And Finally Panjgur Loses the Battle…..

By Malik Mohammad Jan Baloch

Throughout the recent years, Panjgur has been well-known all over Balochistan for its relatively higher standards of education as compared to other parts of the country’s least educated province. Students, who have studied in the English language institutions of Panjgur, have appeared in all the major competitive and professional examinations and have been able to successfully pass them.

These language centers have motivated numerous students in the remote border town to pursue higher studies. If we look at the history of language centers in Panjgur then time takes us back to the early 1990s when two enthusiastic young individuals of Panjgur who had completed their study in the US decided to educate the people of Panjgur.
Thus, the establishment of the American English Language Center was their first step towards their mission.

In a nutshell, American English language Center was the dream of two individuals named (Sir) Zahir Hussain and Sir Saleh. Later on, Sir Saleh opted for a governmental job meanwhile Sir Zahir Hussain took the command of the institute and continued his brilliant work single-handedly. The American English Language center (AELC), which was subsequently renamed as the Oasis Academy, received adoring comments from all and sundry who visited it including the former governor of Balochistan Amer Mulk Mangal and many more. The institute, which was only a language center in the beginning, extended to an English medium school, computer center and a public library. Despite being a private institution, m many poor and deserving students were taught free of cost while keeping in consideration that
standard education should not be confined to the rich students only.

I remember the day when I was sitting in the staff room of the Oasis Academy Panjgur and was surfing through the blog of the editor-in-chief of The Baloch Hal. The article which had been posted recently on the blog was “How Panjgur is losing the battle? It attracted our attention. The article seemed to be of our mutual interest so my colleagues along with my teacher and director of the academy Sir Zahir Hussain asked me to read the article aloud so that all of them could hear it. I was reading the article and at the same time I was checking the expressions of the ones listening to the issue which the writer was putting forward.  Everyone’s face turned serious because the issue the writer was discussing was a very serious one: A the lack of interest and the dearth of competitive students which once used to be
the hallmark of Panjgur.

The person who seemed to be hurt the most by this harsh truth was Sir Zahir Hussain, who has also remained the
teacher of the editor in chief of this online newspaper. As soon as I finished reading the article, Sir Zahir inquired from us that “Guys, is there anyone among you people who wants to fight the battle out for Panjgur and save its reputation because you are the ones who can do it?”

At once a group of volunteers decided to make a studying circle. The very next day the same article was circulated among the senior students of the academy to make them realize that the brilliance of Panjgur’s education was vanishing slowly, an issue that merited immediate attention.

It’s a fact that we get only a few people who have worked on education in Balochistan and certainly Sir Zahir qualifies in the list of the few distinguished educators. The condition of education in Balochistan is abysmal at a time Balochistan needs a few more people who should work for the betterment of education. Education in Balochistan has never been a
priority of the federal and provincial governments for the last six decades. The educational quality of the governmental institutes isn’t hidden form anyone. At such a bothering time private schools seem to be the ray of hope to help the youngsters get good education and stay active in the this time of competition.
Whenever education is discussed in Panjgur the first name which becomes the public eye is Sir Zahir Hussain.  After serving the Baloch nation for 18 years, with out the back-up and proper support of Panjguri people, Sir Zahir Hussain has finally decided to close down the language center which groomed numerous students in the last 18 years.
The pioneer of the English language centers in Makran has finally decided to close his own language center after the tremendous work which he has been doing for years.
The causes of the closure of the institute are said to be personal problems of Sir Zahir Hussain but the real point which one feels is that he never got the correct means of support which he deserved. A person who has been serving the people for so long, when has left the city itself no one seems to be concerned about the future of education in Panjgur. The end of the language classes in the biggest institutions is a huge setback to Panjgur and the up coming generations. This downfall may result in a huge collapse to Panjgur in the field of education. Now plenty of institutions are present in
Panjgur but they quality and standards of education which was provided in AELC lacks in most of them expect a few.

As discussed in the article, Panjgur Losing the Battle, it is now being felt that after the closure of such a big institution and a remarkable foundation is the most disturbing thing that has happened to Panjgur in years, and it could be the point form where Panjgur starts losing the battle.

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