Parkari girls and boys learn together in their village school. 4( Pakistan) © Sindh Literacy and Development Programme, Pakistan
Finally, there is the experience of thirty-five boys who had completed their primary schooling in Parkari village schools in the desert.
The boys came to the city of Mirpurkhas to continue their studies. Since their homes and families were far away, they lived in a hostel and attended a government city school. At the end of each year from Grades 6 to 8, the top three positions in each class, including all sections in the government school, went to boys who had come from the Parkari desert schools and were living in the hostel. Even as a group, they were above any other group of students. Several times a Parkari boy took the top position in the entire school.
In the final years of high school, the exam scores from all schools in the area are used to decide class position. Once again, the Parkari boys finished at the top.
The excerpt below presents the main points from a group interview with the Parkari hostel boys:
When we first came to the city we were amazed to see all the big buildings, the hostel and the school. We wondered how we would study here because we were from a very poor background and had come from a desert school made of sticks and mud. At first we were afraid of the city school and the city children. We thought they would have a higher standard than we do and would think that we are low. It helped that we had started our education in Parkari. It’ s our own language. Studying in Parkari opened our minds and that is why it was easy to learn other languages. If we had not started in Parkari we would not be doing so well because we would not have had a good foundation. We have good marks. We get top marks in our exams. The headmaster compared our marks with the other boys in the school and we were much better.
4 In some traditional societies in Pakistan parents do not think their daughters should go to school.
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