IATEFL Conferences and Rural Teachers

Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan

Muhammad Iqbal grew up in a small village of Punjab. He has been writing poetry since his school days in different languages. He started writing for peace and other global issues particularly after earthquake in South Asia and in his own country to aware new generations. His children poems and songs have been published in different international teaching newsletters. He is writing two books of children poems and songs very suitable to teach in the classroom- one for global issues and the other deals with everyday English themes. He teaches English in a vocational institute working for poverty alleviation and rehabilitation of the poor in Narowal, Pakistan. He is the member of a number of national and international associations and Membership Officer for Global Issues SIG.
http://gisig.iatefl.org/pages/contact.html
E-mail: muhammadiqbal722@hotmail.com

It was a dark night of the spring as I walked out on the bank of a canal flowing near my village. I saw some jackals outing a loud voice so that their other companions may hear them. Suddenly, their friends from the other side of the village shouted and screamed with longer roar-- eyoo eyoo--------. I do not know what language they spoke however they fully understood one another. The both of groups dashed instantly towards each other. At the next moment, they turned into one group on the bank of the canal for their further activities. Luckily, they do not have any factoids like ‘jackals without boarders’ as we have unreal slogan ‘teachers without boarders’. Apparently they do not require any visas and papers to move hither and thither. They involved in confab and face-to-face conference to share and discuss the issues till the last straw. Obviously, they were satisfying their gregarious sense with creating a harmonious culture. The phenomenon changed them all by expression of ideas and thoughts which is why our linguistic psychologists and philosophers have turned towards communicative approach of languages and which is why we have our mission of ‘linking, developing and supporting English teachers worldwide. In this connection, we have a number of activities to capture our objectives; the most important is our annual conference which attracts the English teachers from all over the world for their personal and professional development and for sharing and discussing the issues and pedagogic techniques but some of the rural teachers from Punjab are thwarted at every turn due to their different circumstances, nevertheless IATEFL officials bend over backwards to be real troopers to make their frolics and shindigs the utmost successful. The staff and volunteers are always ready to step up to the plate to track down and sort out the problems of the members from all over the world.

Pakistan has four provinces one of them is Punjab where I live. Most of the Punjabi population (70 %) lives in rural areas which directly or indirectly involves in agricultural economy. The fertile Punjab coerces everyone to take on agro-activities in life. Majority of rural teachers have their agro-business or farming in addition to their teaching line of work. Most of them do not know the nitty gritty of teachers’ networks and national and international conferences but those who want to involve, usually need a lot of paraphernalia before applying for the visas because the legal side is always murky. Collecting and preparing relevant documents is very dreadful and troublesome process particularly for the teachers working and residing in rural locale. Rural teachers have to burn up heavy amounts for getting their documents e.g. passport and property record because corruption is on its peak here in Pakistan. Most of the rural teachers, who belong to farmers’ community, have their agricultural land in rural Punjab without any online record. Patwaries (clerks to keep revenue record) receive heavy fee (bribery) from the farmer teachers when they get their record of property. It is to be noted that fee is the refined name of bribery in Pakistanian offices. Rural teachers have to pay heavy fee (bribery) to the Patwaries (clerks to keep revenue record) for getting their fair property records. Suppose, if they do not pay fee (bribery), Patwaries (clerks to keep revenue record) and other officials will make a number of stock in trade excuses, out of the blue objections and unreasonable postponements. Teachers may have to take many rounds in the relevant administrative centers, an unaffordable dilemma with their busy job and low income. The expenses of commuting to and from the cities are a great nuisance for rural teachers. To obtain any kind of record, people have to haunt around the offices whereas in the most of the countries it is available just with a click or pressing the button of an auto machine for example Tariq one of my Canadian Immigrant friend wondered me to tell how he receives his tax record from an auto-system in Canada.

Just for sharing a story, you may be flabbergasted or considered it is cobblers. It was bloomy spring of 2002, when I was a General Councilor in my Union Council, I went to our nearest Revenue Office with an illiterate farmer to find the copy of his land ownership record and it was just for lending his hand. I saw the Patwary (clerk to keep revenue record) had a hissy fit when that farmer touched his record book without giving him any fee (bribery). He cried in a strange anger, “You do not know what the fee only for touching this book is? You cannot extend your hand towards this record book without giving my fee (bribery) --- absolutely 500 PKR, paindoo production (dweeb).” Patwaries are the most corrupt community in Pakistan. They exploit straightforward farmers without any check and answerability. Obviously, teachers who are also farmers face this serious setback, too.

The record of residential properties of the rural teachers is absolutely a matter little up in air. There is a red line around every village on the rural atlas. The property (houses and animal sheds) which is erected in red line is entirely without any record. We call this kind of sites ‘dhay-shamlot.’ This kind of land belongs to the person who occupies it with power and force. Only possession is required to authenticate the ownership of the houses on such places of the villages. People sometimes (not always) use stamped papers just to sell or buy their houses but government has no record of such sites who they actually belong to. Many people have been killed while they were trying to snatch such terra firma from other dwellers of the villages but government pays no attention to offer any ownership certificates. Ministers and policy makers can arrange the ownership certificates for the rural dwellers and farmers for their property, though it’s not online but they are often sound asleep in their offices with sophisticated cooling/ heating systems. They do not bother to address the issues of the poor and down-trodden communities rumbling on.

Rural people usually do not have any bank accounts in the area where I live. They do not know how to use debit/credit cards. They do not formulate their budgets for their home expenses. Teachers living in such vicinities have no exemptions. Most of the teachers have no earnings to put aside in banks but those who have, do not trouble to unbolt the accounts because banks are far away from their villages. They cannot travel to the banks just for every day dealings, regardless to some of them have the accounts to get their monthly salary. Traditionally, teachers do not prefer banking involvement in their daily schedules. Most of the people do not save their money in banks because the value of PKR is falling back rapidly. So they have to face a loss in stead of some turnover.

Furthermore, teachers having their bank accounts cannot demonstrate their exact income origins because most of the businesses are not registered in rural areas. There are a number of people who have their small businesses in rural Pakistan with no documentation. Those teachers who have their agricultural income particularly face the problem of the origin of their income. Tax record cannot mirror and reflect the true income because according to the local commandment agricultural tax is paid as per acre not as per income. In other words, agricultural income tax is fixed according to the size of land property. Those who have not more than 12.50 acres land, have no liability to pay any kind of agricultural income tax. The fixed tax system is a concession to the farmers from the Government of Punjab. The land property has yet to be recorded online. The rural teachers cannot demonstrate the worth of their agricultural property with any computerized documents whereas embassies generally require the computerized record. Revenue Department only gives a manual sheet for proving rural property which is rejected by the visa officials because they consider it ‘unreasonable evidence.’ The frequency of rural income is also considered unauthentic because the farming teachers receive it as they vend their crops and dealers often delay the payments. The schedules of payments are not normally written. Dealers pay just according to their verbal promises which they make before the purchase but these paroles are not realized in time. It depends upon their business circumstances how and when they disburse to the farmers. Similarly farm animals are sold just with verbal credit and debit and all of the transactions are made in cash. Rural people keep their cash in cabinets, briefcases and boxes at homes to use whenever they necessitate. The origins of transactions are always ambiguous owing to this rural cash culture. The tax system for farmers is also not online whereas businessmen have their National Tax Number (NTN) that is online and verifiable. In addition, rural people including teachers are friendlier and socially closer than those of the urban ones. People lend from them if they come to know that they have some spare amount in the banks. In these circumstances their bank statements if they have any, do not reflect their takings which is the basic requirement of visa application.

Rural teachers also need a generous guidance and support when they compile their documents for visa application. They do not know how to apply for UK visa? How visa officers review their application? What kind of papers they need to submit? What are the requirements of Immigration rules and how they can be met? How to fill the forms in fittingly? The rates of consultants or agents for this purpose are unaffordable to the rural teachers.

To get the guarantee letter from an employer that the attendee will get back is also very difficult task particularly for rural teachers because the heads do not know how it works for visa application. Visa Officers usually do not believe in these letters contrary to the letters of urban and university teachers. Rural teachers are discriminated because of their particular rural background and origin.

Teachers are generally low-paid particularly in rural Pakistan. As I know their salary is not more than 100 GBP. In these circumstances, teachers cannot imagine for attending conferences out of the country. They hardly save money if they want. Every month, putting aside some money mathematically, like Westerns, is not the culture of the people living in undeveloped and unindustrialized localities. Furthermore, if their entry is refused, they will be hopeless because they had to pay heavy visa and conference fee for nothing. They feel great shock when suddenly their plans are shelved and turned out to be a turkey with unexpected refusals. Generally their salary is not compatible to their family expenses if they do not have any side business. In these circumstances, they cannot keep heavy amounts in their bank statements which are the basic requirement of visa process. Consequently, they are objected, “Therefore I am not satisfied that you can bear yours and your dependent expenses during the trip and your travel will be without recourse to public funds.”

Rural teachers do not have any strong ties in Pakistan for example business and property a basic requirement for ‘balance of probabilities’. So they are disbelieved to leave the UK after the conference. What’s more, many Pakistanis go to the UK and do not leave the UK after the trip. In this particular situation, Immigration Authorities disbelieve that the rural teachers will return after the conference with their limited circumstances. They do not leave their doubting Thomas behavior. On the other hand, a guarantee system should be introduced for low income people. For instance Higher Education Commission in Pakistan takes guarantee for the academics that are sponsored from their relatives. A form for this guarantee is filled to authenticate if the applicant will not leave the host country the guarantying property is not refunded.

Financial support for conference is given only university teachers in Pakistan for example I contacted Higher Education Commission to support me for presenting at IATEFL annual conference 2006. They refused only because I was not a university teacher. This commission gives support every year to the same universities in big cities for instance AKU whereas it should be available to all of the teachers without any discrimination. Funding is not available to the rural teaching populace as it is in the West. Rural teachers cannot compete in funding pursuit because the urban are more aware and know well how to pursue sponsorships and funding authorities. Unfortunately IATEFL scholarships scheme is also set on competitive grounds. Rural and backward teachers are deprived of this opportunity.

Rural teachers also have serious linguistic problems. They cannot speak English as it is spoken by the teachers from sophisticated urban areas because they live in a serious non Anglo-atmosphere. Their language accent is different from native speakers. They face problems to actively grasp questions of the Immigration Authorities during interview who are not so much familiar to the linguistic situation in rural areas. Consequently, they are turned down only because they are not fluent in English as the urban teachers are. Their educational achievements fall behind the urbane. They are also not supported by important funding institutions owing to their linguistic differences. In addition, they cannot become the vital part of national networks because their culture and behavior is different from the sophisticated urban teachers. They are usually shy and reticent. Obviously the urban leaders in networking are not so fruitful to them. Their problems are different which cannot be addressed by the urban authorities. They cannot dig up support from local networks as urban teachers do, for traveling abroad. They generally want the networking authorities to solve their issues individually and emotionally which is impossible because of their enormous leading responsibilities, limited time and scarce resources. Could I suggest that IATEFL should directly encourage minor groups in far and remote areas? I also want IATEFL to give opportunity to rural teachers for speaking at annual conference in their local languages or in English howsoever they can speak. After all, they have a number of ideas though they are weak in their English proficiency. Global Issues SIG should facilitate such teachers at events.

Amol Padwad from India writes, “Teaching English in countries like India and Pakistan is a challenging job; if you are teaching in remote villages, it’s very tough; and then if you work with scarce resources, inadequate training and a heavy burden of expectations, may God save you.” He adds, “Most members of the ETCs (English Teachers’ Clubs in rural India) could not speak a sentence in English when they started their club. A year later, they were confident enough to make presentations at conferences.” (SPELT Quarterly Vol.21).

Unfortunately, Visa Officers usually are not aware the issues prevailing in rural ELT. The situation entails many reasons for example uncommunicative curriculum focusing on literature exclusively as Zakia Serwer maintains, “If we look at the curriculum documents at the BA level the predominance of English literature is very obvious. What’s wrong with literary texts? It is an undeniable fact that English is the international language of Science and Technology, and of communication around the world. The aim of English teaching therefore differs very widely from the one for which English was introduced in subcontinent. The learners to-day need to learn English to enable them to deal with day to day demands of using English in their specific contexts. If this objective is kept in view some literary texts could be use to teach English but the focus of teaching would change to using strategies to give students mastery in using their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to comprehend such texts, and to be able to transfer these skills to their everyday use of English. Unfortunately we do not have enough trained teachers who understand these demands and so they are unable to meet students’ needs. Another serious impediment is the examination pattern, which relies heavily on the Grammar Translation Method [GTM] and tasks that lead to rote learning rather than a genuine understanding and use of English language.” (BC Pakistan, Newsletter July/August 2005)

I would also like to share some common rumors in the Punjab about the visa stoppage. Some people have idea that the person with beard and moustache face serious hindrances for getting their visas because the authorities do not ready to leave their British insularity to consider that it is the culture of rural Punjab. People whose manes include some religious parts in their names, for example Muhammad, Omer, Ali etc are either refused or get visa with hardships. I remembered, some years ago, I read in a local newspaper that the Entry of Hamza Shehbaz the son of the current Chief Minister of the Punjab was refused by the UK authorities only because his name had an Islamic part ‘Hamza’. It is also thought that people in Western dress are preferred as compared to the ones who wears local styled dresses such as shelwar qameez (Pakistani dress) during the interview. It is to be noted that I am not confirmed in this connection. I am just sharing the views of common rural people here.

Immigration law facilitates the academics and guest speakers with concessions but rural teachers generally are not given this opportunity by the Immigration Authorities. Immigration authorities generally act against the immigration rules in case of rural teachers who want to speak at teaching conferences in the UK. The act to stop someone from speaking and sharing information with like minded colleagues is against the Human Rights Act 1998. Legally, public authorities cannot act against the Convention Rights of the applicants but rural teachers are generally disbelieved to be ‘genuine visitors’ because their English skills, salaries and other financial sources and confidence during interviews are not competitive as compare with the teachers living in classy urban areas. They are usually discriminated on the basis of their linguistic and social backgrounds and origins. Verbally, UK authorities flag up the information of human rights and equal opportunities but practically their act is against the global equalities. Rural teachers cannot get a word in edgeways. I think if glass ceiling still exits?

The globe is rapidly thinking the solutions to attend the conference via internet. For instance, British Council presents IATEFL conference on internet but as I know rural teachers are not so much interested in virtual conferences for many reasons. I am well aware that virtual conferences have a lot of benefits and advantages but I think why Serbian birds fly to my country every year in a particular season and they fly in the larger flocks with the native ones? Why they require traveling so long whereas they are already in contact with the native birds with their sixth sense that informs them how the weather is in Pakistan even before they start flying towards us?

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