In this presentation, based on a paper I did for Dr. Sue Ann Cairns’ English 1100 class, I will be comparing education in Pakistan, where I was born, and Canada, where I am now attending Kwantlen. Children in Pakistan face a variety of serious challenges ranging from malnutrition and poor access to education and health facilities to exploitation in the form of child labor. Children’s low status in society can leave them victim to daily violence at home and in school as well as to organized trafficking and sexual exploitation. Girls are especially affected as conservative attitudes may impede them from attending or finishing school. I remember how relieved I was to finish high school, but now I have a better appreciation of our educational opportunities here. I intend to promote awareness of the value, opportunities, and comparative material luxury we have here in our educational system. I will use some statistics, but mainly I will draw from my personal experiences attending school in Serai Naurang, Pakistan and Karak, Pakistan as a child, as well as my cousin’s experiences. I will help students to become more aware of the contrast in the wealth of Canadian schools compared to schools in places such as rural Pakistan. I would like to have the audience members sit in a semi-circle so that they can see the screen easily when I show pictures and a YouTube clip that illustrates the sharp contrast between our educational opportunities and the opportunities of other students in less wealthy countries.
