ABACUS was imported to Japan in the 14th century. ‘Soroban’, the Japanese abacus, provides a visual and tangible tool that allows students to see and manipulate a physical representation of abstract numbers.
A BBC documentary showed Japanese children learning abacus. This ancient tool for calculation has been replaced by electronic calculators in almost all parts of the world, but the Japanese still use the ancient tool for building children’s memory muscles.
A professor told the BBC that abacus played a vital role in the rise of Japan after World War II. To assess the calculation speed of Japanese children, one girl in the video added 15 three-digit numbers, which appeared on a screen at high frequency, in just 1.5 seconds, and got the answer correct.
I sat stunned at the state of my own memory power. I could not catch any two numbers to calculate the answer in my mind. I was among the top performers in my class for 12 years of my early education in public and private schools in Punjab, and am now in the final year of my bachelor’s programme. Why didn’t I get the same education as my counterparts in Japan did? Why do millions of young students in Pakistan waste the critical learning years doing nothing?
Inspired by the said documentary, I might begin building my memory muscle on my own, which is practically impossible after the age of 20. But what about millions of children in schools who are being deceived every day in the name of education? Don’t they deserve better?
We get to hear Indian and Sri Lankan music at weddings, but never get to see the Japanese model of education in our schools. When will the state realise that quality education, not just education, is the right of every child? For how many more years the Pakistani students will keep realising that after 16 years of education they have learned nothing?
Students are made to fit into a vicious cycle of rote learning, grades and moving to the next class to do all that all over again. These critical years can be utilised to impart reading, writing and communication skills, reasoning, sports and a whole lot of other things. Right education is the only way out. We need to prioritise what we aim to be as a nation.
HAMID HUSSAIN
LAHORE
