Co-Education System in Hunza

In Hunza valley, if parents have to choose between the education of a boy and a girl, the girl will be preferred over the boy, US anthropologist Ms Julie M Flowerday has observed.
Ms Julie, currently working in the valley as Consultant, Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP), was talking to The Nation.
"The concept of preferring a girl for education emanates from the peoples' understanding that as mother, she will be able to nurture her offspring in a far better way. Another important dimension of this belief is that in case her family faces hardship after marriage or her husband dies, an educated woman equipped with knowledge and skills stands more chances of steering her family out of the crisis than an uneducated female," she said.
Ms Julie first visited Hunza in 1992 in connection with her PhD dissertation 'A Construction of Cultural History from Visual Records for the Burusho of Hunza, Pakistan'. At that time, she was a student of Social Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, USA.
Since then she has returned to Hunza on five different occasions and has spent three and half years here. Apart from learning the basics of Urdu, she is also well versed in Burushaski - unwritten principal language used in the area.
Hunza got her attention through Col David L R Lorimer's 238 slides kept in the archives of a UK library. Mr David's work features landscapes and everyday life of Hunza during 1934-35 and covers 15 months of the colonial period. Picking a thread from there, Ms Julie set out to connect the colonial period with the modern Hunza by weaving a comparison with the help of photographs and interviews of the local people. She wanted to study the relationship between the changing landscapes and shifting life patterns.
"For instance, dish antennas have cropped up on the rooftops in Hunza and the population seems to be more informed. Obviously, ever since modernisation hit the area, a lot many changes have occurred but the older members of the community see it in a different way. Many of them think that they have money but love is vanishing from the society," she adds.
She also points out when modern technology reached Hunza, it also messed up things for the population when piped drinking water was supplied in area and the people discovered that they were getting contaminated water. However, it is being corrected with the help of Japanese assistance. Ms Julie illustrates that the younger generation in the valley is very much tied to Pakistan and speaks Urdu as they regard Hunza the fifth province of the country.
She appreciates Ms Yasmin Cheema, an architect, who, as a part of a team, is also contributing in creating baseline data comprising socio-economic information that could be used for future planning in the field of social sector. Referring to the Chinese-British rivalry during the colonial period, the US anthropologist says that the British deliberately kept the area aloof by showing it as a part of Kashmir but in reality Raja of Kashmir had no rule over the area.
Ms Julie's resume carries a long list of her achievements and contributions including articles, research papers, handbook, etc., focusing on Hunza, she is also writing a book "Hunza In Treble Vision: Power Informs Vision: 1930s and 1990s".
Moreover, in 2002, she served as Co-instructor of Anthropology on 'Islam and Globalisation' at the Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, US. Replying to a question, she said that like other parts of the world, 9/11 did have its impact on Hunza as well, especially the tourism industry had been on the receiving end. She, however, added that things had starting changing as tourists are returning to the area. Ms Julie defines Hunza as 'a beautiful place' and urges others to visit the area. She says it is a part of Pakistan but many of heroes of struggle of freedom, belonging to Hunza, like Mr Shah Khan, could never come under the spotlight.

All the institutions in Hunza are providing thier syllabuses in English to promote the value of English Language in Society.