Most of Pakistan’s philosophising, armchair and otherwise, revolves around the issue of education, or rather the lack thereof. Politicians promise it, parents demand it, and students either dread it or love it, and the government and education institutions have failed to adequately provide it.
Poor Education Indicators
Pakistan’s education indicators show how difficult the situation is. While primary school enrollment for boys as of 2008-2012 is 101.3 percent and primary school enrollment for girls is 83.3 percent, only 39.7 percent of males and 29.2 percent of females end up enrolling in secondary school.
There are many reasons for this, one crucial element is the discrepancy in students’ mother tongues and English, which is usually central to higher education.
Urducation
Enter Urducation– a new vision for the future of education in Urdu. The founders of Urducation felt that the education system in Pakistan is outdated and dysfunctional. Established in a different era, the system does not take into account the scale and scope of the country, nor the real world demands that students need to be prepared for. The founders also cite current and ongoing instability in the country as deterrents to building and maintaining an effective model of education.
This reasoning led them to believe that education needs to be reimagined, and Urducation is the platform they are developing to accomplish this. Their mission can be summed up in their byline: “Free Technology Education in Urdu Language.”
The site is intended to provide free and accessible education materials, especially relating to technology. Some of the information provided will relate to using different computers, mobile phones and online resources. Utilizing education as a tool for empowerment, the site aims to improve people’s lives by allowing them to participate more fully in society through online education, available to them in Urdu.
The site will impart skills-based learning at every level, while retaining the focus on technological tools that people need to have, and yet don’t have sufficient access to at the moment.
Who Is Behind Urducation?
Two co-founders and two internees are currently running Urducation. The team plans to have the site up and running within four months, and there is a sign-up option on their coming soon page at Urducation.com to get notifications about site progress.
Nouman Nazim (@NoumanNazim) is one of the co-founders of Urducation, along with Sher Afgun Usmani (@RajaSherAfgun). This initiative follows their interest in E-learning and support for Urdu language education and development.
Urducation also has a Facebook page, which is currently taking comments and suggestions from interested people and it already has 1,452 likes. The page provides updates to the website’s progress, in addition to starting off their campaign of promoting Urdu education and skills-based learning in general. The page focuses on motivational quotes and informational pieces that reflect Urducation’s positive approach to education and self-empowerment.
Urducation is also promoting its campaign on Twitter, using a catchy description, which outlines its cause: “We want you to learn. Do you?” It currently has 256 followers, with more likely to come as the site approaches its completion date.
Urducation As A Solution
Many of the analyses looking at the difficult situation in Pakistan point to the importance of involving youth in social and economic development. However, this means that first something must be done to enable youth to participate, and Urducation will focus primarily on young people, making learning a more enjoyable experience through interactive tools.
The website aims to help people to develop their own ideas and initiatives by providing them with tools to learn more, and to have a better chance in the job market too. The overall goal is to “bring free Technology education to the speakers of Urdu language, in order to help them achieve their dreams and change the world.”
The founders also add their own explanation on their website: “We aim to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in. We want to help students learn better — and faster. That’s why we are designing our platform on proven learning methods which are recognized and adapted globally.”
Urducation is an exciting new prospect that will potentially change the way people learn, and at the very least will provide people with more options to take control of their own education. Be sure to check it out once its ready, and sign up for updates at Urducation.com.
Connect with Urducation
