Mr. Syed Azfar Rizvi: I feel proud to state that my father was the first Deputy Collector in East Pakistan Dhaka. I was born in Dhaka on 27 December 1957. I got my basic education from Azeempur English Medium School in Dhaka. I did my matriculation in first division from New Government School, the only Urdu Medium School of Dhaka from where lots of prominent personalities have studied. Then I got admission in Dhaka College but due to the severance of East Pakistan I couldn’t continue my studies there and migrated to Karachi through ICRC (International Committee of Red Cross). I am thankful to Prof. Hasnain Kazmi and Prof. Imtiaz Hussain for helping me in acquiring education here. I then did my intermediate science in second division from Karachi. It was a very hard time and earn a living was too difficult alongside getting education. So in 1974 I started imparting door-to-door tuitions to resolve my financial problems. We were 6 brothers and 4 sisters with parents. They all were dependent on me. Besides bearing my education expenses I also had to look after all of them. In 1976 I got admission in Geology Dept. in University but later ended up doing Chemistry. From 1974 to 1982 I struggled aggressively and during the same period I got two of my sisters married and kept looking after my family as well as my education. Later we started offering group tuitions to the students.
Mr. Jamiluddin Aali was in National Bank of Pakistan at that time and helped us get the money granted for students of East Pakistan as “Qarz-e-Hasna”. Those few thousand rupees turned out to be a treasure for me. Dr. Peerzada Qasim was the kind man who awarded me with scholarship for the whole period in Karachi University. I can never forget the favors by these respected personalities and will always be grateful.
The group tuition endeavor ended up as a school. When we started the school there were only 2 students but let me tell you that after 25 years more than 55 thousands students have studied from our chain of schools. We had started with the name Dhaka Coaching Centre and now it has become Dhaka Group of Educational Institutions. We have O level and Matriculation system schools, coaching centers & intermediate colleges, which we are going to make degree-awarding institute next year. The current annual turnover of our group is 5 thousands students per year now Alhamdulillah.
When I had arrived in Karachi after migration I had only 10 rupees in my pocket but by the Grace of Allah now the total amount I offer as scholarships to students is more than 15 lac per year
I am happily married and have 6 kids. My wife Mrs. Syeda Hasina Rizvi also helped a lot in my activities, a working lady who is presently the Co-Chairperson of Dhaka Group of Educational Institutes. When we got married my wife was just matriculate but after marriage she did intermediate, graduation and masters, all as a regular student. At this stage I must submit my feelings and sentiments, which I have gathered during my marital association with her. In Fact she has left a deep impression of her amazing character upon glory and success. I thank her for the support she extended to me when I needed it most. I can rightly say that she is a lady of iron will. She never gave in to the odds. Her unflinching support and wisdom always guided me to resolve my problems of life. She has a loving heart and generous bent of mind. I pray for her health and long life.
Later, I got a chance to obtain diploma in education from UK and plenty of other diplomas, workshops and seminars came along.
Anjuman Tarraqi-e-Urdu offered me life membership and last year I was also made the member of syndicate of Federal Urdu University. We have also made an Art association by the name of Daira-e-Adab u Saqafat International. For the last 5 years, this association has made its name in the society under which we arrange different gatherings and seminars every month for the promotion of Urdu Adab. On social front, I have been an active member of life club international of which I was the District Cabinet Secretary last year.
KPDC: As the treasurer of Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi, what are your responsibilities?
Mr. S. A. R: Arts has mostly been an underestimated faculty in our country. Being the treasurer of Arts Council of Pakistan i.e managing the backbone & the finance of Arts in Karachi I feel privileged and yet responsible for bringing in all the available opportunities to this sector. In this concern we have made selfless efforts to upraise a healthy economical setup and by God’s grace Mr. Governor has turned the annual grant of Arts Council from 10,000 to 10,0000 rupees. I am also going to arrange a fund raising program at Governor House and I hope it will be successful in raising the funds for Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi. I hope to continue with even better results.
KPDC: With the inception of Private institutions the standard of education has deteriorated. What do you have to say about it?
Mr. S. A. R: There are more than 5000 secondary schools running under the private sector. In previous epoch there were fewer students in a class and now the situation is, the leading Government Colleges have 150 students in one class. There is no way to compensate more students on limited number of seats in Govt. institutions. The private sector is performing a commendable job in this regard. Education plays a pivotal role in the progress of a nation. Tokyo has 113 Universities and in Seoul there are more than 100 Universities. You can judge the difference here. Our Govt. says “ Education for All” but I say the word Quality should be included in it. For this the system must be improved. The discrimination between students of different locale must be eliminated. There are many resistance forces in our society and if you do favor to them by closing down all the private institutions the education system will collapse. The Govt. must also announce some incentive programs for the school that if any school manage to produce good result it will be awarded with the reward and if not some action for improvement of their services should be taken.
KPDC: But what about the exorbitant fees of private schools which they increase every year. They also say that it improves their standard and if we don’t increase fees nobody would come to us for admission. What do you say?
Mr. S. A. R: This is a certain misconception. I strongly oppose it. That’s because this image has been imposed by those schools that are playing havoc with school education. A school is purely judged by the quality of academics a student is attaining from it. It is the complete character building of a student, which represents a schooling caliber.
KPDC: Why is it so that every Govt. has always sanctioned very small amount of budget for education. On the other hand we see other countries are allotting large budget for the education. Why does that happen in our country? Why don’t they give due importance to education?
Mr. S. A. R: This has been a tragedy with us that what Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal had dreamt, that didn’t happen as far as the system is concerned. When the daughter of Quaid-e-Azam came to Karachi recently, she said, “My dream of visiting shrine of Quaid-e-Azam has come true but what I am thinking is that the dream which the Quaid-e-Azam had for Pakistan, when will it come true”. This statement contains many questions and complaints.
Health and Education are two entities that are the responsibilities of the State but unfortunately Govt. has never been able to fulfill all the requirements of these entities due to political cir*****stances. Education is the foundation of progress of any nation. This is the era of private-public partnership. The most active community in the education sector is, the Memon Community. From construction of schools to imparting quality education, this community’s role has been laudable whereas no political party has ever struggled in this regard.
We have philanthropists with us like Mr. Hanif S. Kalia (Chairman Kalia Group) whose services for education are worthwhile. I request Mr. Hanif S. Kalia to set up a school only for orphans. Only orphan must be given admission in that school scrutinizing their level of intelligence and record. The dedication towards education I have witnessed here at Kalia Group makes me feel that they can also establish a great future of Pakistan. For this cause my utmost dedication will always be with them.
At our group whether they are O level schools, Matric system schools, coaching centers or colleges, no students never left school with the reason of non-payment of fees. If the student is orphan and can’t afford fees we provide scholarships. The procedure of getting scholarship is very simple without showing any special do*****entations or anything.
KPDC: How do you see the policies of current Govt. towards education?
Mr. S. A. R: The Govt. is now trying to give private institutes a shape of an industry. Let me tell you the fact that through an ordinance all the educational institutions were exempted of utility bills as commercial but KESC is still charging commercial tariff. So schools owners transfer this burden to the parents. I deeply appreciate the current Govt. policies for education. Ms. Zubaida Jalal (Federal Minister for Education) is certainly working hard for the betterment. I would like to suggest here that it should be announced on war footing that the minimum qualification for doing any thing would be Martic. Even a person shouldn’t be allowed to get married if he’s not a matriculate. Minimum qualification of Matric in all over the country should be made mandatory.
KPDC: Are you satisfied with the education system of our country?
Mr. S. A. R: Satisfaction is attained by self effort, I am surely satisfied with what I am doing for the cause of education but I am not perfect as nobody is and will never stop striving for betterment. Science & Technology play an essential role in the development of any country but we don’t value enough. Other subjects like Pakistan Studies, English, Urdu or Islamiat do possess importance, but for the progress you can’t be dependent on them. Geology is another imperative subject that is totally disappeared from our curriculum. We had this subject in our time in Matric but no more. Students now have burden of different languages along with variety of subjects.
Need of the hour is to amend the course line and contents must be brought in a sequence. The topics that are discussed earlier should not be repeated in next grades. More topics of science and IT should be included. IT has emerged as a whole new ground. So for the progress and prosperity of our country students should be taught these subjects on priority basis.
KPDC: For the eradication of cheating in exams what should be done?
Mr. S. A. R: The cheating is going to become thing of old times. The exam papers of Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics are being prepared in such a way that if any student is given all the material and maximum time to fill his copy, he’s not going to do it. Only the students who have studied properly will be able to solve the exam papers. Even now literature subject are going to be tested the same way. After the change in making exam paper system the cheating will not exist.
KPDC: How do you see the implementation of semester system?
Mr. S. A. R: All over the world there is a specific credit time for student to qualify but unfortunately in our country student is not able to get total credit hours. In Karachi University this is the reason why it is successful because they get the complete credit hours but in Matric and intermediate the classes start in October and in April students have to appear in exams. So they can’t complete their credit hours. With the same reason they are also unable to take part in extra curricular activities and eventually involved themselves in bad deeds. No debate or quiz programs are arranged and these healthy activities have vanished from our education institutions.
From this forum I appeal to the higher authorities that sports and co curricular activities must become a vital part of school education because student is incomplete without these. If these activities are there we’ll have healthy minds, talents and ultimately healthy society.
KPDC: We would like to have your comments on the work done by Kalia Group to endorse the field of IT in the country
Mr. S. A. R: I feel great pleasure in testifying the excellent opinion that I have of KalSoft (Pvt) Ltd. The way they are involved in Information Technology in an extra ordinary manner is something really great. As a teacher I would suggest the Govt. to take advantage from Kalia Group in providing Science & IT education to young generation of Pakistan.
It was a remarkable session with KalPoint.com and a real blessing to be here. I don’t have words to express my feelings about Mr. Hanif S. Kalia who has not only done a wonderful job for the whole nation but has also maintained its reputation of world class.
For the noble cause of education & science I offer my services to Kalia Group as a worker in spreading of education and science in the country, which play a pivotal role in the progress and prosperity of nations. I also suggest Kalia Group to open up a school for orphans for which my utmost dedication will always be there. May Allah Bless Mr. Hanif S. Kalia and his group.
KPDC: What message would you give for the youngsters through our website?
Mr. S. A. R: The way food is essential for living, the same way computers have now become the part and parcel of life. The computers should be used positively; they are the key of a safe future for our country. By witnessing the website www.KalPoint.com I have a feeling that this website contains millions of constructive pages, exploring which students can boost up their learning capabilities. So this is my appeal to all youngsters that please change yourself and have a constructive approach.
Questions by Netizens Top
Q1: What is the procedure of participating in programs of Arts Council? Is the membership required to take part? (Samreen – Karachi)
Mr. S. A. R: Membership is not mandatory if any one wants to participate in programs of Arts Council. Arts & Culture programs, which are essential in a society, can be attended by students, working professionals or anyone. Programs schedules are announced in the newspapers and anybody can attend them without having any invitation. They can also get registered in advance for the program by contacting at Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi.
Q2: I want to become a successful man in the world. How can I become rich fulfilling all the requirements of life? (Husnain Ahad – Sharjah)
Mr. S. A. R: There are two foundation factors that never end up defeated. These two factors are 1) Commitment & 2) Dedication. It is my personal experience and when I look back I give credit to these two factors. If you practice them you can do any thing without asking for help from the world.
Q3: We don’t have any career counseling in our country and the students don’t know where to go. Don’t you think we need such program of career counseling by Govt. and private sector for the students in doldrums? (Mrs. Rehan – Lahore)
Mr. S. A. R: This is an excellent question. Unfortunately there are no talks of career counseling neither at schools nor at colleges and universities whereas it should be started at school level. First of all this is the duty of schoolteachers besides parents to provide career counseling. Parents are unable to show children all the aspects of available career options so the dire responsibility of teachers is needed in 9th & 10th Grade.
When I ask graduate students about CSS they don’t even know what is it about. This is the tragedy. The Govt. should directly be involved in it and must make students aware of the careers through different programs on Radio, TV, newspapers and Internet.
Q4: Previously there was a respect for teachers that we don’t see anymore. Where has it disappeared? What do you say about it? (Azeem Rehman – Peshawar)
Mr. S. A. R: I don’t agree with this opinion. The same respect, in fact even more exists in present time. The only difference is that the students of present era want to evaluate the skill set of his teachers. If the teachers are able to maintain that level of skill set I think the student of today can be more obedient than the student in the past.
Due to social pressure the students of previous time couldn’t dare to do so, a sort of fear of teachers used to be present amongst students. So I believe the students of today are more obedient than before.
