The Miseducation of Pakistan

In the exposé The Miseducation of Pakistan, Pakistani journalist Naziha Syed Ali serves as a tour guide through Pakistan's deeply flawed public education system (which receives a mere 2.6% of the country's Gross Domestic Product). Ali visits schools marked by crowded classrooms, crumbling and inadequate facilities, and empty buildings now used as barns, pointing out inequalities and inconsistencies with a wry sense of humor (over shots of a government school playground filled with garbage and fetid water, Ali comments, “The only sport here is to get to the toilet without getting your feet wet”; the scene then transitions to children swimming in a huge, chlorinated pool, while Ali says, “A few miles away, at an expensive private school, getting wet is actually fun.”). Most government officials send their children to private schools, and are therefore seemingly uninterested in improving government schools. Interviews cover a broad range of perspectives, including those of children, teachers, principals, and government officials at the provincial and national levels. Collectively, they reveal that while poor Pakistani children want to learn, a combination of apathetic teachers, rampant corruption, and an antiquated, biased curriculum conspires to keep them ignorant. Featuring stylish graphics that present statistics and facts in support of its arguments, The Miseducation of Pakistan should appeal to those interested in both education and world affairs. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Wadland)