What Should be the Purpose of Education? In words of Sister Zeph
Sister Zeph, an educator from semi-urban village in Gujranwala. She has provided us with insights on education, by briefly mentioning about her journey as an education activist and teacher. This dialogue is the first in the series initiated on “Understanding Invisible Barriers to Education”, where we have focused on the types of challenges that teachers face on-ground and how they cope with issues of social stereotyping and discrimination as members belonging to religious minority communities. When asked what should be the purpose of education, she replied in following words:
“At my school, our purpose is to restore the childhood of a traumatized child…we transform their fears into love…we welcome our children with music, flowers and our teachers embrace them with reassuring warmth. At my school, we never discourage our children from asking questions and we help them seek their answers. We are against corporal punishments because in my view, use of a stick means failure of a teacher. A teacher’s primary role is to develop in their child an interest for learning and this is exactly what we should aim to achieve.”
Sister Zeph has under her care around 200 students at the school she has set up in her neighborhood. She has won Lynn Syms global prize for her writing and work in 2014, She was awarded the Pioneers Change maker’s award in 2015 and in 2018 Eternal Life Ministry International awarded her with an Outstanding Performance Award.
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