In Pakistan, every third child is out of school. The situation is especially dire for Pashtun kids. But many refuse to give up — like Jalal, who attends classes in a tent in the mountains. We follow his and his father's fight for better education.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I want to be a doctor.
00:07Jalal has great plans for his future, but the school system in Pakistan is failing him
00:12and other kids.
00:14It's hard when we come to school.
00:16Sometimes we collapse.
00:17I wish I could study in a proper building.
00:20Jalal is Pashtun.
00:22He belongs to an ethnic group that feels abandoned by their government.
00:28School leaders don't see us as human.
00:32Amid poverty, terrorist attacks and traditions that sometimes oppose secular education, we
00:40meet kids like Jalal who do everything possible to attend school.
00:45And we meet people making a change.
01:09It's just before sunrise.
01:11Muhammad Fatah wakes his five sons.
01:22They need to get ready for school.
01:32They live in the mountainous area of western Pakistan.
01:47Pashtuns are the second biggest ethnic group in the country.
01:51Before heading to school, one last check.
01:59And you don't start a fight with others, OK?
02:02OK.
02:03OK.
02:04Broken shoes?
02:05No.
02:06No.
02:07No.
02:08Muhammad really wants his children to get a good education.
02:13And his oldest son, Jalal, dreams big.
02:16What do you want to be one day?
02:19A doctor.
02:20Really?
02:21Which type of doctor?
02:24I will give medicines.
02:25I see.
02:26And you want to help the community?
02:31Yes.
02:33There's no doctor in our area.
02:35If there was a doctor, we wouldn't suffer.
02:38I want to be a doctor so I can open a clinic.
02:42When poor people come, I won't charge them a fee.
02:51We are in the village of Tal Samanda, here, where the kids live.
02:55People are scattered.
02:57That means Jalal's next neighbor, village or school, is far away.
03:05To get to their school, Jalal, his brothers and friends, must walk on a rocky and uphill
03:11path.
03:12All the kids from the neighborhood walk together.
03:15Their parents feel that it's safer like this.
03:22It takes around two and a half hours to reach school and another two and a half hours to
03:26get back home.
03:27Sometimes their school slates break along the way, books get damaged, or ink spills
03:32on them.
03:34In summer, it gets up to 40 degrees Celsius.
03:37In winter, there can be snow.
03:40The kids help the time pass by reciting poems.
03:45Flowers on earth, stars in the sky.
03:48He is the lord of the entire universe.
03:52All are reflections of his power and might.
03:58These kids make the trip to school each and every day.
04:09School is not what we imagined it to be.
04:22Which symbol is this?
04:24Plus symbol.
04:25Correct.
04:26Now, solve the question.
04:28What's the result?
04:29It's plus.
04:31Solve it.
04:3247.
04:3375.
04:34Education in a tent is challenging in many ways.
04:49The kids and the teacher here speak Pashto, the Pashtun language, but there are only books
04:54available in Urdu and English, the national languages of Pakistan.
05:06Up to five grades are taught at the same time by one teacher.
05:10Jalal and his little brother Atta are taught together.
05:16When the teacher tries to teach us, the noise from students makes it hard for us to hear,
05:21and we even forget what we've learned.
05:23Because the students are reading out loud.
05:26We have five subjects.
05:28There are so many books.
05:30We study mathematics, Urdu and Islamic studies.
05:37These are the problems we have, and it's hot in the tent.
05:47Children often rock their bodies back and forth while reading aloud.
05:51This technique is common in this region to help memorize subjects.
05:58But it means it's definitely loud, busy and hot in the tent, and there is no running water
06:04or toilet.
06:10The tent school should have been temporary for these Pashtun kids, but it's been here
06:14for more than 30 years.
06:18The school was approved in the early 90s, and from then until today, the building has
06:23still not been built.
06:27To manage everything and teach in the tent is very difficult.
06:39The villagers try to build a school on their own, next to the tent, but they say after
06:44the heavy rains, it's in danger of collapsing and not usable.
06:50Did you get a lot of homework?
06:51A lot.
06:52How much?
06:53Around 13 or 14 pages.
06:5413 or 14?
06:55Yes.
06:56How many to memorize?
06:57Three.
06:58When we get home, should we play or do our homework?
06:59Do our homework.
07:00After another long walk, they are finally home.
07:19The kid's uncle is here for a visit.
07:21The men talk about feeling ignored by the authorities far away in the big cities.
07:28The political leaders of the area don't see us as human.
07:32During elections, they come here and say, you're my relative, and I'll do everything
07:36for you.
07:37But once the voting day is over, they disappear.
07:40Tell me, why have almost 40 years passed, and the school building still hasn't been
07:44built?
07:45They have seen it.
07:48They do not consider us human.
07:50They think we do not belong here.
07:55Mohammad Fatah really wants a change for his children.
08:05It is my wish that my children receive an education, progress in their lives, and work
08:09for the betterment of society and the village, serving others.
08:17They may become doctors or teachers or join the army, or even go abroad.
08:29Against all odds, Mohammad and other villagers are determined to make things better for their
08:34kids.
08:39Since 1991, it's been 32 or 34 years, and during this entire period, the government
08:44has only given the school a name, but no building.
08:47And because the local government is not showing up in their mountain village to make a change,
08:52the villagers decide they will find them in their office.
08:55They're heading to the provincial capital, Quetta.
08:59Sharif, how will we go about it?
09:03Let's hope who we are going to meet is available and will give us some time.
09:08May she do something about it?
09:13Upon arrival, they are lucky.
09:14The minister of education is available for a meeting.
09:20We have studied in this tent school, and now our children do too.
09:24It's not built?
09:25We've been told it will be done soon.
09:27Come today, come tomorrow, but it never happens.
09:32Around 40 to 50 students study at the school.
09:35Students from three villages come there.
09:38This is very unfortunate that we have the people, they want to, you know, educate their
09:44children, but they don't have the facilitation for that.
09:48So inshallah, they have given me the application and just talked to the secretary, and inshallah
09:53their building will be on ground when the scheme will be started.
10:00The secretary of the education minister is also quick with promises.
10:08This year, God willing, a building will be constructed for the primary school on this land.
10:15Work on the building will begin.
10:20Sir, when will the work start?
10:25Not in one day, but it will be done.
10:30Congratulations.
10:33Congratulations.
10:37Congratulations to you too.
10:39At least something has happened.
10:41The minister has done what we wanted.
10:43She said our case will be processed within one week.
10:46Congratulations again.
10:51Hopes are high that the tent school might be a thing of the past soon.
10:55But will the minister really follow up?
11:07Jalal continues to follow his daily life.
11:13Packing his books for the strenuous walk with the other kids to the tent school, Jalal's
11:19wish for change is still very strong.
11:25We sit in the shade while our teacher sits under the sun.
11:28Other than that, it's hot when we come to school.
11:32Sometimes we collapse and sometimes our books get damaged.
11:35When it rains, we don't go to school.
11:38I wish I could study in a beautiful school with concrete rooms, a boundary wall and a
11:43garden.
11:44There would be a beautiful, cool fan.
11:51The ministry promised a proper school building.
11:54But weeks later, we were informed that for bureaucratic reasons, the primary school was
12:00delayed.
12:03The situation up here in the mountains, unchanged for decades, means that there is still a long
12:11way to go before Jalal and other Pashtun kids can get a good education.
12:29For more UN videos visit www.un.org