I was talking to a cousin last night, and we agreed that the general attitude of students in Pakistan towards their education is so much better than their british counterparts. They seem more commited, serious and motivated to do well, I am still not able to work out why this difference. Could it be perhaps that they have to pay for their educaiton, so they don’t take it for granted? They know mum dad have paid school/college uni fees so they need to perform well.
Why this difference? Maybe students here in Pakistan can share their views and personal reasons for this positive approach they have. How can parents here do things different to make sure they raise children with this morale?
Please serious answers only please no messing around!!!
In my opinion, it's also because thats pretty much all they are expected to do. I don't know about teens in UK since I grew up in US but I can tell you here kids do more than just studying. most kids are involved in sports and other extracurricular activities. All my nieces and nephews do so much more than just study. they are in gymnastics, ballet, sports, ice skating and other sports. in pakistan, kids are just supposed to memorize entire books.
^ Thats not entirely true. Kids in Pakistan are involved in various extracurricular activities too.
Coming back to the topic, pakistani education system is sooooo competitive ... its the same in the entire sub-continent... Its all about competition... And this competition almost doesn't exist here in the west (among students)... Everyone just does their own thing here, no one is worried about marks etc... as long as they pass, t'is cool... In Pakistan its all about marks and percentage and competition...
If you want to do something meaningful in USA then education here is competitive too. It is not easy to get into medical school which is highest in demand. Then getting admitted to a university or college which is high in demand is not easy either.
I guess the what is different here in USA is that even the mediocre lifestyle in USA is many times better than mediocre lifestyle in Pakistan. Even if you do so so in education in US you will be living a life of comfort. The things which are luxury in Pakistan are everyday needs here.
Kahtay hain na k America main bhangi bhee chamakdar car main kaam per ata hay. :)
It depends on your school really....there are some very good schools in Pakistan and there are some very poor schools in UK and US. It all comes down to rokra[money].
All of you have made very valid points, and all are correct in their own ways.
There are many extra curricular activites here in the UK too, and children do all of these, all the same as the ones you mentioned Misty, but I still see this divide between the education attitudes between the east and the west. I see what you mean about the competitiveness, there are many things to do there but the average household may not be able to afford these whereas here through school so much is free.
COmpetition for good Universities his great in the UK, I am not saying that comp there is non existant. I actually like the attitude and drive they have, maybe they could export what they give to their children to eat and be like this. My husband has neices and nephews there and when I am there i see them studying it really is wonderful, maybe I am not explaining it well but there is a difference. Also one time when I was there one nephew he was about 10 then I asked him to put the cartoons on for my daughter, and he said that the cable is off. I asked him to switch it on and he told me that " nahi aunty peche se cable ke channel band hai paper ho raha hai" we should have that here too!!!
Lack of opportunities. One HAS to be competitive where total number of students admitted to all engineering schools in Pakistan is less than any two average US universities put together.
Our culture of focusing on two or three avenues for career for our children. Growing up, it was either engineering or medicine. Now you can add 'MBA' or IT into the mix. If you are not pursuing one of these 'hot' tracks, you are no good. Nobody would proudly tell you that he/she is pursuing a major in linguistics, for example.
It is our culture where parents 'lose face' if their child does not do well at school even though he/she might be brilliant at something unrelated to school work. We somehow need to 'compete' with our neighbors/relatives/friends. I have witnessed a mother praying to God that a certain student in her daughter's class gets sick during examinations so that her daughter can 'stand first' in the class.