Great report

Pakistan: Disappearing storytellers

Audio 7:30 p.m.

Children near Islamabad, Pakistan.

(Illustrative image) © AP - Anjum Naveed

By: Sonia Ghezali Follow

1 min

In Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world, where 70% of the population lives in rural areas, and 24 to 40% below the poverty line, access to education remains a major challenge.

According to a recent study, 22 million Pakistani children leave the education system before having completed the ten years of compulsory education or have never even entered it (about 5 million children).

The oral transmission of tales and legends has often served as an educational vector in the land of the pure.

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Some publishers have also taken up the challenge of bringing traditional storytellers back into fashion and at the center of the education system.

A daring bet because storytellers are gradually disappearing in Pakistan, ousted by competition from television and smartphones.

Those who in the past provided entertainment through their art of storytelling are now a rare breed.   

"Pakistan: Disappearing Storytellers", a major report by Sonia Ghezali with the collaboration of Shahzaib Wahlah. 

(Rebroadcast May 6, 2022)

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  • Pakistan

  • Education

  • Education

  • Children's rights

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