important for Punjab as they are the source of water
for domestic and sets up the irrigation system. Sometimes these rivers cause floods
in the different cities but their importance cannot be ignored. They are vital to
maintain the agricultural activities in Punjab. The history of Punjab is very
precious. It has been the center of many religions and civilizations for a long time,
many invaders have been here. There was a time, when it was the center of
Hinduism and Sikhs but now the majority of people are Muslims and Sikh.
Minorities like Hindus and Christians can also be seen here. People of Punjab are
liberal and educated. Punjab is still the center of major religious and political
movements. Most of the saints have been part of this province and by their
preaching Islam spread all over the Sub-continent. Great saints like Hazrat Ali
Hajveri, Baha ud din Zakria, Baba Fareed etc. Baba Bulleh Shah came to the
Punjab and started preaching their ideas. Due to the struggle of these saints, Punjab
became the center of Islam. The Punjabi culture had already been a mixture of
many ethnic backgrounds due to previous and some of the most historical and
threatening periods of foreign invasions. During the middle Ages, contributions
from Afghan, and Chagatai-Turkic influences were incorporated into the Punjabi
culture. Due to the large number of Punjabi People distributed throughout the
world, especially Pakistan and India, many people are increasingly experiencing
the culture and becoming influenced by it. Traditional Punjabi culture is being
strengthened and expanded in the Western culture the scope is huge, ranging from
Punjabi Philosophy, poetry, spirituality, education, artistry, music, cuisine,
architecture etc. Most common language used in Punjab is ‘Punjabi’. Punjab has
always been center of entertainment the cultural music such as dohay, tappey have
been very entertaining for the people all over the world. People also like the poetry
of saints (kalaam) like baba Bulleh shah, sultan Bahu, Baba Fareed and Waris
shah. Along with the fast music mentioned before the classical Punjabi songs
which usually have been sung on the poetry of great saints are also very pleasing.
The most famous dance in Punjab is bhangra and this style is preferred not only in
Punjab but also the provinces.
CULTURE OF SINDH

The Culture of Sindh has its roots in the Indus Valley Civilization. Sindh has been
shaped by the geography of the largely desert region, the natural resources it had
available and the continuous foreign influences. The Sindh River passes through
the land and Arabian Sea due to which local people adapt seafaring trade.

As far as the culture of Sindh is concerned, it is the oldest culture which roots
meets in the Indus river civilization. The excavations of Mohenjo-Daro have
revealed the civilization of people so the definition of culture of origins from 7000
years old Indus valley civilization. This is the pre Aryan period about 3000B.C,
when urban civilization in Sindh was at its peak.

Sindhi literature is very rich and ancient. It is one of the world’s oldest literatures.
It is said that the first translation of Holy Quran in any other language was written
in Sindhi. Sindhi poetry is also very prominent in Sindhi culture. Great poets like
Sheikh Ayaz, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Sachal Sarmast and G.N Qureshi are very
popular in Sindhi people. These people sing the poetry of these saints very
deliberately. These saints wrote the Sufi Kalaam and Sufi music is very popular
among people. Ho Jamalo(Sindhi Dance) is most popular in Sindhi people which
they perform in different festivals.

Ekta(unity) Day is very popular and Sindhi people celebrate it as a festival on the
first Sunday of December. It is celebrated throughout the Sindh. On that day,
musical programs and rallies are held in many cities to mark the city with zeal.
People across the Sindh exchange the gifts of Ajrak and Sindhi Cap.

AJRAK SINDHI CAP

CULTURE OF BALOCHISTAN
Balochistan means “the land of Bloch people”. Balochistan is the largest province
of Pakistan, 44% of the total mass. And it is the least populated province also,
containing 5% of the total country’s population. The province is bordered with
Afghanistan. The economy of province is largely based on the production of gas,
coal and minerals. Other important economic sectors include fisheries, mining and
manufacturing industries. Balochistan's share of Pakistan's national income has
historically ranged between 3.7% to 4.9%. Since 1972, Balochistan's gross income
has grown in size by 2.7 times.
Balochi is the major language here. Some other languages like makrani, rukhsani
and sulemani are also spoken here. The dresses in Balochistan are very interesting.
Men wear a wide and long trouser with long shirt till knees. The traditional turban
is also kept on head. Baloch people feel very proud of their turban. The females
wear dresses which are adorned beautifully with embroidery work and a pocket in
front. Some pieces of glass are also embedded in front of their shirt. Their shirts
are very wide and long.
The marriage ceremonies are held simply in the presence of a religious leader and
witnesses. Folk songs are also sung at this occasion. Sibi festival is the most
popular festival in Balochistan. It attracts the people from throughout the country.
Different stalls are held at this festival. It is a source of jubilation. People come
from different parts of country and enjoy this jubilous occasion. Bazkushi is
another festival showing the valor of Balochistan people. It is celebrated on horse-
back by two teams that use their skills to snatch the goal from each other.

Society
Aristotle said: “Man is a social animal.” Society can be defined as the group of
people having interpersonal relations and sharing the same geographical region.
Actually, living in a society is our necessity. We cant live lonely. We have no other
option than living in a group of people. We get different benefits from our society
by sharing the different things with each other.

More broadly, and especially within structuralist thought, a society may be

illustrated as an economic, social, industrial or cultural infrastructure, made up of,
yet distinct from, a varied collection of individuals. In this regard society can mean
the objective relationships people have with the material world and with other
people, rather than "other people" beyond the individual and their familiar social
environment. Every society has its different values in every matter. They have
different rules, morals, principles and values. They cant be challenged anywhere.
We have to live with society by accepting all its rules and owing its values.