Breaking shackles of ignorance in the middle of nowhere

Five years’ worth of hard work and devotion and still unwavering, a two-man team of husband and wife has opened and successfully running a remarkable school,  in the harshest of landscape and harshest of climate, in the mountainous area North of Gilgit in a valley called Naltar Valley.  The school rightly named ‘Parha Likha Pakistan’ which means ‘Educated Pakistan’  has currently 300 children aged 4-15 years with 50-150 enrollments in the Montessori classes each year.

Two and a half decades earlier Zahid Farooq-the husband was assigned PAF base ski training for the children of Naltar Bala Settlement. These children with their outstanding capabilities had been able to perform in the Vancouver Olympics. Despite this Zahid realized the children greatly lacked exposure to mainstream academics and activities. Witnessing such enthusiasm and willpower of children he then fell in love with wanting to bring modern education in the area.

In the initial startup days, the school was solely made of just two brick-built and two tent classrooms. Shahnur Farooq managed to gather 30 volunteers who worked as the school staff. They worked on their toes 12 hours daily and brought about a wave of change. Local teachers were sidelined and they caused trouble when their old methodologies were questioned.

They persuaded an Imam of a local Masjid to give them space where they worked and held classes in the afternoons. After much persuasion authorities also let them use two rooms of an abandoned basic health unit. Brick by brick they put together a school ‘The Parha Likha Pakistan.’ They enrolled any child willing to come. On the other hand, the volunteer teachers were thoroughly screened and tested. The home syllabus did an amazing job. Teaching their children about hygiene was prioritized above all. Many families learned about a new side of the world who had never even seen a simple bar of soap.

Shahnur and Zahid Farooq are very sensitive to local customs. They gave holidays for the customary potato harvest famous in the area when children wanted to go harvesting. The children were overjoyed. Local School Principals were alarmed. Their dropouts were ever increasing so they rebelled against the school and wanted to shut it down. It was the community feedback that kept the Farooqs' foothold strong.

This year the Farooqs drew up a new syllabus, acquired modern Montessori equipment and also raised enough funds to hire competent teachers. Their daughter brought in many volunteers who were tested.  The Farooqs aim for the best standards possible. The school has a strict rule of only 16 students per class. They also intend to send their students to schools in plains to further their studies. All teachers are set to be trained at the Fazaia Teachers’ Training Institute in Islamabad. Sufi, present academic consultant to the project with more than 40 years of experience praised the team for their hard work and sheer devotion.

The enthusiasm of the inhabitants of the valley, one of the darkest places, to learn and educate themselves despite the odds was something special. This occurrence in North of Gilgit Pakistan to unbound themselves from the shackles of ignorance gave the husband and wife team immense power to continue with their agenda. The husband and wife team now have one motto “We want our children to be able to compete with the best.” And the people of the village are on the way to becoming the best by their own sheer willpower.