Concept of summer camps in Pakistan

                                                                                        Umair Anwar

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ummer camps are designed and conducted during the summer vacations. According to Wikipedia, a free web based encyclopedia, “summer camps is a supervised program for children and/ teenagers conducted (usually) during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers”.

The conventional view of a summer camp is to provide the kid/ teenager with some recreational activities. In many countries, summer camps are designed to provide kids/ teenagers with vide prospects for hiking, canoeing, campfires, performing arts, music, magic, computers, language learning, mathematics, and weight loss. The basic theme following summer camps is to let the children, take healthy risks under safe environment, without compromising education and self development. Due to such programs children get an opportunity to explore and resultantly they could able themselves in identification for their future endeavors.

Children need a break from the inflexible parameters of school. School goers are not adults, it is lot to ask that they sit in desks all day, always paying attention or they get in trouble, being quiet, following orders, etc. Young student need a break. They need a chance to learn outside of a formal seating. Teachers need a break more than anything. Working hours per week is a way too much, summers break provide them all with some mental clarity and reboot for the next school year.

The basic theme behind the summer holidays was to reorganize and re-evaluate the child basic demands in their study. Summer breaks, provides an opportunity for self development and a wonderful time to explore outside of the confines of the school and class room and to learn time management.

A 12-14 weeks summer vacations, usually starts in Pakistani schools approximately from June and remains up to August/ September. The basic purpose for these vacations is to give a break to the children from a highly tough and busy routine of school. During these vacations children are given with scanty work commonly termed as “summer holiday tasks”. These tasks include exercises to be solved from curriculum books. These tasks are only meant to keep the children in touch with their books.

Many researches are conducted to define the span of summer holidays. Many people were of the opinion that the period of these vacations should be squatted. But no encouraging results were gained, even the vacations time is shorten. Among many reports, Fox news published a report saying, “the research into whether students at school where summer breaks are short do better than kids attending other schools. But existing comparison suggests the modified calendars have small positive effect on student achievement”.

The concept of summer camp applied here in Pakistan is, somewhat different, as compared to the other countries. The proper definition of summer camps have been mentioned earlier, but in Pakistan the concept of summer camps has been taken atypically.

Summer camps are treated more as a short time school. Children have to come to school in their school uniforms, along with their complete books. Though, the timings are shortened, but the modus operandi remains the same. Teachers teach the classes as they do before summers’. Extra- curricular activities are least bothered, and a typical conventional student-teacher attitude is being followed during all the summer camps sessions.

All such kind of activity is ruining the concept of summer camps. Summer camps are designed for children to indulge in activities other than studies. School these days are very demanding, a student has to wake up at five o’ clock in the morning to reach the school on time, and coming back home with loads of homework. Physical games are getting died out in their daily routines, as they hardly find any time after doing their homework. All they do after attending school is to do homework and sleep early to avoid being hackneyed the next morning. Many doctors have raised concerns over the daily routines of children. But the question remains unanswered that how many adults could put up with having their activities controlled so tightly all day long?

Even many teachers are of opinion that the longer breaks during the year have improved their teaching; summers are a chance to reevaluate how the year is going — to stop, collect their thoughts and plan. But current policies of summer camps have changed the scenario completely. 

The so-called summer camps running on these days have taken the opportunity of physical activities as well. The government must look in to this matter diligently, as these summer camps are more of some sort of short schools, with a null impact on children; rather children are drifted toward psychological imbalance. 

The physical and psychological development of the child is something which should be taken very seriously. Summer breaks, as discussed earlier have diverse benefits on the child. If the concept of summer vacations is intermingled with summer camps it might not go fruitful. Government has to develop some proper policies to separate these two concepts.

I'm afraid that we're even turning our kids into a commodity by counting the number of instruction hours compared with the kids by limiting their education to subjects that can be measured and converted into a well-paying job some day.

Let's also teach our kids the value of relaxation, of spending time with good friends, of making things with cardboard and duct tape. Let's teach them that they can learn on their own by trial and error. Let's teach them that life is not an assembly line. For that they need time, good old fashioned unstructured free time.

I remembered during my school days, the craze for summer vacations was so much that our whole year seems to be revolving around summer holidays. The task we were given was to read newspaper daily and jot down at least five news headings along with dates, this had so much influenced on my personal life that up till now, I am still in habit of reading newspaper, as my day seems to remain incomplete without reading newspaper. So, I just feel as strongly that either the concept of summer camps be taken as it means or students be given vacations to explore themselves that is equally essential to growing up as just sitting in a classroom longer does not necessarily ensure children will learn more. In end, it is not of place to mention that the electricity shortfall and the unavailability of transportation adds to the agony of students and their parents in this sultry weather.