Education crisis
The writer is an educationist.
PRIMARY grade students at
public schools come mostly from the poor and lower middle classes and speak a
range of languages as their mother tongue. Unfortunately, when the latter is
supplanted by Urdu, English or Arabic, the students find it difficult to
communicate, let alone grasp knowledge.
Students from elite classes are privileged; they use advanced
technology, watch TV at home and speak English with their parents and friends.
What do their disadvantaged peers have to go through? Their schools lack
sanitation facilities and potable water; they are malnourished, which has a
negative impact on their academic growth. Even at that age, many of them have
to supplement the family income. Before any comparisons are made, the public
sector should receive more support as an ‗equity measure‘.
Improving public education is the only answer, rather than worsening it
in the name of privatisation — or selecting the naturally gifted to study at
elite institutions, as some have proposed. How can those institutes maintain
their credibility if only natural talent is chosen? Instead, they must admit
average and below-average students and make them outstanding. It may put their
systems to the ultimate test but it must also be realised that it is not that
our youngsters themselves are below par; rather, it is the badly managed
educational system, which limits their abilities.
Picking up natural talent and turning it into a brand will only
intensify social stratification. Our English monarchs used the same strategy —
constructing certain elite institutes to train students who would carry on
their legacy. ―I know my children are not brilliant and may not count in higher
positions, but they will have powerful acquaintances, since this college has
produced all the prominent people,‖ a father once observed.
What
do disadvantaged students have to go through?
Since independence, those in power have represented the same elite-grown
entities. What revolutionary services are available for the common man,
especially in terms of education? We continue to think and act in the same way,
polarising society and using education as a means to do so. Fee tokens for
students in private schools, for example, ‗legalises‘ education as a commodity,
which further strengthens power centres, all the time focusing more on ‗power
as knowledge‘ rather than ‗knowledge as power‘. Education — quality education —
is a fundamental human right that cannot be denied. More significantly, it is
the obligation of the state‘s public schools, and not the private institutions,
to educate our children.
What should change is the key question. A systemic overhaul from the
top to the bottom tier is required. Shouldn‘t it begin with an educationist as
the education minister? On a lighter note, if there is not one in the political
lot, then we‘d better import one….
Let us consider the asymmetries in competence at the highest level,
when an officer has sole control of everything — from transfer/posting to
policy formation. The officer may not be incompetent, but poor systemic
arrangements will cut his talent down to size.
Is it logical to push a person to serve in completely different
disciplines for varying lengths of times — from Customs and narcotics, to
education, followed by agriculture? How can we make sustainable plans and
policies if an officer cannot be retained in a single sector for a longer term?
Can‘t we have specialised authorities in charge of education for the duration
of their service?
Similarly, there is a need to revisit teachers‘ appointments,
promotions, and age of retirement. For example, ‗age-based‘ promotion does not
make sense. One study found that students learn more from younger teachers than
from older teachers, while we pay older teachers more and promote them to
higher grades.
Another debate is whether every person requires formal education and
whether we can assure this, given the high rate of population expansion. A
proportion of the people may benefit from vocational education to become
entrepreneurs and contribute to the economy. China‘s success, among other
factors, rests on expanding vocational opportunities for its common citizens,
using schools as the primary mechanism for offering open and flexible
vocational education based on a government-market link. Their houses are small
industrial enterprises that contribute significantly to the local economy.
Opening a number of private schools would suit
the philanthropist, not the state. States establish systems, develop and
implement accountability measures, and ensure strict compliance. Our most
common dilemma is viewing education in isolation from the socioeconomic,
sociopolitical, and sociocultural landscape in terms of learning design and
supportive mechanisms. We hear all the time that political stability is
positively correlated with economic stability, and that is indeed the case. The
same can be said for education, which has sadly fallen out of sight.
The writer is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Development
and Economic Alternatives, and an associate professor of economics at Lums.
THE sentiment to
‗reimagine‘ is commendable. We haven‘t done well in many things, and should, if
possible, ‗reimagine‘ and try to do things better. But reimagining doesn‘t mean
that the solutions we come up with will be easy or straightforward or quickly
implemented for results.
‗Reimagining‘ may give solutions that require hard work and lots of
time to implement. ‗Simple‘ and ‗easy‘, in policy space, are often not the best
or mostneeded solutions.
Is there any country where education up to high school is not a ‗right‘
for all children? Is there any country where education up to high school is not
financed by the state? Is there any country where education up to high school
is not mostly provided for by the state? Are there many such countries? Is
Pakistan very different? If most states finance education up to high school and
provide that education too, there must be a reason for it. Should we not think
about this?
If other countries provide decent education through the public sector,
why can‘t Pakistan? It is not just the developed countries that have been able
to do this; many developing states, too, are making creditable efforts in this
direction. In fact, the latter category has, over the last couple of decades,
improved the quality of education for all children, largely through the public
sector, quite significantly. Vietnam and Brazil immediately come to mind, but
there are many others as well.
However, even where developing countries have been struggling to get
all children to school and to learn what they need to learn in school, they
have not ‗reimagined‘ education to imply mass privatisation. No country is
talking about dismantling the public education sector. Most are talking of
further reforms and strengthening public education systems. Why is Pakistan
thinking differently?
Pakistan
has one of the most divided, fragmented and inequitable education systems in
the world.
Pakistan has one of the most divided, fragmented and inequitable
education systems in the world. Where private provision has educated millions,
it has also contributed to further entrenchment and exacerbation of existing
economic and social inequalities.
Access to quality education depends on parental or family incomes. The
public education system is supposed to level the field and lay the ground for
equal opportunities.
It is not that all state schools are bad and all private schools good;
but, other than model schools, Daanish schools, cadet colleges, and a small
number of others, most government schools impart a poor quality of education.
In the private, for-profit sector, quality is linked to tuition fee.
High-fee private schools do provide a decent quality of education, but
the bulk of the private school sector comprises low-fee, for-profit schools
where the quality of education is also poor.
Low-free private schools cost less per child as compared to public
schools, but research shows that the main reason for the cost differential is
the low salary paid to private school teachers. Private school teachers, other
than those in high-cost schools, do not even get minimum-wage levels of salary.
Is this what we want for the teachers? As it is, we have trouble
getting good candidates to join the teaching profession; do we want to deepen
the problem by paying teachers less than the minimum wage? Quality of learning
is strongly linked to teacher quality and effort, among other factors. How do
we improve teacher quality if salaries remain below the minimum wage?
The quality of education differential between the public and private
sectors is also believed to be higher than it really is. When we control for
selection effects (children from richer backgrounds choosing to go to private
schools etc), the differences in learning outcomes become smaller. The gap has
also narrowed slightly over the last decades.
There is even evidence of students moving to government schools when
they reach high school. The private school pyramid (the number of schools
available as we move up the grade level) is also very narrow at the top. If we
leave aside moderate- and high-fee schools — they comprise a small number but figure
prominently in the public imagination — the quality of education for most
low-fee private schools is not much better than in public schools. Why then
would we want to think of privatising education on a large scale rather than
improving public schools?
Every child has a right to have a decent education. Giving scholarships
to a few thousand children from poorer sections of society to access
high-quality education is not a solution. If we want such scholarship schemes
(though this plays into the idea of the ‗tyranny of merit‘), that is fine.
They help the individuals in question. But they do not address the
larger issues regarding the rights of every child. And, until the rights of
every child are addressed, the promise of education will not be realised for
individuals, families or society and the state as a whole.
Vouchers make sense in some places and for some populations. But they
are not a universal solution and some research shows that their impact is
limited. When the private sector does not have many high schools and does not
operate in areas that do not have large enough markets (where there aren‘t
enough children), and when the provision of affordable, secure and safe
transport is nonexistent, vouchers alone aren‘t a solution even if it was
practically possible to move to them on a large scale.
Yes, we need to reimagine what we need to do in education and to
internalise that education is every child‘s right and that it is in our
individual and collective interest to provide opportunities.
But there is no escaping the fact that education up to high school
level is the state‘s responsibility and will remain so. We have to reimagine
ways of making the public sector work. And this is not an impossibility, as
many countries have shown and continue to show. If we can work out ways in that
space, that would be real reimagining.
There
is a dire need to reevaluate how we are preparing our future generation for a
globalised, knowledge-based economy.
LISTEN
TO ARTICLE1x1.2x1.5x
October
5 is World Teacher‘s Day, and for Pakistan, it should be one of those days to
introspect and look upon its education and teaching standards.
Pakistan
is pitched as a big market, with huge potential, and no one fails to mention
its bulging youth population. What those pitch decks don‘t mention is that
school education outcomes are insufficient to support economic and social
development in the country.
An
estimated 22.9 million children aged between 5-16 years are out of school — a
worrying statistic for a country whose current workforce is young, mostly
unskilled, and poorly prepared for productive employment, said the Asian
Development Bank in the ‗Foreword‘ section of its titled ‗School Education in
Pakistan: A Sector Assessment‘. This number — 22.9 million — is the world‘s
second-highest number of out-of-school children. It is now estimated to be
closer to 24 million.
Now
comes the second part — the fact that those who are enrolled in school aren‘t
doing well makes the situation all the more depressing. Pakistan severely lags
behind the rest of the world in terms of learning outcomes with unable to perform well
enough on standardised exams held annually by the
government.
This
is the main argument — a bulging young population is currently ill-prepared to
enter the workforce. When they do enter the workforce, wages tend to be low and
contribution to overall economic productivity of the country is found wanting.
Thus,
there is a dire need to reevaluate how we are preparing our future generation
for a globalised, knowledge-based economy. Education has to be re-imagined. It
has to be made easier and more accessible. Teaching and transferring a skill-set
is one of the earliest traits in human history — without it, we would not know
how to do most of the things we do today.
The
good news is that education is valued in Pakistan. A significant portion of
income is spent on this sector. But for the lower-income groups, quality
education has become expensive, and hence gone out of reach.
These
past few years, if one were to look hard enough, education is the one sector
that has suffered a lot — be it due to the pandemic, high inflation, or the
floods. Urban areas may have still fared better, but Pakistan‘s rural centres
have been ravaged.
What can
be done?
Learners
need to be met where they are. The education has to reach them, whichever
platform it takes. And the push needs to come now. The online search trends for
educational content is increasing, and in fact, students are overwhelmingly
seeking exam preparation material from online sources.
In
my experience at ,
we have realised that edtech is a breakthrough for the education sector in
Pakistan. It is low on cost, and enables one qualified teacher to reach several
students at once.
It
has very few barriers to entry for students — one just needs a smartphone and a
stable internet connection (both still easier to achieve) — and doesn‘t
discriminate among genders.
Recently,
Edkasa partnered with TikTok to launch an campaign on the social
media platform that has been well-received by students since engagement rates
of these videos have been higher than industry benchmarks. This shows education
is a supply-side issue. TikTok‘s reach coupled with edtech platforms and
curricula by top educational institutes can prove to be a game-changer.
The
digital learning process also withstands other pressures such as the pandemic,
and is in fact, the only solution in times when road access to schools is
blocked. It saves on costs for the school, and could genuinely provide the
state the most cost-effective solution. It can also be more easily monitored,
and the feedback loop for students is faster and easier to access.
The path to success
However,
before one gets carried away, this change cannot be implemented overnight. It
needs careful management, and requires behavioural change from students,
parents and stakeholders as it is more self-directed compared to traditional
learning methods.
The
ADB, in the earlier-mentioned report, suggested that by broadening and
deepening reforms, Pakistan could reach the millions of children who currently
get no schooling, thereby improving participation rates in school education at
all levels.
―Targeted
investments and programmes could improve completion rates and learning levels.
Properly focused, reforms could reduce inequalities in education outcomes
across gender, socioeconomic strata, geography, and districts. Public–private
partnerships (PPPs) can play a key role, as can strengthened mainstream
government systems,‖ said the ADB.
The
public sector is swamped, and it is understandable. Its resources are limited,
and the population has only that much capacity to contribute. It is time for
quality education to be made more accessible by trying on different ideas and
tools.
The writer is an educationist.
IN 1970,
prominent sociologist Basil Bernstein asserted that education could not
contribute to society. Because our education system is interwoven with and
increasingly influenced by the economy, it is unable to rectify economic
imbalances and thus ‗miseducates‘. Educational
theorist John Dewy defined
‗miseducation‘
as a system that stifles children‘s curiosity, creativity and critical
thinking. Knowledge, according to him, is created within the student rather
than imposed by authority. Miseducation promotes ‗indoctrination‘ and seeks to
enslave the mind.
As a result, we ignore relevant information and emphasise irrelevant
facts, promote propaganda and conspiracy theories and frame a situation in a
certain way. It causes cognitive bias that impacts our choices and actions. It
makes us misinterpret information and make irrational decisions, for example,
we blame external enemies as the cause of our destruction rather than the
absence of the rule of law.
Likewise, if a student‘s educational experience is at odds with his or
her life outside of school, it will likely be difficult for him or her to make
rapid progress and contribute towards social development.
It is regrettable that education in our country is less understood in
terms of socioeconomic and sociopolitical effects and more commonly employed
for the purposes of a mass-level narrative construction to create bias, which
has trapped us — with no exit in sight. To legitimise the institutional role
that schools play in a system of control and intimidation, our classrooms,
curricula and educators adopt ‗dogmatic truths‘. As opposed to developing
independent thought, schools have always played an institutional role in a
coercive system. Miseducation
seeks to enslave children‘s minds.
The type of education that emphasises the connection between individual
and public life, as well as social responsibility, the broader responsibilities
of citizenship and the state-individual relationship is, unfortunately,
ignored. As a result, teachers emphasise mechanical learning and the
memorisation of information, preferring them to critical analyses of the social
and political system that mandates education in the first place. They are
increasingly confined to the duty of imposing the ‗official reality‘, which is
determined by a small group of individuals who analyse, make and execute
decisions, and govern the political, economic and ideological systems.
We find our ruling elite periodically engaged in ‗restructuring‘ the
educational system to address the broader narrative, without leaving room for
detraditionalising the curriculum and remedying policies that define the
working classes as education‘s losers. There should be more focus on access to
education and enrolment by concentrating on prominent issues such as
outof-school children and, even more importantly, ‗out-of-learning children‘.
Instead, they appear to want to enrol as many as possible to indulge wider
control and coercion and leave no room for fostering independent thinking.
Education is a fundamental human right, but only quality education, and not the
one that degrades the intellect and thinking abilities and produces only
zombies.
There is little faith in education as a means to social reform since,
in its current form, public education is shrewdly constructed to perpetuate its
estrangement from practical domains. This is to encourage incorrectly defined
ideas that act to preserve and privilege the ruling class and elite. The ruling
class may promote subsidising elite schooling for geniuses who represent the
working class to update their skills and defuse their anger so that they can
fuel the elites‘ industrial production and increase their economic gain. It
deepens social stratification within the middle and lower middle classes. As a
result, the middle and lower middle classes are more oppressed, and vulnerable,
and ultimately, the losers.
We may find that almost no graduate of such subsidised schools remains
connected to their class and avoids living within poor communities; some may
even prefer the elite as their neighbours. Many parents are heartbroken because
their ‗elite-transit offspring‘ have abandoned them. The allure of such entry
points into elite circles renders public schools compromised and useless in the
eyes of the working class.
So, do we aim to forego formal education? Of course not. But we should
be clear about the fundamental elements of our education system and its purpose
within the context of the power structure. We should advocate for the education
system to be restructured to serve the common man, a goal that is not being
pursued by academia, policy experts, educationists or politicians. We need
schools to be authentic learning spaces and not instruments of coercion and
indoctrination or incubators of deceptive ideologies.
The writer is a former minister of finance.
IN my I briefly
described five out of six pillars required of a new social contract that
delivers growth and development. They were population planning, local
government autonomy, fiscal and exchange rate policies leading to low budget
deficits and balanced current accounts, change of policy away from import
substitution to export promotion, and finally, improvement in agricultural
yields that increase incomes of the rural poor.
My sixth pillar for growth is education. Let‘s review some statistics
that make clear the abysmal states of our literacy and education.
The federal and provincial governments together spend about Rs1,000
billion on education annually. That‘s almost twice the cost of running the
civilian federal government and by far the biggest item after defence and
debtservicing. And that‘s just public-sector spending.
Private spending is more than this number. And what do we get from all
this money? Nothing.
Unfortunately, 75 years after independence, almost four in 10
Pakistanis remain illiterate, consigned to a life of hardship and poverty.
Worse still, literacy rate isn‘t even improving.
In 2020, our net enrolment rate in primary schools was only 64 per cent
— down from 67pc in 2015. Punjab and Balochistan maintained their ratios at
70pc and 56pc respectively. Yet Sindh‘s net enrolment actually went down from
61pc to 55pc and KP‘s ratio (even excluding the former tribal agencies) went
down from 71pc to 66pc. Half of all school-aged children are not in school.
No
amount of money will improve our education outcomes under the existing system.
Punjab spends about Rs31,000 per child annually in its government
schools, KP spends Rs38,000, Sindh Rs40,000 and Balochistan Rs61,000. And for
all this money, what do we get?
A conducted by Aga Khan
University across Pakistan showed that the average score of our students in
science and mathematics was a failing grade. Only 5pc of the kids in Class 8
could answer a simple arithmetic question and just 10pc could answer a basic science
question.
Most kids in Class 5 read and do sums at the level of pupils in Class
1. Which is to say that these kids, after five years in school, are
functionally innumerate and illiterate. Hence, if truth be told, we get nothing
from the money we spend on education.
It‘s fair to say that provincial education ministries — especially in
Sindh and Balochistan — are not set up to educate kids. Their primary purpose
seems to be to provide jobs to teachers and benefit administrators. Education
is a mere byproduct.
Although we don‘t spend enough on education, no amount of money will
improve our education outcomes under the existing system. To improve education
outcomes in Pakistan, we must shut down this system of patronage and build
anew.
Where possible we should privatise and intelligently regulate education
and empower parents in the running of schools. Of course, governments should
fund the education of all poor children, which is a basic right of citizens.
Many different approaches are possible, one of
which I present here. First we should give a voucher to every poor child to
attend at least a low-cost private school.
All private schools should be required to have parents on an advisory
board. Second, in rural areas, if there are no private schools, government
schools should be handed over to local school boards composed of parents and
local elders, and governments should continue funding those schools.
Each school should have the right to hire and fire its own teachers.
Thus we will have teachers who are actually qualified and responsible for
teaching, and finally our kids will become well educated.
But we need to do more. I have written earlier that only 30,000 or so
children in the A-level stream get a proper education and are able to compete
globally. These aren‘t the smartest kids, just the luckiest.
Sure, a few of these kids would be among the smartest ones — such as
Harvard professor Asim Khawaja, Princeton professor Atif Mian and MIT professor
Nergis Mavalvala — but fully half of them will also be below average. Given
that we are a resource-constrained, poor country, how should we prioritise
education spending?
Just as the elite educate their children (especially boys) well,
knowing this to be a great investment for their families‘ future, so we as a
nation would do well to carry out diagnostic tests and pick out the smartest
eighth graders and give them the best education. This would be the best
investment we can make for our future.
A friend and an excellent civil servant Rashid Langrial has worked out
a scheme for finding raw talent across Pakistan and building Daanish-like
schools in every tehsil. But given our limited resources we should at least
pick 10,000 to 20,000 kids annually in Class 8 and send them to the existing
best private schools and universities.
These smart kids would then form the basis of a smart, well-educated
generation on which we can compete with the rest of the world.
Some of us bemoan the fact that our IT exports are only $3bn but
India‘s are $150bn. Many entrepreneurs ask our government to provide better
incentives.
Yet our tax on IT exports is only 0.25pc of revenues. We have also
given a host of other incentives to the industry.
But no amount of incentives can make us an IT export powerhouse; the
only thing that can produce IT exports is better education. But have we been
able to produce qualified human resources in IT or any other field?
India set up its first Indian Institute of Technology in 1951, and set
up four more in the next decade. These institutions today are considered some
of the best undergraduate teaching institutions in the world. We on the other
hand went through seven prime ministers in our first decade.
I will end with a prediction that may show the way to progress. If we
can design a system whereby a girl from the urban slums or rural areas of
Pakistan can grow up to teach in a Pakistani university and win the Fields
Medal in mathematics, we will never again have to worry about abject poverty or
foreign exchange reserves.
The writer is working as senior manager, professional development, at
Oxford University Press Pakistan.
LISTEN
TO ARTICLE1x1.2x1.5x
IT would be an
understatement to say AI has taken the world by a storm. Much like the
pandemic, it is sweeping through countries and enmeshing itself in human lives
at an alarming pace. No matter what the age or the education background, basic
literacy and access to the internet are the only prerequisites to start
learning from ChatGPT.
It seems like the world‘s greatest plagiariser, providing information
from a range of sources within seconds and keeping its cards well hidden. Where
is this content coming from and how do we judge the accuracy of the shared
information? Yet excitement abounds as ChatGPT not only provides content but
helps its users articulate themselves better than politicians and world
leaders.
Numerous questions have been raised about the potential damage that
such language models can cause. Educators worry about the loss of creative and
critical thinking skills, about dependence on information that is spoon-fed and
the ethical implications of receiving realms of data that can be massively
misused. A closer look at how AI functions will reveal that it is far from easy
to glean information from any AI model without the skill of asking pertinent
questions.
It is no longer as important to have the answers, as it is to be able
to ask the right questions. The race to success is for those who have learnt to
extract relevant data, not those who necessarily know how to produce
information. Knowing how to work with key words, staging research prompts, and
applying the information received in lucrative ways serving the purpose that
needs to be focused on are some of the skills an AI user may need to acquire.
Using
AI in education will demand a set of requisite skills.
For students, this means oceans of content knowledge flowing freely,
but for those who do not know how to organise information to serve their
purpose, it may be an exercise in futility. However, language models such as
ChatGPT may actually be a goldmine for subject experts who have faced hurdles
in their career growth due to language barriers.
Language models such as ChatGPT may revolutionise the world of
opportunities for many, help ease the process of collating and presenting
information, but it cannot yet teach us how to glean information. Just like
mining for gold requires technical skills, using AI in education will demand a
set of requisite skills. Most chatbots can offer personalised learning to users
who know how to manoeuvre their way through. In fact, chatbots can offer much
relief to teachers who have to patiently answer repetitive questions and can
certainly help teachers fill the gaps in their own subject knowledge.
AI might not help people get smarter, but it certainly promises to
speed up learning and provides effective ways that may help students bypass a
teacher‘s limitation to explain or clarify concepts. For those who feel AI
education may take over teachers‘ jobs, it would help to evaluate the
humanistic elements for which children go to school.
The necessity of physical and emotional care, social interaction,
guidance and connection may be hard to replace, perhaps for decades to come. AI
will certainly enhance the learning experience, perhaps even make assessments
redundant once freely accessible information starts filling need gaps, but the
human experience may yet overpower the promise of infinite knowledge.
At best, it could act as a valued teaching assistant, cost-effective
and efficient, an assistant that won‘t require training and will speed up
processes as well as assessments. As the great AI wave sweeps global education,
it remains to be seen how the generation of digital natives will use this
valuable tool to impart the necessary skills and education to work on climate
change, healthcare and poverty.
Whether the digital revolution in learning bears the potential to close
gaps in inequality or carries the threat of further deepening the divide will
depend on how it‘s accessed and used. Barriers often come from resisting
opportunity, and from a mindset that is bent on preserving the status quo. If
those who have access to expensive private education are the only ones who are
able to purchase AI apps, there may be little hope of addressing the
opportunity divide.
Whatever the case, AI promises to shift the focus from retention of
knowledge to expanding the boundaries of it, providing skills to look deep into
a subject by asking the right questions and not necessarily being limited by
one‘s ability to analyse. In fact, the analytical tools provided may advance
innovation and growth much faster for those who had to get a team in place or
outsource expertise. AI can help turn ideas into reality in unprecedented ways.
The writer is an educationist.
EDUCATION
aims to nurture responsible social behaviour. Thus, socially responsible
behaviour is an explicit reflection of an effective education system. The
majority will agree that our social behaviour does not reflect this true spirit
of education. We behave irresponsibly at home, in public, and during physical
and virtual interactions. This points to a flaw in our educational system, with
consequences for education‘s quality and its ability to contribute to social
transformation.
The main issue appears to be the antiquated, top-down educational
administration and bureaucratic structure. It forces a blind following without
leaving room for critique. Consequently, education is governed by poor
monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, little clarity of roles, procedures and
responsibilities, and few parameters of accountability. Periodic tweaks and
revamps are lacking, leaving hardly any opportunity to add value to the system
that would have helped it respond to the needs of the time.
Educational changes — under the guise of modifications — are
politically motivated. For example, the Single National Curriculum (SNC) and
its subsequent rebranding as the National Curriculum of Pakistan are efforts to
change merely the label for political popularity. It is intriguing that all new
interventions are driven by political and bureaucratic whims rather than a
thorough evaluation of previous reforms and estimates of future needs.
Such reforms, and others, disregard the ramifications across various
components of the education system, including professional development for
teachers, assessment, educational administration, and above all, the needs of
the learners. To create compatibility and harmony among the various components
of education, modifications to one component, such as the curriculum,
necessitates adjustments in other areas such as teacher professionalism and
assessment.
Education
does not respond to learners‘ needs.
As an example, would it be possible for someone to develop a complex
computer programme and run it on an obsolete operating system? Obviously not,
as the software is incompatible with the operating system. To successfully run
the programme, one must consider the compatibility of the operating system with
the new programme. Similarly, without understanding the context and systems,
educational interventions, such as SNC and others, will not work.
The mismatch between intervention and ground realities is reflected in
knowledge and social behaviour asymmetry, as education does not respond to
learners‘ real-world needs and experiences or vice versa.
Following the same approach, our apex institutions continue to stress
compliance and uniformity in dress and discipline. It is unfathomable why any
university should require students to wear uniforms, leaving no room for choice
as part of students‘ aesthetic development. Some may argue that the uniform is
an option to prevent class segregation, but the question is: do they live in a
classless society or are they subject to societal class-based treatment?
Similarly, females are urged to dress ‗appropriately‘ by universities
to prevent sexual abuse, despite the fact that there are still many cases of
abuse. In fact, the vast majority of cases are never reported. We mistakenly
believe that women‘s protection will result only from covering them up.
Curriculum and institutions must take into account the emancipation of women
and the education of their male counterparts to learn how to coexist with
dignity. Instead of lowering women‘s potential, hiding who they are and making
them more vulnerable, they could help them see how valuable women are and teach
them the skills they need to reach their full potential.
What we require is educational management that is less centralised, and
reforms that are evidence-based. More importantly, there needs to be a system
of empowerment and accountability, instead of just obedience and following
orders. Reforms should change the way people learn instead of just maintaining
the status quo.
Education processes, at the policy and implementation levels, need to
aim for harmony between learners‘ educational and social experiences and their
learning needs. There should be no hesitation in empowering learners by
providing them with the relevant knowledge and skills to improve their aesthetics
through liberal arts and music, nurture their civic sense, and above all,
provide them space to raise their voices and discuss what learning they
require.
Educational institutes must overcome their fear of allowing students to
establish forums, clubs and other entities, either co- or extracurricular, to
taste aspects of real life as part of their learning experiences and practise
the same in society as responsible citizens and future leaders. Otherwise, we
will continue to witness a widening gap between knowledge and practice and will
be forced to deal with social misbehaviour.
The writer is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Development
and Economic Alternatives, and an associate professor of economics at Lums.
ARTICLE 25-A on ‗Right to
Education‘, was added to the basic rights section of the Constitution of the
country through the 18th Amendment in April 2010. Almost 12 years later we
still have around 20 million five- to 16-year-olds out of school. Our
assessments of child learning also tell us that, barring a small number going
to elite public and private schools, most school-going children in Pakistan,
are getting a poor quality education. Why is this state of affairs persisting?
Think of any ‗reform‘ related to the education sector — free books, no
tuition, stipends, meal programme, afternoon schools, monitoring system,
performance incentives, merit-based teacher recruitment, school councils,
management committees, school-based recruitment, non-salary budget — and we have
tried it. Yet the needle on meeting goals for universal education of a minimum
standard has not really moved by much. In fact, in some provinces and for some
years, we have lost ground on issues related to quality of education.
|
Read: |
The missing third — An out-of-school children study of Pakistani 5-1 |
It is true that our public-sector education system is underfunded.
Spending less than two per cent of GDP on education will not get you quality
education for every child. But it is also true that the system a) does not
spend money very effectively, and b) has a limited capacity to absorb more. So,
with the demand for more resources, we have to make the system more efficient
too, otherwise even doubling the money will not get us results.
So, what is it? Is it that the people of Pakistan do not value
education? They do not want to give quality education to their children? This
does not seem to be the case. People are voting with their feet. Those who can
afford to, even at the cost of cutting other essential expenditures, send their
children to private schools in the hope of them getting a quality education.
Demand is not the issue. The larger answer seems to lie in the political
economy of education. Why should political parties, politicians and bureaucrats
care about providing quality education to every child in the country? What is
their incentive to do that?
It
is harder for the politicians to talk about how they improved the quality of
education.
Politicians respond to electoral pressures — what will get them
elected, what will make their coalition stronger and what will give them
visibility and credit. Given how elections take place in the country, the
aggregation of voter choice, with respect to fairness, is an issue in itself.
But, even if we put aside that matter, the provision of quality education does
not come up as a top issue in our elections. Provision of local services
(roads, water, sewerage, gas and electricity) and access to jobs are usually
considered more important. Constituents might be concerned about jobs as
teachers or school staff, but the concern is not about access to quality
education for all children. Maybe, the electorate has given up on the idea that
the state can provide quality education.
It is also the case that ‗quality‘ aspects are always harder to see.
Access and infrastructure aspects are easy to see and verify, and they are more
attributable too. So, even if there is pressure to provide education, the
metric is more about opening new schools, upgrading existing ones and/ or
providing infrastructure like boundary walls, classrooms, bathrooms and
electricity and water connections. Politicians can talk about how they got
another school for their area or had a primary school upgraded to middle or
high school, obtained infrastructure for the school and even had teachers
posted at the school. But it is harder for the politicians to talk about how
they improved the quality of education in a school or in schools in their area.
Quality changes also need time for implementation and for their impact
to become known. If the quality of education gets better, you will eventually
see it in the results of children in public examinations, in colleges the
children go to post graduation, in the jobs and salaries they get. But this will
take time to become visible. Politicians work according to electoral cycles.
They worry about the next election which is at most five years away. The
electoral cycle and the quest for quality education do not align with each
other.
|
Read: |
The Analytical Angle — Do children really learn in schools in Pakistan |
Politicians are the ‗principals‘ for the bureaucrats who are ‗agents‘
(using the notion of ‗principal agent‘ in economics). If the principal is not
interested in the delivery of quality education, why would the agent do it? If
principals were interested even then it would be hard to design an effective
delivery system, but when it is not even a priority for the principal, why
would the agent spend any time, beyond the bare minimum necessary to maintain
the status quo, to do anything? This is exactly how education has been treated,
usually by provincial bureaucracies. Though education departments are mostly
the largest departments in terms of the number of employees and salary
expenses, they are not the posting of choice for bureaucrats.
There is some evidence, even in Pakistan, that when politicians‘
priorities change, it can have a strong impact on the system. From 2012 to
2018, when Punjab was using methods that saw the chief minister and chief
secretary holding deputy commissioners of districts accountable in the exercise
of meeting educational targets, we did see significant performance change. The
targets were still largely about access and infrastructure, and not quality of
education, but some evidence is there.
Political accountability of politicians by the polity is weak in
Pakistan. Given this fact and the problems of making ‗access to quality
education‘ a visible target for politicians, it is not surprising that 20m
children are out of school and the quality of education is poor. If politicians
are not bothered about providing quality education, why would bureaucrats be?
But this equilibrium can be altered. The alteration would include major changes
in how politicians are held accountable. This is going to be difficult. But
access to quality education for all is not going to work if we do not hold
politicians accountable.
The writer is an educationist.
EMOTIONAL intelligence, or
emotional quotient, is as significant as intelligence quotient. EQ, based on
social intelligence, is the capacity to comprehend, utilise and regulate one‘s
emotions in constructive ways to reduce stress, communicate effectively,
empathise with others, overcome problems, and diffuse disputes. Research also
tells us about the ‗curse of emotion‘, whereby individuals with a high EQ might
arouse negative feelings. However, rational individuals with higher EQ fare
better than those who are emotionally attached to an opinion or ideology.
Contemporary learning theories stress EQ-responsive curricula,
instruction, assessment and learning environments to promote holistic
development, including self-awareness, among the students. Self-awareness
depends on the level of mental autonomy, objective self-analysis, and
decision-making abilities, with teachers and parents as support. However,
schools and homes tend to promote the memorisation of specific knowledge,
without considering the students‘ interests or potential. What can only be
called ‗instructional policing‘ demands obedience from the students and often
results in physical or emotional abuse, if the young learners take no interest
or resist. Meanwhile, parents want to fulfil their own dreams through their
children‘s education.
With such a narrow understanding of learning at
home and in schools, students feel fear and anxiety, and are prone to negative
emotions — in contrast to how it should be. Research tells us that a learner‘s
multiple intelligences, while possessing their own strengths and weaknesses,
seldom function independently of one another. Musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial,
verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic intelligences
are examples. A creative, imaginative youngster, though possessing poor
memorisation powers, may do very well in some areas but may not get good grades
in an exam.
Notwithstanding their skills, such children are deemed failures.
Standardised tests also largely function as an evaluation model,
measuring students, with varying abilities, against fixed knowledge standards.
There is nothing holistic about the teaching approach that supports such tests.
In fact, assessments must go beyond merely quantifying what has been learnt; it
must also highlight areas for development for both students and teachers.
Regrettably, teachers rely on syllabus completion and memorised material to set
exam questions. As a student, I recall having to rote learn many ‗answers‘. So
I had no idea what I was reciting in front of my teachers or why one student was
praised while the other was punished.
Exams
must go beyond quantifying what has been learnt.
We must prioritise learning keeping our youngsters‘ EQ in mind. This
could be done through an enabling atmosphere instead of being made to face
pressure to deliver ‗A‘ or ‗A‘-plus grades. Schools must be made aware of their
students‘ talents and adapt their teaching methods accordingly, rather than
subjecting them to homogenous teaching methodologies and rote learningbased
assessments, which can never handle diverse intelligences and modes of
learning. Intelligence denotes acting purposefully, thinking rationally and
applying information rather than merely storing it. It is more about how to
learn than what to learn.
Our curricula, textbooks, teachers, in fact the overall learning
system, must consider diversity in terms of multiple intelligences as each child
is different. The fear of failure must be reduced by sensitively addressing
children‘s learning requirements.
More important is the skill and courage to ask questions. Learning
relies on asking logical questions as opposed to just searching for accurate
answers. The repression of inquiry in the name of obedience stifles the courage
and curiosity of children and causes them emotional harm. The curricula,
teachers and parents expect obedience, which essentially means executing an
action on the orders of an authority to maintain a show of respect. Teachers
and parents are the people closest to children, but they are also people from
whom children hide a lot of things. Respect is a two-way street — between
teachers and students, and between parents and children.
Updated scientific research tells us that the students‘ reflective
learning experiences indicate an increase in self-introspection, emotional
awareness, emotional regulation and understanding others. Moving from
homogeneous expectations to multiple intelligences is the most effective
approach. We can achieve this by allowing adequate space for new modes of
learning that stimulate our children‘s intellectual capital rather than memory,
therefore preparing pupils for life than just for exams. We need to raise our
children with greater EQ, so that they remain productive for themselves and
society.
The writer is senior manager, professional development at Oxford
University Press, Pakistan.
ACCORDING to a recent UNDP
report, almost 30 per cent of our total population is in the higher-education
age bracket, aged 15-29, and this percentage will continue to rise. The
pressure to deliver is intense with over 65 million young people ready to be
trained for marketable jobs. Mismanagement is at its peak with funding
roadblocks, lack of skilled teachers and limited resources hindering innovation
and progress.
A radical new wave of disruption is needed for
those who wish to learn from cutting-edge technology, those who wish to keep
abreast of global developments and those who will eventually be the movers and
shakers of our domestic socioeconomic systems.
What does this disruption mean for young people restricted by archaic
policies? One of the biggest challenges faced by higher education in Pakistan
is the gaping divide between skills and content. Students cannot be educated in
a vacuum where the content neither addresses real-life challenges, nor enriches
their experience. Students graduate in overwhelming numbers from our local
colleges and spend years in underpaid jobs that don‘t reflect their
qualifications.
The fact is, their qualifications don‘t make them market-ready, don‘t
teach them innovative skills for entrepreneurship and don‘t develop their
ability to learn on the job. Inequities in our education system are often cited
as the culprit; however, even those who manage to go through higher education mostly
end up walking away with a degree that symbolises little more than the stamp it
carries.
A
radical new wave of disruption is needed.
Without collaboration with international universities, this scenario
may persist. With their enrichment programmes, strong linkages with the needs
of industry, and growth mindset, international universities have much to offer
us. There was a time when qualified faculty from well-reputed international
universities were seen teaching, conducting research and working closely with
local faculty and students. Gradually, the trend not only faded but
collaborative efforts across borders — including student or faculty exchange
programmes — became few and far between.
Higher education in any country is the mainstay of the economy. A focus
on the state-of-the-art buildings that house our colleges and universities will
show how skewed the priorities are. Beautiful buildings are seen teeming with
life and hope, with young people chatting away. Attend a single class and it
becomes obvious how that sense of life and hope gives way to inertia, with the
same students staring at the teacher with blank faces, passively listening,
distant and dazed.
One of the fundamental differences between school-going children and
higher or adult learners is that the latter must be convinced of the need to
learn, must see real-world meaning in it and must be able to translate it into
something useful for their future. Keeping this in mind when preparing
frameworks for policy may help alleviate some of the challenges faced by our
higher education graduates. Working backwards from their students‘ goals,
recognising and supporting their vision of where they want to be in life may be
a beneficial exercise for all higher education faculty.
Those who have dabbled in online education would know the possibilities
are immense. The world is their oyster if students wish to build their skills
independently and have learnt how to navigate the options available online.
This also means many of our students will turn away from local universities as
online degrees become more accessible and may, in fact, become digitally savvy
much faster than if they were to opt for traditional higher education in
Pakistan.
If higher education in Pakistan were to stay relevant, there is an
urgent need to build teacher capacity and overhaul the curriculum to make it
more reflective of skills for the future. Besides tech-fuelled learning, we
would need to take concrete steps to equip students to present their research
at conferences, panel discussions, benefit from mentoring programmes, and
provide them with job placements and career counselling. Apparently, only 2pc
of the 247 functional universities in Pakistan provide such opportunities.
The Labour Force Survey for 2020-21 reported that 37pc of our youth
aged 15-29 are neither in education or training, nor in employment. Sadly, that
is 21.8m young people who can be productively engaged in both work and
education.
Clearly, there is no dearth of labour nor is the young population
averse to learning or working. The fault lies in our inability to plan, execute
and meet the urgent priorities of our economy, which includes developing skills
among teachers and vocational trainers, without which there can be no hope of
producing a workforce capable of building a nation.
The writer is senior manager, professional development at Oxford
University
Press,
The writer is the author of What We Get Wrong About Education in
Pakistan (Folio Books 2022) and Pakistan ka Matlab Kya (Aks Publications 2022).
PAKISTAN is a signatory to
the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which obligates the country
to provide inclusive and equitable education for all. Once again, the question
has been asked: is Pakistan moving towards that goal?
An inclusive education does not discriminate by gender, language,
religion, etc. On gender, discrimination is manifest at the outset when income
constrained families spend more to educate sons than daughters. The bias is
reaffirmed when textbooks offer limited role models for girls. It is argued
that Pakistan is a socially conservative country and most women subscribe to
the models prescribed for them. This is an assertion made by men speaking on
behalf of women who have not been independently asked or consulted. Even if
this is conceded, we know that there is a subset of women with different
aspirations. At the very least, the Pakistani curriculum has no place for them,
reportedly not even for someone as culturally acceptable as Malala Yousafzai.
It remains an open question whether it is right to exclude them and who is to
make that determination.
There is a forgotten dimension to this discrimination. People who are
old enough remember a time in the 1960s when girls in cities commonly cycled to
their schools and colleges. No more. Once again, it is argued that this was an
inappropriate legacy of British rule that has been rightly done away with.
School education reaffirms such limitations on the choices of women without
much public debate.
On language, the discrimination is more subtle. Children whose home
language is not English or Urdu cannot acquire elementary education in their
own language even if their parents want, despite the global consensus
supporting its advantages. Outside of Sindh, this aspect is neither fully
recognised nor debated. The exclusion of such languages means not only their
slow death but also the withering of their associated cultures and identities.
To
inhibit free expression is a form of exclusion that disproportionately impacts
those who do not belong to the majority.
On religion the exclusions are more obvious. A curriculum cannot be
inclusive when religious content of one religion is diffused throughout
textbooks prescribed for secular subjects.
This practice is justified by the argument that Pakistan is
overwhelmingly Muslim (97.5 per cent), which makes it alright to propagate
predominantly Islamic content. The difficulty with this justification is that
Pakistan was not so overwhelmingly Muslim when it was created. It is a
consequence of religious discrimination that non-Muslims feel unsafe in the
country and many who were or are able to leave have done so. This includes
Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Bahais, Parsis, and Christians. A justification of
majoritarian values is incompatible with the goal of inclusion.
Instead of addressing this issue, the proposed solution is to have
non-Muslim students leave the class when Islamic religious content is discussed
in secular subjects. But this constitutes the most extreme form of exclusion,
one that embeds othering right from early childhood.
One example should suffice to highlight the kinds of avoidable issues
that have been created. The Single National Curriculum textbook for Grade 4
English has an exercise in creative writing on page 12 in which students are
asked to write a paragraph about a religious subject particular to Islam. What
is to be gained by choosing a religious subject in an exercise of creative
writing in a class meant to teach English? It would be more inclusive to have a
neutral subject for the essay in which all children are equally equipped to
express themselves. Creativity would also be enhanced if every student could
write something personal, instead of reproducing an approved text from which
even inadvertent deviation could be considered risky. To inhibit the free
expression of views is a form of exclusion that disproportionately impacts
those who do not belong to the numerical majority. The obligation to be
inclusive calls for reconsidering the content of all textbooks for subjects
other than religion.
Is education in Pakistan equitable, even if it is not inclusive? This
question is easier to answer. To start with, how can it be equitable if 40pc of
school-age children are not in school to begin with? The Constitution
guarantees them a free education, but no attention has been paid to the
exclusion. If a country does not honour its Constitution, will it pay heed to
the goals of the UN?
What about the children who are actually in school? It stands to reason
that when education is offered as a commodity in the market, those with more
money are able to buy a better quality of the product. How can education be
equitable in such a scenario? A natural outcome is that there are a limited number
of high-quality schools to reproduce the ruling classes and a huge number of
low-quality schools to reproduce the masses to be ruled. Unsurprisingly, it is
also preferred that in the face of such inequity, the latter do not question
the legitimacy of the unequal distribution. This in turn drives the content of
public school education, whose primary aim becomes to sustain the status quo.
Hence its mind-numbing quality. Anyone claiming that a mere curriculum can
yield equitable education in Pakistan cannot be taken seriously.
Pakistan‘s school education is neither inclusive nor equitable and is
departing further from these objectives. Is this because Pakistan‘s ruling
elite is just playing along with the UN? The SDGs were preceded by the MDGs for
15 years. None were attained in Pakistan without any analysis of the reasons
for the failure. Instead, the country signed on to a new set of goals with a
fresh lease of 15 years during which officials would continue to hold meetings
and participate in conferences. Meanwhile, the people in whose name the
exercise is being conducted are largely excluded from the conversation. In
fact, there aren‘t even comprehensible terms for MDG or SDG in any of their
local languages.
It is a surreal situation where rhetoric masquerades for reality, which
all but ensures that innocuous questions (Are we there yet?) will continue to
be asked while difficult answers (We are going in the wrong direction) would
continue to be ignored.
American author and humorist Mark Twain once said that he never let his
schooling interfere with his education. Likewise, Albert Einstein famously said
that imagination is more important than knowledge.
Our mystic poet Bulleh Shah wrote in verse that he didn‘t require
further worldly knowledge; all he needed was Alif [the first letter in Arabic
and in our own alphabet]. It has a deeper meaning, though, as both Allah and
alam [grief] begin with the letter Alif. The first of the 30 siparahs
[sections] of the Holy Quran is also called ‗Alif, Laam, Meem‘ [Arabic letters
for A, L and M].
The above-mentioned comments from the masters are, at times, used as an
excuse by some conservative religious people and ascetic Sufis in our part of
the world to undermine the importance of formal education. Somehow, that
creates a comfort zone of ignorance and signifies a contentment, where you
decide not to make an effort to expand your knowledge.
One can be content with whatever comfort and wealth one possesses. But
how can one be content with the limitations of one‘s knowledge? We tend to
forget that the masters who said what is stated above had full command over the
branches of knowledge they pursued.
Knowledge ignites the intellect and, as held by many, intuition is a
higher form of intellect. Therefore, Einstein could say that imagination is
more important than knowledge because he had mastered knowledge. Bulleh Shah
sought the source of knowledge after swimming across its expanse. Twain learned
to read and write in primary school before becoming a typesetter and a
voracious reader. Only after that could he chirpily remark that he did not let
his schooling disturb his education.
We must recognise that, in the contemporary world, for a child born to
non- or semi-literate parents in, say, a village outside Khuzdar in
Balochistan, Kandhkot in Sindh or Khaplu in Gilgit-Baltistan, it is only the
local school that provides her with the opportunity to begin to learn, to be
literate and numerate, to be able to understand the larger world.
That makes the public education system in Pakistan — or anywhere in the
developing world, for that matter — the key to individual and collective
intellectual and economic growth. The advanced economies, from Japan and China,
to Germany and the United Kingdom, have invested heavily in their public
education systems.
Even in the United States, the epitome of capitalism, school education
for every child is the responsibility of the state. You can be poor, or go
broke if you develop an ailment and are not suitably insured, but your child
will still be picked up by a yellow bus in the morning to be taken to school.
When the neo-liberal economic paradigm slowly and surely gained
currency in Pakistan after the end of the Cold War, private schools and
religious madressahs [seminaries] mushroomed in tandem with the state
disinvesting from public education.
One may not totally reject private schooling, as there is always a
possibility of experimenting with new teaching methodologies available, and
trust-managed schools and convents have long been imparting education in a
noncommercial way. However, it should not be made mandatory for students and
their parents to seek private education because of the absence of public
schools, or because of the low quality of teaching and dilapidated
infrastructure of public schools.
I totally understand the need and the economic constituency of
madressahs as well in the present scenario. They provide almost free education
— irrespective of whether we agree with their teaching methodology and
curriculum — and, in most instances, free room and board.
Even after the government‘s disinvestment and leaving of good quality
education to the private sector, more than 60 percent of Pakistani children
attend public schools. The number comes to approximately 45 million. About 20
million attend private schools, while about 25 million children of schoolgoing
age remain out of school.
What inspired me to highlight the issues in public education in
Pakistan is a significant book published in 2021 that I chanced upon recently.
It is more like a practical manual, with guidelines for policymakers and
education managers. More importantly, it is written in Urdu. There is little tradition
left where any original work on public policy or reform administration appears
in Urdu or any other native language that we speak.
Titled Asaatiza, Bureaucracy Aur Siyasatdaan [Teachers, Bureaucracy and
Politicians], and published by Book Corner, Jhelum, it is a story of a reform
programme, comprising various initiatives, that ran across 54,000 schools in
Punjab.
This story of successes and failures in overcoming the constraints in
the ageold schooling system is told by Javed Ahmed Malik, a seasoned
development practitioner and policy adviser who has his heart and soul fully
invested in the work he does. From 2009 to 2018, he was associated with this
education reform programme in Punjab as a key person. Earlier, Malik wrote
another useful book on rural development, called Transforming Villages: How
Grassroots Democracy Can End Rural Poverty at a Rapid Pace.
In Asaatiza, Bureaucracy Aur Siyasatdaan, Malik rightly begins with the
issues faced by teachers in general and how to deal with these during the
reform process. He dispels certain misconceptions about education financing and
the reform agenda. Then he moves on to list the fundamental issues faced by the
primary and secondary schooling system.
He proposes solutions to the problems of improving educational
standards and making school management efficient, and reflects on the link
between education and national development. With a review of different reform
initiatives, Malik proposes workable solutions based on experiential learning.
The book is properly referenced and illustrated with explanatory
charts, tables and graphs. It is no rocket science to make our public education
system efficient and purposeful, if there is a will at all levels of
decision-making and implementation. Declaring an education emergency and
investing properly in public schooling, with a consensus among all political
stakeholders, is the only course the state must take.
ISLAMABAD: At a time when
more than 23 million children are out of school, the government spent only 1.7
per cent of GDP on education during the last year, while the literacy rate was
recorded at a little over 62 per cent.
As per the Pakistan Economic Survey, which was released on Thursday,
the literary rate was recorded at 62.8pc in the country, comprising 73.4pc
males and 51.9pc females.
The survey said that cumulative education expenditures by federal and
provincial governments in FY22 were estimated at 1.7pc of the GDP.
―Expenditures on education-related activities during FY2022 witnessed an
increase of 37.3 per cent, and reached Rs 1,101.7 billion from Rs 802.2
billion,‖ it said.
The survey stated that there are 32pc out-of-school children with more
girls than boys deprived of education. It said that Balochistan has 47pc of
out-ofschool kids followed by Sindh at 44pc, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 32pc, and
Punjab at 24pc.
Moreover, it said that efforts are being made to bring out-of-school
children to schools and improve the quality of education. ―The focus is being
given on basic and college education to make the younger generation competitive
from an early age. For a country like Pakistan, it becomes even more
indispensable for its socio-economic development through an effective
transition of its huge proportion of younger population... Transformation of 63
per cent youth into a real wealth requires optimum capitalisation through
establishing a highquality and market demand driven basic, secondary and higher
education,‖ it said.
Progress on Education SDGs
The survey said that Pakistan is committed to achieving Goal 4 of SDGs
pertaining to the quality of education, which stipulates equitable education,
removal of discrimination, provision, and up-gradation of infrastructure, skill
development for sustainable progress, universal literacy, numeracy and
enhancement of the professional capacity of teachers. The progress achieved by
Pakistan so far on Goal 4 is the completion of the rate of primary, lower and
upper secondary education is 67pc, 47pc and 23pc, respectively.
During 2020-21, 7.1 thousand higher secondary schools with 158.4
thousand teachers were functional at the national level. The overall enrolment
of students in higher secondary education witnessed an increase of 4.5pc in
2020-21. The enrolment registered during 2020-21 was 2.32 million as compared
to 2.22 million in 2019-20. For 2021-22, it was estimated at 2.53 million.
Degree Colleges
An enrolment of 0.82 million students is expected during 2021-22 in
degree colleges as against the enrolment of 0.76 million in 2020-21. A total of
3,000 degree colleges were established in 2020-21 with an estimated figure of
3,700 degree colleges for the year 2021-22. The teachers in degree colleges
were 59.5 thousand in 2020-21 and estimated to the tune of 66.2 thousand in
2021-22.
Universities: There are 202 universities with 60.3 thousand teachers in
both public and private sectors in 2020-21. The overall enrolment of students
in higher education institutions (universities) was recorded at 1.86 million in
2020-21, the same as the previous year.
The enrolment is estimated to increase from 1.86 million in 2020-21 to
1.96 million (5.3pc) in 2021-22.
According to the survey, the projects and initiatives of the government
were aimed at introducing a ―uniform curriculum‖, capacity building of
teachers, establishment, renovation and up-gradation of schools and colleges,
mainstreaming of religious education, skills development, and promoting
awareness among various segments of society, especially targeting youth.
―Pakistan‘s literacy, enrolment and other educational indicators are
gradually improving…[but] an improvement in [the] education sector cannot be
achieved without [the] active participation of all stakeholders, especially the
private sector,‖ the survey said.
It said that given the limited resources and financial constraints, the
due diligence given to the education sector was not up to par as it should be.
Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2023
WAHI Pandhi, a Dadu town in
rain-fed area of Kachho, has a population of about 50,000, with women being a
major portion of this population. Unfortunately, there are very few primary
schools for girls in the area.
The town lacks secondary and higher secondary schools for girls. Due to
cultural norms, parents feel reluctant to send their daughters to schools
having coeducation.
This cultural taboo and grassroots level issues determine why girls‘
education has been declining in the country. Actually, girls‘ education has
never been a priority for the decision-makers. Lack of girls schools is one of
the reasons for the rise in girls‘ dropout rate, which is 49 per cent in
primary classes.
Female literacy rate in rural areas stands at 38pc. More than 12
million girls are deprived of education in Pakistan. Article 25(A) of the
Constitution makes it obligatory to educate children age 5-16 regardless of
gender.
If the state machinery is unable to provide equal opportunities, it
means they are going against the Constitution. Lack of girls‘ education
triggers multifaceted gender-based problems, like female illiteracy, violence
against women and child marriages. Yes, child marriage is also a result of lack
of education for girls.
According to UN data, there are some 19 million child brides in
Pakistan. One in six girls gets married in her childhood, and the unfortunate
trend continues to grow in areas like Kachho. The authorities should make
proper arrangements for girls‘ education as the country already stands 153rd on
a list of 156 that feature on the Global Gender Gap Index 2022.
Improper and inadequate education facilities for girls in Wahi Pandhi
is a case study showing the attitude of the relevant authorities. There are a
few things the authorities can do immediately. The secretary of education in
Sindh should approve at least five secondary-level women teachers in the local government
high school. A number of classrooms are already laying vacant in the said
school.
They should be together converted into a segregated portion meant for
girls. This can resolve the problem within no time and with minimal expense.
In the long run, more schools should be set up for girls. There should
be a higher secondary school for them. Similarly, vocational training
institutions are also needed to shatter dated norms and taboos in this regard.
Name withheld on
request
Wahi Pandhi
Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2023
The writer is a former ambassador to the US, India and China and head
of UN missions in Iraq and Sudan.
LISTEN
TO ARTICLE1x1.2x1.5x
WHEN a patient‘s condition
turns critical, doctors often say it is time for dua (prayer) more than dawa
(medicine or treatment). Current Pakistani conversations across all classes
about the state of the country suggest a similar condition.
Such a state in a patient is often the result of multi-organ failure.
In Pakistan, the organs of the state, ie its political, social, economic and
administrative institutions, are failing.
The military, as de facto principal political, economic and
administrative decision-making institution, has brought about this state
failure by exceeding its constitutional limits.
Civil institutions and the political process have also failed. But
civilian and political culpability — on display every day — has been secondary.
Hopefully, the of turning the page.
The country needs to emerge from its present condition to survive. Can
it? The question is not legitimate because it allows a negative answer. The
country has to do whatever it takes, whatever the odds may be against it being
able to do so. So where do we go from here? What is to be done? These are
legitimate questions because they implicitly rule out answers such as
‗Nowhere!‘ and ‗Nothing!‘
Existential questions must generate existential responses. When they
emanate from the political condition of the country, the responses can only
come from the people. But the people are an inchoate entity. They are more a
concept than an immediate instrument of political change. To become that they
need to be enabled by well-wishers, not manipulated by those who fear and wish
to control them.
The
country needs to emerge from its present condition to survive. Can it?
This is why Chomsky has little respect for media, academic,
administrative, and moral ‗intellectuals‘ who profess their identification with
the people‘s interests without seeking to catalyse and realise their potential
to change their condition.
They make a decent living working for corporate owners and the
government, or by entertaining elites and exploiting the sentiments of the
people. Sartre accused them of ―living in bad faith‖. Gramsci counselled
―pessimism of the intellect‖ (recognising realities) and ―optimism of the will‖
(overcoming them).
Climate heating may be the primary global existential challenge for
mankind. But there are more immediate challenges. The French Yellow Vest slogan
―you are concerned about the middle of the century; we are concerned about the
middle of the month‖ encapsulates the dilemma of the poor all over the world,
especially in developing countries.
The corporate state capitalist system which prioritises class warfare
and profit maximisation exploits this situation by ―greening‖ its ultimately
fatal carbon emissions-based economic strategies on the one hand, and by
supporting delusory and ephemeral poverty alleviation over radical and
structural poverty reduction reforms on the other.
Only working class-based people‘s movements can reconcile essential
shortterm compromises with prevailing realities, and staying the course for
longerterm systemic change towards eco-socialist global and national Green New
Deals. Such movements are the only hope for the survival of mankind. Political
leaders and power brokers who oppose them are the problem. Middle class
intellectuals and ‗technocrats‘ can no longer fake it. They are either with or
against them.
Let us briefly look at Islam and education. Islam enjoins belief (iman)
and action (amal). It is actively humanitarian and merciful. It provides the
idiom in which social and political messages need to be couched for the people
of Pakistan to accept and own them.
The doors of ijtihad which were closed 1,000 years ago need to be
reopened to reclaim the original message of Islam, which through the Quran and
the Sunnah spoke directly to the individual believer, not through the medium of
a class for whom faith became a profession and a means of influence and power.
The Prophet (PBUH) said his ummah will never agree in error. It is this
confidence, lost for 1,000 years since the Mongol destruction of Baghdad, which
needs to be recovered for an Islamic civilisational renaissance to commence, in
which faith, science and human intuition reinforce one another to comprise a
transcendent unity and a transforming power for deliverance from catastrophe.
Our scientific and cultural heritage of Baghdad, Andalus, Iran and
Central Asia needs to be repossessed and carried forward.
We are all aware of the hadith which says search for knowledge, even
from China. The search for knowledge is the essence of science and education.
Without an educated public opinion, no reform can be lasting and no national
goal can be achieved.
Public education is not a priority in Pakistan. It can never be within
current political and social structures. It is a human right, and human rights
and education are not priorities, except rhetorically and in seminars, policy
documents and manifestos. Resource constraints is another name for low
priority.
In today‘s world, the concept of education must change. The great
German educator, William Humboldt, said education ―should not be a matter of
pouring water into a vessel but rather it should be conceived as laying out a
string along which learners proceed in their own ways, exercising and improving
their creative capacities and imaginations, and experiencing the joy of
discovery‖.
Chomsky recalls one of his teachers, when asked what will be ―covered‖
in his semester, said the question should be what will be ―discovered‖.
Unfortunately, authority, orthodoxy and syllabuses insist on filling
vessels. Parents rightly want their children to find remunerative jobs. Hence,
education as a search for knowledge will have to be a longer-term endeavour
which should, however, begin immediately.
Experts agree children should commence their primary education in their
mother tongue. They can then switch to regional and national languages and, at
a later stage, become familiar with an international language.
Pakistan is fortunate in this regard. Urdu is well understood
throughout the country and is the lingua franca between people of different
regions. Familiarity with English, if not always proficiency in it, especially
among the middle and upper classes, has been around for generations. The
building blocks for a nationally educated and internationally interacting
society are available. Constructing one must become an insistent priority.
The writer is a former ambassador to the US, India and China and
head of UN
missions in Iraq and Sudan.
EDUCATION is a child‘s
basic right. Even in times of conflict, war or disaster, temporary learning
opportunities are set up as part of emergency relief to provide continued
learning support.
Pakistan has an estimated 22.8 million children from five to 16 outside
school. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and consequent school closures have
resulted in millions more deprived of learning opportunities.
The disparity in education in Pakistan rears its ugly head again as
millions of students face learning losses. Major barriers like the digital
divide and the weakness of education systems threaten to increase further the
vastly unequal learning opportunities available to the economically,
geographically or politically disadvantaged.
According to data from the PTA website, 31.19 per cent of Pakistanis
have access to the internet. For children belonging to the 68.8pc population
without internet access, this pandemic means losing not just the only thing
that provides routine — school — but also being deprived of their right to
learn.
Low-income households in Pakistan do not have computer hardware. Out of
the 78pc population that has mobile subscriptions, 35.9pc is online. Children
from families that make up the 42pc not using 3G/4G — or the 22pc that do not
have mobile subscriptions — have limited learning opportunities.
While we may have budding tech start-ups with millions of dollars of
funding directed towards them, technology access, affordability and internet
penetration are still out of the reach of millions.
Who will be held responsible for the students‘ losses?
There are also areas where the digital divide is essentially caused in
the name of political gains or matters of ‗national security‘. These areas,
even in today‘s ‗digital Pakistan‘, are not connected to the rest of this
country or the global world because they lack basic internet connections and at
times even mobile networks. Schoolchildren in these regions are deprived of
every learning opportunity right now. University students suffer the same fate.
Lockdowns forced students to return to their hometowns but then classes were
shifted online with mandatory attendance requirements. Students of
Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir are frustrated because they do not have the
internet access required to attend online classes. Who will take responsibility
for the losses incurred by these students? Will the telecom network that has
monopolised internet provision in the region be held responsible?
Most schoolchildren facing this digital divide come from marginalised
households and are enrolled in public schools. They are already a part of the
learning crisis. Not all school-going children learn, struggling with weak
reading and writing skills, insufficient teachers and sub-par quality of
teaching. With a dropout rate of 73pc for middle school, one of the world‘s
highest, Pakistan faces the risk of an increase in the rate. This sudden
disengagement in learning will result in many students never returning to
school.
The hardest hit will be young girls who take the burden of economic
losses and are obliged to take care of household chores and younger siblings at
the cost of learning. A recent data study by Malala Fund using data from the
2014-15 Ebola epidemic in several African countries, projects that around 10m
secondary schoolgirls will not return to school after the pandemic.
While maximising access through alternative learning options is
essential during the crisis, the quality of content and diversity of mediums
will be the deciding factor for learning outcomes or engagement. Another
important factor is support at home. In economically disadvantaged segments,
most parents lack basic skills, time or interest to help their children learn
at home. Our education systems often do not equip a child with skills like time
management or independent learning. Mass parent awareness campaigns may improve
the outcome of alternate learning options by providing support at home.
However, we have to admit that millions of children in this country
will not have access to any learning in this period. To prevent these children
from greater learning losses we must prepare for the challenges when schools
resume. We must take help from those with expertise to design accelerated
learning programmes to support students left behind and create strategies to
reintegrate dropouts. We must design training programmes for teachers to give
them the confidence to meet the needs of learners.
To come out of this pandemic stronger we must engage in discussions
that go beyond the educational budget and school enrollment numbers. We must
take into account the disparities that rob young children from marginalised
communities of their right to education. It is time to open our eyes and
understand that without quality education for all, we as a nation will always
lag behind, regardless of the ‗potential‘ we may have.
The writer is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Development
and Economic Alternatives, and an associate professor of economics at Lums.
PEOPLE are worried about
the new government‘s education plans. Will the Single National Curriculum be
continued or shelved? Will we return to the old curriculum and the old books,
or will the government create a new national curriculum? Will the government
rebrand the SNC as a minimum standard curriculum and allow more flexibility to
the provinces and schools to have greater variation around and beyond minimum
standards?
All these options and more are open. Though there were initial
indications that the SNC might not be continued, it now seems there may be a
‗conference‘ to discuss and decide the issue and the way forward. These things
are hard to decide in conferences. However, we await its outcome.
The stated objective of the SNC — the reduction of inequity in society
generally, and particularly in education, is too big for an instrument like a
single curriculum. There have been issues with the curriculum objectives as
well as the books based on the SNC. There have been major issues of
implementation too. These points have been made repeatedly. We look forward to
hearing from the government how it plans to address these issues.
But, aside from the SNC, we need to have a much deeper and more
foundational look at education issues. These issues are for the K-12
(kindergarten-Grade 12) sector as well as the higher education sector. I will
come back to higher education issues another day.
What
do we as a nation want to achieve in the education sector over the next decade?
What do we as a nation want to achieve in the education sector over the
next decade? Do we want all children to get 10 years of at least minimum
quality education? This is the promise enshrined in the Constitution through
Article 25-A added as part of the 18th Amendment. But no government has worked
on this. Even today, we do not have universal primary enrolment or completion.
Instead, we have very high dropout rates. By some estimates, about 20 million
five- to 16-year-olds remain out of school. Do we want to make the promise of
Article 25-A a reality?
Similarly, we have plenty of evidence that the majority of children in
school in Pakistan — most of those enrolled in government schools and in
low-fee private schools and madressahs, and these make up some 95 per cent of all
children enrolled in schools in Pakistan — have to endure a poor quality of
education. Plenty of test, examination and assessment results establish this
fact. Do we want to prioritise the issue of quality of education?
I have little hesitation in saying that Pakistan has probably one of
the most iniquitous and differentiated education system in the world. There are
divisions based on the income of parents, gender, geography, caste, religion,
culture, language, examination systems and books. What education a child gets,
if she, indeed, gets any, depends on many or all these factors. Is creating
equity a goal for society and state? This question is much bigger than the
single national curriculum issue.
We know that Pakistan‘s future depends on what happens to the children
and youth of today. If they stay uneducated, unskilled and/or illiterate, the
future — for them, their families and the country — cannot be bright. We have
ambitions of development and achieving a sustainable high-growth trajectory. This
cannot happen if the children today and those born in the next few years do not
get quality education. No amount of short-term economic stability and/or level
of support from other countries and multilaterals will put us on a medium- to
long-run high-growth trajectory if we do not have human capital to underpin
growth and sustain it.
So, if the answers to the questions here are in the affirmative, we
have a lot of work to do. How are we going to move from where we are in, say, a
fiveto-10-year period, to where we want to be? That will require a lot of
planning, commitment and support and it has to come from all areas of society.
But this task is beyond what one government can take up. It requires
prioritisation, agreement and attention from successive governments. It is an
agreement that society and state have to drive. The PML-N and its coalition
cannot do it — not only because there is uncertainty about how long this
government is going to stay but because there is also a need for a broader
consensus.
What can be suggested is that this government should set up a
commission for creating this commitment. This should be a high-powered
commission but one with a clear end date of 12 to 18 months. The terms of
reference should be simple. The commission should work out our educational
priorities for the next 10 years and provide a plan for how these priorities
can be actualised. It should also provide a way for reaching consensus in
society regarding the commitment to these priorities and the need for implementing
them. It is thus important that the commission have eminent educationists and
representatives of all mainstream schools of thought as its members. The
commission should have experts but the report of the commission — and this
should be a task for the commission before it is disbanded — should have the
endorsement of all mainstream political parties. The education issue must be
above partisan and party-based debate.
Education issues are too broad and deep and too important for our
survival as a nation to be left to one government, one party or even to be left
at the party level. To address the issues, a government must establish a body
that allows dialogue to happen across political lines. A commission with
specific terms of reference and a timeline might be one way to start this
dialogue. I hope the current government gives the issue some thought.
The writer is an educationist. Has worked with local and international
organisations in Pakistan.
IN the wake of the
devastating countrywide floods, public education faces an existential threat in
several places. In Sindh alone, initial assessments indicate that almost 16,000
out of a total of 36,646 functional public schools have been badly damaged,
either directly by the floodwater or by those who took shelter in them. School
infrastructure was already in tatters, and the floods have made it worse.
In any given month, student absenteeism remains high — between 40pc and
60pc according to some estimates. Dropout rates at the primary level — are
massive; reportedly, almost 50pc of children walk out of school before reaching
Class 5, and the transition from primary to secondary school remains stubbornly
low. Of course, it is no secret that the quality of education continues to be
of serious concern, with periodic surveys and assessments highlighting low
scores in language (English, Urdu and Sindhi) mathematics and general science
tests. While the percentage share of education in the provincial outlay
increased from 13.4pc in 2011 to 18.5pc in 2017, the overall impact on the
school environment has been negligible.
Meanwhile, the population of out-of-school children is growing. The
numbers falling under this category across primary, middle, secondary and
higher secondary school in Sindh is estimated at 6.75 million children aged
from five to 16 years; the number of children dropping out has seen an increase
from 1.87m in 2007-08 to 2.57m. My experience while working on international
projects focusing on education in Sindh tells me that these numbers could be
inflated, as the government, which wants foreign loans and grants, is not
prepared to correct them. Nonetheless, the issue of children dropping out of
school remains a serious concern.
Due to these woes, millions of children continue to be deprived of
their constitutional right to education, while huge urban-rural as well as
gender inequalities abound in the province. Half the people live in the rural
areas where chronic problems like illiteracy, out-of-school children, a growing
population, and poor learning outcomes refuse to go away. For example,
according to some estimates, literacy may actually have declined from 60pc to 58pc.
With regard to urban-rural differences, 73pc of the population (10 years and
above) is said to be literate in the urban areas whereas in the rural areas,
the figure is only 39pc. When it comes to literacy among girls, matters are
even worse.
Millions
are being deprived of their constitutional right.
Why has the education crisis remained unsolvable since independence? We
have seen many rulers — military dictators and civilian leaders — come and go
but an effective and efficient solution to the chronic ills that beset this
sector of national life has eluded everyone. Over seven decades, several
education policies, five-year plans, and dozens of development schemes have
attempted to put the system on track but all efforts have been in vain.
Faulty planning, deficient governance, poverty, and lack of awareness
about the importance of education among parents are commonly cited as the main
reasons behind the continuous failure of the effort to boost learning. The hard
truth is that these problems could have been effectively tackled — had the
ruling elite demonstrated a sincere commitment towards education. For them, the
children of the poor and powerless don‘t matter beyond rhetoric and cosmetic
gestures. Following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, education became a
fundamental right, but despite that, allocation in terms of GDP percentage
continues to be ridiculously low. Clearly, no priority is attached to educating
our children.
Sadly, education is no longer a common good but a commodity, only
accessible to those who can afford it. Well-off parents have no interest in the
public education system. Market-based solutions have birthed multiple schooling
systems ie English-medium elite schools, private schools, low-cost private
schools, religious schools, etc. A hierarchical schooling system is reinforcing
existing social stratifications and biases. The government doesn‘t have a clear
policy on how to tackle the challenge; it can only come up with haphazardly
prepared education plans and projects, which obviously don‘t work.
The growing urban and rural and gender inequalities in education cannot
be plugged unless the whole paradigm of education planning and implementation
is reviewed and radically revised. Business as usual has never worked. The
flood not only offers an opportunity to address the chronic problems listed
here but also a chance to make education resilient to climate change. It is up
to the policymakers to turn the challenge into an opportunity and find
innovative solutions that could pave the way for change in Sindh.
Dr Anjum Altaf is not just a celebrated economist, but also a thinker,
writer and poet. For the ‗Education and Teaching Series‘ published by Folio
Books, he‘s written a set of four texts that explore Pakistan‘s current public
education system from various angles.
The first of these books, What We Get Wrong About Education in
Pakistan, adds a number of excellent arguments to the current debate on
education in Pakistan, and, taking the conversation to a higher theoretical
level, examines some fundamental problems besetting public education in the
country.
Nearly everyone in Pakistan is unhappy with the poor state of public
education. Enormous amounts of gathered data and numerous surveys conducted
over time have raised public alarm, yet have failed to move the state policy
for any sound remedial action. State-level commitment to education is
disappointing, which brings us to the most fundamental question: why isn‘t
public education a priority for Pakistan‘s rulers?
Most writings on public education have been in the spirit of pointing out
deficiencies in the system. They often take the form of describing symptoms of
an ailment. Diagnostic writings have been fewer and not convincing to all,
least of all to the educational establishment. There are many prescriptions,
but not all are based on a sound diagnosis.
Four
books by Dr Anjum Altaf tackle with great insight the problems of, and
misconceptions about, education in the country and the inherent issues around
its policymaking
This book is different. It does not stop at describing the lack of
progress, or lamenting about it, but poses incisive questions and searches for
answers in order to diagnose the ailment. The questions take readers into the
depths of the problems besetting education and help understand if the very
government is a problem, or a solution.
The answer it gets is disturbing. It proposes that poor education
standards are a matter of government choice. Our society is hierarchal in
structure and the assumption that the government cares and works for the
welfare of the entire nation is a myth. This is all the more true if the
government consists of robber barons concerned more with their self-interests.
The priorities of a government such as ours lie elsewhere. Pakistan‘s
government is content with the relatively good education that expensive private
schools provide to those who can afford it. It also finds its needs further
fulfilled by the less affluent, but talented, students who do well despite the
poor state of public education.
Although there is public representation in the democratic governance,
the democratic dispensation is distorted because of the absence of
accountability from below. In such a situation, our only hope lies in the
author‘s final prescription: ―The fate of Pakistan is in the hands of its
citizens. In the era of democratic politics, they need to find a way to enforce
accountability from below by educating, organising, agitating and offering
better alternatives.‖
Addressing the general complaint about meagre budgetary allocations, Dr
Altaf wonders if spending more on bad education is not tantamount to wasting
good money. Although often asked, this isn‘t a simple question. Education is
bad because, among many other reasons, it is starved of the resources needed to
improve it. How can it improve otherwise?
A classroom in a government school in Thatta
Government-compiled data tells us that nearly a quarter to a third of
publicsector primary schools are single-room, single-teacher schools. Imagine
the classroom environment: 50 or so students of classes one through five, all
squatting together on the floor in a cramped room, all being taught by a single
teacher scribbling on a tiny blackboard.
No public sector school has a laboratory. In fact, lab work has been
taken off the Board examinations. This practice has now spread to undergraduate
education in quite a few universities, too, public as well as private (and
expensive). Amazingly, the reason cited is paucity of funds.
Shortage of teachers is a perennial problem and this is as much an
exercise in cutting down expenses as it is because of long procedural delays in
hiring.
But pumping in resources without revamping anything else will hardly
improve education. In other words, finance is a necessary, but not sufficient,
condition. Increasing financial input must be accompanied by several other
reforms, for example, in modifying the educational content, in the production
of textbooks, in teachers‘ training and, above all, in the assessment system.
Otherwise, the good money put into it would go to waste.
The essay on education and development is also thought provoking. For
most postcolonial societies — as also for under-developed traditional societies
— modern education is something external, something that grew somewhere else,
and is being sought to be implanted in a different society.
Development, on the other hand, is much more internal. It surely is
inspired by how other societies have developed, but the mode of development
depends on the historical stage of the host society. For development to be
planted, the society has to have the requisite know-how — merely putting up a
computer chip-making factory in a Central American country, for example, does
not make that country a chip designing and producing country.
Here, then, is an answer to the question ‗would education by itself
lead to development, or is it development which would demand education?‘ In the
author‘s view, it is the development that requires and demands specific kinds
of education, which in itself is a dynamic demand. As development proceeds, the
demand for specific knowledge grows and takes root in institutions.
Another important question is why education is not a political issue in
Pakistan. For long, civil society activists have been trying to convince
political parties to include education reforms in their manifestos, but without
any success. Why?
Dr Altaf argues that scientific and technological development is sought
only by those societies that want to take a leading role in the comity of
nations. However, by its very nature, scientific and technological innovation
requires free thinking and intellectual questioning, which also open up space
for questioning the status quo.
He also argues that education has a dual and contradictory role in
society: it is needed for advancement, and at the same time it is a convenient
tool to preserve the social order — a cherished wish of politicians.
Advancement of society inevitably demands adjustments in the social
order. Hence, politicians take care not to commit themselves to something that
may become an instrument for destroying their political base. In the author‘s
words: ―Rulers in countries [such as] Pakistan with a primary focus on
maintaining the status quo and no real intent to be globally competitive see no
reason to promote open minds that can only result in the citizenry asking
difficult questions.‖
Thus, as the author quotes British philosopher Bertrand Russell:
―Almost all education has a political motive‖, the kind of poor education we
see serves the political motive of our ruling elite.
The final chapter of What We Get Wrong About Education in Pakistan, on
possibilities for change, contains several short essays, each suggesting
improvements in the public sector education system.
Personally, I consider Plain Truths About Primary Education in
Pakistan: Letters to Parents as the next best among the four books because it
is a unique exercise in cautioning parents over missteps in their choice of
educational paths during their young children‘s formative years.
In the absence of a formal advice system in schools, or even in
electronic media, parents — out of their own ambitions — acquire a number of
misconceptions about education, which they impose on their children without
realising the consequent harmful impacts.
One result is a large number of drop-outs in early and late schooling.
Children have different natural aptitudes and, in the words of American
psychologist Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences. To impose one design on
all is like killing all other possible avenues of excellence.
The 20 letters in Dr Altaf‘s book proffer persuasive arguments to
remove several misconceptions that parents hold about early education, and give
good advice. Many of the letters, if not all, have already appeared as
newspaper essays. If parents follow his advice, much of the tyranny our
children suffer in schooling could be avoided, the result of which could be
liberational.
In fact, this book of letters to parents needs to be on the mantle of
every home with children, to guide parents at all crucial steps in their
children‘s education. Most of the wrong concepts are in the middle and poorer
classes, which generally see investment in their children‘s education as
investment in their social mobility. They are easily taken in by the lure of
English medium education, private schooling, etc and Dr Altaf argues strongly against
them.
The remaining two books — Critical Reflections on the Single National
Curriculum and the Medium of Instruction and Single National Curriculum: A
Review of Pre-1 Model Textbooks — constitute a scathing criticism of, as the
title suggests, the new curriculum and powerfully advocate against English as
the medium of instruction in public schooling.
No school curriculum in Pakistan‘s history has been as hotly debated in
public as the Single National Curriculum (SNC) because its basic premises were
wrong, its solutions were pedagogically preposterous and it was clearly
retrogressive. It was promoted by the vestiges of Gen Ziaul Haq‘s era with the
same missionary zeal that had plunged the nation into darkness some decades
ago.
On top of that, the SNC propounds a very strange policy on the medium
of instruction, introducing English as the medium for mathematics from class
one, and for science from class three. Dr Altaf addresses this issue in
Critical
Reflections… and shows how harmful such a policy would be. In A Review
of Pre-1 Model Textbooks, he exposes the mindlessness with which mathematics,
English and Urdu textbooks were prepared under the direct supervision of the
National Curriculum Council for primary classes.
In short, what these books offer to readers are: a correct perspective
on school education that should be helpful to all — parents, teachers and
education planners; a manual to parents about which of their pre-conceived
notions they must resist; and scathing but logical criticism of the Single
National Curriculum.
The writer is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Development
and Economic Alternatives, and an associate professor of economics at Lums.
IT has been almost two
months since the end of term for the last Higher Education Commission (HEC)
chairperson but the new head has still not been announced. The acting chair, an
ex-bureaucrat, has been given an extension or two to keep routine matters going.
Why has the new chair not been announced? The shortlisting of candidates took
place a while back. So why is the government taking so long?
The government knew when the four-year term of the last chairperson
would end. Why did it not complete the recruitment process in time? While
budgets are being slashed and we are going through tough economic times, and
all universities — private and public — are struggling due to financial and
Covid19-induced pressures, we do not have a chair for the HEC, the body that is
supposed to ensure the optimal functioning and regulation of the higher
education sector. What does this say about the government‘s priorities? What
does this say about its priorities for education?
At the time of the budget, the HEC came into the conversation as it was
said that the commission‘s budget was being slashed. At the time, several
ministers, Ahsan Iqbal most prominently, made statements that the HEC budget
would not be slashed, that the government considered higher education to be
very important, and that it was serious about providing access to good quality
education for young people. Even the prime minister made one or two such
statements.
The HEC‘s recurrent budget is hardly what it was last year. With an
expected inflation rate of 15 per cent to 20pc, and with the government giving
a salary increase of 15pc to 20pc to its employees, how are universities going
to survive on last year‘s budget? But since the budget, HEC has not been in the
news. And since we do not have a chairperson who could agitate for the higher
education sector, it is not a surprise that no reporting as to how universities
plan to cope next year is being done.
There
are major issues in education that require the government‘s urgent attention.
When this government took over — it has been more than three months
since Shehbaz Sharif became prime minister — a number of statements were made
about how the new government would look into education issues in detail. That
it would not only address the funding problems faced by the higher education
sector, but would also look into issues related to the Single National
Curriculum. However, after making initial noises about reviewing the SNC, the
government settled for the idea of having a national conference that would look
into curriculum issues in more detail.
The idea of having a detailed look at curriculum issues through a
conference was bizarre, but regardless, there was at least a promise of doing
something about the SNC and matters related to it. Yet nothing has happened
since. There has been no discussion on the SNC or other issues related to
education. Even in Punjab, a province that tried to implement the SNC during
the last academic year, there has been no announcement as to whether or not it
would be continued, or what shape or form it would take if it is decided to go
on with it. Summer is a good time for teachers and schools to prepare for the
next academic year. Summer vacations are nearly over but a clear statement from
the education department is still awaited.
The government has been facing major crises on the economic and
political fronts. The macroeconomic situation has been very bad and there were
serious concerns about Pakistan defaulting on its international debt
obligations. These concerns have not gone away completely but with the IMF
programme coming back on line, and with the expectation of help from ‗friendly‘
countries, the worst has been avoided. Meanwhile, politics in Punjab has been
keeping the PML-N busy and the demand for fresh elections, vociferously
articulated and pushed for by the PTI, has made the day-to-day existence of the
current government difficult. One can understand why education might not be on
top of the prime minister‘s to-do list, as it used to be when he was Punjab
chief minister, but this is why we have separate ministers for each area. And
what is the federal education minister doing? What has he been up to for the
last three months?
There are major issues in the education sector that require the
government‘s urgent attention. Covid-19 has impacted the sector badly. Not only
were schools closed for long periods, causing learning losses, but the
disruption also led to significantly increased dropout numbers.
As Covid recedes into the background, we need national-level programmes
to address issues of access, dropout and learning losses. There have even been
some pilots in these areas. But where are the larger policy initiatives that we
need? The SNC raised important issues regarding the curriculum which the
previous government was not willing to take on. Many school administrators,
teachers, parents and experts have been raising these issues for the last
couple of years now. They should have been addressed on a priority basis so
that the next academic year could have been planned better. But, sadly, no
action has been taken.
Similarly, higher education is in a crisis in Pakistan. Many
universities are on the brink of bankruptcy. The quality of education in most
of our universities, private and public, is poor. The crisis has been made a
lot worse due to Covid-19. Where the new government should have addressed these
issues on a priority basis, they have chosen to do nothing about them.
Though a lot is said about the administrative and governance
‗experience‘ of the PML-N, the last three months, on education issues at least,
have been quite disappointing. Can one of the ministers point to a single
initiative that has been taken to address urgent issues? It is not even clear
if there is even any recognition that we need serious thinking and action on
very urgent and important issues within the education sector.
Editorial Published March 28, 2022
PAKISTAN‘S
educational crisis is rooted in inequality. Nowhere are national socioeconomic
and gender fault lines more apparent than in the education sector. In this
regard, a recent report by the Idara-iTaleem-o-Agahi, titled Measuring the
Impact of Covid-19 on Education in Pakistan, confirms what education experts
have been saying all along: ―girls experienced greater learning losses than
boys during the Covid-19 school closure across nearly all competencies and
classes‖. Even before the pandemic, Pakistan was among the 10 countries
identified by Unesco where girls from poverty-stricken homes spent less than
two years of their life in school. Several surveys in the past two years have
highlighted the drastic increase in student drop-out rates and learning losses.
However, this new report provides significant insights
into how
almost all
vulnerabilities in the education sector — poverty, unequal access to school,
socioeconomic barriers —hamper girls‘ education. According to the report,
school enrolment for boys in the age groups of 3-5 and 6-16 years was 58pc and
61pc. In contrast, girls‘ enrolment for the same age groups was 42pc and 39pc.
Similarly, the report states that more girls dropped out of school during the
pandemic than boys.
Secondly, girls who remained in school faced larger learning losses as
compared to their male classmates, even if they were outperforming them before
the pandemic. ―This is the case across most competencies — mathematics, Urdu
literacy and English,‖ asserts the report. For example, in 2019, 28pc girls as
compared to 25pc boys could read Urdu words in Class 1. However, in 2021, only
16pc of girls were able read Urdu words as compared to 19pc of boys. Though
learning losses are significant for both, girls appear to be more affected.
These and other figures in the report reflect the gender imbalance in society.
Many sections of society place a premium on boys‘ education, while girls are
expected to take up domestic responsibilities. In families where affordability
is an issue, a girl‘s education is deemed less important than that of her
brothers. In the same vein, more boys have access to digital means of study
than girls, naturally affecting the continuity of their studies. The task of
reforming education in Pakistan, then, is a difficult but not impossible one.
As the report recommends, the government can start investing in girls‘
education by ensuring that at least 50pc of the recipients of education support
schemes are girls. Leaving girls behind is no longer an option.
Illustration by Ahmed Amin
Our education system
resembles a video game. If you win, you go to a next level and if you lose, you
either exit the game or repeat classes. One gets defeated or passes a mission,
just like exams. However, there is a difference between the two. Video games
are highly entertaining compared to our school classes. Why, you ask? To find
out, read on.
In our education system, a child whose brain is in the state of
development is judged by how he scores in tests. If he scores low, he is
considered stupid and worthless (indirectly of course), instead of being
encouraged to do better.
How many times have you seen a teacher say, ―You can do it‖ or ―Never
give up‖ on a test paper in which he failed. Instead, they only write ―Keep it
up‖ on high scores.
Why don‘t they understand that the kid who failed his test today could
turn out to be someone as smart as Steve Jobs who was a college drop-out or
could become a Ronaldo who was terrible at school, but is now one of the
highest-paid sportsmen in the world? How can one guarantee that a student who
scores A grades only would get a highly-paid job? There are millions of
toppers, but only one in a million becomes someone like Steve Jobs!
Our education system doesn‘t care about individuality or dreams. It is
all about shoving homework down students‘ throats so that they don‘t get time
to achieve the dreams they want. Homework should be banned and self-study
encouraged among students, which most of them probably won‘t do because they
are not interested and it has little to do with practical life. For instance,
what is the purpose of subjects like trigonometry? How will it help me in
practical life when I would be looking for a job as a writer or a chef?
So many students who want to become musicians or sportsmen are forced
to study all subjects. Up to a level, it‘s not a big problem as students must
at least have the basic knowledge about all subjects, especially science and
math. The problem occurs when students are forced to study a subject in so much
depth that they have to pay money for extra tuitions for knowledge that he‘ll
probably forget in the next five years.
In addition, in school and colleges, there are only few paths that
students can take they can only select
science, arts or commerce groups. This grouping narrows the options for
children by forcing them to take a group of subjects without giving them a
chance to study and discover their aptitude for a wider range of subjects.
This often leads to students scoring low grades because they were not
able to determine if they had the skills to study a subject when choosing it in
grade eight or nine. And many miss out on getting a chance to know more about a
subject they may be good at, for instance economics or accounts, because they
choose the pre-medical group, or vice versa.
Most foreign education systems give students the chance to choose a mix
of subjects based on their preferences. Students are also offered a chance to
take on extra subjects in school and college board exams to give them a better
and wider career choice.
Our studies are based on memory, which is why you don‘t even feel a
slight difference in your intellect after studying eight hours daily. They are
making us hate education because of wrong teaching methods which is a great
threat to us, as this is making students hate studies due to unbearable
pressure and stress.
In the modern practical world, GPAs or grades are not important, what
is important is our individual skill set and how one student is different from
others. Individuality is taken away from us since our childhood at school.
My math teacher once said that humans are different from other
creatures because humans have will power. This is indeed the truth, however, if
I use all my will power trying to pass a math exam instead of chasing my dream
of being an artist, it would be a waste of my time and energy.
The solution to rectify our education system is to change the current
teaching methods, Students should be tested on their skill sets instead of
their memorising skills.
Editorial Published March 27, 2023
UNIVERSITIES are like
incubators where new, bright ideas are born, and where young minds pursue
journeys of intellectual discovery. Sadly, in Pakistan, as with the rest of the
education sector, seats of higher learning are not immune to multiple crises,
affecting output. As reported recently, only 12 Pakistani varsities — out of
over 100 — made it to the QS world subject rankings.
Commenting on the rankings, the Higher Education Commission chairman
told this paper that only those varsities appeared on the list that shared
their data with the firm, while acknowledging that there was a need to improve
the quality of public-sector universities.
The global ranking of universities by various firms is, of course, not
free from controversy, as some academics have questioned the transparency of
the process, but there can be little doubt that in the current scenario,
universities in Pakistan — with a few honourable exceptions — are hardly
delivering world-class graduates.
Since at least the Musharraf era the focus seems to have been on
quantity rather than quality. The late general revamped the HEC and provided it
with ample funds, but in the decades since, we have yet to see any great
flowering of intellectual talent in our varsities. Both the public and private
sectors have their own issues.
Most public universities, which are the only option for the vast
majority of students, are run in a bureaucratic manner, and suffer from intense
internal politics. There are also issues of intellectual honesty, with some
professors producing papers at supersonic speed, apparently only to secure
promotions.
Moreover, the blight of plagiarism is found aplenty in our varsities.
In the private sector, while it is a fact that some of our best institutions
are privately run, most varsities focus on profits, and mass produce graduates
of little value.
Sadly, some institutions are little more than degree mills, and their
graduates add little of substance to the job market. Unless these issues are
adequately addressed, the future of Pakistani higher education will continue to
look dismal, and we will keep losing our best minds to greener pastures.
No doubt the public sector faces a massive funding crunch, which needs
to be tackled. But apart from writing cheques, more effort is required to
improve the quality of teaching at our universities, and to foster a climate of
academic freedom and prioritise the pursuit of knowledge.
Issues of Education
Mention some major Issues and Challenges in the Essay on Education f
1. Infrastructure Facilities: Lack of infrastructure like classrooms,
libraries, hotels, furniture, sports facilities, sanitation, drinking water,
etc.
2. Capacity Utilization: Strengthening the Indian education system is to
improve capacity utilization.
3. Student-Teacher ratio: In India, the ratio of student-teacher is very
high as compared to certain comparable countries in the world.
4. Study Abroad: According to Wikipedia, 1.23 lakhs students opted for higher education
abroad. Among them, 76000 choose the U.S. as their education destination
followed by the U.K., Canada, and Australia.
5. PPP Model: The government is making efforts to improve the education system in
terms of various parameters like investments, infrastructure, etc.
How to improve the
education system
1. Innovation required: Educating millions of young people implies
that we need to scale up our educational efforts. Despite having a large number
of higher education institutes.
2. Affordable Education: If education has to reach all deserving
students, it should be made affordable. The fee structure in Government-owned/
Sponsored is inexpensive in India.
3. Quality Education: Ministry of education should adopt certain benchmark techniques. After
that, improving instruction models and administrative procedures in
universities/ colleges to move forward.
In conclusion, India has one of the youngest populations in an aging
world. Moreover, the medium age of India will be just 28, compared to china and
45 which have 37 and 45 respectively. Therefore, education with holistic
perspectives is concerned with the development of every person‘s intellectual,
emotional, social, physical, artistic, creative, and spiritual potential.
The Importance of Education
Education
is a powerful tool that can change the world. It is not just about reading and
writing, but also about gaining knowledge, learning new skills and becoming a
better person. It helps us to understand the world around us.
Education and Society
Education
plays a crucial role in society. It helps in building character and shaping
one‘s future. An educated society is a progressive society. Education promotes
equality and social justice, leading to a harmonious and inclusive society.
Education and Development
Education
is the key to development. It fosters innovation and creativity, which are
essential for economic growth. It also helps in reducing poverty and improving
health outcomes. Without education, development is not possible.
250 Words Essay on Education
Introduction
Education,
the cornerstone of human development, is a powerful tool that empowers
individuals and shapes societies. It is the catalyst for economic prosperity,
social progress, and political stability. It is not just about acquiring
knowledge but also about cultivating critical thinking, fostering innovation,
and nurturing empathy.
Importance of Education
Education
is the bedrock of a civilized society. It fosters an understanding of our
social responsibilities and equips us with the skills to contribute to societal
progress. It plays a crucial role in eradicating poverty and inequality,
promoting health and hygiene, and ensuring sustainable development.
Challenges in Education
Despite
its significance, access to quality education remains a challenge, especially
in developing countries. The widening gap between urban and rural education,
lack of infrastructure, inadequate teacher training, and outdated curriculums
are some of the pressing issues that need to be addressed.
The Role of Technology in Education
Technology
can play a pivotal role in transforming education. Digital learning platforms
can democratize access to education, personalized learning can cater to
individual learning styles, and AI can help in monitoring student progress and
providing targeted interventions.
Conclusion
Education
is a fundamental right and a critical driver of human development. As we
navigate the complexities of the 21st century, it is imperative to reimagine
education, making it more inclusive, relevant, and future-ready. Leveraging
technology can be a game-changer in this regard, but it needs to be coupled
with systemic reforms to truly unleash the transformative power of education.
500 Words Essay on Education
Introduction
Education,
in its broadest sense, is the means through which the aims and habits of a
group of people sustain from one generation to the next. It plays a pivotal
role in the development of a society and is a critical tool for the progress of
a nation. For India, a country with diverse cultures, languages, and
traditions, education is the unifying force that can drive growth, equality,
and social justice.
The Significance of Education
Education
is much more than mere literacy. It is about acquiring knowledge, developing
critical thinking, fostering creativity, and building character. It empowers
individuals, opens up opportunities, and promotes social inclusion. Education
is the cornerstone of a democratic society as it encourages active
participation in societal affairs and instills a sense of responsibility among
citizens.
Education and Economic Growth
There
is a strong correlation between education and economic growth. Education equips
individuals with skills and knowledge that can improve their productivity and
enhance their employability. It can foster innovation, promote
entrepreneurship, and drive economic development. For a developing country like
India, investing in education can yield high economic dividends.
Challenges in the Indian Education System
Despite
the importance of education, India faces numerous challenges in its education
system. These include issues of access, equity, quality, and relevance. Many
children, especially in rural areas, do not have access to quality education.
The education system is often criticized for its rote learning approach, which
stifles creativity and critical thinking. There is a need to make education
more relevant to the needs of the economy and society.
Reforming the Education System
Reforming
the education system requires a multi-pronged approach. It involves improving
infrastructure, enhancing teacher training, revising curriculum, promoting
inclusive education, and leveraging technology. The recent National Education
Policy (NEP) 2020 is a step in the right direction. It aims to overhaul the
education system and make it more holistic, flexible, and aligned to the needs
of the 21st century.
Role of Technology in Education
Technology
can play a transformative role in education. It can help overcome barriers of
access, personalize learning, and make education more interactive and engaging.
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of digital learning and
highlighted the need to bridge the digital divide.
Conclusion
Education
is a powerful tool that can transform lives, societies, and nations. It is the
key to unlocking India‘s demographic dividend and achieving sustainable
development. However, it requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders –
government, educators, parents, and students – to realize its full potential.
As Nelson Mandela said, ―Education is the most powerful weapon which you can
use to change the world.‖ In the Indian context, it is not just a weapon but a
necessity for change and progress.
The Importance of Education
Education
is a powerful tool that can change the world. It is not just about reading and
writing, but also about gaining knowledge, learning new skills and becoming a
better person. It helps us to understand the world around us.
Education and Society
Education
plays a crucial role in society. It helps in building character and shaping
one‘s future. An educated society is a progressive society. Education promotes
equality and social justice, leading to a harmonious and inclusive society.
Education and Development
Education
is the key to development. It fosters innovation and creativity, which are
essential for economic growth. It also helps in reducing poverty and improving
health outcomes. Without education, development is not possible.
250 Words Essay on Education
Introduction
Education,
the cornerstone of human development, is a powerful tool that empowers
individuals and shapes societies. It is the catalyst for economic prosperity,
social progress, and political stability. It is not just about acquiring
knowledge but also about cultivating critical thinking, fostering innovation,
and nurturing empathy.
Importance of Education
Education
is the bedrock of a civilized society. It fosters an understanding of our
social responsibilities and equips us with the skills to contribute to societal
progress. It plays a crucial role in eradicating poverty and inequality,
promoting health and hygiene, and ensuring sustainable development.
Challenges in Education
Despite
its significance, access to quality education remains a challenge, especially
in developing countries. The widening gap between urban and rural education,
lack of infrastructure, inadequate teacher training, and outdated curriculums
are some of the pressing issues that need to be addressed.
The Role of Technology in Education
Technology can play a pivotal role in transforming education. Digital
learning platforms can democratize access to education, personalized learning
can cater to individual learning styles, and AI can help in monitoring student
progress and providing targeted interventions.
Conclusion
Education
is a fundamental right and a critical driver of human development. As we
navigate the complexities of the 21st century, it is imperative to reimagine
education, making it more inclusive, relevant, and future-ready. Leveraging
technology can be a game-changer in this regard, but it needs to be coupled
with systemic reforms to truly unleash the transformative power of education.
500 Words Essay on Education
Introduction
Education,
in its broadest sense, is the means through which the aims and habits of a
group of people sustain from one generation to the next. It plays a pivotal
role in the development of a society and is a critical tool for the progress of
a nation. For India, a country with diverse cultures, languages, and
traditions, education is the unifying force that can drive growth, equality,
and social justice.
The Significance of Education
Education
is much more than mere literacy. It is about acquiring knowledge, developing
critical thinking, fostering creativity, and building character. It empowers
individuals, opens up opportunities, and promotes social inclusion. Education
is the cornerstone of a democratic society as it encourages active
participation in societal affairs and instills a sense of responsibility among
citizens.
Education and Economic Growth
There
is a strong correlation between education and economic growth. Education equips
individuals with skills and knowledge that can improve their productivity and
enhance their employability. It can foster innovation, promote
entrepreneurship, and drive economic development. For a developing country like
India, investing in education can yield high economic dividends.
Challenges in the Indian Education System
Despite
the importance of education, India faces numerous challenges in its education
system. These include issues of access, equity, quality, and relevance. Many
children, especially in rural areas, do not have access to quality education.
The education system is often criticized for its rote learning approach, which
stifles creativity and critical thinking. There is a need to make education
more relevant to the needs of the economy and society.
Reforming the Education System
Reforming
the education system requires a multi-pronged approach. It involves improving
infrastructure, enhancing teacher training, revising curriculum, promoting
inclusive education, and leveraging technology. The recent National Education
Policy (NEP) 2020 is a step in the right direction. It aims to overhaul the
education system and make it more holistic, flexible, and aligned to the needs
of the 21st century.
Role of Technology in Education
Technology
can play a transformative role in education. It can help overcome barriers of
access, personalize learning, and make education more interactive and engaging.
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of digital learning and
highlighted the need to bridge the digital divide.
Conclusion
Education
is a powerful tool that can transform lives, societies, and nations. It is the
key to unlocking India‘s demographic dividend and achieving sustainable
development. However, it requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders –
government, educators, parents, and students – to realize its full potential.
As Nelson Mandela said, ―Education is the most powerful weapon which you can
use to change the world.‖ In the Indian context, it is not just a weapon but a
necessity for change and progress.
The Importance of Education
Education
is a powerful tool that can change the world. It is not just about reading and
writing, but also about gaining knowledge, learning new skills and becoming a
better person. It helps us to understand the world around us.
Education and Society
Education
plays a crucial role in society. It helps in building character and shaping
one‘s future. An educated society is a progressive society. Education promotes
equality and social justice, leading to a harmonious and inclusive society.
Education and Development
Education
is the key to development. It fosters innovation and creativity, which are
essential for economic growth. It also helps in reducing poverty and improving
health outcomes. Without education, development is not possible.
250 Words Essay on Education
Introduction
Education,
the cornerstone of human development, is a powerful tool that empowers
individuals and shapes societies. It is the catalyst for economic prosperity,
social progress, and political stability. It is not just about acquiring
knowledge but also about cultivating critical thinking, fostering innovation,
and nurturing empathy.
Importance of Education
Education
is the bedrock of a civilized society. It fosters an understanding of our
social responsibilities and equips us with the skills to contribute to societal
progress. It plays a crucial role in eradicating poverty and inequality,
promoting health and hygiene, and ensuring sustainable development.
Challenges in Education
Despite
its significance, access to quality education remains a challenge, especially
in developing countries. The widening gap between urban and rural education,
lack of infrastructure, inadequate teacher training, and outdated curriculums
are some of the pressing issues that need to be addressed.
The Role of Technology in Education
Technology
can play a pivotal role in transforming education. Digital learning platforms
can democratize access to education, personalized learning can cater to
individual learning styles, and AI can help in monitoring student progress and
providing targeted interventions.
Conclusion
Education
is a fundamental right and a critical driver of human development. As we
navigate the complexities of the 21st century, it is imperative to reimagine
education, making it more inclusive, relevant, and future-ready. Leveraging
technology can be a game-changer in this regard, but it needs to be coupled
with systemic reforms to truly unleash the transformative power of education.
500 Words Essay on Education
Introduction
Education,
in its broadest sense, is the means through which the aims and habits of a
group of people sustain from one generation to the next. It plays a pivotal
role in the development of a society and is a critical tool for the progress of
a nation. For India, a country with diverse cultures, languages, and
traditions, education is the unifying force that can drive growth, equality,
and social justice.
The Significance of Education
Education
is much more than mere literacy. It is about acquiring knowledge, developing
critical thinking, fostering creativity, and building character. It empowers
individuals, opens up opportunities, and promotes social inclusion. Education
is the cornerstone of a democratic society as it encourages active
participation in societal affairs and instills a sense of responsibility among
citizens.
Education and Economic Growth
There
is a strong correlation between education and economic growth. Education equips
individuals with skills and knowledge that can improve their productivity and
enhance their employability. It can foster innovation, promote
entrepreneurship, and drive economic development. For a developing country like
India, investing in education can yield high economic dividends.
Challenges in the Indian Education System
Despite
the importance of education, India faces numerous challenges in its education
system. These include issues of access, equity, quality, and relevance. Many
children, especially in rural areas, do not have access to quality education.
The education system is often criticized for its rote learning approach, which
stifles creativity and critical thinking. There is a need to make education
more relevant to the needs of the economy and society.
Reforming the Education System
Reforming
the education system requires a multi-pronged approach. It involves improving
infrastructure, enhancing teacher training, revising curriculum, promoting
inclusive education, and leveraging technology. The recent National Education
Policy (NEP) 2020 is a step in the right direction. It aims to overhaul the
education system and make it more holistic, flexible, and aligned to the needs
of the 21st century.
Role of Technology in Education
Technology
can play a transformative role in education. It can help overcome barriers of access,
personalize learning, and make education more interactive and engaging. The
COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of digital learning and
highlighted the need to bridge the digital divide.
Conclusion
Education
is a powerful tool that can transform lives, societies, and nations. It is the
key to unlocking India‘s demographic dividend and achieving sustainable
development. However, it requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders –
government, educators, parents, and students – to realize its full potential.
As Nelson Mandela said, ―Education is the most powerful weapon which you can
use to change the world.‖ In the Indian context, it is not just a weapon but a
necessity for change and progress.
How to Brainstorm Essay
topic?
Example - If topic is related to education - you can expand it in
following way-
• Nature of education:
1. Primary / Secondary /
Tertiary
2. Technical / Non Technical
3. School / Home Education /
Peer Learning / Experiential Learning 4. Private vs Public
• Education to whom:
o
Adult vs Child o Girls / Boys
• Do we think about?
o
Transgender education o education in jail for
inmates o education for kids of
workers like in brick kiln o education for mentally
special kids o education for divyang kids o PVTGs and Tribal Kids What do we have to teach?
o
Life saving skills as well
o
Culture/ ethos / scientific temper (DPSP mention) o Protection of nature /
wildlife o Respect for human life
particularly for female dignity o Educating for empowerment and equity o Learning how to learn
(Margaret Mead Quote)
o
Tools for healthy, happy and fulfilling life- eg. Yoga, Meditation What can be medium? o Online medium / offline
medium o Peer learning
o
taking to places of cultural importance like museums/ exposure to
Olympiads and exhibitions
o
Experiential learning- learning by actually doing. Eg. agriculture,
marketing
• Developing their cognitive
functionalities to ask the right Q and self discover the Answer with help from
teacher
• Best practices o Delhi Model Schools/ Unayan
Banka Model / Gyanoday Godda model
• Surveys o NAS / Pratham does the
survey as well / different state surveys etc
• Commercialization of
education
• Difference between literacy
and education- development of knowledge v/s character
• Role of family, society,
peers to inculcate values, civic sense
• Nai taleem of Gandhiji
• Rote learning, marks
rewarded for reproducing what is taught not understanding why? Less emphasis on
the intellectual and spiritual role of education in Indian education system
• Mismatch between curricula
and industry's needs
• Educated practicing
patriarchy and caste system (lack of value education)
• Flaws in Indian R&D
system which lets plagiarism happen
• Continuous learning not emphasised
in our education system
• Low value given to research
vis a vis package
• Start ups being seen as
undesirable endeavours by parents and failure of them seen as taboo in society
• Disagreeing with teacher is
seen as being rude but education should teach dissent
• Schooling promoting
materialism
• Need for adaptive learning,
knowledge creation by children and learning by doing for children
• Education to instill
constitutional morality into pupil, role of education to inculcate values of
public service, sympathy, empathy, compassion, integrity, honesty, tolerance,
justice, truthfulness, love caring, humanitarianism, trusteeship, social unity,
altruism, EQUITY, REDISTRIBUTION, benevolence, philanthropy and in the students
• Aware and mature electorate
through political education of masses- not go for vote bank politics
• Macaulay‘s Minute on
Education- universities still produce clerks for government administration and
not innovators of the future.
These are all random pointers - (fodder material). Now, based on exact
topic, you can arrange relevant points from above material to write a orderly,
concise and relevant essay!
Try writing a essay on topic related to education now. Also, start to
think in multiple dimensions as shown above. It'll help you write uniqe and
interesting essays! Happy learning.
Education "paves the path for society's enlightenment .
It is well said that "Education is the premise of progress, in
every society and in every family."In ancient India education was
considered as the "spinal cord" of society .it is believed that if
youths neglect education then the whole country walks lame in the race of
development. In Vedic age education was considered as emancipation from life
bondages. In fact in modern India education occupies the highest value in the
society. Ours is a dynamic education system that has the potential to educate
the every people from every economic class. But "change" is the rule
of nature all the systems, all the rules , all the laws are to be modified time
to time as per its need and so does our education system needs certain
improvements.
In 2013 alone, nearly 2417 suicide cases were attributed to
"failure in examination ". a common question that hits every Indian
minds is that- are only students responsible for their failure ? Does our
education system lie faultless? the answer is "No", thus there is an
urgent need to introduce some improvements in our education system.
A student's life is considered as a laboratory for educational
experiments so in order to enrich and flourish their knowledge
"exams" must be held on regular basis. Apart from 3 main exams there
can be a "review test" every week followed by a "revision test
"monthly once, so that students can perform well and this can learn from
their own mistakes. School is considered as the temple of learning; where the
overall personality of a student is framed. Elocution ,debate , recitation
drawing ,dancing, sport have equal importance in student's life as that of
studies.so this must be a part of school curriculum. A good orator, a public
speaker can best represent the country in international platform. So seminars
on regular basis must be held to show their talents through reasoning.
"Equal Opportunities" should be given to each student to show their
talents. There should be no discrimination on basis of parental status, caste,
sex and not on sequence of student's performance. Only learning without
understanding is like an ass carrying the load of sandalwood, feels only its
weight , without being benefitted by its perfume. So great emphasize must be
given on what students learn not on how much marks they scored.
In this era of digitisation, we can get everything on internet. Thus a
smart technique must be introduced in our education system - "A common
platform - A common teaching" . In order to implement this a website can
be created where students can watch online videos of best lectures and teachers
around India. In addition to this a student can also clarify his doubt from the
concerned lecture of his interested subject. In this way various students can
interact among themselves and with teachers, it will provide an environment of
group discussion where students can enrich the knowledge.
Again this can solve yet another problem that is not all students are
getting the same guidance for preparation of competitive examination may it be
UPSC , SSC ,BANKING,CAT,GATE,IIT-JEE ,NEET , etc ,all because of lack of proper
coaching centres. So if government of India will take this initiative to
develop this website, then it will prove a common platform for learning and
this website will be authentic and secured too.
In ancient India the main objective of education is preservation and
spread of culture. But in present day we are in some way or other eroding these
values. Thus the schools should take the initiative to revive the essence of
introducing the value of culture in the curriculum. At least once in every week
there should be a special class for culture and ethics, in which the students
know about our glorious past and culture and their advancement in present day.
Students must be taught the lessons from the Holy Bhagwat Gita, the Bible, the Quran,
the Guru- Granth. Another great change is needed that is "Dividing"
the students according to their interest in different subjects. A student must
be given chance to give his best in the field of his interest only.
Now as India is heading towards rapid development, producing the best
scientists, teachers and engineers. But the bitter reality is that hardly any
one of them is interested to serve their motherland. Somewhere our education
system is lagging, as it cannot induce the feeling of "Nationalism"
in our children. A child's mind is like "wet mud" , moulds in the
direction in which we desire. Thus from the very beginning we must teach our
children the very essense of "Being
Indian And Serve
India". Well said by Anthony
J.D. Angelo
"Develop a passion for learning, if u do so you will never cease
to grow". Little changes in our Education System can lead to Better India.
The present education system of our country is the gift of the imperial
British raj. The Britishers imparted education in our country primarily to
produce a clerical class to aid their imperialistic designs as bringing clerks
from England to India would have been a proposition of spending the pound to
save the penny.
But the most important reason for the British to impart education in
our country seems to be to impose and impart the language 'English', in a
multi-lingual and multi-cultural country like India.
The British have left the country long back but what has remained in
our country is the hegemony of the language 'English' which can be considered
as a replica of British imperialism in our country.
In this backdrop, let us analyse our present education system of our
country and thereby suggest improvements in it:-
1. Firstly, when a toddler
learns the three R's in his life, it is the bounden duty of our education
system to make it simple and interesting to learn for him. I think, the best
way to do it is by imparting education in the same language in which he was
trained to speak in his infancy, i.e., imparting education in the mother
tongue. This will improve the education system by making learning less
cumbersome by reading and writing in mother tongue then in a foreign language
'English'.
2. Secondly, further analysing
the debate of medium of instruction, that is, English vs. the indigenous
languages of the country, here it is pertinent to mention that in the last
couple of decades there has been a mushroom growth of English medium schools in
our country. So, it is also true that, there has been a large tilting towards a
foreign language 'English' at the school level. At the same time, I would like
to state that English should be welcomed at the stage of higher education, as
at this stage of education in this globalised world of today higher education
has a global perspective. Whereas to curtail the pressure of learning a foreign
language by a toddler is not welcomed as it puts utmost-pressure at a very
tender age to cope up with an alien language.
3. Thirdly, today's education
system is more marks centric then instead of giving stress on innovation,
knowledge and creativity. Recently many eye-brows were raised in our country
over the awarding of grace marks by C.B.S.E. and by the state board in states
like Assam in Xth and XIIth final examinations. These make-shift arrangements
to make more students to clear the bar of Xth and XIIth standard examination is
as a whole suicidal. That is why in the recent past many students were able to
secure or cleared Xth and XIIth standard examinations with flying colours but
his/her voyage of success has halted after that. In this regard, I would like
to suggest that, our education system should be made knowledge centric rather
than making it marks centric by giving more stress on a student's scholastic
achievements which are linked with innovative thinking, creativity, etc. Rather
than becoming rich by reading a branch of study or subject, a student in our
education system should try to enrich that branch of study via fundamental
research and innovation.
4. I think, at the present
time in our education system there is more stress on studying less in life and
earning more or most in life by the common masses. In this land of luminaries
like Chanakya, Kabir, Swami Vivekananda and numerous other saints who have
enriched this land India via their knowledge in the past, but at the present
time, we see most of us study to join the rat-race of white collar jobs. That
is why we have many degree-holders in our country but few Steve Jobs or Mark
Zukerberger in this country. In this regard we should ponder whether we, via
our present education system, we have been able to carry on the legacy of the
past and if not we must introspect what has gone wrong. We all Indians to
overcome the present stalemate of our education system, we all need to stand up
and start a start up campaign in our country.
5. The greatest goal that our
education system should achieve to make it worthy for the times to come is to
make it morally sound for the learners by imbibing in it a sense of moral
discipline among the teacher-taught combine. Values at present in the Indian
society are at crossroads. So is the educated masses are at a cobweb of
confusion over whether to be a vivid knowledge-seeker or a vivid wealth-seeker
in his/her life. In this regard what I would like to say to them is that wealth
is worldly but what is divine in life is knowledge. Knowledge which takes us to
the path of divinity should be welcomed by one and all. I think, we all Indians
should remember that in any education system knowledge is all pervasive whereas
pomp and gaiety brought in by wealth is just a corollary to it.
CONCLUSION:-
In a nutshell, I would like to say that the most important improvement
in our education system that I would like to bring in it is to encompass one
and all by making it affordable and accessible to them. In this endeavour, in a
developing country like ours we should focus on its universality or in other
words, bringing it to the door steps of every Indians. I think in this regard,
we all Indians including our policy makers should try to make universal
education in our country as achievable as achievable it has been universal
suffrage, in our country. On the contrary, our education system will become
penny wise and pound foolish type of a concept in our country.
'Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world'
Nelson Mandela.
This quote reflects the importance that we need to put in the education
system. Education is the basic human right of every human being. Education is
the only source by which a society can change itself. In India, education lags
far behind the global average. Indian education system finds itself trapped in
the British legacy. The method of education still languishes in the British
era. Indian education system teaches a student to memorize rather than
understand. This memorization technique fails without any proper revision.
Indian education system has to change to adapt to changing times. Currently the
education system suffers from many flaws such as low quality of education, no
competitiveness etc.
Quality
The quality of education system in India is very low. According to an
international, independent NGO Majority of students are unemployable. The
educations imparted by schools, in govt. schools, were in vernacular medium.
Huge amount of investment in the form of fiscal and social is the need of the
hour. Government spending in education is very low i.e only 3.5 % of GDP while
the world's average is 4.8 % of GDP. Increase in spending by the government
will bring talent.
Increasing private participation
Private schools in the entire India are very small. Most of the private
schools are present in the urban areas with negligible presence in rural India.
This let people to send their children's to government schools. Increasing
private participation in the education system will increase the spread of
knowledge and make Indian education system strong.
New system of teaching
The teaching system in India is mostly thrusted in memorizing books.
This age old system should be changed now. The students should understand
rather than to memorize. Understanding will increase their memory. Indian
education system is established by its colonial masters to create more babus
and pen-pushers. Therefore, this system now needs to be changed and more
emphasis should be put to innovative ideas.
Personalise education
Indian education system is like one size fit for all. This is not the
case for all. Every child has its own learning capacity. Special emphasis must
be put to teach every child individually and innovatively. Earlier children are
taught to be babus but now, most of the children are becoming engineers. But
this change in career, also, is not translated into innovation. Therefore,
personalizing education is a must for today's India.
Technology
Currently use of technology is nil in Indian education system. This
makes it hard to impart modern teachings to students. Technology has the
capacity to reach each and every nook and corner of the country. This makes it
extremely urgent to utilize technology for imparting education to students.
Technology can connect a pupil of remote area with a foreign pupil therefore
exchange of ideas and culture will enhance education system. Moreover, use of
technology will keep Indian education system updated in every sphere.
Education system of a country is the main determinant of its future. A
good education system has the capacity to uplift the people in every sphere.
Whether, it is economic, social or physical. Thus a good education system for
India is the need of the hour. Current education system is not bad but there is
room for improvements also.-----------------
Education is not a finite process. It is not initiated at the morning
bell and terminated at dismissal. It does not begin after Labor Day and end in
June. And it most definitely does not start on the first day of Kindergarten
and end on graduation day. Perhaps most importantly, it does not begin in 3rd
grade (or whenever your state begins state assessments) and it should not end
after testing is completed in March.
Unfortunately, our current education system focuses on a goal being
achieved, a test being passed and getting the "right" answer.
First, there is qualitative evidence that teachers must be evaluated
based on professional teaching standards, multi-faceted evidence of teacher
practice, student learning, professional contributions and teacher
collaboration. A successful approaches to teacher evaluation and concluded that
there are seven criteria for an effective teacher evaluation system.
• Teacher evaluations should
be based on professional teaching standards.
• Evaluations should include
multi-faced evidence of teacher practice, student learning and professional
contributions.
• Evaluators should be
knowledgeable about instruction and well trained in the evaluation system.
• Evaluations should be
accompanied by useful feedback and connected to professional development
opportunities.
• The evaluation system
should value and encourage teacher collaboration, Expert teachers should be part of the
assistance and review process.
• Panels of teachers and
administrators should oversee the evaluation process to guarantee useful and
high quality information.
Second, we know that the inclusion of student performance acts in favor
of the students, but results in a partially unfair allocation of teacher
recognition.
Third, we know that teacher evaluation is a tool that depends on
complementary inputs. In order for teachers to be able to improve their
practice, they must use the information derived from evaluation to identify
needs specific to their groups, develop strategies and take action.
For this to happen teachers must have time to analyze the data and
count on the necessary support to bring their strategies to an improved
instruction practice. The improvement of the quality of education supply is a
process that required continuous knowledge.
Learning must be relevant.
If we learn skills because we NEED them to do something that matters to us,
then we remember them. For example, students working on measuring and calculating the area of
a plot of land in which they will be growing a garden to provide vegetables for
class snacks are going to care about the formula for calculating area. In fact,
they will probably be able to derive the formula. Textbooks, while an
"easy fix" are very ineffective, especially if the textbook is the
primary (or exclusive) source of information and work provided to the students.
Concluding, teacher evaluation is a tool to improve the quality of
education that depends on complementary inputs and should ideally consider
professional teaching standards, multi-faceted evidence of teacher practice,
student learning, professional contributions and teacher collaboration. Just in
case you wonder, what you think about your teacher probably does not matter. It
is likely you think your best teachers are those that gave you best grades.
Some students are get out of the schools and colleges and even
universities due to malnutrition and shortage of rich food. Education is not a
prevelage. It is a long journey with additional colors. The additional burden
of learning is a curve or it is a generation gap. The new generation courses in
India now evolve three tier citizenship. Even there are lop-sided developments
and sociological paradigms. Some of the outsiders even know the spelling bee of
Microbiology and mathematics. Industrial mathematics is a specialized branch of
study to access the theories of math into information level. Basic research is
the phenomenon of Industrial Patents.
The Job Index is proclaimed to multitudes by the Career Guru. Is the
career guru knows meditation. ? There are Government funds for career
development. Religion is an agency of funding, and the minority is fallen into
a trap of vote bank. Social media is a Double edge sword as the propaganda and
talents are clustered into trend wise areas. The new-generation needs change
the syllabus. The trap in education is unemployment and before underemployment,
education is valueless.
Money has power if the education tends to formal needs. In the new
generation sensation, radio is outdated. Still there is old syllabus in
colleges in economics and politics. From Industrial output to Hub level, Index
of Industrial Production (IIP) coincides to WPI (Wholesale Price level).The new
encyclopedia and dictionary is to be written and edited in New-generation
Terminologies. It is difficult to understand rich peoples behavior.
Urbanization can solve the issues of New generation Status. A puzzle question
is asked .Which is more valuable? A Doctor or one crore rupee? The trap is
value less education. Much of the hilly districts in India have a proven record
of efficiency. Learning is a policy of the civilized people. Forex trade can be
tolerated in trade services. Artificial intelligence is a safety policy .A
posts for students in Facebook is a critical warfare. Our superior Intelligence
is the strength of the community. Where is International Relations as a subject
now studied? Is it on the China Pakistan border? Our society needs people
having jobs and high salaries. Otherwise society ignores them.
Due to
climatic changes and pressure people selects hilly areas of residences.
It is advisable to have good teachers having minimum scolding. Teacher
is a good model. At the benevolence of teacher, the student improves his
career. We are living in a world having multipolar disorder. All the issues can
be solved in counseling. Counseling can be made good if the teacher-student
ratio is widened. Wide gap of unemployment and the age bar is related. I think
the age bar in Job market is for relaxation .The age bar in job is to be taken
away. People study more from experiences in the age of 40 or 45.Age bar
restricts our countrys ageing theory to a minimum level. May I conclude the
thesis with a hope of dignity? Hope is vital for all students?
- Abraham Johnson
Anchaniyil
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live
forever."
The above lines quoted by the 'Father of The Nation', Mahatma Gandhi,
emphasizes on the true essence of education in enlightening the minds and souls
of thousands of people all over the world. Our country, India since time
immemorial has fought back against various obstacles to attain the status of
being a 'devoloped country'. After a long drawn struggle of seven decades, it
has almost succeeded in fulfilling its wish by attaining a Gross Domestic
Product(GDP) rate of 7.1 percent as in the fiscal year,2017,which is higher
than most of its contemporaries. This mass development would not have been possible
without the whole-hearted contribution of the educated citizens of the country.
Thus, Education is that driving force which contributes to the growth of a
nation. At present, with a literacy rate of 74.04 percent, the Indian
Government is trying its level best to sow the seed of education in every nook
and corner of the country, be it the rural area or the urban area.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word education has been defined
as "the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially
at a school or university."However, the word education has a wider meaning
than this. It is not a finite process just confined within the four walls of a
school or a university. Attaining proper education is a lifelong process which
comes to an end only with one's last breath.
The present education system in our country is all about achieving a
goal, passing a test and obtaining good grades. However, on a serious note,
education is much more than this, and therefore the system requires many improvements
in order to prepare the youth for facing more serious challenges in this 'field
of battle' ,called life.
The present education system should focus on better quality of
education rather than the quantity of knowledge attained during ones lifetime.
The youth should be given a scope to utilise their creative minds in analysing
a problem rather than putting forward a memorised theory from the prescribed
textbooks. Amongst all the creatures, human beings are the most intelligent of
all. Famous writer, Dale Carnegie, in his self-help book, "How to Win
Friends And Influence People" ,has written , "The average person
develops only ten percent of his latent mental ability."Thus, if the youth
is not allowed to utilise their intelligence and creative thinking, then they
will fail to identify their actual potential. Hence, maximum stress should be
given to practical training rather than theoretical knowledge. After learning
about a particular subject, the teachers should make it a point to give
students assignments on how to put the knowledge gained into actual practice.
Practical method is one of the best methods of developing skills among the
youngsters from a very tender age. These skills that they develop in the early
years of their life is going to help them in the future when they pursue a
career of their choice.
Digital Education should be made a must in the Indian classrooms.
Taking initiative from the Digital India programme of the Government, every
educational institution should embark on teaching the students on digital
platforms so that the use of paper can be drastically reduced. As the saying
goes, "One tree one life", it is our moral obligation to preserve
trees by considerably reducing the usage of papers. Taking inspiration from the
Digital India Initiative, the present generation should be taught about the
cashless modes of payment, online banking , etc. With the minimum amount of
cash flow in the economy, there will be a better distribution of wealth amongst
all the sections of the society.
Health Education should be made an important part of the curriculum as
a healthy body makes a healthy mind. Thus, every institution, all over the
country should promote yoga classes . Sports should be encouraged, as this will
not only help in making good sportspersons but will also help in maintaining
physical fitness among the youth of the country. Mahatma Gandhi had once
stated, "The future of India lies in its villages. If the villages perish,
India will perish too."At present, the literacy rate in rural India is
68.9 percent while the urban area has reported 85 percent literacy. Thus, the
education system should widen its horizon so that every villager in our country
can receive education so that the literacy rate increases to cent percent in
the near future. India has always maintained its status of being the pioneer of
education in the world and with a little improvement in the present education
system, we can be at par with the other superpowers of the world.
- Monalisa Poali
Education in India is an attention seeking area.The current education
system does not even stand on global platform as less than 5 Indian university
falls under top 100 in world. The private as well as government education
institutes both suffer from malfunctions.
Regarding learning at government institutes, it seems antagonistic to
learning. From teachers and infrastructure to other paraphernalia for learning,
all are of poor quality in these institutes. Despite government's efforts of
providing free education up to high school, mid-day meals, etc, the condition
remains as it is.
Bihar and UP are the host to worst government institutes in the
country.
It is not too late for restoration of proper education in government
schools and colleges. At taking a close look, we find that there is fault at
each level in the whole education system. From proper usage of funds to
appointment of teachers there has to be transparency in the system. Once funds
are released they disappear before being utilized for the purpose they are
released. Some measures that can help upgrade this system are:
1. Strict recruitment of
eligible teachers only after proper screening. The screening too has to be
common in all schools and of standard type, i.e, merit based and through
software.
2. The cheating during
examinations and leaking of question parers must be checked. Officials
concerned with this should personally invigilate the whole procedure.
3. Once the funds are released
it should be mandatory for its complete and legal usage within a definite
period, as time lapse will lead to misuse or improper use of funds. District
Magistrate must ensure that this does not happen.
4. Various schemes to lure
students to school must be scrutinized periodically and old ones be replaced by
new ones if needed. This should include spot checking of mid-day meals and
class proceedings and inclusion of extracurricular activities.
5. As far as infrastructure is
concerned, I feel that once the quality of education rises, infrastructure too
will take a leap as advance methods such as smart classes cannot be propagated
in unhealthy atmosphere.
6. Last, what is ailing is
that government employees are unfaithful towards their work or have
procrastination attitude. This deteriorates the fundamentalism of learning
process. Morality has a crucial role here.
With reference to education system in private sector, it can be rated
good in comparison to those run by government but still do need some change.
Currently, it seems that private institutions are a means to multiply money for
its owners, as such the quality of education deteriorates and frivolous things
are enhanced. Some improvements needed in this sector are:
1. It is noticeable that there
is disparity within the private institutions with reference to the council or
board to which they are affiliated. For example CBSE follows the CCE pattern
for syllabus and grading system for marking, while the ICSE has stick to the old
percentage system of marking in each subject, It has caused a muddle in
meritocracy selection with some non-meritorious students gaining undeserving
access. Hence, all institutions should follow the old percentage system of
marking, making evaluation transparent and merit based.
2. There should be an
independent body to look after the fee structure and admission process in
private institutions.
3. It must not be made
mandatory to buy books from school prescribed stores only.
4. Labs and smart classes
should be provided to students throughout the year, as fee is taken for the
whole year but these facilities are not provided for more than 60-80 days.
5. The text books used in
various institutions differ for the same class, moreover, after every one or
two sessions new books are prescribed. This is merely done to derive profit and
does not carry any academic value and so should be undone with.
6. Sporting activities are
must for students, as it works as stress buster. Bookish learning at school and
then back at home has taken away liveliness from their lives. So sports and
required playground must be an essential part of curriculum.
7. Most important is
cultivating moral values in learners. Given the aggression in today's society,
it is the schools and colleges where a student spends much time, can instill
them with morality. This can be done by inviting social reformers, visual
appeal, textual learning, etc.
These were some ways which can raise the standard of education and help
produce responsible citizens. But i personally believe that dual system of
education ,i.e, private and government is like a rift between rich and poor and
thus an impediment to progress. Hence, there should be a single platform to
learn.
For this to happen, the government must upgrade the level of its
institutions and win over those who opt for their child's admission into
private ones. This will invite the attraction of the bureaucracy and other
affluent of the society towards government institutions. Then it will be
wonderful to see the child of a mason and other of a doctor learning together,
growing together and binding the society together.
- Divya Prasad
Before talking about education system we must have a small introduction
about education. In general term education is an effort of the senior people to
transfer knowledge of basic rules and values to the younger members of society.
Hence it is an institution, which plays an important role in integrating an
individual with his society and in maintaining the stability of culture.
According to Nelson Mandela, "education is the most powerful weapon which
you can use to change the world."
Now we must talk about the differences between literacy and education.
Literacy is about acquiring the skills and learning for benefit of the people,
society and country. Hence the concept of education is bigger than literacy.
According to Gandhiji," education means all-round development of people's
mind and spirit. Hence literacy is not the end nor beginning of
education."
Now we can talk about the education system of India. During ancient
times Indian society, the number of educational institution was too small and
the content of education was sophisticated and related with religion,
philosophy medicine, mathematics and. However in ancient period educations were
open to all students irrespective of cast, color, creed and gender.
In medieval times education was confined to the upper castes. The
organizational structure was hereditary. The lower castes and women were denied
education. Hence Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar said to be 'Educate, Agitate and
Organize.'
Now days as there are development in education, technology and
communication the modern education is general, open and liberal to all. The
world-view is scientific-rational; the theme consists of freedom, equality and
denial of faith in superstitions. The course content are rationalistic and in
the tune with the needs of the present day society. Unfortunately education has
become just to gain degree and job. This is because the Britishers had
introduced the modern education. They themselves were masters hence they don't
required masters.
They need servants to run the administration of the country. Now we are
free from Britishers so our education system must be free from narrow
mindedness. Improvement in education must involve: -
1. Development in moral and
esthetic values.
2. Development in tolerance.
3. Promotion of physical
development, art and culture.
4. Development in general
knowledge and current affairs.
5. Education must strengthen
to promote selflessness, entrepreneurship and denial of an unjust compromise.
Unfortunately in our educational system of primary sections are least
qualified and least paid. Hence to avoid all these things high qualified
teachers must be appointed and they should be well paid so that to provide
quality education in their early age to strengthen their plinth.
The constitution provided the right to education in article 21[A]. To
give effect to right to education, parliament passed the right of children to
free and compulsory education act or RTE act on 4th August 2009.
Main features of the RTE act are as follows:-
1. Free and compulsory
education to all children of India in the age group of 6 to 14.
2. No child shall be held
back, expelled or required to pass a board examination.
3. Completion of elementary
education.
4. RTE calls for a fixed
student-teacher ratio.
5. Mandates improvement in
quality of education.
6. School infrastructure
[where there is problem] to be improved in three years, else recognition
cancelled.
7. No child shall be denied
admission in a school for lack of age proof.
8. Provides for 25 percent
reservation for economically disadvantaged communication in admission to Class
One in all private school.
9. Financial burden will be
shared between state and central government.
10.
A child above six years of age who has not been admitted in any school
then he or she shall be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age.
- Saurabh Sen
"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively
and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true
education." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
India has shown significant improvement in education since 1947.
However, we believe that there is always some room for improvement in every
field. So, here are a few ways that can help us improve our education system.
1. Skill Based Learning - Schools
should be allowed to provide skill based training. It can be done best by
recognizing the areas of interest of a student. If someone is interested in
repairing mobiles, there should be provision for mobile engineering course. If
someone loves trying hands in handicraft items, the training should be provided
for the same and so on. Skill based training will ensure one thing -
Self-employment!
2. Focus on Rural Education -
Mahatma Gandhi said, "The future of India lies in its villages. If the
villages perish, India will perish too." This alone explains the
significance of focus on rural education. We should have schemes and schools
that provide good education to children living in villages. Also, involvement
of talented and experienced teachers should be assured.
3. Free Basic Computer Skills
Classes - It is the era of globalization driven by Information Technology,
education is nearly incomplete without basic computer training. Be it accounts,
engineering or just the simple back office job, the use of computers are
everywhere.
4. Teacher Training - Our
country already has several training programs for teachers. The need of the
hour is to design a curriculum for teachers in such a way that provides
uniformity in teaching standards all over the country. Moreover, teachers
should be trained well enough that they know their rights as well as duties.
5. Subsidies and Grants for
Professional Courses - No doubt, we have different scholarships existing in
various schemes for the underprivileged as well as the meritorious students. We
can further improve this by having subsidies and grants in various professional
courses. This way, aspiring students will not have financial related
limitations.
6. Educate Parents - Educating
parents is equally important so that they do not force their children in their
career path. Also, necessary steps should be taken to augment and improve the
communication between teachers and parents.
7. Health education - Another
area that needs improvement and attention is the health education. We should try
to inculcate the knowledge of Yoga and other workouts in our education system
so that children get to learn and understand the value of good health and
maintain the same.
8. Smart Classes - Though many
of the Indian schools and institutes are already following this concept, we
should take a step wherein all educational institutes can be connected with the
concept of smart classes. With the help of different audio-video devices,
multimedia concepts and other necessary IT elements, we can make our students learn
and understand theories in a much better and modern way.
9. E-libraries - Introducing
this concept in our education system will be of great help, as anyone would be
able to access books and the required study material from anywhere with ease.
Moreover, E-libraries can be updated quickly with new material and books which
is a blessing in disguise.
10.
Making Sports Compulsory - Last, but not the least, we should try to
make sports compulsory in our education system. This will not only help
students to embrace a bright career, but will also help our country in the long
run! Moreover, this option will also generate employment for so many talented
sports persons who, due to some reason, could not further pursue their career
in sports.
So why not achieve another milestone in education by making some more
improvements? With little effort, planning, hard-work and a positive attitude,
we can definitely take our education system to new heights.
Quotes on Education
• Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man – Swami
Vivekananda
• The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves
throughout their lives.
• The education of a man is never completed until he dies – Robert E Lee
• To educate a person in mind and not in orals is to educate a menace to
the society – Theodore Roosevelt
• We do not want book worms, we want man making, character building
education – Swami Vivekananda
• Education should be such which takes us to perfection
• Education begins in womb and ends in tomb
• Stagnant minds create immobile systems which becomes roadblock to
growth. Hence creative thinking in needed.
• Economy is the material part of development. Education is the essential
part of it.
• Education that does not mould the character is absolutely worthless. –
Mahatma Gandhi
• Confucius – ―If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms
of ten years, plant trees; if in term of 100 years, teach the people‖
(importance of human capital)
• The illiterate of the twenty first century will not be those who do not
read or write but those who do not learn, re-learn and unlearn. –Alvin Toffler
• ―Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world‖
– Nelson Mandela.
• ―The pen is mightier than the sword‖ – Edward Lytton (Father of Robert
Lytton, Governor General of British India)
• A child educated only at school is an uneducated child
• Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of real education –
Martin Luther King Jr.
• If the ability of fish is measured by its ability to climb a tree then
fish would have lived it‘s entire life thinking that it is stupid.
-Albert Einstein
------------------------------------
Essay on Education for All: Myth or Reality?
September
30, 2019 by Karan
―What is really needed for the democracy to function is not knowledge
of facts, but the right education‖ – Mahatma Gandhi
The education for all movement was started by UNESCO (Dakar, 2000). It
is a global movement to address and provide for educational needs of children,
youth and adults.
It started after the Dakar conference which was held between 9th and
12th July 1987. It was first launched in 1990 with an aim to bring ―benefits of
education to every citizen in every society‖ with the help of national governments,
civil societies and development agencies like World Bank and UNESCO. They had
six specific education goals to be achieved by 2005 and 2015.
In India, this started as a means to provide free and compulsory
education to all belonging to the age group 6-14 years old by 2010.
Education for all is guaranteed and protected constitutionally and by
law through the Right to Education Act of 2009 under Article 21 of the constitution,
thus making right to education a fundamental right as per the Supreme Court
decision in 1993.
The government of India recognises the need for primary education to
help people acquire quality education and therefore has set up various
government schools that are looked after by the local authorities; other than
these there were five different schools set up namely Kendriya Vidyalaya, Navodaya
Vidyalaya, Sainik schools, Tibetan schools and Railway schools each of them
serving different purposes.
Government also launched various schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
whose overall goals included – children in school, reducing gender and social
gap in terms of access to education, quality elementary education and universal
retention.
Other initiatives by the government include schemes like Operation
Blackboard, Non formal education schemes, Teacher education, Mahila Samakhya
etc.
It also came up with District primary education program, launched in
1994, that aimed at bridging the gaps and improving education in the most
inaccessible areas or in areas with lowest female literacy rate and to improve
the quality of primary education.
Operation Blackboard scheme was launched by the central government to
provide basic institutional and structural aid to government schools that were
necessary for teaching.
The National Literacy Movement was launched in 1988 to help educational
benefits reach adults too. During the period 1988 to 2008, 127.45 million
persons were made literate through NLM interventions.
The NLM was recast in 2009 and its new variant the Saakshar Bharat
(Literate India) Mission was launched in September 2009 with a renewed focus on
female literacy.
The Mission seeks to impart functional literacy to 70 million adults
(60 million females) in the age group of 15 years and above.
The government, as a part of food and nutritional security as well as
to reduce absenteeism from primary schools, launched the mid-day meal program.
This
program served children of primary government schools basic meal (as per the
nutritional quantity needed) for the day so that their basic nutritional
requirements are fulfilled and would lead to reduction in absenteeism, full
stomachs which would increase retention and fall in dropout rates along with
achieving food and nutritional security for these students. Despite these
strong initiatives by the government education is still inaccessible by many.
Accessibility
and Affordability of education
Education
is still a far fetched dream for many, especially for the ones living in
poverty, in tribal areas or those who are unaware. Accessibility and
affordability of education is a rising issue in a democratic country like
India. The government only contributes 2.7 percent of the GDP towards
education.
The
plight of tribal education is unheard by the state, thanks to some NGO‘s
working towards to this greater social cause. The tribal literacy rate stands
only 59 percent as opposed to the country wide literacy rate of 74 percent.
Tribal have been deprived economically, socially and as humans throughout
history.
They
haven‘t had access to good roads, basic amenities, electricity, basic food,
land and other necessities required for adequate growth and social upliftment.
Government in order to help them has provided 1470 hostels only for ST
students.
It
has rolled out various educational schemes like establishment of ashrams for
girls and boys separately; Post matric scholarships for financial assistance, Eklavya
model residence schools to provide medium and high quality education to ST
students.
But
all of these have certain institutional problems, like they aren‘t handled well
by the state government authorities, at times the state institutions do not want
to bear the financial responsibility of the students or some have poor
infrastructure, low quality teaching staff or low maintenance.
Other
problems for tribal education include – language barriers, affordability
(because of corruption at many places), poor student and teacher relations,
distance from home to schools, and basic structural amenities required for
schooling are absent which include books, notebooks.
Another
issue that makes education a myth for many people is the poor quality of
infrastructure. There are still about 16.3 percent (primary) and 4.8 percent
(upper primary) schools that still do not have basic drinking facility as per
2004-05 and 2005-
06.
There are 51 percent of primary schools (2004-05) that lack basic toilet
facilities.
Schools
in village areas are still prone to caste, class and gender discrimination.
Students of fifth or sixth grade have to clean latrines or dry latrines because
they belong to a particular lower caste or community, they are made to sit in
different lines, and they are not allowed to drink water from the same glass
and so on.
This
discrimination makes it difficult for them to get quality education, to
concentrate and thus increases rates of drop outs and absenteeism from schools.
Another
reason why education is restricted is the availability of medicines to treat
illness like ring worm, cholera etc that are quite frequent in rural or urban
poor areas. They have no definite and quality medicinal access and try to quit
education to avoid the ―additional expenses‖.
Education
to females has been affected by a number of reasons numero uno being orthodox
myths and beliefs. In some areas small girls often help their mothers when they
are out for work on field or to collect water. They are often restricted by
family rituals and beliefs that pull them back or drop out of schools after a
certain standard.
Some
are married off early, while some families fear that if girls go out they will
come under bad influence or will be not be treated well by the society so they
are restricted to their own houses. Some areas where girls are allowed
schooling do not have basic toilet or drinking facilities.
Unavailability
of basic latrines makes it difficult for girls to attend schools during those
days of the month due to unhygienic conditions. It also paves way for other
diseases and infections.
While
accessibility and myths are an issue, affordability of education is a huge
problem for many. Many families can‘t afford quality education in private
schools because they demand huge donations, large fees or some high level
aptitude tests for which rural or students from poor background aren‘t ready.
These
families cannot afford private education and have to choose government schools
that lack infrastructure, sanitation, quality of teachers and quality of study
material. Some government schools don‘t even have adequate facilities like good
benches, blackboards or even buildings.
About
51 percent of the primary schools (2005-06) lack boundary walls and around 3
percent of the primary schools lack adequate school buildings.
Apart
from these factors, distance from school also increases dropouts or
absenteeism. Children who have to travel a lot without proper food or medicines
fall sick often which leads them to discontinue. It tends to increase their
overall cost of schooling. For girls, travelling this long is neither an option
nor a choice of their family members.
At
times, vernacular language holds children back in most of the English medium
schools. They are humiliated, considered of low rank which deteriorates their
self esteem and confidence and eventually diverts them from learning.
Conclusion
Education
for all is still a dream in India that dwells in poverty,
in the rural parts, in the tribal areas and the ones belonging to a particular
community. It has to do more with goals like zero hunger, accessibility to all
and affordable by all, not alone literacy levels but quality education that is
given equally to all.
Another
aspect to education is the difference of schooling between private and
government schools and the difference through boards i.e. the state, central
and international boards. It is not enjoyed equally by all; the textbook matter
differs board wise which produces difference in skill sets and knowledge of an
individual.
Though
online training‘s and apps like SWAYAM (an government initiative) along with
initiatives by foundations like Teach for India bridge this gap and are trying
to provide quality education free of cost or with a minimal charge.
Yet
the basic schooling like poems, difficulty level in subjects like mathematics
and science create a problem when it all comes down to results of 10th and 12th
boards.
As
far as hostel facilities are concerned to be a solution of travelling cost and
distance, they are not looked after well by the government. Some lack basic
amenities, infrastructure while some do not have good quality food essential
for an individuals‘ growth.
Education
for all still remains a dream in these areas. It isn‘t a myth completely as
government has, at each time, taken adequate steps to ensure every child is
educated and is provided with the bare minimum necessities for schooling. It
has through various programs tried to reduce the number of dropouts and
increased the Net enrolment rate to almost 73 percent in 2011.
It
has reached to the most inaccessible areas to provide education. Through
schemes and training programs for teachers there has been a decrease in cases
of discrimination. Along with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan clean latrines and availability
of the same isn‘t a dream anymore.
Yet,
there are institutional and delivery failures that need to be addressed
immediately so that it doesn‘t remain a myth anymore. Government should develop
measures to bring about equality in quality of the knowledge provided by each
board yet try to keep the diversity it gives students.
Public
schools should be externally funded too so that they are maintained and
families do not hesitate to send their children to government schools. There
should be awareness of policies and schemes in the tribal and rural areas of
India, to be undertaken by the educational officer of each district and other
fellow volunteers.
The
goal of quality education has to be realised with the goal of zero hunger, by
ameliorating the system of mid-day meal schemes and nutritional security.
Education
is a myth for the unaware, it is the delivery of quality education that has to
be turned into reality along with good infrastructure and institutional
facilities made available to each and every child – male or female; only then
can India achieve its goal of quality education.
rue
education must correspond to the surrounding circumstances or it is not a
healthy growth. (Mahatma Gandhi)
Education
without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever
devil. (C.S. Lewis)
Knowledge
is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in
every society, in every family. (Kofi Annan)
Education
is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats
the beauty and the youth. (Chanakya)
It
is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without
accepting it. (Aristotle)
Real
education enhances the dignity of a human being and increases his or her self-
respect. (A.P. J. Abdul Kalam)
To
educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.
(Theodore Roosevelt)
Nothing
is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Credit Based Higher Education System – Status,
Opportunities and Challenges.
Education
in India has always assumed a larger than life role in the society. Whether it
be the ―Guru Gobind Dono Khadey, Kaakey Laagun Paaye…‖ of Rahim or the twice
born doctrine in the Vedas, education has always had that spiritual connection
and the business of imparting education was never considered a business at all.
Perhaps out of this conceptualization only, education has always received the
patronage of the taste and the wealthy through our history and was never a
financial burden on the students. Whether it be the Kumaragupta founded
Nalanda, or the Gangai Konda Chola Mandap mentioned in the Anaiyyavaram
inscription of Rajendra Chola, or the madarassas founded by Sher Shah, the
students and the teachers were always comfortably maintained out of the
donations and India maintained its distinction of being one of the most sought
after destinations of higher learning.
Things
changed for the first time under British India where it was clearly felt that
―free education would not be valued properly by the natives‖, and hence should
be changed. But post independence, the Indian conceptualization again took the
center stage and the seats of higher learning became the temples of modern
India. Nehru knew the central importance of higher education in his vision of a
planned economic development and hence ensured that the doors of these temples
remained open to the very best of minds – irrespective of their financial
capabilities. So liberal state grants were made for this cause and thus the
fees were maintained low as well. Within all its constraints such a system
functioned remarkably well in serving the needs of the economy.
However,
by the 1990s the structure of this economy began to change. State led approach
gave way to a market determined pattern of development and the enterprising
potential of the economy was unlocked. Naturally the wants of this economy from
its education sector were much larger in scale and more diverse and dynamic in
character.
To
meet these new demands, the higher education sector had to reform as well.
First of all its size was simply not big enough. India had a particularly
unimpressive record of the penetration of higher education and this was simply
not consistent with the ambitions of taking the economy on a high growth
trajectory.
Next
there was a need to meet the new unconventional needs of the economy. No
longer, thus, it sufficed to produce graduates with standard degrees possessing
standard skills. One needed to be dynamic. Similarly, as our economy competed
on a global scale, we needed human resources who could work with world class
technologies and management practices as well. Thus a large scale investment in
the sector was needed.
Now
this is where the reliance on government could become a constraint. Because
public funds are scarce and slow in coming and are just not suited for such a
dynamic environment. Thus budget constraints became hard and the sector was
forced to rely more on internal resource generation and thus the credit based
education system proliferated.
There
were other factors driving the change as well. For instance the new economy
offered a larger number of better paying jobs. So people were now prepared to
pay more for the higher education which could land them with such jobs. And it
is always difficult to run against the market forces in full swing. If we
hadn‘t allowed the higher education institutions to increase their fee, it
would simply have created more compliance issues as the higher ‗fee‘ would have
been pushed under the table, because market forces can‘t be resisted on a macro
scale without significant costs.
Moreover
as the economy became more integrated with the world, so did the people.
Migration, specially of the qualified people, increased and if our institutions
didn‘t offer better terms to the teachers, the more qualified ones would have
simply migrated away. Similarly if our institutions didn‘t offer world class
facilities and education to the students, both the students and their
prospective employers would migrate away as well.
Thus
there was a clear need for higher investment in the sector and so the credit
based system emerged. With time there has been a gradual strengthening of the
system as more and more private institutions come up, government institutions
increase their fee, private jobs develop more and banks reorient their business
to take advantage of the opportunity. Finally as we speak, there are proposals
to allow foreign universities into India and a bill to that effect is in the
parliament.
Having
examined the transition towards the credit based education system, let us pause
and ask ourselves what are the implications of such a transition. Can it
continue to suit us in future as well? What are the opportunities which lie
forward? Or what does it do to the student and to our cherished dream of equal
opportunities to all?
Let
us look at the opportunities first. Clearly the biggest strength of the model,
as seen earlier, is that it is aligned with the market forces. This makes it
smooth. This makes it dynamic and this makes it scalable. This gives us the
potential of creating world class human resources. The model is capable of
generating and attracting resources for developing state of art infrastructure,
for retaining top level teachers and students and thus create a positive
feedback mechanism. Apart from providing the lubricant to run the economy
efficiently the model can also help enhance India‘s soft power. As our highly
trained professionals go abroad, they will help create the image of a new, rich
India. Finally, this model is unique in the sense that it can produce the
‗barefoot engineers‘ needed to advise on the MGNREGS projects and can also
produce the best investment bankers capable of dealing in complex derivative
transactions. Thus the opportunities offered by the model are immense. But
before passing the verdict, let us also look at the potential causes of
concern.
Given
the alignment of the model with the market forces and its potential to serve
us, should we then leave it entirely to the market? Well, certainly not. To
begin with ECO 101 tells us that education has positive externalities and thus
if left to the market, the market will always over price it and provide too
little of it. Thus state intervention is needed to correct this distortion.
Then
think of what the model is doing to its principal stakeholder – the student. It
is upping the stakes. And by upping the stakes it is putting her under a lot of
additional pressure. And in an educational system not exactly known for its
sensitivity towards the students, add one more woe to her already long list of
woes – how will I ever repay the credit if I fail? There is already at least ne
suicide every year in my alma mater since at least a decade – do we want to
increase that any further?
Next
think of the implications in the current context when an effective regulatory
mechanism is lacking. One aspect clearly is that this puts the students (and
their guardians) in a worse situation since they are locked in and thus subject
to being manipulated by the college authorities. Even apart from it, think of
the wider context. Higher education is a sphere where there is a clear
information asymmetry with the students being at the receiving end. This credit
based model will create a classical ‗lemons problem‘ since because one would
expect the better institutes to charge higher fees, even the worse ones wold
charge a higher fee for otherwise they would be considered ‗bad‘ by the virtue
of charging a lower fee. Then having put so much at stake, these institutes
would be inclined to publish ‗paid rankings‘ in the media and thus compounding
the information problem.
Worse
still, what would happen if such institutes come together and form cartels –
creating artificial scarcity and higher fee. And in all this let us not forget
what happens to the research output in such a case. Clearly having paid so much
for the education, students would be inclined to take up jobs in industry
rather than donning the scientist‘s coat.
And
finally the concept of equity – what happens to it under this model. We all
know credit flows towards the ‗haves‘. It filters out the ‗have nots‘. How can
we expect a poor man‘s child to ever furnish a hundred thousand dollars loan
guarantee notwithstanding however deserving she may be. Thus the system
automatically weeds out the poor.
Having
seen the practical limitations of the model, it is clear that we need to build
in sufficient safeguard mechanisms first. This would ensure it contributes to
growth – meaningful inclusive growth and not just a number called growth.
Clearly there is a need to safeguard the interests of the financially poorer children.
Is there any way of doing this without putting a strain on the public funds?
Perhaps we can draw upon the Universal Service Obligations (USO) Fund model
from the telecom sector. Or we can look towards a RTE kind of feature (25%
reservation).
To
address the other issues, specially to protect the interests of the students at
large and also to prevent a lemons problem from occurring, we need to put in
place strong and independent regulatory mechanisms. The proposed bill on the
higher education is certainly a welcome step in the direction. Student
counseling must invariably be a part of this regulatory package and we need to
bring laws which empower the students. And finally, to make sure that research
activity is not sacrificed in the din, we would need to put in place larger
incentives structure so as to make India a hub for global R&D.
The
credit based model is powerful because it is aligned with the trends of the
age. It offers tremendous potential to serve the country as well. And certainly
we must encourage it. But at the same time we need to put in sufficient
safeguards as well. The future awaits…
Essay Quotes on Education
and Values?
You
know, as most of us education enthusiasts do. I‘ve got my buddy, Murphy, lounging around, my
dog-eared book of quotes by my side, and my son, Lachlan, struggling to beat me
at a game of chess. Before you conjure an image of Murphy donned in lecture
caps and gowns, let me clarify that he‘s a Golden Retriever. Hard to believe,
but he‘s every bit a dog as yours, complete with four legs and a love for
bones.
As
Lachlan contemplates his next chess move, he asks, "Dad, why is education
so important?" Yep, it's one of those days. The days for those long
winding conversations, with life lessons neatly embedded within. Moreover, a
day that seems fit to revisit some of IAS.NETWORK‘s golden nuggets of wisdom on
education and values.
Demystifying a Kaleidoscope of Values
through Education
Rolling
up my sleeves, I begin to unravel the importance of education, lacing it with
practical illustrations, personal experiences, and the essence of values. Ah,
values! They are those intangible components that sneak in through our
educations like mischievous school kids, sticking around and sculpting us into
the individuals we become.
First,
let's delve into this beautiful concept of ‗Values Education‘. It's an
essential aspect of the education process that isn't confined to the four walls
of a classroom. Values education is about honing the moral compass that each
one of us carries within.
In
fact, one of the intriguing quotes from IAS.NETWORK encapsulates this thought
perfectly, "Education is not filling the mind with a set of facts, but
lighting a fire of curiosity and fostering an attitude of lifelong
learning." It‘s as if education is a bountyfilled treasure chest and
values are the gleaming jewels nestled within.
The Power of Education: Transcending Books
Swinging
back to my conversation with Lachlan, I noticed his eyes starting to glaze
over. Time for a story, then! As former president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said,
"If you fail, never give up because FAIL means 'First Attempt In
Learning'".
A
couple of decades ago, there was a chap who had consistently been at the bottom
of his class. Yet, his unwavering drive to learn propelled him to create a
successful startup that marked the beginning of his journey as a notable
entrepreneur. Now, he was not a genius, not even close. But he had an
insatiable desire to learn, a lesson he had gleaned from IAS.
Murphy
seemed enthusiastic about the story, or it could be he smelled the nearby
sandwich. It's all open to interpretation at this point.
Cultivating Values: The Bedrock of an
Evolved Society
A
vital facet of our discussion that day was the inevitable link between
education and societal values. The way I see it, education isn't about
memorizing chapters or scoring high on tests. Instead, it's about instilling
values that foster an individual‘s well-being and strengthen societal bonds.
I
personally love how it puts forth the idea, "Education without values
creates smart people who can become clever devils." It‘s this enduring
emphasis on values-rich education that aims to engineer conscientious human
beings, serving as the pillars of a forward-thinking society.
By
the time I concluded my discussion, my chess game with Lachlan was at a
stalemate. Murphy had managed to hold court over a small gathering of birds as
the reluctant ‗King of Bones‘. Yet, the air still buzzed with the essence of
IAS.NETWORK's profound insights on education and values. We may have been
taking a casual day in, but, as they say, the wonders of an efficient education
system never do take a break!
Categories
• Social Media in Higher Education (1)
Introduction
The pandemic highlighted the shortcomings of our education system that
is more focused on rote learning. This system pays very low regard to the
creativity and mental wellbeing of children indicating lack of quality
education. Further, the level of education possessed across regions is not
uniform and the disadvantaged sections often have poor education levels.
The Government has undertaken a plethora of steps including the
formulation of National Education
Policy, 2020 with the vision of delivering quality education to every
child. India is also a party to UN Sustainable Development Goals whose Goal 4 aims to deliver quality
education for all. Nonetheless, there remain some bottlenecks which need to be
duly addressed.
What is
the meaning of Quality Education?
Quality Education is a comprehensive term that includes learners,
teachers, learning environment, appropriate curriculum, engaging pedagogy,
learning outcomes, continuous formative assessment, and adequate student
support.
It
warrants inculcation of critical
thinking, creativity, scientific temper, communication, collaboration,
multilingualism, problem solving skills, ethics, social responsibility, and digital
literacy.
Attempt to improve quality of education will succeed only if it goes
hand in hand with steps to promote equity
and inclusion. This requires schools to be sufficiently equipped and
prepared to address the diverse learning
needs of all children with a special
focus on children belonging to SC, ST, Minorities, Girl child etc.
Another dimension of quality is to address the rural-urban divide and
regional disparities as also the digital divide.
What is
need to deliver Quality Education?
Better Employment opportunities: It will allow the
children to get jobs and get out of the vicious web of poverty. Further
industry will be getting a robust supply of qualified personnel. India Skills Report 2021 estimates that
only 45.9% of Indian youth possess sufficient employability skills.
Health and Wellbeing: Quality education covers
the aspect of mental and physical well being that would improve health outcomes
of the nation. It will also help in reducing the prevalence of suicides in
children especially due to severe educational stress.
Reaping Demographic
Dividend: India
has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below
the age of 35. This requires delivery of quality education to children or else
be prepared to face the brunt of demographic disaster.
Curbing Regional Divide: Some states like U.P and
Bihar lack in education levels versus states like Kerala and Karnataka. Further
delivery of education is better in urban areas in comparison to rural regions.
This gap needs to be addressed by focusing on quality education for all.
Tackling Social Problems: The lack of quality
education makes children prone to social evils like Child Labour and Child
Marriage. Ensuring quality education will ensure higher retention and decrease
dropout rates in schools. As per the latest Unified District Information System
for Education Plus (UDISE+ 2019-20) report nearly 30% of the students don‘t transition from secondary to senior secondary
level.
Adapting to Technological
Advancements:
The 21st century would be an era of Big data, Machine Learning (ML), Internet
of Things (IoT) and other technological advancements. This means the
curriculum, textbooks, pedagogy, and assessment need to be transformed.
Realization of Fundamental
rights:
The Constitution of India has provided many fundamental rights like free
speech, equality before law, freedom of religion etc. All these rights can be
enjoyed in true sense only when a person has been imparted with quality
education.
What steps have been taken
by the Government for Quality Education?
Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009: It provides free and compulsory elementary
education to children. It ensures realization of fundamental rights under Article
21-A.
National Education Policy 2020: It envisions a shift from the traditional teacher centered to
learner-centric approach. The policy stresses on the core principles that
education must develop. It includes the cognitive
skills – both ‗foundational skills‘ of literacy and numeracy, and
‗higher-order‘ skills such as critical thinking and problem solving.
It also focuses on social and emotional skills– also referred to as ‗soft skills‘, including cultural
awareness and empathy, perseverance and grit, teamwork etc.
Samagra Siksha Abhiyan: It is an overarching centrally sponsored scheme for school education
that sees learning as a continuum from pre-primary to higher secondary with
focus on contextual, experiential, and
holistic learning. It subsumed the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored
Schemes of SSA, RMSA and Teacher Education.
Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA):
It aims to connect school-based knowledge to life outside the school, and
making learning of Science and Mathematics a joyful and meaningful activity.
Performance Grading Index (PGI): A comprehensive 70
indicator-based matrix has been
developed to grade the States/UTs, against certain common benchmarks and
provide them a roadmap for making improvements.
National Initiative for School Heads‘ and Teachers‘
Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA): It is a first of its kind teacher training programme wherein the
Government of India, through its academic bodies, NCERT and NIEPA, is taking a
lead role in changing the landscape of inservice teacher training.
National Initiative For Proficiency in Reading with
Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat): It was launched in July 2021, to ensure that every child in the
country attains Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) at Grade 3 by 2026-27.
PM eVidya: It is a comprehensive
initiative under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Programme, which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air
education to enable coherent multi-mode
access to education.
It includes access to a variety of e-resources in 33 languages
including Indian
Sign
Language over DIKSHA (One nation; One digital platform), Swayam Prabha DTH TV channels (One
Class; one channel for class 1 to 12), Extensive use of Radio, Community radio,
and Podcast – ShikshaVani.
What are the gaps in our
current education system?
Excessive focus on rote
learning:
The curriculum tries to encourage memorisation of text rather than cultivating
a conceptual understanding of issues.
Exams define intelligence: The current system
equates passing of exams and exam scores with a student‘s intelligence level.
There is an excessive focus on completing the exam cycle rather than learning
experience.
Discourages Creativity: Parents and teachers want
to see children as doctors, engineers, bureaucrats etc. Children are rarely
encouraged to pursue creative fields like writers, artists or adopt any other
vocational skill.
Barriers
for poor sections: Good quality private schools are not present in rural regions while
the fees are very high in urban regions. Further, the 25% reservation for EWS
candidates in private schools has also been bypassed by many schools.
Bias against Persons with
Disabilities: They
are often seen as a liability by many teachers and their special needs are
generally ignored.
Coaching Culture: The proliferation of
coaching institutions shows the deteriorating quality of education in India.
Many school teachers also engage in teaching in coaching institutions after
regular school hours for extra compensation.
Lack of Vernacular content: Good quality books and
material is still unavailable in the vernacular medium that creates hardships
for many students and impedes learning.
What are the constraints
impeding delivery of quality education?
Financial Crunch: A recent World Bank study
notes that India spent 14.1 % of its budget on education, compared to 18.5% in
Vietnam and 20.6% in Indonesia, countries with similar levels of GDP. This
hinders creation of quality infrastructure and retention of good talent in the
education sector.
Quality of Personnel: The quality of teachers
in many schools is still not up to the mark. Further, many teachers struggle to
deliver lectures through the online medium as observed during the pandemic.
Digital Divide: The digital systems of
many schools and universities are using obsolete technology. Further, many
universities lack basic infrastructure to deliver quality education thereby
impeding delivery in hinterland regions. Similarly many people don‘t have
access to digital devices like mobile phones and internet routers.
Adult Illiteracy: The lack of adult
literacy allows individuals to focus on short term incomes via child labour and
forgo long term good career options after inculcation of quality education.
Further, many are unable to
operate the digital devices that hampered their children‘s education during
the pandemic times.
What are the remedial
measures?
First, the Government should adopt a new system of education
that is fair, robust, and removes the dependency on time-tabled exams. This is
required to tackle any future pandemics or contingencies like disasters that
disrupt the normal cycle. A mix of hybrid (online + offline) teaching should be
promoted.
Second, the focus should be on learning through activities, discovery, and
exploration in a child-friendly and child-specific manner.
Third, the assessment of students must be based on an integrated approach
rather than mere textbook exams. Under this weightage should be given to
indicators like peer interaction, curiosity potential, creativity acumen etc.
Fourth, to implement all these
measures there is a need to support the education sector with adequate
budgetary resources. Hence, it is important to increase the share of education
to 6% of GDP as envisaged by NEP
2020.
The Government should make a significant headway from earlier policies
by putting quality education as the top most agenda, strengthening the
foundations of education, catering to the educational needs of the most
disadvantaged, and making it a global leader in education. All this is desired
to truly realize the vision of ‗Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas‘.
APOLITICAL EDUCATION
―Education
is our safety, outside this ark, everything is a deluge‖ –Horace Mann
Since
the dawn of civilization, the man had the urge to educate himself and discover
the secrets hidden underneath the surface as of even, above them. Mans‘s
sappetite to know more had been the first step to educate themselves. With
years, the craving to discover and invent heightened and formal institutes were
set up. India, the land of divinity hosts the presence of one of the oldest
universities in the world. This age has been classified as the Golden Age in
ancient learning. With advancements, the education system in India evolved.
In
the process of evolution, India lost its title of the global educator. The
colonialization of India and its aftermath had affected the priorities of
people. Now, the priorities were to meet the ends and have food, shelter;
education had taken a backseat. After several years of independence, India
stands at a 74.04% literacy rate. Ironically, many educationists have called
India a land of rapid literacy growth but stagnant educated mass. Several
reasons for this asymmetric growth have been observed, but, the most notable
one is the intervention of politics.
The
idea of political intervention is a big no, because political stand changes
after every five years, but, education is an everlasting impact. Taking a
political stance creates torrents of waves and biased views, which in turn
creates a sense of fake patriotism. It is not a veiled thing that rival
political parties would condemn each other thought process. But, that rivalry
is limited to politics though, such a radical mindset can‘t be undone in the
minds of students. The most critically acclaimed textbooks, by NCERT, had faced
such backlash by politicians for missing out certain nationalists. This was not
the job of political leaders to intervene in an educational framework and
caused a massive uproar. This is an example enough to prove that political
intervention is not required in the educational sector.
In
the tender age, full of youthfulness, students should rather focus on the
development at the grassroots level.
Education
and politics would go hand-in-hand if a mind develops enough to understand that
they are being used as pawns and will be sacrificed in the fire of dirty
politics. The original reality is often hidden from the naive eyes of students
and seditious speeches cause enough damage to their already brimming adulthood.
The politics are often done at the cost of dead martyrs which indeed is the
most degrading truth.
A
youth dominant nation like India which has capabilities to make a vast
difference in the world order sadly is entangled in the political mess. Indians
have been subjected to mediocre teaching systems due to this massive
intervention, in one way or the other. Many bright minds prefer tp study abroad
because they can‘t withstand the whirlwind of politics. They get massive
success but they don‘t prefer to return. Such questions should haunt the
leaders of India and active measures should be taken to improve the situation.
Politics
and patriotism should not be presented as the same for young students as it
takes the necessary element of education. Many bright minds go unnoticed due to
political patronage. This is very unfair to students and an immediate solution
must be provided as ―Padhega India tabhi toh Badhega India.‖
―Change Is The Result Of All True Learning.‖
Introduction:
You can
start the introduction through following ways:
• Start with a general
introduction/an anecdote/an example/a short story/a poem/ etc. about change and
how learning influences it.
• Define Change for an
individual and society.
• Define what True Learning
is.
o
Give various perspectives.
For
example – According to Mahatma Gandhi true learning is the one which trains
heart, hand and head.
Thesis Statement:
• It is a transition
statement between introduction and body of the essay.
• In thesis statement, you
should write outline of the body with your own arguments. You should prove
these arguments in body of the essay with relevant examples.
Body of the essay:
• Discuss why change is needed for an individual and society.
o
Mention social evils in society that require a change in the behavior
of people.
§ Examples: Child Marriage,
Caste marriage, gender inequality etc.
o
Mention changes required at the individual level.
§ Examples: High rate of
corruption, anger management, intoxicant consumption, lethargic attitude etc
o
Mention how change is inevitable and how young minds are like hot iron
which can be molded for better.
• Explain how change can be achieved with true learning? Discuss both
Individual and Social perspective. Give examples and quotations.
o
How can true learning help in understanding about the
necessity/requirement of the change?
o
Example – How Modern Western education made Indians realize about the
importance of values like liberty, equality and freedom. How this understanding
led to various Socio-religious movements demanding change? One can also mention
how learning these values further enhanced the desire for Freedom and helped in
India‘s struggle for freedom i.e. regime change.
o
Explain how true learning can help in developing a desire for change
and in working towards the change.
o
True learning can also give impetus on how to develop human values.
• Discuss how change is an ongoing process and not an event.
o
Also, discuss how learning is at the core of this process.
§ From the entire cycle of
initiation of change to the conclusion to new requirements.
§ Value education
§ Indian ancient education
system can help develop true learning
§ Change can make individuals
and society better.
o
Change helps to enhance
learning.
§ Explain that learning is a
continuous process and how change influences the learning process.
§ Example – Development of
environmentalism, how several changes in the environment have forced mankind to
learn about Environment.
o
Discuss other aspects,
apart from true learning, that influences the change.
§ Role of motivation.
§ Role of consistency.
§ Role of the surrounding
environment and other factors.
o
Challenges in the process
of change and learning.
§ Discuss how false learning
can lead to change in the wrong direction.
§ Change takes time and
sometimes there are no considerable results even after several attempts.
§ Lack of other essentials
like – motivation, consistency etc.
§ Resistance from an existing
environment to change and the role of learning.
• Suggest measures to achieve true learning to promote change.
o
Making learning a lifelong process. o Making education more holistic and practical.
o
Imparting value education which can inculcate empathy, tolerance etc in
the society.
o
Clarifying the role of stakeholders ie., individual, family, school and
state. etc
Conclusion:
• Conclude with a positive
perspective on how true learning helps in change
INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Context:
• Internationalization of
higher education has been a cherished dream of foreign universities operating
in India by providing conducive conditions and an enabling framework for such
institutions.
• But the idea failed to come
to fruition due to the concerns of the regulatory authorities and governments
in India as well as the foreign higher educational institutions.
Problems faced by foreign
universities:
• Foreign universities are
concerned about the potential adverse effect of setting up offshore campuses
with their accreditation, ranking and reputation.
• Truly reputed higher
educational institutions operate on a not-for-profit basis and have no
materialistic motives to go offshore.
• A few countries that have
such offshore campuses had to hard-sell the institutions the idea by leasing
land at almost no cost, bearing the bulk of infrastructure cost and promising
them the academic, administrative and financial autonomy that they enjoy in
their home country.
Get the idea going:
• Past setbacks
notwithstanding, the idea of having world-class universities establish and
operate their campuses in India has been so compelling that the National
Education Policy (NEP) 2020 provided that ―selected universities e.g., those
from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate
in India.
• A legislative framework
facilitating such entry will be put in place, and such universities will be
given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms
on par with other autonomous institutions of India.‖
• Even though the NEP
favoured a ―legislative framework‖, the idea is being executed through a
regulatory route by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
• There seems to be
determination to get the idea going, even if it amounts to some dilution in
standards.
Going abroad:
• Students do not go abroad
for degrees alone; they also go for the experience, post-study work visas,
income opportunities and better career prospects.
• Most critically, as they
are able to finance a good part of their education abroad through jobs,
assistantships and scholarships, they find it more economical.
• Further it was stated that
foreign universities in India would stop the outflow of $28-30 billion in
foreign exchange.
Conclusion:
• India needs to have an
enabling framework for the entry and operation of foreign higher educational
institutions to ensure that the best of the best set up their campuses in the
country.-----------------
Essay
Topic: Education
―Education
is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.‖ Nelson Mandela
―Live
as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.‖ Mahatma
Gandhi
―Children
must be taught how to think, not what to think.‖ Margaret Mead
―Education
is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learnt in school.‖
Einstein
Intelligence
plus character - that is the goal of true ed
Education
that does not mould the character is absolutely worthless. – 
To
educate a person in mind a
–
―Educating
the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.‖ - Marti
Education and the future of a country
SEPTEMBER
21, 2020
Education
is critical for economic development as well as human and social interaction
within society. Economic development without substantial investment in human
capital is unsustainable. Education enriches people‘s understanding of
themselves and the world. The level of education among the people determines
the quality of life in a society. Without education or quality education, there
will be higher poverty, lower economic development, and lower quality of life.
Therefore, to have a happy and prosperous economic and social society, the
majority must be educated. Few things in life are more important than an
education. Developed countries worldwide have welldeveloped educational systems
and opportunities for higher education, which helps the citizens of those
countries obtain higher-paying jobs and a better quality of life.
Further,
the education of girls and women is the most effective investment for creating
conditions for better family health and nutrition, improved birth control,
lower infant and child mortality, and enhanced educational attainment of
children.
Education
level varies among countries for many reasons, such as economic development,
poverty, government corruption, and level of democracy. Each hurts or helps the
educational quality provided in a country. Developing and underdeveloped
countries do not have the resources to provide universal education.Developing
and underdeveloped countries have higher poverty. Poor people cannot afford to
send their children to schools, and many do not appreciate a need for
education. The level of corruption determines how much the bureaucrats siphon
off, leaving less for the education of children. The level of democracy
determines how much people can influence the policies of the government. If
people have more say, then the government is more likely to listen and provide
resources for public needs.
Pakistan will always be a developing country having to deal with an
expanding population due to uneducated people, relying on the export of
Pakistanis to earn money for Pakistan that is spent on useless projects, and
continually borrowing money that the country can never repay
Currently,
countries are ranked by education standards using a compilation of scores on
three equally weighted attributes:1)the country has a well-developed public
education system, 2)people would consider attending university there, and 3)
the country provides top-quality education. Using these attributes, the
European Union, Canada, and the United States have the highest education standards.
Some
organizations use factors such as literacy or graduation rates to determine
which nations have the best education systems. For example, the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) looked at the number of people
between 25 and 64 who have completed a vocational program or received a two- or
four-year degree. These data were then used to determine which countries have
the most educated population.
Based
on this data, Canada is the most educated nation, having over 56% of adults
continue their education past high school. Coming in second is Japan, with over
50% of adults completingsome form of post-high school education. Israel is
next, with 49.9% of adults finishing a higher-education program. Other nations
ranked highlybased on these data include South Korea, United Kingdom, United
States, Australia, Finland, Norway, and Luxembourg. Other organizations such as
U.S. News and World Report and the Business Insideralso measure education
standards. Their rankings may vary but are consistent with OECD.
Nations
with poor educational systemsthat are considered the world‘s worst educational
systems include Burma, Central African Republic, Dominican Republic, Equatorial
Guinea, Georgia, Liberia, Libya, Monaco, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Zambia.
Pakistan‘s
education systemis considered the worst among 200 countries. It requires a
complete overhaul if its education is to be worth anything. Instead, no one in
Pakistan understands how to educateor what a quality education even is. For
example, as I was writing this Op-Ed, DAWN had a news item, ―Reforms Initiative
Introduced to Improve Quality of Education in School, Colleges‖ (Aug. 13,
2020). The suggested reforms are laughable as none will improve the quality of
education. For example, the list of reforms consists of measuring students‘
personality development, setting up Urdu and English clubs and debating club,
setting up news media, coaching to pass exams, planting trees, learning to code
and a foreign language, implementing courtesy rules for staff, providingfor the
needs of staff members‘surviving family members, and ensuring that a
significant number attend funeral prayers.
Countries
with fewer educated citizens and low quality of education also have lower
economic development, lower quality of life, and higher population growth. All
of these factors further impede economic growth and quality of life.
Education
is an essential determinant of economic well-being. The economic theory of
growth emphasizes at least three mechanisms through which education may affect
economic growth. First, education can increase human capital, causing an
increase in labor productivity and thus higher growth in output. Second,
education increases innovation, which further spurs growth due to new
technologies, products, and processes. Third, education increases the ability
to diffuse and transmit the knowledge needed to understand and process new
information and implement new technologies devised by others to promote
economic success.
Education
in Pakistan faces many issues that it cannot solve. Currently, millions of
children are not in school, and those who are lack proper classroom facilities,
such as electricity, bathrooms, adequately trained teachers, and appropriate
curriculum and other materials needed for learning. Thus, some of those in
school may drop out. These deficiencies contribute to widespread illiteracy,
and even those who may make it through the system receive a low quality of
education.
In
addition, educational opportunity does not exist in many rural areas. If it
does, many cannot take advantage of it due to social and economic hardships,
leaving them at a disadvantage compared to those in urban areas and those
having economic means. In addition, many girls and women do not receive an
education due to social stigma or religious limitations.
All
these hardships make it harder for a young child to deal with and low-income
families to overcome. As a result, many children drop out, increasing
illiteracy in Pakistan and further compounding the social, economic, and
religious problems. Due to high illiteracy, more and more people marry at an
early age, causing tremendous population growth. As a result, more people
require more resources to support, which leaves less for economic development
and educating children. This cycle of illiteracy causes population growth,
requiring more resources for unproductive needs, causing more population
growth, and so on. The vicious cycle will never end and will force Pakistan
into more debt and destruction.
The
vicious cycle of lack of education causes little or no economic development,
and low economic development creates a lack of education. Thus, Pakistan will
always be a developing country having to deal with an expanding population due
to uneducated people, relying on the export of Pakistanis to earn money for
Pakistan that is spent on useless projects, and continually borrowing money
that the country can never repay.
Will
Pakistan ever learn the root causes of its problems and how to solve them? If
not, Pakistan, as a country, will never come out of poverty and will be a
country of perpetual borrower asking for loans. It seems that Pakistan has
still not realized that it is ina dire situation, and things are getting worse.
For example, a recent news report said that Pakistan has had to borrow a
billion dollars from China to pay the debt it owed to Saudi Arabia. I wonder
how long Pakistan expects these countries to provide a lending hand to rescue
it. Someday, one of these countries may say enough is enough and tell Pakistan
to take care of its problems, or they may even demand it repay almost $110
billion debt or Rs.18,150 billion debt, which Pakistan does not have.
As
is well known, relying on loans from ―friendly‖ countries that may be at their
last straw,and that could likely tell Pakistan to save itself or declare
bankruptcy. Unfortunately, by declaring bankruptcy, it will have no resources
to help the people and will put Pakistan in a further vicious cycle of poverty,
illiteracy, and no economic development. There is no hope for Pakistan unless
the people and the politicians wake up and realize that the end is near.
The Future of Education in Pakistan
Making
a Difference: Learning and Development Professional
Pakistan
and its people are experiencing another crucial period in social and political
terms. Although it is not for the first time, this time over, it is harder,
obvious, and more dangerous. Our economy, our ways of life, and opportunities
depend on the decisions of our leaders and civilians‘ demands. Right now, it
seems, both have other priorities and are unaware of the storm in the making.
International economy experts are comparing the situation with what it was in
Brazil, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. 1947, 1951, 1965, 1971, 1979, 1984, 1991, and now
2021; the future of Pakistan is under some heavy clouds again. We have issues
like illiteracy, poverty, corruption, diseases, water scarcity, and population
explosion.
However
meager the situation may be, the one component that can change it, and the one
thing that is closely associated with all the core problems of Pakistan is
EDUCATION. Education now has to play a more significant role than ever before
in Pakistan. From the inception to date, we have been experimenting with
different models and are, perhaps, still confused about education policies,
curriculum, and medium of instruction. Our values, culture, and ideology have
been forged at more than five divergent types of educational systems. No one
knows what is good or real or bad or fake, and what is more painful is that
nobody seems to be bothered. Education has gone through an extraordinary and
revolutionary change around the globe whereas, in Pakistan, we are still
lurking to launch the so-called modern teaching methods of the 1980s. Education
in Pakistan must return to a focus after all the experiments, doubts, and
vicissitudes that we have undergone over the past decades.
This
should change, has to change, and must change before it is too late. There are
many areas of improvement but, the three most significant challenges we are
facing are:
a) the arrangement for a fair,
uniform, and flexible, humanistic education,
b) teaching our students to
think and act, and
c) train our teachers for
teaching for the future.
A) Humanistic education and professional, ethical training
The
humanistic approach means to engage the students with thinking skills, social
skills, emotions, intellect, arts, and practical skills as part of their
training. For years now, some of the schools in Pakistan have been taking the
initiative to offer humanistic education to the new generations of learners.
The purpose is to take the learning out of the classrooms (or bring the world
into the classrooms). In the current context of swift and spasmodic changes in
the academic, family, society, industry, economics, technology, and cultures,
schools must pay attention to the main themes of 21stcentury education. Schools
have to modernize on all levels, from teaching methods and teacher training to
new assessment methods.
B) Teaching students to think, act and lead
The
global society is ever more dependent on technology and knowledge has not been
an issue in modern times. It is searching for the specific content and deciding
how to tailor it and use it to purpose. As a consequence, a significant number
of skills taught at school have become obsolete. With the enormous amount of
information available and the power of social media, it is essential to make
them learn how to think for themselves, develop their own criteria to
understand how the world works. Moreover, due to the menace caused by
technology and artificial intelligence to the present work routine and the
welfare of people, the world needs professionals that have the key human
qualities like initiative, lateral thinking, empathy, constructivism,
creativity, persuasion, and the ability to see one step ahead.
C) Training the trainers
Teacher
training is important for teachers as continuous professional development is a
critical part of the teaching-learning process. Good teachers put an emphasis
on updating their knowledge and skill in creating an atmosphere conducive to
learning. One of the biggest mistakes a teacher makes is to think she could
successfully teach her students the same way her teachers taught her. Time,
professional requirements, and the challenges of life are changing faster than
you think. The future is not what it used to be, as they say. Teachers must
stand in their student‘s shoes and perceive the need in 10-15 years from now.
Teach them into the future and train them for the times to come instead of
pulling them back to the past where your teachers were teaching you.
In
conclusion, despite the testing political and economic situation, education can
and will solve the majority of challenges faced by the nation. Since a school
is the first landmark in a student‘s professional life, representing the time
and space to grow academically and socially, it must prepare them for a
successful life into the future. Consequently, education must be reformed
towards the current as well as future requirements of the family, society,
businesses, and the world. Pakistan needs tolerance, civility, mindfulness, and
leadership, and this leadership must be inspired at home and at school.
Education System Of Pakistan Essay
The
Mukabbir Schools had organized an essay competition titled, ―Education System
of
Pakistan.‖
This was done to understand the view of students regarding education in
Pakistan.
Although
many students wrote outstanding essays we are going to list the essay that was
in simple words. This essay was also most relative to the topic and stood out
the most among others.
Importance of education for a nation:
― The main hope of a nation
lies In the proper education of its youth‖Erasmus.
For
any country, the literacy rate determines its success.
The
more educated the people are, the more the country will progress.
Thus,
a country needs to have an advanced education system that provides quality
education to its students and focuses on their well-being. It is important
because children are the future of a country.
Education system of Pakistan:
Unfortunately
for us, the education system of Pakistan is not very good. In fact, since its
independence, Pakistan has been facing critical problems regarding the
education system and is not paying much attention to it.
If
Pakistan wants to progress, then it must pay attention to its educational
system. Japan is a prime example of gaining progress through education.
Japan
has always been very strict regarding its educational system and keeps the
students a top priority.
This
strategy has gained them a lot of progress and today Japan is one of
the world‘s most developed countries in the economic field.
Although
we are also seeing some increase in the current literacy rate of Pakistan
(almost 60%), the changes are way too low.
Keeping
in mind the current economic situation of Pakistan, the education system of
Pakistan has been affected the most.
Problems in the education
system of Pakistan:
Insufficient attention to
primary classes:
One
of the main problems is that the faculties of these institutions are not
implementing the education policies set by the government.
Many
of the schools don‘t pay much attention to the primary level, not knowing that
it makes the base of the student.
The burden of studies for
higher classes:
So
much stress is put into higher education. The institutions are more focused on
getting their profit.
For
this purpose, they are feeding countless information in their brains which the
students are forced to swallow.
They
only teach them to get good grades in the papers. As a result, students are
also focused on getting good grades rather than attaining knowledge.
Expensive institutions:
Especially,
private institutions have become so greedy for money. For colleges and
universities, the fees can go up to more than lacs per semester.
For
the government institutions, the merit for fields like medicine is increasing
day by day. Thus, our educational system is also too focused on grades rather
than skills and willingness to learn.
Pakistan
is not an economically strong country. Most of the people cannot afford these
expensive feeses. Thus, it is high time the government of Pakistan does something
about it.
Barrier-building
institutions:
Instead
of uniting the nation, the education
system of Pakistan is only building barriers due to different categories of education.
Cambridge
schools only teach international syllabus and are highly expensive. Then we see
the English medium schools that teach Pakistani syllabus but in English. These
schools are also very expensive.
Then
comes the Madarassah which gives religious teachings but does not focus on
other educational aspects. And lastly, we have our government institutions that
teach the syllabus in Urdu.
The
government system should be at the top to encourage the study in Urdu to
maintain the identity of Pakistan. These different categories are creating
barriers making the government students seem less educated.
Ways to improve the
educational system of Pakistan:
If
the government starts to focus on its education system, almost all problems of
Pakistan can be solved. We should not play with the future of the children.
We
should set aside all of the politics and focus on the education system for the
success of our country. There are several ways we can do so:
Same curriculum:
There
should be only one curriculum followed by every institution, no matter private
or government.
This
will help to keep every child equal and hence they will be able to avail
themselves of equal opportunities in the future.
The
government should keep a close eye on the institutions to check whether the
same curriculum is being taught.
Up to date syllabus:
The
curriculum should be advanced at least yearly. We should keep the syllabus up
to date according to the advancements especially in the fields of science.
Skillful
teachers:
Teachers
should be hired based on their skills to make the syllabus easy. They should
have a simple manner of teaching.
Many
teachers are highly qualified but their explanatory skills are very weak. Also,
more teachers should be hired so that they are not burdened.
Currently,
a teacher had to teach 30-40 students in a class which can be quite stressful.
This number should be decreased to at least half so that teachers can teach
easily.
Focus on primary level:
Attention
should be given to the primary level. They form the foundation of a student.
Thus
basic teachings should be given to the students that will help to groom their
personalities and increase their confidence.
Lower the fees:
The
fees of all the institutions (private and government) should be lessened to
lighten the burden of parents.
Primary
education should be made free of cost. Scholarships should be given to bright
students or to the ones who cannot afford the fees.
Education without any
discrimination:
Another
important step is to raise awareness about the importance of education. Many
children especially girls are not able to get educated due to family traditions
or poverty.
Some
are not given admission due to their race or religion.
Thus,
it is important to take steps. We should go to such areas and teach them about
the importance of education.
According
to Nelson Mandela,
‖ Education is the most
powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.‖
Other
than these amazing competitions, Mukabbir Schools also hosts sports
activities in schools that are essential for a student‘s growth.
Conclusion:
Education
is the backbone of a country but unfortunately, our country fails to understand
it.
However,
it is our duty as citizens of Pakistan that if we want to see our country
successful, we should raise our voices for the future of our children.
If
we work together along with the government, then one day our country will
certainly be among the most developed countries.----------------
--
The Future of Education in Pakistan: Trends and
Predictions for 2023 and Beyond
Table of Contents
• Current State of Education in Pakistan
• Trends in Education: Digitalization and
Personalization
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning in
Education
• Importance of STEM Education for Pakistan‘s Future
• Vocational Education and Job Skills for the Future
• Education Policy Reforms and Challenges
• 
The Role of Teachers and Education Professionals in
the Future
• Preparing for a Future-Oriented Education System in Pakistan
Current State of Education in Pakistan
The
education system in Pakistan is facing various challenges and difficulties that
include low enrolment rates, high dropout rates, poor infrastructure, low
quality education, etc. In rural areas and marginalised communities, these
problems are more dominant especially for girls and children from low-income
households. The current literacy rate in Pakistan is 60% according to UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) which is less than the
average of South Asia. When the quality of education is not up to par, the
graduates do not have the required knowledge for employment or further
education.
Apart
from the infrastructure related issues, there are also disparities related to
gender and socio-economic status which means that only children from wealthier
backgrounds are receiving a satisfactory standard of education that
enables them to compete in the global market. Although the government is taking
steps to ensure that all children receive good education, there is still a lot
to be done. In this blog, we will be looking at the current trends in the
education system and what the future is looking like for the education
industry.
Trends in Education: Digitalization
and Personalization
As
the modes of education are transforming worldwide, Pakistan has adapted to the
changes as well, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are more online learning platforms,
online courses and interactive digital services available for students to learn
through. Educators are also recognising
the need for personalisation needed in education because each student responds
differently to different styles of teaching according to their abilities,
interests and needs. Based on this, some schools are experimenting with
personalised learning approaches but there is need for growth in this area.
Digitalisation
of education is still something that needs to be developed because all students
do not have access to high speed internet. Moreover, personalised learning
approaches also can not be applied as the teachers are still more accustomed to
traditional styles so the stakeholders and policy makers will have to be
involved to improve this.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning in
Education
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are still in their early stages in the education system of Pakistan but
there have been some very promising developments. The main application of these
two technological advances is personalised learning as AI-powered system tailor
learning paths for the individual needs of students. This improves the
engagement of students. AI and ML also help teachers as it helps them analyse
the data from student assessments and identify areas of improvement. Outside of
the classroom, AI chatbots can give quick and prompt attention to students.
Importance of STEM Education for Pakistan‘s Future
STEM education, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, is crucial for the economic
growth and development of Pakistan as it can create a more skilled workforce
and promote innovation to address societal challenges.
When
students are provided quality STEM education, they can seek careers in
high demand fields all over the world like computer science, engineering and
biotechnology so job opportunities will increase for them. STEM education also
teaches students to solve problems creatively and this is essential for
entrepreneurship and the economic development of the country. Healthcare,
agriculture and infrastructure can be improved by the advent of cutting-edge
technologies as well. Overall, STEM education will deal with the rapidly
transforming society and provide innovative solutions that will help Pakistan
compete in the global economy.
Vocational Education and Job Skills for the Future
Skilled
workers are required in various industries of Pakistan and it is crucial for
the future of education in Pakistan. Job skills are required in healthcare, IT
and manufacturing so job-specific training is required to cover the workforce
skill gap. Vocational education is also important to reduce unemployment in the
country and provide students with hands-on training that can improve their
practical skills. This can also lead to successful entrepreneurship which
creates more jobs and economic stability. As many jobs are getting replaced by Artificial
Intelligence, it has become essential to train the workforce for jobs that will
still exist in the future and this will future-proof their careers.
Education Policy Reforms and Challenges
Pakistan
has been striving to implement policies that promote access to education and
improve the quality of education. The National Education Policy 2017 aims to
give equitable access to education and improve its quality at primary,
secondary and higher education level. Furthermore, the Right to Education 2012
has made education compulsory for all children between the age of 5 and 16. 4%
of the GDP is also dedicated to the education budget. Still there is much more
that needs to be done by the government to put stronger emphasis on increasing
enrolment rates and reducing the rural-urban divide.
The Role of Teachers and Education Professionals in
the Future
Teachers
and educators can contribute to the future of Pakistan‘s education system in
the following ways:
• Teachers can use innovative
methods of teaching in their classes and developing updated and relevant
curriculum to provide students with hands-on learning opportunities
• By continued professional
development, teachers can stay up to date with the latest trends in education
and practices. They can attend workshops, conferences and other training programs to
do so
• Integrating technology in
the classroom is important to engage the students nowadays as it enhances the
learning experience
Preparing for a Future-Oriented Education System in
Pakistan
To
prepare for the challenges of tomorrow, Pakistan needs serious educational
reforms to deal with the limited resources and education gap. They should
address the inequality and create policies for long-term practices so that all
communities can participate in building a stronger economy. This can be done by
providing scholarships, financial aid and other support to children from low-income
backgrounds. Government needs to work closely with local communities and fulfil
their specific educational needs by building the right strategies.
In
addition to this, teachers need to be fully ready to deal with the changes in
society by incorporating the latest pedagogical methods to instruct children
and provide quality education for the workforce of the future.
The classroom decides the future of
the Nation
At
the end of the Peloponnesian War Athens won over Sparta. At the end of the Cold
War Capitalism triumphed over Communism. In both cases, David Landes asserted
that it was not naval might, soil richness, or economic affluence but the
dynamic, versatile and competitive educational system that fostered the
national ambitions and quality over the numbers. Many pedagogues and scholars
believe in the 21st Century economic confidence and military prowess is an
essential characteristic for the rise of great power but it is education and
the classroom that decides the prospects of any nation.
History is
replicated by the norms of change from one stage to another that was possible
in the advancement of modes of learning in every phase. It is education and the
classroom that decide the future of states. Pakistan could learn from regional
neighbours in Asia how they rose from ashes to magnificent powers through
education
In
history, the rise, fall, decay, and decline is determined by the education and
literacy of states. Education seeds the conflict of ideas that are a sine qua
non for the sustainable growth and vibrant environment in any social setup.
Certainly the future socio-economic and socio-political development of Pakistan
lies in education, that creates an informed citizenry, sustainable growth, a
culture of inclusivity, green consciousness, and gender normality in the
society. Education through moderate class infrastructure and an enlightened
mechanism of education could foster the seed of competency to deal with wicked
problems of malfunctioning virtues in Pakistan.
- Advertisement -
Neil
Postman computed that education is the integrated matrix to broaden all sectors
of society if it is not marred by the economic industry of maximization of
profits. Classrooms in Pakistan could bring economic affluence. Progressive
education equips individuals with competitive inheritance. The deficit of the
economy can be fulfilled by producing professionals and skilled graduates that
can contribute to the economy of the country effectively. For example, Pakistan
exports labour to Middle East countries for odd jobs while in comparison the
major chunk of European or American professionals belong to India.
It
is because of the difference in education. In Pakistan economic remittance is
based on labour capital while in India capital of the economy is based on the
remittance of professionals. That puts great strain to advance Pakistan at an
equal level to regional forces. Yuval Noah Hariri regarded irrelevance as the
major threat to humanity in the coming century. The incompetent classroom
produces irrelevant examples of individuals for a world that ultimately
declines the relevancy of such individuals in the international arena.
The
classroom can determine the social outcomes of the nations. The cultural
confidence of any nation builds on the premises of education that provides
cultural security in the regional and international realm. China was built from
ashes and it was education that addressed the Chinese previous socio-economic
grievances and embarked them on the journey of glory and grandeur. Furthermore,
this imparted the spirit of competition and confidence to expand their relevance
in the region. It was the classroom back in the Deng Xiaoping Era that
formulated the progressive consciousness. Pakistan can lead as a vibrant nation
if it addresses the educational policy with the effective apparatus and
national ambition to drive out of the abyss.
Environmental
degradation is more lethal than security vulnerability in the 21st century. In
Pakistan, green consciousness is still lagging just like the primary enrolment
of students in schools. Due to lack of consciousness, the sudden vibrational
changes, and ill-informed agriculturalists are facing severe soil infertility
that all are attributed to climatic change.
The
classroom and education can build the consciousness of people to deal with this
issue through mass education at schools. The prospects of environmental
security are dependent on the citizenry being informed through education.
Coming
to other indicators of sustainable development that fiddle the paramount
importance in the makeup of any state and their relevance to the classroom, it
is education that determines the behaviour of people regarding the deficit of
identities in marginalized groups. Gender ghettoization, cultural
marginalization of minorities, lack of pluralism, and establishment of a
non-material culture of transformative values and norms can be addressed
through education. Contemporary education can install leniency and adaptation
to progressive values of enlightenment if the educational system can function
with the mastermind paradigm.
The
world is facing totalitarian tendencies because of the unfulfilled expectations
of many social groups. The rising appeal to emotions and empowerment of
demagoguery in the states is due to the rising neoliberal paradigm of
education. The neoliberal educational system turned the institution of
education into the institution of maximization of profits and flow of capital.
The educational system was meant to cultivate vision rather than ideology,
inform citizens rather than inject citizens with only patriotic instincts and diverse
rather than monoculture individuals.
Here
the struggle for democratic norms for which we lost millions of lives in the
20th Century was overshadowed by malfunctioning practices of education. The
good education and classroom fostered a culture of dissent, rational agency,
and transformation that is not complacent in the modern education system
The
progressive education in Pakistan can address the deficit of democracy by
improving the voting turnout, breeding good politicians, and inclusive state
institutions that are possible through inclusive education without the lust for
maximization of profits but the vision to advance the nation like Singapore.
Democratic
peace theory endorsed that education reduces the chances of war because it is
the education that constructs the consciousness of people to control the
decisions by their will. The wars in history were executed by the ulterior
interests of leaders to claim glory for themselves. The general will of the
people and the social contract of the subject of the state is never concerned
during the war because it is the whims and wishes of impulsive leaders that
advance war.
So
education expands the consciousness through effective educational institutions
that create democratic decision power and people always tend to prioritize
peace over war with regional rivalries. Good education prevents war, peace
prevails and growth becomes possible. After the years of war during the 20th
century, it was the citizens of Europe and the West that decided to end the vicious
war and signed up for peace. This all was possible by the General Will of
people constructed by education.
History
is replicated by the norms of change from one stage to another that was possible
in the advancement of modes of learning in every phase. It is education and the
classroom that decide the future of states. Pakistan could learn from regional
neighbours in Asia how they rose from ashes to magnificent powers through
education.
Education is our future
In a message to All-PakistanEducational Conference at Karachi on
November 27, 1947, Quaid-i-AzamMohammad AliJinnah said: ――There is no doubt
that the future of our State will and must greatly depend upon the type
ofeducation and the way in which we bring up our children as the future
citizens of Pakistan. Education does not merely mean academic education, and even
that appears to be of a very poor type. What we have to do is to mobilize our
people and build up the character of our future generations.‖
This
was indeed a message of prophetic relevance to our nation‘s future. The Quaid
correctly emphasized the critical role education plays in the over-all health
and wellbeing of a modern nation-state. Unfortunately, with misplaced
priorities, we never focused on developing education as a pillar of our
nation-building and as an asset for a modern, progressive and prosperous
Pakistan.Historically, as a public sector responsibility, education in Pakistan
has remained a most neglected sector both in terms of budgetary allocation and
systemic development. It has been among the lowest of our national priorities
with scant attention paid to the need for systemic reform and redressal.
Besides low ratio of budgetary allocations, we suffered an attitudinal
complacence inherent in governmental as well as societal inertia towards our
educational system.With general disdain for knowledge and scholarship, we could
not give education the place that it deserved as a major ―building-block‖ in
the future of our nation. Corrupt bureaucratic hold over the country‘s
education system only aggravated the situation. The ill-conceived
nationalization in the 1970s destroyed not only the industrial and banking
sectors of the country but also radically changed the complexion of our educational
system both in quality and output. Instead of allocating a major share of our
own resources to this primary need, we left education to be funded mostly
through external ―donations.‖Seventy-six percent of government‘s educational
expenditure is met through foreign grants and assistance and Pakistan still
ranks among the 15 worst countries as far as education is concerned. What is
even worse is that access to good education in Pakistan is a privilege
available only to the very few with affluent feudal and elitist ancestry.The
increasing disillusionment with the public sector educational system led to a
phenomenal shift towards private education with mushroom growth of commercially
motivated institutions at all levels. There are, however, conspicuous exceptions
in the private sector, providing high-quality education though with limited
affordability.Regrettably, like every other sector, education in Pakistan has
suffered governmental neglect and mismanagement. Over the decades under almost
all successive governments, numerous studies have been undertaken at the
national as well as international levels to identify the long-standing problems
in our education system and to recommend remedial measures. And yet, our rulers
have been looking for others to come and help them. The last government invited
Britain‘s worldrenowned educationist, Sir Michael Barber to co-chair a task
force on revamping of our education system. No one even bothered to know that
we already have umpteen redribboned reports of several such task forces lying
in our archives without any follow-up or implementation.We already have an
elaborate 'menu' of creative options available to delineate a pragmatic reform
strategy, closely tailored to our country's problems and needs, backed by
requisite resources and political will. But we remain backward in education
only because of our misdirected sense of priorities and governance
miscarriages. Our rulers do need collective ―soul-searching‖ in order to put
education and knowledge at the top of our national priorities. In fact,
education must be made a high strategic priority with its GDP allocation raised
from the current less than two percent to at least five percent to start
with.We also need structural and curricular reforms in our education system to
make it more productive, equitable and coherent. For a successful education
system in our country, we must do away with multiple systems and evolve
countrywide uniform syllabi and curricula. At least this aspect of our
education system must remain a federal responsibility. We can‘t afford any
devolutionary escapades at the cost of national unity and integration. This was
the first recommendation made by Sir Michael Barber in 2011. He cited the
example of many education systems that had made the needed transition
successfully. These included Korea and Malaysia from the 1960s, Minas Gerais a
large province in Brazil and a number of Indian states more recently. Some
provinces of China, such as Shanghai, which topped a recent survey of 60
education systems, have also shown what is possible. Why not Pakistan? We must
be focusing on genuine structural reform in our education system. But till now,
we have not gone beyond lip service to our neglected education sector.
Pakistan‘s population is expected to increase to 350 million by the middle of
this century, and without good education, there is no future for this country.
The
basic parameters for improving our education system include universal coverage
at the schooling level and quality not quantity at the higher education level
with adequate resources and efficient management. The foremost benchmark must
be the constitutional provision that every child in our country is entitled to
a good education A determined effort is needed to overcome the barriers to this
goal that include ―lack of resources, governmental ineptitude and corruption,
political patronage of inefficient and unqualified teachers who don‘t turn up
to work, poor quality facilities and poor quality teaching.‖
In
Punjab, one did see new passion and zeal as a ray of hope. Chief Minister
Shahbaz Sharif, from the very beginning of his first tenure has been focusing
on providing quality education facilities to those who could not otherwise
afford it. His intention was well-meaning and his priority attention to the
educational needs of backward Southern Punjab was also understandable. But he
should have also understood that the very concept of Danish Schools is
privilege-based with no relevance to the needed systemic reform in our
country.We don‘t need any more elite schools (even for the poor) to expand the
―islands of privilege‖ that only symbolize the anachronistic culture of elitism
in our society. It is against the principle of Islamic justice and equality.
The resources allocated to elitist schools would be best utilized for improving
the entire network of government-owned schools by equipping them with basic
facilities that most of them now lack.Instead of wasting government money on
distribution of laptops, we need to provide the basic modern student support
services in public sector schools such as qualified teachers, well-furnished
and well-maintained classrooms, libraries, laboratories and playgrounds.As is
the practice in most countries, our schools at every level must have latest
computers in their libraries for use by students to ensure compulsory computer
literacy as part of IT training with professional support and maintenance from
a non-burearocratic but professionalized IT Directorate to be established in
each province for this purpose
Educating
ourselves for a better Pakistan
It
is said that education builds nations and only an educated nation is the
guarantee to a bright and progressive future. Pakistan is one of those
countries where the education sector is faced with grave challenges.Article
25-A of the Constitution states that ―The State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in
such manner as may be determined by law.‖ Similarly, Article 26 (1) of the UN‘s
Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: ―Everyone has the right to
education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental
stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.‖In practice, however, we see
that education in our country is not a right, but a privilege.In Pakistan,
anyone who can read a newspaper and can write a letter is deemed ‗literate‘.
But can such a person be expected to be able to propel the country on the route
of development?
We
don‘t have enough schools, particularly in rural areas. The majority of schools
that do exist, are such that they do not meet basic international standards of
quality education. This is true especially of government schools.
There
is a sea of difference between government and private-sector schools. English
and Urdu medium schools, along with the British schooling system, only enhance
the class divide.
I
was shocked when a colleague who reports on education told me that all 46
students of a class failed their intermediate exam in a government school in
his village. The story did not end there. The school was running without a
principal and nobody in the education ministry had time to hire staff for the
institution. In fact, the school had been utilising its repair funds to hire
staff.
With
such schools, what kind of future can we expect?My colleague added that in his
village there was no school for girls and the school for boys was miles away.
In
my own village and in the villages nearby, the situation is no different. There
are either no schools and the ones that do exist in name, are hardly
functional.
As
always, before the 2013 elections, I can remember politicians making promises
of enforcing education emergencies and sending children to schools. However,
since 2013 to this day, neither can an education emergency be seen nor have the
children in the streets been sent to schools.
If
this negligence continues, the dream of becoming a progressive nation with
prospects will remain just that — a mere dream.
We
have no reason to hope for better future for our society or country until we
overhaul our educational system, and get away from rote memorization, with all
the emphasis of getting glowing marks instead of producing well rounded,
independent thinking, analytical, curious citizens. What we get in the name of
education is indoctrination and propaganda of official version of everything
that has nothing to do with the universe as it exists. Education shouldn‘t and
doesn‘t end once you finish school, college or university, it begin at birth
and ends only upon our death.
No
one should depend entirely on the established institutions to educate us, it‘s
personal responsibility of each of us to educate ourselves in some way every
day of our lives. If you are lucky enough to come across an opportunity to
teach, grab it with both hands, because in teaching we learn too.
The writer is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Development
and Economic Alternatives, and an associate professor of economics at Lums.
OUR educational outcomes
have never been great. All examination results, sample-based testing of
children and other outcome indicators, show that clearly. And this has been the
case for most of our history in Pakistan.
The Annual Status of Education Reports have been documenting learning
outcomes for at least a decade. Each report shows the dismal state of education
in Pakistan. Even more depressingly, they show there is no improvement trend in
learning outcomes.
We have been somewhat successful in increasing enrolments — more at the
primary level than at the middle and high school level, but there has been some
improvement. The data on learning outcomes, though, is more static.
And then two and a half years ago, we were hit by Covid-19. There were
lockdowns for a period of some months but even when these became more sporadic,
schools remained closed for months more. Schools have had to be closed down a
number of times over these two years.
There is a lot of evidence that has now been gathered that these two
years have set us back substantially in terms of educational outcomes. Many
students did not come back to school when schools reopened. A lot of families
experienced income and employment shocks due to Covid-19; many responded by
pulling their children out of school. Even for those who have been able to come
back, there is substantial ‗learning loss‘ and many children have forgotten
what they had learnt before the crisis hit.
Though there was some effort to cover older ground before going
forward, this effort was not very systematic, organised and widespread. The
effects of learning losses will be with us for some time.
The
losses sustained during school closures and disruption are not recouped easily.
If children have problems in understanding basic concepts, if the
latter have not been covered properly and/or if the children have forgotten
concepts, the students will have problems learning advanced concepts, with
early problems being compounded. So the impact of the learning loss stays with
children for a long time.
This summer we have been as well. Thousands of
schools have been inundated and many damaged. It is not clear when these
schools will be able to start the education process again.
We have evidence from the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake that school
closures have a long-term impact on children‘s education. The losses sustained
during closure and disruption are not recouped easily.
The struggle right now is to provide relief to the millions who have
been impacted by the floods, and rightly so as food, clothing and shelter needs
are of paramount importance. But when the monsoons are over and the waters
recede, the conversation will need to go to rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Getting infrastructure back is hard. It requires a lot of resources and
time. The schools that have been damaged will need expenditure in terms of both
money and time. But this is not the only issue at stake here.
How are we going to get children back to school? Many families have
been wiped out financially by the floods. Relief and rehabilitation/
reconstruction is going to be their first priority. Will they be able to send
their children back to school? When will that happen if they can?
If the children do come back to school, will schools be able to ensure
they are able to repeat some of the work that was done before the floods forced
closures? Will learning losses be removed before children are taught new
things? As mentioned, we do not have a good record of addressing learning
losses. Will it be different this time?
There has been some talk that the Prime Minister‘s Office is mulling
over a relief package for students of the flood-affected areas. This package
might include reducing tuition fees for college-going students in the area and
scholarships as well. But what is being talked about is a) at college and
university level, and b) about making the cost of education less. There has not
been, as of now, any thinking about what will need to happen at the school
level.
What is needed is a detailed plan about how the damaged schools are
going to be rehabilitated or reconstructed. We need cost estimates for this and
we need to figure out where the budgeted amount is going to come from and how
long it would take to rehabilitate schools.
We need to figure out how we are going to get all the children back in
school. Will this require conditional cash transfers or similar incentives or
will public campaigns suffice? The provincial departments of education need to
start work on what the closure will imply for what should be taught when
children do get back to school. Which learning objectives will need repetition
and/or reinforcement, how much of the course would need to be repeated, and
when we move forward which learning objectives might have to be dropped? What should
be the pace of teaching for the first few months?
There is already some literature that suggests that one of the reasons
for the low quality of education is that we try to teach too much to students
and too fast. Teachers worry more about covering the syllabus than about what
students learn. If we try to do all the course work that was being planned
before the floods came, we are going to compound the problem. We hope the
departments of education will start work on the issue now so that we are ready with
optimal plans by the time schools start again.
Access to quality education has been an issue for us throughout.
Covid-19 made the problem a lot worse and now we have been hit by floods as
well. This is going to create a whole cohort of children who will be lost to
education. To minimise the negative impact, we have to plan now. The writer is a senior research
fellow at the Institute of Develop
A system
dynamics study of Pakistan's education system: Consequences for governance
Abstract
Purpose
Marred by complex internal and external pressures, Pakistan's education
system struggles to move ahead. This paper uses system dynamics (SD) to analyze
this complexity and identifies leverage points and intervention strategies for
change.
Methodology
An SD approach suggests that meaningful understanding comes from
building up a big picture of phenomena. Causal loop diagrams (CLDs) are
utilized to describe and explain the present system and helps to suggest
actions that can be taken in the present that will impact the long term.
Findings
Three factors are identified in terms of having the greatest impact in
this area. We conclude that in order to reduce dependence on the military and
foreign aid, it is imperative for Pakistan to turn its attention to its
education sector.
Practical implications
The implementation of the suggested strategies could arrest the vicious
cycles occurring at present within the education sector. Consequently, the
education sector could gradually be mended, inducing positive knock-on effects
on the economy and the country as a whole.
Originality
Each of the factors that have been identified have been examined
separately in their role in advancing the education system; however, by
utilizing this methodology, this paper attempts to bring a ―system
understanding‖ to a long-standing problem.
INTRODUCTION
Despite sweeping promises by a succession of governments to improve
Pakistan's education system (Khalid & Khan, 2006), more than 60 years on Pakistan still possesses a dilapidated
education system (Ali, Hakim, & Abdullah, 2017). This is an education system, which is rife with corruption, lacks a
national curriculum or qualified teachers, and fails to produce any
international confidence in its graduates (Iqbal, 2010; Malik & Hassan, 2015).
Education provides an invaluable foundation for reducing poverty and
enhancing social development (E Saqib, Panezai, Ali, & Kaleem, 2016; Memon, Joubish, & Khurram, 2010). Since its inception as a state in 1947, Pakistan has struggled to
keep up with its peers in many respects. Especially, Pakistan's education
system has led to a stagnating economy and instable government, which, in turn,
has left Pakistan unable to move forward (Ahmad, Said, Hussain, & Khan, 2014; Chaudhary, Iqbal, & Gillani, 2009). Since its independence more than 60 years ago, the state of Pakistan
has been shaky at best, marred with political unrest, experienced rampant
corruption, and produced a dismal education sector. Under various military and
nonmilitary governments, the economy has crept forward slowly, but the gap
between Pakistan and the modern world is growing, as is the distance between
Pakistan and those states it considers its peers and competitors. Furthermore,
the education system is heavily politicized, which means there is little
emphasis on the quality of education and the contribution that education may
have towards improving the economy. In a country in which there are only 100
000 people in tertiary institutions at any given time is poor when compared
with the 700 000 people in tertiary institutions in Iran, a country with a
similar population (Cohen, 2004).
The ramifications of the education system being left in its present
state provide many problems for Pakistan internally as well as externally.
Internally, the increase in unemployment and a lack of an educated workforce
encourages poverty and crime, which perpetuates corruption and places greater
pressure on the government. Externally, the international community continues
to perceive Pakistan as a breeding ground for terrorists, again placing
pressure on the Pakistani government. In the past, these kinds of pressure on
the government have usually led to a greater dependence on the military arm of
Pakistan and thus, lesser emphasis on the education system, which so
desperately needs assistance (Jones & Naylor, 2014).
Pakistan's economic outlook is no less daunting. As of 2013, Pakistan
carries considerable national debt (US$33 billion), imports generally exceed
exports by a billion dollars or more, and the government's consolidated balance
is about 4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The expenditure on education,
although increasing, remains at 2.2% of GDP and is dependent on foreign
assistance (Memon, 2007; Memon et al, 2010). Pakistan's economic performance, according to a Japanese analysis, is
shadowed by considerable uncertainty and is highly dependent on political and
diplomatic developments (Cohen, 2004). Thus, with its thin natural resource base, high levels of corruption,
dysfunctional bureaucracy, and political uncertainty, Pakistan remains well
down the list for capital-seeking investment (Cohen, 2004; Hayward, 2015).
The education system in Pakistan is complex. To address the above
challenges, a new methodological approach is necessary that moves from a
―linear‖ or individualistic approach to a more systemic way of thinking that
considers how all the components within the wider system are interconnected.
This study uses a systems dynamic (SD) approach to holistically address the
deepseated issues within the wider Pakistani political and economic landscape.
SDs are based on the belief that the parts of a system can best be understood
by looking at their interconnectedness. This leads to a focus on cycles of
activity rather than linear cause and effect. If Pakistan is to move ahead and
close the gap between its peers and itself, Pakistan must encourage economic
growth and place a greater emphasis on education. These two factors—education
and economic growth— are closely intertwined (Fägerlind & Saha, 2014; Glewwe, Maiga, & Zheng, 2014). When they are in a positive direction, they reinforce each other in a
virtuous cycle; when they are negative, the cycle becomes vicious, and then, a
state may spiral downward or stagnate (Memon et al, 2010). The latter may well be what symbolizes the state of Pakistan as it
stands on the eve of its 70th anniversary.
The purpose of this study is to use SDs to explore the complexity in
the education system of Pakistan and to identify potential leverage points and
intervention strategies for transformational change. The specific research
question that this research sets out to explore is ―How can
Systems Dynamics be used to holistically understand and address the challenges
faced by the education system of Pakistan.‖ The next section explores the education system
of Pakistan in greater depth and identifies its main challenges. Section 3 describes the SD methodological approach in more depth. This leads to
the next sections where we develop an understanding of the education,
political, and economic system of Pakistan from an SD perspective. Finally, we
use SD to propose leverage and intervention strategies, finishing with a brief
discussion and outlook to the future.
2 PAKISTAN'S EDUCATION SYSTEM
Pakistan's education system and the key drivers affecting it are
summarized in this section. These drivers include education quality, perception
of Pakistan, education investments, and politicization of education.
2.1 Quality of education
The quality of the Pakistan education system—as measured by qualified
teachers, subject content, national curriculum, number of students in schools,
physical conditions of the school environment, and similar measures—is
significantly poor when compared with international standards (Aziz et al, 2014; Nasir & Nazli, 2010). Prior to independence in 1947, the education system was administered
mainly by Hindus and ethnic Indians. The result was a reasonably well-managed
and well-established primary and educational system (Cohen, 2004). However, after the partition from India, most of these administrators
left Pakistan, leaving the education system to its new governments. For a short
time after the partition, Pakistan managed to maintain a good relationship with
overseas tertiary institutions in the United Kingdom and the United States,
sending graduates on scholarships to overseas universities. However, when
President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took over in 1971, his government politicized the
education system, and the quality of education dropped sharply (Khalid &
Khan, 2006). The quality of the education system has never recovered since that
time (Hayward, 2015).
Today, basic literacy rates remain low, despite repeated promises and
policies implemented by the government. Corruption, which exacerbates this
problem, exists in two forms in relation to the education system (Memon et al, 2010). First, government officials' siphon off money allocated to the
education budget before it can be spent on appropriate educational policies.
Second, once policies are created, the government officials in charge of
implementing the policies reshuffle the funds elsewhere, mostly to themselves
(Cohen, 2004; Soomro & Tanveer, 2017). The latter can be seen in the form of hundreds of ―ghost schools‖
whose teachers draw real salaries but have no students on their rolls (Kazmi
& Quran, 2005; Malik & Hassan, 2015; Memon, 2007).
The other main problem lies in the fatal attraction of madrassas or
religious education schools of which there are many, especially in the poor
rural areas of Pakistan (E Saqib et al., 2016; Singer, 2001). As Pakistan's education and social system of continually fails to
construct an infrastructure that encourages its youth to make something of
themselves and, as poverty slowly overcomes the motivation for education, the
number of uneducated, frustrated youth rises. Increasingly, these disaffected
youth have been turning to the numerous madrassas within Pakistan and education
―camps‖ in places like Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan (Hoodbhoy, 1998). These schools operate under the guise of religious education, but the
underlying curriculum is espoused by misconstrued fundamentalist Islamic
precepts.
This low quality in the education system is impacting negatively on the
development of Pakistan as a whole. As the levels of corruption and nepotism in
the workplace increase, there is a perceived lesser need for an educated
workforce. In recent times, this has been reinforced by higher numbers of
unemployed graduates than nongraduates (Akbar et al., 2014). This reduces motivation to study and subsequent lower levels of
educated professionals heavily impact Pakistan's ability to develop its economy
and natural resources. This, in turn, has led to a heavy dependence on foreign
aid (Ahmed & Wahab, 2011), and the resulting instability within the government itself has led to
a greater dependence on the military (Bhave & Kingston, 2010; Munir, 2015).
2.2 Perception of Pakistan
The foreign perception of Pakistan as a developing country has been
deteriorating rapidly since its formation as an independent state. This
perception is related to various events in Pakistan's past. First was the
decline in the quality of the educated graduates that Pakistan began to produce
after the education reforms. Second was the negative impact of Pakistan's
nuclear arms race with India in 1998. And lastly were the September 11 attacks
in New York, because Pakistan was home to many al-Qaeda fighters and their
leader, Osama bin Laden eventually received sanctuary in Pakistan. These three
events in particular have seen a decline in the foreign perception of Pakistan
as a worthy developing country. This has major impacts within the country in
terms of the education sector getting worse and as well as a worsening of
Pakistan's ties with the outside world because people have become disinclined
to invest in this country (Kronstadt, 2004; Munir, 2015).
2.3 Foreign investment in education
Foreign assistance makes up 76% of the government's educational
expenditure, and yet Pakistan ranks among the 15 worst countries as far as education
is concerned (Ali et al., 2017; Cohen, 2004). Instead of using the money gained from foreign funding to improve the
facilities of existing schools or to improve the national curriculum and
teacher training programs, the government has deemed it more important to spend
the money on new projects and institutions. Of course, new schemes mean official
committees need to be set up with officials and bureaucrats needing to be paid
to administer these new schemes that never seem to fulfil their intended
promises (eg, the universal education policy). This explains the significant
differences between intended spending and actual spending on the education
sector (Ahsan, 2005; Ali et al., 2017).
2.4 Politicization of education
Prior to the era of politicization, education and politics existed in
separate realms. At this time, graduates from the more popular areas in
Pakistan, such as Sindh province and Karachi city, were recognized in London
and the United States and were able to gain plentiful employment opportunities.
In the late 1970s, Bhutto allowed the politicization of college and university
campuses in order to build a political base for himself and his party among the
country's students (Khalid & Khan, 2006). As a consequence, in a bid to make up for the constant strikes, Sindh
University became a university where everyone was given pass marks, and
counterfeit degrees were awarded in the form of ―scholarships‖ and/or bribery
(Hayward, 2015).
Consequently, foreign countries stopped accepting Pakistani migrants as
highly skilled workers. The effect of this was crippling to the education and
economic sectors. Previously, the only way out of Pakistan was through gaining
higher education and applying for a job overseas. Now, degrees from Pakistani
universities were no longer recognized in the foreign job market, and education
or a degree was not necessarily required to gain a job in Pakistan. The best
way to get a job in Pakistan is through nepotism or through corrupt officials
whose best interests are in keeping educated people, who may raise questions
over the presence of officials, away (Cohen, 2004). All of these factors led to a downturn in motivation to gain an
education.
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Owing to their dynamic and interlocking components, complex problems
such as poverty, global security, and climate change evade reductionist linear
solutions. Rittel and Webber (1973) refer to this class of problems as ―wicked.‖ Wicked problems abound in
social, economic, and policy domains such as education, health, and housing.
Conventional single-domain approaches fall short of ―solving‖ complex
(wicked) problems as these approaches commonly ―jump‖ from the problem to the
solution. Instead, dealing with complex (wicked) problems requires a thorough understanding of the problem, and its
interconnected drivers before any solutions are attempted. Furthermore, complex
(wicked) problems embed nonlinear cause–effect relationships, feedback loops,
and time lags (delays), often unbeknown to decision makers. These effects tend
to mislead decision makers to not see or accurately predict the behavior of the
system, resulting in counterintuitive outcomes and unintended consequences.
Decision makers' own mental models and lack of understanding of complexity are
further reasons why conventional approaches to wicked problems fail.
Yet, notwithstanding the above challenges and despite advances in
decision technology and behavioral sciences, there are still limited tools for
understanding and dealing with complexity. Furthermore, communicating the
complexity embedded in dynamic systems to diverse stakeholder groups can be
difficult because of differences in technical expertise of the audience and
potentially conflicting perspectives among the stakeholders (Stave, 2003).
SD provides a powerful methodology to analyze complexity. According to
Sterman (2000), SD is a well-established methodology for understanding, studying,
visualizing, and analyzing complex dynamic feedback systems. This approach is
in contrast to the traditional linear approach of identifying quick fixes to
specific parts of the system. Therefore, SD allows the framing of a problem in
terms of seeing the whole forest instead of focusing on a particular tree. They
see beyond the details to the context of the relationships in which they are
embedded (Mingers & White, 2010). Bosch, Nguyen, and Sun (2013) also assert that this methodological approach supports the management
of complexity more effectively than other approaches. This paper utilizes
system dynamics to explore the complexity in the education system of Pakistan
and to identify potential leverage points and intervention strategies for
transformational change.
Leverage is a unique concept in SD that presents an alternative to a
―solution.‖ While a solution may naively assume a permanent and optimal answer
to a problem, leverage points ―are places within a complex system (a
corporation, an economy, a living body, a city, an ecosystem) where a small
shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything‖ (Meadows, 1999).
SD comprises both qualitative modeling and simulation methodology that
allows the study of the behavior of complex systems over time. The methodology,
developed by Jay Forrester at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has
been refined over the last few decades into a systems management tool. The SD
modeling often starts with a qualitative causal loop diagram (CLD) model to
capture the relationships among a system's parts and their interactions with
each other (Bosch et al., 2013; Sterman, 2000). Thus, a CLD provides a powerful visual tool that depicts a picture of
a system and unravels its complexity.
CLDs use two ―building blocks,‖ namely, variables and links. Variables
are drivers or factors that dynamically determine the behavior of a system.
Links or arrows show the connections between variables. Variables can be
concepts, decisions, actions, or policies. In constructing CLDs, one can mix
quantitative and qualitative (soft) variables together. In fact, the power and
realism of a CLD is its ability to explicitly consider and incorporate soft or
intangible variables into modeling real-world systems. Much of the art of CLD
modeling is about discovering and representing the feedback processes,
which—along with stock and flow structures, time delays, and
nonlinearities—determine the dynamics within a system. Thus, the SD/CLD models
can use data, information, and statistics, as well as expert opinions and
logic, to postulate and construct causal relationships.
CLDs consist of variables that are connected by key causal
relationships to represent reality and, they can be used to display the cause
and effect behavior from a systems point of view (Richardson, 2011). This enables us to simply convert complex elements into an easy to
understand format. Moreover, the relationships between variables are labelled
as positive or negative, which allows us to see reinforcing or balancing
feedback loops as and when changes to one part of the loop occur.
In the next section, we present the CLDs that exist in the Pakistani
systems landscape to better understand the underlying complexities and
resulting effects on the education system.
4 SYSTEMS MODELS
This section presents and discusses CLD models representing key loops
or subsystems underlying the rise of extremists' movements in Pakistan and
their complex consequences.
4.1 Education and poverty
Pakistan literacy rates are rising very slowly, at a rate of less than
1% per annum. The high incidence of illiteracy, especially among women, creates
a vicious cycle of its own. This is on account of the fact that where there are
fewer educated girls, there are fewer-female teachers, no coeducation, and
thus, higher-female illiteracy (Rabia, Rab, & Shahzadi, 2016). This is shown in the upper left quadrant of the CLD in Figure 1.
.png)
Causal loop diagram for education and poverty
Furthermore, the education level of parents is known to influence the
level of education attained by their children. This means that illiterate
parents are less likely to send their children to school (Ahmad et al., 2014; Sawada & Lokshin, 1999). Poverty also tends to be concentrated in households in which the head
of the household is illiterate. Thus, children belonging to such households,
trapped in illiteracy and poverty, tend to remain out of school and as a
consequence, join the throngs of uneducated, unemployed youth, further
contributing to the poverty and crime (see Figure 1). This has led to increased domestic stress, which in turn, has meant
more pressure on the government and increasing instability within the
government structure (Chaudhary et al., 2009). From an SD perspective the relationships between the variables
indicate that this loop is a reinforcing loop, which is generally a positive
thing. That is, to say that if, for example, the head of the household or more
females within the household were literate, it would lead to a higher possibility
that children of that household would be educated, which in turn, would see a
decrease in poverty and increase in female literacy.
4.2 Dropout rates
Another serious problem in education in Pakistan is the very high
dropout rate (50%) (Ahmad, Rauf, Rashid, Rehman, & Salam, 2013). The dropout rate is defined as the percentage of students who drop
out from school before reaching grade 5. The dropout rates in the public
primary schooling clearly indicate the inefficiency and the inability of public
schools to retain children within the system (Alexander, 2008). This inability to keep students in the education system is closely
linked with the poor facilities of schools, the quality of teachers, and the
national curriculum (Zarif, Haider, Ahmed, & Bano, 2014a). A study in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan found that
only six out of 10 teachers could pass a fifth-grade math exams, compared with
a four out of 10 pass rate among their students (E Saqib et al., 2016; Hoodbhoy, 1998). The poor quality of the curriculum is evident in the actual contents
taught, the textbooks chosen, and the examinations sat by the students. The
textbooks are usually full of ideological and religious rhetoric, and examinations
are based more on the students' ability to memorize and regurgitate, rather
than testing skills in logic and conceptual understanding (Ahmad et al., 2014; Barber, 2010; Khalid & Khan, 2006). Figure 2 shows the consequences of high-dropout rates as a vicious cycle.
.png)
Causal loop diagram for dropout rate
Similar to the loop before, we can see that this loop is also a
reinforcing loop. This suggests that the vicious cycle could be reversed in a
positive manner if we could identify and work on specific leverage points within
the cycle. That is, improving overall literacy rates, as suggested in Figure 1, could affect the literacy rates of teachers, which would in turn,
enable a better standard of curriculum to be taught and so on, resulting in
lower-dropout rates.
4.3 Cultural barriers to education
Pakistan lags behind other nations in gender equality and, by
extension, access to education. There is a very real-economic cost to a family
associated with allowing their daughters, and sons in some cases, to go to
school (Chaudhry & Rahman, 2009; Latif, 2009; Rabia et al., 2016). Pakistan's economy largely relies on its agricultural sector, which
is to a large extent is privately run by small family-owned businesses. If the
children are allowed to go to school, it means they are unavailable to work the
land. This can be detrimental to family's ability to survive, especially since
there is no welfare offered by the state (Ahmad et al., 2013; Sathar & Lloyd, 1994). These dynamics form another vicious cycle (R2) as shown in Figure 3. Together with the dropout rate (R1), they push the system into a
downward spiral.
.png)
Causal loop diagram for cultural barriers to education
Radical plans by various governments to set up an ambitious number of
schools and to encourage students to participate in the education system have
been mostly unsuccessful. The reason for this is that there is no national
curriculum, and the level of teacher training is poor (Ahmad et al., 2013; Barber, 2010). Hence, given the very low-literacy rates, there seems little point in
pouring money into increasing university enrolments (Cohen, 2004). Using the SD perspective, we can see how the different variables work
together to form these vicious cycles and how current educational policies
remain ineffective. If for instance, the government rather focused on the basic
need of increasing literacy rates rather than concentrating on higher-education
enrolments, some of the negative aspects of this loop could be reversed,
resulting in an overall upward spiral.
4.4 Government stability
The level of public spending on education is an important indicator of
the government's commitment to progress. Pakistan has suffered dramatically
under the rule of transient governments. In the decade from 1988, to the return
of the military rule in 1999, there were four elected governments and three
interim administration governments. These governments were preoccupied with
maintaining their precarious positions and largely unconcerned with economic
development in general and social development in particular (Ahmad et al., 2013; Winthrop & Graff, 2010). Under these regimes, the public sector education deteriorated
significantly (Burki, 2005). According to the United Nations Development Program, Pakistan is
among only 12 countries in the world that spend less than 2.5% of the GDP on
education (Stengos & Aurangzeb, 2008). Specifically, Pakistan's education budget is a paltry 1.7% of the
GDP. In sharp contrast, military spending is over 34% of the GDP, mostly for
the upkeep of the army. The trade-offs between the military versus education
spending and the dire consequences are captured in the CLD in Figure 4.
.png)
It is now beginning to be understood that a poor education system is
one of the key contributors to conflicts. For example, the Afghanistan
government recognizes that a reformation of the overall education system needs
to address intolerance of difference as well as overt and underlying messages
of violence (Tierney, 2015). Education is no longer considered a neutral force for good (Aksakolov
et al., 2016). Education is now seen as a transforming process, which is intimately
related to the peace building process and, therefore, stability in a country
(Smith, 2010).
There are other factors that impact a government's stability, most
notably, economic performance, and domestic conflicts. Economic performance is
directly related to educational attainments of the citizens (Maani &
Cavana, 2007; Nguyen, Graham, Ross, Maani, & Bosch, 2012). Therefore, a lack of attention to education instigates a vicious
cycle of economic deprivation exacerbating government's instability, as shown
by loop R4 in Figure 4. Foreign support for the country is another powerful consequence of
government stability, which Pakistan has been denied because of its precarious
politics (loop R3).
The historic dependence on the military that helped various governments
get into power means that the army is now so well entrenched and powerful that
it could undermine any government—an unintended consequence.
4.5 Corruption
The international organization for transparency ranked Pakistan 127th (out of 170) in their Corruption Perception Index 2013 (down from 122 in 2012) (Ahmed, 2014). This level of corruption has an adverse effect on the confidence of foreign investors in Pakistan, which leads to lower revenue, in the form of debt relief and foreign aid, for the government (loop R6 in Figure 5). The corruption in Pakistan encourages the booming informal economy, which is three times larger than the formal economy. This informal economy leads to lower revenue for the government in the form of tax evasion and lack of an effective structure to collect taxes (Humayun, 2014). At the basic level, lower revenue for the government results in lower salaries being offered to civil servants, encouraging corruption and reinforcing a perennial vicious cycle (loop R5 in Figure 5).
.png)
Figure 5
A counterintuitive but real phenomenon is the widespread corruption in
the education sector. A UNESCO study found a solid relationship between the
education budget and corruption as the education sector provides fertile
opportunities for corruption in terms of ―ghost‖ investments in building of
schools, provision of information technology, supply and distribution of
equipment and textbooks, recruitment, promotion and incentive systems,
appointment of teachers, allocation of specific fellowships, subventions to the
private sector, conduct of examinations, awarding diplomas, and supervision of
out-of-school activities (Ahmad et al., 2014). The consequences of this phenomenon are captured by the balancing
loop B1 in Figure 5, which shows how corruption could thwart the best well-intended actions.
Some international agencies have provided funding specifically for
educational purposes (Ahmed & Wahab, 2011). However, to a large extent, this money is siphoned off by officials
before it can be used for the intended purpose (Ahmad et al., 2013; Hallak & Poisson, 2001). One of the common ways that this happens is the invention of ―ghost
schools‖ (Ahmad et al, 2014; Kazmi & Quran, 2005) in which the so-called officials are given the task of setting up
hundreds of schools in densely populated areas. Unfortunately, these turn out
to be ghost schools with ghost teachers who are paid real salaries to teach no
students (Curtis & Center, 2007).
Another case in point was when a previous head of the state was pressed
by foreign agencies as to lack of educational spending, pledged to increase the
number of schools by 90 000 at the cost of a staggering 8.6 billion rupees
(US$82.2 million) and the implementation of a universal education policy at 56
billion rupees (US$535 million).
4.6 Education and the rise of terrorism
The effects of decreasing emphasis on education and rise of terrorism are shown by two reinforcing loops (R7 and R8) in Figure 6. A decline in the motivation to study has resulted in an uneducated workforce made up of millions of frustrated youth who are unable to contribute to the economy (Ahmad et al., 2013). These youth have become candidates for recruitment by groups and organizations who are alienated from global economic, political, and social systems (Stengos & Aurangzeb, 2008). In a Muslim country like Pakistan, this has invariably meant that the groups who espouse various radical Islamic causes are able to attract these youth (Winthrop & Graff, 2010).
.png)
Figure 6
These recruitment efforts are compounded by the prevalence of the
Islamic schools or madrassas, which provide free religious education, food, and
lodging to their students. Ostensibly, these schools were set up to aid
Pakistanis who could not afford state schooling and, in theory, to train
students for service in the religious sector (Hoodbhoy, 1998). However, their radical world view, lack of modern civic education,
and economic poverty in the population make them a destabilizing factor in
Pakistani society (Singer, 2001). For these reasons, students in madrassas are susceptible to
recruitment into sectarian and international jihads, which promise instant
salvation for the participants. The present and past governments have made
repeated pledges to enforce more control over these types of schools (Barber, 2010; Zarif et al., 2014a). However, no real policies have ever been implemented, and this does
not seem likely in the near future (Ahmad et al., 2013). Hence, the madrassa institution, whose autonomy remains untouched and
is not obliged to reform, is unlikely to confront the military government. On
the contrary, the clergy remains a vocal supporter of a politically dominant
military. This explains why the government's madrassa reforms lack substance
and legal action or intent to enforce fundamental change is by and large absent
(Singer, 2001).
For decades, successive Pakistani governments have invested heavily in
and relied predominately on the military to preserve their rule. This has
resulted in an endemic neglect and undermining of other sectors of the economy
and the social fabric of the nation. While this strategy has afforded shortterm
stability for the government, the unintended consequences have far offset the
perceived gains. The most damaging impact has been the lack of investment in
the education sector, which has led to a whole range of unwanted side effects,
including the debilitating quality of education, higherdropout rates, higher
unemployment, wide-income gaps, and domestic stress and conflict. Collectively,
these factors have contributed to the destabilizing of the government and their
increasing dependence on the military (Ahmad et al., 2013; Parveen, Rashid, Iqbal, & Khan, 2011; Zarif, Haider, Ahmed, & Bano, 2014b).
The following verbatim statements reflect the views and mental models
of key officials and influential people in Pakistan's politics, which explain
the values held and thinking underlying the CLDs presented in Figures 1-6.
• ―It is well understood
factor that no country can flourish without quality education.‖ – Pakistan
President Musharraf (Kazmi & Quran, 2005)
• ―Pakistani governments,
particularly those controlled by the military, have a long history of failing
to follow through on announced reforms.‖ – International Crisis Group
(Hathaway, 2005)
• ―Pakistani generals express
contempt for the civilian order and steadfastly hold that ‗what is good for the
army is good for Pakistan.‖ – Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy Senior Professor at
Quaid-eAzam University, Islamabad (Hoodbhoy, 1998)
• [Madrassas are offering]
―programs that do nothing but prepare youngsters to be fundamentalists and to
be terrorists.‖ – US Secretary of State, Colin Powell (Kronstadt, 2004)
The dynamic explained above can be summarized by the fixes that fail systems archetype in Figure 7. That is, to say that the government has presently used a rather linear approach to addressing the problems faced by them. They have focused their efforts of creating stability through increased military spending. However, as the previous section enumerates the lack of attention paid to other sectors of society such as education has led to unwanted consequences that work together to ultimately destabilize the Pakistani government and country as a whole.
.png)
5 LEVERAGE POINTS AND INTERVENTION STRATEGIES
The foregoing discussion stresses that Pakistan's educational system is
extremely unstable, unreliable, and in a far from an acceptable condition from
an international context. None of Pakistan's education indicators compare
favorably with other countries in the region. This is a consequence of decades
of government's underinvestment in the education and the social sectors, which
has led to the dilapidated physical condition of public schools, limited access
to educational facilities, high-dropout rates, and low-literacy rates across
the country.
The negative impact of the poor education system is inadvertently
impacting the government in insidious and pervasive ways. Pakistan is
inadvertently placing itself in a precarious position of not being able to attain
stability, increasing domestic stress, declining foreign perception, and
reductions in foreign investment in the country (Ahmad et al., 2013). The latter two factors could have a detrimental effect on the already
frail education and economic sectors (Ali et al., 2017; Iqbal, 2010). Importantly, the rising youth unemployment has contributed to the popularity
of fundamentalist Islamic ideas within Pakistan, contradicts the image that
Pakistan is trying to portray overseas (Soomro & Tanveer, 2017; Stengos & Aurangzeb, 2008).
Mental models represent ―the mindset or paradigm out of which the
system – its goals, power structure, rules, its culture – arises‖ (p.2 Meadows, 1999) and as such are the most powerful areas of leverage for change.
Understanding the mental models of leaders and decision makers is critically
important for instituting fundamental change. In SD, mental models are defined
as the underlying system structure that contains the relevant mechanisms to
explain the emergence of specific situations (Doyle & Ford, 1998). The underlying information about the structure and relationships in
dynamic systems arise from mental models.
For Pakistan to succeed, it will need a fundamental shift in the
government's thinking, beliefs, and policies so that the government not only
publicly recognizes the importance of the education sector but also is able to
translate its stated policies into reality. Interventions should begin by
closely controlling the spending of foreign aid as well as following a
long-term strategy for weaning Pakistan off its dependence on the military.
Staged reform of the education system begins by investing in upskilling
teachers and upgrading the national curriculum through working with other
countries. To upskill teachers and update the national curriculum, the
government needs to open up Pakistan to the world and facilitate its transition
into globalization. This could be done through encouraging teacher exchanges
and visits from overseas education experts to assess the national curriculum
and suggest how to reform it to international standards. More easily, Pakistan
could bring in teachers from India and other nearby countries. This would
enhance the technical skill levels of Pakistani teachers and, more importantly,
could end the cultural isolation of Pakistanis. An education system at par with
international standards would encourage international universities and
governments to more readily recognize Pakistani qualifications. Pakistan could
also follow the lead of comparable states like Bangladesh and send advanced
students to India and other countries for training, Pakistanis who would assist
in the rebuilding of the economy upon their return.
These initiatives will first require reigning in the rampant
corruption, starting with the government itself. Several countries and
international agencies have invested substantial sums into Pakistan's education
sector in the past. However, the donors have left these funds with corrupt and
unstable Pakistani governments without any supervision or control. Inevitably,
this has meant that government officials and bureaucrats have siphoned off most
of these foreign funds before they were used for their intended purposes. To
counter this, international aid must be given in controlled circumstances with
close supervision and inspection of how the funds get spent. A possible
mechanism could be a committee made up of both Pakistani officials and external
representatives of international donors. This would ensure appropriate use of
foreign aid and attract further funds in the future. In the longer term,
however, Pakistan must lessen its dependence on foreign aid and aim for greater
self-sufficiency. As of March 2015, Pakistan was spending 44.5% of its revenue
to service debt (White, 2015), which drains its national budget and impedes potential spending on
the social and educational sector.
6 DISCUSSION AND CONTRIBUTIONS
This study used the CLD modeling tool of system dynamics to analyze
causal relationships among the multitude of factors that contribute to the growing
extremist factions in Pakistan. CLD is a powerful tool for capturing systemic
interdependencies and depicting a holistic picture of a complex situation.
Complexity arises from the interconnections and interactions of component parts
of a system. Yet, complex problems are often ―solved‖ by separating the parts
and examining each part in isolation—a commonplace cause of failure in policy
and strategic decisions.
Systems thinking and causal loop modeling enable the otherwise hidden
interdependencies to come to surface and become ―visible‖ to decision and
policy makers. Using this tool allows decision makers to identify deeper causes
and leverage points for fundamental change—changes that could alter the system
and not only to treat the symptoms of the problems within it (Maani &
Cavana, 2007).
In this study, the CLDs surfaced the root causes of issues and their
interdependencies that had trapped Pakistan in vicious cycles of substandard
education and government instability. The systems models highlighted the links
between the education system and the wider Pakistani economic and social
systems. In total, the study identified eight reinforcing vicious cycles
(R1-R8) that together push the systems into a downward spiral. In the systems
thinking language, the leverage for change comes from slowing or breaking these
patterns, starting with mental models of the decision makers.
A key conclusion of this paper is that, in order to reduce dependence
on the military and foreign aid, it is imperative for Pakistan to turn its
attention to its dilapidated education sector. The implementation of these
strategies could arrest the vicious cycle and gradually mend the education
sector, inducing positive knock-on effects on the economy and the country as a
whole. SD provides a fresh approach to understanding some of the systemic
problems inherent in developing countries. For example, SD provides an
opportunity to understand the dynamic nature of feedback embedded in complex
systems. It allows researchers within the developing countries domain to
anticipate the long-term consequences of decisions and actions, as well as the
unintended consequences of policies and strategies (Nguyen et al., 2012). The increasingly complex interconnected nature of government,
education, and politics in the developing countries context requires a big
picture approach. While systems thinking is a relatively new approach to this
domain, it is already showing great promise in breaking the ―silo‖ mentality
that can sometimes exist (Banson, Nguyen, Bosch, & Nguyen, 2015; Nguyen & Bosch, 2013). Each of the factors that have been identified have been examined
separately in their role in advancing the education system; however, by
utilizing this methodology, this paper attempts to bring a ―system
understanding‖ to a long-standing problem.Shahper
Richter
EDUCATION
SYSTEM OF PAKISTAN: ISSUES &
CHALLENGES 10
Inadequate
Research Activities
Pakistani education system is based on rote
learning. Students are taught to the test andfed the answers. It is the easy
way to do it. It is difficult to produce paper after paper. No one inPakistan
is interesting in learning from the research findings. This trend is encouraged
inPakistan. That is why we see that according to the Time Higher Education
world universityranking none of the Pakistani universities made the top 500.The
major problems around research based learning are usually lack of funding
andadequate facilities to carry out the research methods. The biggest adversary
of research is the no-dissent higher education of Pakistan. Students are forced
to cram and copy exact pages of the book on the exam paper if they wish to ace
it. Any deviation from the rote system is harshlycensured.The government has
tried to provide essential research funds to the public-sectoruniversities. Now
it is up to the universities how to utilize these funding. (G. R. Memon 2007)
Recommendations
It is never too late to fix the broken system
of Pakistani education. Some recommendation inthis regard are as follows:1)
Primary and secondary education should be made
free as well mandatory.2)
The state needs to ensure that an up to
curriculum is being taught to the students throughmodern teaching strategies.3)
The education system should be rerouted from a
rote learning trend to knowledge andresearch based initiative. The system
should thus be supportive of camaraderie.
EDUCATION SYSTEM OF PAKISTAN: ISSUES & CHALLENG
ES 11)
Accountability should be brought in the
education system. Proper and reliable proceduresshould be put in place to
account for exactly where the funding has been utilized.5)
It might take a while but gradually government
should bring the whole country on auniform education system. Public and private
sectors should impart same education andthus inequality would be diminished.6)
Government should join hands with
non-governmental institutions to provide educationsto rural areas.7)
Technical education should be made mandatory
part of education since it teaches skill.Courses of carpentary, electrical
works etc should be included in the curriculm.8)
To minimize the dropout ratio, economic incentives
may be provided to parents so thatthey may send the children to school.9)
Since education has been made a provincial
subject, provinces should form respectivelegistlations and devise educational
policies according to the needs of their people.10)
Career as well psychological counselling should
be made mandatory in secondaryschools so that children may choose a career
according to their aptitude and thus contribute to their nation.11)
Parents should also be counselled. So that they
can choose a market friendly career fortheir child which he can live up to
according to his aptitude.12)
Federal government should support the provinces
in compliance to the
constitutionalresponsibilities mentioned in
Article 25-A.13)
Special grants should be provided
to the provinces where the literacy rate is low.14) Special measures should
taken such as awareness campaigns to increase the ratio offemale enrolment in
schools. (Hussein 2015)
EDUCATION SYSTEM OF PAKISTAN: ISSUES & CHALLENGES 12
Conclusion
Education is what makes or breaks a country.
The people are the wealth of the nation. Anilliterate mass will only become a
liability for the state. Pakistani education system is plaguedwith incessant
political interference, poor curriculum, gender gaps, lack of accountability,
poorteaching staff and rote learning system. Pakistan requires strict
administrative reforms. Thefactors required for a strong administration to
reign in the wayward elements of Pakistanieducation system are those of a
strong leadership, an appropriate political environment, arecognition of
cultural and social elements to education, and the presence of an attitude
towardschange.
As said by Margaret Meed: ―Children must be
taught how to think, not what to think.‖
How To Stop
Brain Drain and Improve Education System of Pakistan
There remains no doubt in the fact that the political and economic
future of Pakistan lies with the current youth. But is our government doing
anything productive to ensure that the youth commits itself to the future of
Pakistan?
When it comes to the elite, the masses have always played the blame
game, complaining that students attend universities abroad and then decide to
find jobs and settle there. The effect, better known as the ‗brain drain‘ is
perhaps one of the bigger reasons why we have illiterate politicians sitting in
the senate and failing macro-economic policies creating an only bigger income
disparity between the rich and the poor. However, sometimes when one puts
himself/herself in the shoes of such others, one comes across the fact that
such decisions to pursue careers abroad are rather forced.
Our lifestyle is missing the basic elements and necessities of life.
Why would a graduate from Harvard wait for the electricity to come back, or
resort to spending thousands of rupees to fuel generators to run a house? Why
would someone who has graduated from the London School of Economics settle for
a mediocre paying job at a bank when he knows that he could earn twice as much
abroad in a lower position? Why would anyone for the matter be patient about not
receiving the water or gas that he/she pays high bills for when they are
sometimes free abroad? The lack of such necessities takes away the element of
peace from one‘s daily life and thus causes the decision to seek a better
lifestyle abroad, this off course being how the brain drain begins.
Perhaps the biggest short coming of any government that has ever ruled
Pakistan has been it‘s educational reforms to a lack luster, mundane education
system. The standard of schooling which needs to be attained is only achieved
by the few elite who can afford to pay thousands of rupees every month to
private tutors, who they are forced to learn from despite attending the best
schools. The masses in our youth are denied the opportunity to achieve the
education that they need to pursue a healthy and satisfactory lifestyle in the
future. We can easily pay 5000 rupees to get a fake medical certificate
printed, or indicate to our invigilators at the commencement of exams that we
carry knives to earn our A*‘s and A‘s. Never has the government paid attention
to education. Off course, except for the changes that it made to the Sindh
Board Medical Exam, in which students now answer questions on the life of
Benazir Bhutto. Only 1% of the budget focuses on educational reforms whereas
about 45% of our population consists of children under the age of 18.
Am I playing the blame game too? No. There is a lot that can be done to
change the current of the educational system. But off course, that comes at the
cost of our dear Quaid‘s smiling face on paper.
Firstly, teachers need to be payed so that the problem of teachers not
even showing up to teach can be eradicated. Ghost schools, ie. schools that are
officially run by the government and have payrolls but don‘t actually exist
need to be eradicated to save our budget. Better infrastructural facilities are
a requisite.
A uniform system of education
may cause a rebellion from the bourgeoisie but the proletarians must be given
the chance to study up to the level of Cambridge Examinations. Better
universities need to be developed in order to hold back the bright minds that
find their ways to countries such as UK, USA and Canada. Better job
opportunities for fresh graduates need to be arranged so that they are not
tempted by the lifestyle abroad. This, is just the beginning of a long list of
solutions that need to be super imposed on our educational system to prevent it
from worsening any more, if it still can.
Only enabling greater educational reforms and realizing the real
potential importance of a better educational system will help the government to
recover from the precarious situation that the youth of today lies in. Who
knows, if changes are implied, the youth may show their gratitude by helping
reform education in Pakistan for the many generations to come. It would be good
to see that literacy in Pakistan would no longer be classified by the ability
to sign one‘s name in any language on a piece of paper.
|
Pakistan: The Lost Generation Story
Synopsis It‘s morning in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan‘s biggest province,
and the country‘s next generation is headed to school. But what children are
finding when they get there is of increasing concern for those who want peace
in Pakistan‘s future. For 12-year-old Fatma, school is an abandoned
brickyard. "I study at the Government Primary School in Lahore," she
explains. "I study English language, and I like it. There are no chairs.
We have to sit on the ground. It's a problem in the winter. When it rains, there
is nowhere to sit." Each day, the
kids bring in a few chairs for the teachers, and they set up the school‘s one
blackboard, which six classrooms share. ―So your students actually have no rooms, no desks?‖ correspondent
David Montero asks the school‘s headmaster. ―No furniture. No rooms,‖ he replies. This school is not an exception. There are some 20,000
"shelterless" schools throughout Pakistan. And even when there are
buildings, 60 percent have no electricity, and 40 percent have no drinking
water. Because the schools are so bad, Pakistan has the lowest enrollment
rate in all of South Asia. Ali Hassan is roughly the same age as Fatma, but he‘s recently
dropped out of the third grade. Instead, he helps out at a local gas station
and makes the equivalent of 12 cents a day -- money his mother says the
family now can‘t live without. ―I hope Ali learns to be a mechanic, that he learns this work,‖ his
mother says. "When only my husband earns, how can we get by?" ―Today, there are 68.4 million children between the ages of five and
19 in this country, and fewer than 30 million of those kids are in any type
of school,‖ says Mosharraf Zaidi, a longtime advocate of reforming Pakistan‘s
schools. ―You look at the consequences of these kids not going to school --
and let's set aside the fearmongering and the scaremongering of saying, you
know, ‗What if all these kids become terrorists?‘ Setting that aside, the
real problem is that, if you aren't capable of participating in the global
economy, you will be very, very poor. And desperate and extreme poverty has
some diabolical consequences for societies and for individuals.‖ In
Pakistan, public education has become a battleground. Members of Fatma‘s
local school council are outraged, saying the elite only care about
themselves and keep the poor illiterate to stay in power. |
|
"Government officials send their own kids to air-conditioned
classrooms. Let's see them make their kids sit here and see what it is
like," says one council member. "Aren't these the children of God's
creation?" The council takes Montero on a tour of a new construction site, where
the government promised a new building that was supposed to house the 300
students from Fatma‘s school. "This is
the only room?" Montero asks. "Three hundred students are supposed
to sit in this room?" The government blamed the contractor. The contractor blamed the
government. The school council wanted to visit the Education District officer
of Lahore to ask what had gone wrong. But he threatened to fire them if they
showed up. When Montero
visited, the officer said that the teachers shouldn‘t be complaining.
According to his paperwork, the school would be big enough. Across town, another kind of school is functioning quite well. It has
plenty of room and even provides free tuition and a hot meal. It is one of
the country‘s many madrassas, or religious schools, which are becoming an
increasingly popular option for poor parents. ―Parents who were educated
don‘t send their kids to madrassa. They send them to private schools,
universities,‖ says the madrassa headmaster. ―Poor people want their children
to learn about their religion.‖ Although madrassas are often criticized in the West, many local
conservatives, like the school‘s headmaster, believe that what‘s being taught
there will make Pakistan a stronger state. ―Why are we Muslims in this mess today?‖ he asks. ―Because we've
strayed from the Koran. If you look back at history, non-Muslims used to
tremble in front of Muslims. Today, they don't. Today, when they see the
situation Muslims are in, they say, ‗Exploit them.‘‖ It‘s a message that is also taught in the country‘s public schools,
where it can influence far more children. For decades, Pakistani
schoolchildren have been learning that their country is in a battle for
survival. ―The teachers tell us that India and the British are our enemies,‖
Fatma says. ―They are killing Muslims. They are behind the bomb blasts. I do
not know much about America, but generally people do not like America, and
they can never be our friends.‖ Rabina Saigel
is an academic who‘s studied public school textbooks for years and found that
they have quietly been feeding extremism. ―I
feel that a great deal of the ideology that we think madrassas are producing
is in fact being produced in state schools,‖ she says. ―And I say that it's
the biggest madrassa because it has the widest outreach. It reaches every
town, village, and small hamlet. It reaches every nook and cranny of the
country.‖ |
|
At the Ministry of Education‘s curriculum wing, the staff has been
working on removing the militaristic tone of the curriculum. But the
textbooks still include passages like these: ―For the past three centuries
the Europeans have been working to subjugate the countries of the Muslim
world‖ and ―The Christians and Europeans were not happy to see the Muslims
flourishing in life. They were always looking for opportunities to take
possession of territories under the Muslims.‖ While those in the curriculum wing say that the new curriculum will
address these issues, some religious fundamentalists have attacked the new,
more tolerant curriculum. ―There is no demand for [secular education] in Pakistan. No demand
from any section - not from students, not from teachers, not from parents,‖
says Fareed Paracha, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan's largest
fundamentalist Islamist party. He blasts the West for trying to secularize
Pakistan‘s curriculum. ―They have started a clash between Western and Islamic
civilizations,‖ he says. ―They claim Western secular, democratic civilization
now is the fate of humanity.‖ Just a few months ago, Paracha led a protest against the latest
American aid package, which includes hundreds of millions of dollars
earmarked for education reform. The religious parties say the United States.
is using the aid to try to hijack Pakistani society. But ironically, others
fear that the money will never reach the schools, anymore than the $100
million in U.S. aid over the past three years has. Reformers
believe the problems that Pakistani children face are so deep that money
alone will not be enough to fix them. ―I
think it‘s generous of the American taxpayer, and I think it‘s important that
Congress and the president and the administration have made this kind of a
long-term commitment. But it is not going to make the difference between a
functional and a dysfunctional Pakistan,‖ says Zaidi. "The choice of
whether Pakistan is going to be a functional country is a choice that has to
be made by Pakistanis. And Pakistanis haven‘t made that choice yet because
government after government fails to make the investments that it needs to
make." |
|
(Anonymous) If you think the Pakistani schools are dysfunctional try visiting the
schools in Detroit. At least the kids over there are willing to learn and not
creating violence even though they live in extreme poverty. America is blind
to their own internal issues. I
don't understand why there is all this criticism over Pakistan's school
system. Everybody knows that loans from the IMF, economic (monetary) aid, all
backed by or from the US; end up in the hands of corporations or corrupt
philanthropic organizations |
|
and local leaders. US political leaders constantly criticize other
countries, even while they know there is a crisis in the US educational
system and that this country is under constant attack from fundamentalist
Christian Evangelicals. The bottom line is that public schools are a failure and the
government is putting more money into nuclear war heads than education. 60%
of the kids go to MADRASSAS in Pakistan. So what do we expect from the
teachers, who believe that whole western world is there to destroy them, no
matter what.Unless and until the whole program is revamped, a band aid
approach will not work. It is a similar situation in Health Care. (Anonymous) "If you aren't capable of participating in the global economy,
you will be very, very poor" (zaida) is the wrong way of looking at the
problem. Pakistan's inability to grasp its limitations and trying to
overreach in the world is what is causing the problem. Trade cannot be a
pillar of a nation. (Anonymous) kids in Pakistan sit on floors,they have no buildings, and most kids
are not in school. Maddrassa schools are more successful because they are
linked to religion. I believe America should spend money on schools in
Pakistan to counter this. I think the whole situation SUCKS!!!. No one who wants an education
should have to live without an education. There a lot of kids in the U.S. who
don't even appreciate their education & that they have people to teach
them something. It is sad and makes you realize how good we have it here. In every school there is something missing, either electricity,
water, or furniture. And some are ghost schools, which benefits no one but
the teachers who get paid for doing nothing. The most successful schools are
the madrassas where children learn religion and have furniture and other
necessary things; their tuition is also paid by the church, which is
especially good for poor families. With students that are young and gullible,
these schools have the power to prevent or promote terrorism. Its is unfair that these students don't even have seats to sit on
while they're in "school" or even a school to go to in some cases.
Instead of teaching religion and that America is the enemy, students should
be taught about love and tolerance. The
school system is really messed up. How can people with money just sit back
and see this happen. Kids with no class rooms desk not even a school
building. Kids should be the ones being treated the best; they are the future
of Pakistan. |
It is crazy there are no classrooms, and
teachers hardly even come and teach. Their schools are in deserted areas and
right next to sewers. Six classes share 1 black board. 60% no electricity and
40% no water. Those are great differences from our schools here. I think
Obama's doing the right thing by giving money to help Pakistan schools. It's
important for everyone's future.
If the basis of creation for a state is based
on a false construct pinned under the assumption that "Only people of the
same religion and same race, and the majority can survive as a nation
state" and all minorities are doomed to exploitation and subjugation, then
we have Pakistan.
In today's diverse world, majority state is a
false construct as each majority group has its own minority. I feel very sad
for the new generation of Pakistanis and the common man in Pakistan caught
between an elite, who exude of false-vanity, and the religious mullah, who is
fighting to position himself as the power-center.
All countries teach some form a bias in their
books and history but Pakistan school textbooks are a denial of their own
historical roots and a false propaganda of hatred against its arch enemy India.
It's ironic that Pakistanis and Indians may be
frisked and scanned with equal disdain as they resemble so much alike. Two
people and land, which have been entwined in relationship of blood, ancestors,
roots that go back more centuries than the Romans or Greeks, are locked in
perpetual war. I hope the Pakistanis of the new generation will see the
futility of the dogma that has been shoved down their throats by successive
military government.
Maybe we will become friends one day and the
Taliban will cease to exist. But when? As an Indian whose civilization roots
spring around the Indus Valley, which is the source of its name, I really wish
the next generation of school goers will challenge the state for a better
future.
I wonder at the expectations of this 17-minute
documentary, and the reliance on it to understand a richly layered land like
Pakistan. It is neither the duty of the filmmaker to cover all aspects of
education in Pakistan, nor is it possible for him to do so. It is the
responsibility of the viewer of this documentary to educate her/himself further
and to explore the ideas presented here.
The problem with such documentaries is that
they feed into all sorts of fundamentalisms; if they were to be viewed by
well-intentioned open-minded men and women of understanding, they would cause
no harm.
I am a Fulbright alum, a graduate of the
Harvard Graduate School of Education. I sometimes falter, but mostly I am
committed to saying my five daily prayers. I watch live theatre and movies, am
part of a book club, go rock climbing here in Islamabad, do
yoga, and I pray.
I am asking you to open a window in your mind,
to break the stereotype of a Muslim and a Pakistani that you clutch on to like
a child clutches on to her security blanket. See us for what we are! Vibrant,
resilient, troubled by our myriad problems yet trudging along! For more on
that, watch the movie Kashf by a Paksitani director, Ayesha Khan.
The
movie is in English and Punjabi.
I work for a Pakistani non-profit. I and my
colleagues happily travel to far-flung areas to train teachers and to follow-up.
We had set up a camp school for the Swat IDPs (Internally Displaced People) in
Swabi, where I and my colleague trained the teachers and our organization
helped set-up the school. We are not alone in this. Many organizations are
doing such work. We have literacy centers for children working as domestic
laborers, created to draw these children out from work and to bring them to
school where they are paid a stipend for attending. PBS will not cover any of
this because it does not make their kind of a story, and that is fine; but now
that we all know that, why are we even expecting the media to give a complete
picture; that's just not part of their job description.
To cut a long story short, we have problems,
and we are doing something about it.
The article above and the reactions to it are
conflating two issues:
1-Education
2-Terrorism
Let's put the "Terrorism" issue out
of the way first. Isn't it a bit simplistic to assume that
"Terrorism" simply arises out of "Education" or
"Propaganda"?
There is never only one reason for armed
conflict. For those of you who have studied history even at High School Level,
I am sure you will have studied at least 3 causes per conflict -- no matter
what the conflict being considered.
Yes, there is a crying need to re-vamp and
improve the education system. But instead of statistics, let me give you the
people:
1- I went through the private school system.
What is called the "elite" system. I got my
O Levels, A Levels and an external degree from
the University of London from Islamabad, Pakistan.
And I
got my Masters from Australia.
2- I am now working for an NGO,
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (www.itacec.org) My brief is to handle the PELI program
(www.pelinstitute.org), a teacher training program run by
Plymouth State University, USA, for Public
School Teachers in Pakistan.
Basically, we get the provincial governments to
nominate public school teachers for this program. I have interviewed teachers
from the most under-privileged regions of
Pakistan
and this is what I
have discovered:
a-
There is no dearth of candidates, both male and female, willing and
able to study in the USA.
b-
The candidates are uniformly open-minded about the US culture. They
consistently state that the US is an advanced country with similarly advanced
teaching methodologies and they want to learn these methodologies so they can
apply them in their regions. c-The
candidates have sufficient English language skills for communication purposes.
Generally, English is their third or fourth language, so this is quite an
impressive achievement.
d. We have asked candidates about achievements
in their personal lives. Many have pointed at their own struggle to achieve an
education. Quite a few have pointed, with pride, at their own efforts to help
students attain an education by either tutoring them voluntarily, paying their
fees or convincing unwilling parents to allow them to study. As to the elite, private
system, its products attend Harvard, Yale, MIT, Oxford,
Cambridge etc. In other words, they are
competitive at International levels.
Yes, Pakistan has its educational challenges.
But it also has its success stories. Maybe Frontline World should seek them out
and highlight the hope they represent for Pakistan.
This program raises more questions than it
answers, but it is clear (from the interviews in this program) that current
Islamic education is mere indoctrination. But it's also free, which is better
than the near-nothing that the kleptocratic and illegitimate Pakistani
government is providing.
But from a civic-development aspect, why are
local parents not empowered to make things better? Or self-empowered? Why is
there only a top-down subservience to the local (overworked) administrator? Why
is there no transparency in the construction funding of the school and the
monies appropriated for that purpose? Clearly, Pakistani society needs
transparency so that its children and its future will not fail. (Sidenote: Why
are the Saudis ("our friends?") only providing money for Muslim
indoctrination madrasssas?)
(Anonymous)
Is public school free in Pakistan? I was under
the impression that it was not. When free, public education for the masses
becomes a national mandate, by law,they will do it. In the U.S. you can be
arrested for not attending school. It is a different way of seeing education as
important. Pakistan is a young country and must be given time to grow as the
U.S. was. It used to be illegal for certain parts of the population to read in
America, but things change when the people demand it. The people are the
government as they elect their reps.
just read the comment by "anonymous"
that you deemed appropriate to print. i quote from his or her comment:
"America has liberated many nations from all kinds of acts.
Now we must liberate your people from your own
selfish acts. Europe recalls the sacrifices America has made. Will the Muslim
world ever do the same?" A very superficial study of history will make
anonymous realize that there are no such debts to be paid by the Muslim world.
The analogy with Europe during WWII is preposterous. this is what i meant by
the dismal state of public education in the U.S. Much needs to be done there.
(Anonymous)
For so long Muslim countries have forsaken
their youth and women. Their lack of focus on education for both has now shown
their ugly face to the world. Blame your own officials for the reasons your
nation and people are not able to adjust to the west. You have been left to
behind with the rest of the world and your only answer is world wide criminal
(terrorist acts) activity. Thanks but no thanks. So go ahead blame it on
America. It's what the world does best. America has liberated many nations from
all kinds of acts. Now we must liberate your people from your own selfish acts.
Europe recalls the sacrifices America has made. Will the Muslim world ever do
the same?
I'm deeply surprised Mr. Montero takes a few
examples in a vast country such as
Pakistan
and paints
a picture
as bleak
as he
does.
Not that the situation isn't grim--but rather,
why not offer solutions and encouragement?
Our family is deeply involved in helping the
underprivileged become educated in Pakistan. I can tell you the human spirit of
the beneficiaries is nowhere near the image created by Mr. Montero. Please
visit nazeer.org for more information. Also, taking excerpts from certain books
to make it look like that is a foregone conclusion that non-Pakistani's are to
be hated is plain poor journalism. I'm Western educated and I'll advise you to
read about the opinions of authors writing about the crusades.
Funny how in this piece Mr. Montero is doing
exactly what he's trying to point towards in Pakistan. Take a narrow opinion
and let the masses believe it by giving scant evidence...
Although the state of public education in
Pakistan is worrisome, calling it a "ticking time bomb" creates the
kind of rhetorical bias and fear-based cultural knee-jerk reaction which have
made any sensible dialogue between east and west impossible. How concerned are
we for these kids who sit in the dirt and study useless books? Is our concern
focused mainly on a couple of paragraphs which talk about western colonial and
post colonial exploitation in vague enough terms that we can interpret them as
generic hatemongering? Or are we truly concerned for the future of these kids -
for their ability to get jobs, support their families, and eke out a decent
existence?
Public education has always been problematic in
Pakistan. what strikes you first and foremost, is its duality. Public schools
in well-to-do neighborhoods are nothing like those presented in the film.
Granted there are fewer good neighborhoods and more urban slums/villages in
Pakistan but that is such an important component of how public education could
work and does work for some Pakistanis that it is irresponsible not to even
mention such schools.
I finished high school in the public education
system in Islamabad and even though i was less than impressed with the quality
of the curriculum and the whole idea of learning by rote, my experience of
public education was completely different from Fatima's, and the same can be
said for millions of other Pakistanis. I do agree with the man who blamed a lot
of what is happening on the government where officials are busy lining their
own pockets with money and totally indifferent to the plight of the poor.
Education is no different than any other public service - the same duality will
be apparent if you look at healthcare or housing. it's less about trying to
brainwash the next generation, it's more about the lack of investment in people
who do not matter to the government or the elite of Pakistan.
it's a bit like the U.S. really except more pronounced.
public education is not equal for all Americans, neither is healthcare or
housing. if you live in a good school district where you can afford to buy a
house and pay hefty taxes, your kids will have a very different education than
if you live in the projects.
I think it's time for us to get off our high
horse and open up our minds to possibilities - within our own country and
within other countries as well. Fear is not going to get us far but a concern
for humanity both at home and abroad might actually change things.
Education and justice are two main issues of
this country, and once these two are solved then country is on the path of real
development and the end of terrorism. Why it has not been implemented for last
62 years is because of the interests of elites and the ruling class of this
country. If the west and USA want to have long term success and end the
fundamentalism, they should spend money on justice and education in this
country and use their good offices to compel all the rulers to follow these
two. Thanks.
I think we need to analyze the effectiveness of
our education. However flawed and substandard it is, does it actually help the
poor raise their living standards? Surely that is the objective? I am working
with a school and experimented with a skill center situated within the school.
The regular school could not cross a 65% average attendance but the skill
center has a 100% attendance. This simple fact tells a story. What the children
found useful, they did not miss out on. Our education of learning by rote,
outdated methodology, substandard teachers will not solve our problems.
Let's
move to giving young students skills to help them while we upgrade the
education
system, which might take up to two generations.
The video is a true picture of public sector
schools and the situation is worse in other provinces of Pakistan. I visited
some rural areas of Sindh and found the Girls Elementary School being used as a
cattle shed and boys school almost remains closed and the Head Teacher visits
off and on and drives a van instead of coming to school. The situation of ECE
needs to be taken as most important. If the situation of ECE is better then we
may hope for something better.
Friends of education in Pakistan, what is
essential is to track down the origins of Shelterless Schools. A scheme was
officially launched during the early 80s actually backed by donors during Zia's
period under some romantic notion that education can be extended without any
need for shelter and school buildings. What is also worth asking is why dual
standards of education have been pushed for quantity at all cost over quality,
which leave us in a quandary of 1000s of shelterless schools in the 21st
century, with the largest numbers in the province of Sindh (over 6000 ) ! So
where David Montero begins his story is indeed a very interesting one.
Shelterless schools not be default but by design -- a collusion of the sinister
interests nationally and globally and a citizenry exhausted by institutional breakdown
in the 80s: the country's break up in 1971; nationalization causing
irresponsible havoc to satisfy hubris of rulers; Islamization and closing of
minds; the war in Afghanistan. It is enough to make a polity dizzy with
challenges and to rise to multiple fronts of the closing of options for gender,
human rights, human development.
So let us get the context right for shelterless
schools as a formal scheme in the education landscape ...by donors and
government alike... courting a mindless phrase education only needs teachers
not facilities! Education can take place under trees and lamposts.. sorry for
rambling but let us speak from informed perspectives as to why little 12 year
old Fatima is studying in an abandoned brickyard.. this is no coincidence or accident!
A tormented educator and activist baela raza
jamil
All of you who feel for the plight of the poor
children of Pakistan and would like to find a way to help can do so by donating
to some of the very credible, genuine organizations who are doing excellent
work in improving the education system in Pakistan. Developments in
Literacy(www.dil.org)is one such organization that is providing quality
education to underprivileged children in Pakistan. Their teacher training
institute is the first of its kind in Pakistan to cater to the needs of the
rural teacher.
The old guy at 5:00 said it best...and the
Madrassa's Imaam should get slapped for what he said at 8:15! What happened to
spreading peace and love throughout the world? It's people like him that spread
the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims! But he is right in saying that
madrassas are the only option for the poverty stricken communities of Pakistan.
Why it is not working when the money for
education is pouring in from various donors? The question is quite simple but
the answer may need days to explain. Being an educator for the last 27 years
and, in parallel, working with Non Government Organizations who are striving
hard to improve the quality of education in Pakistan, I have conceived the
following factors that do not allow the visible impacts of all these efforts.
1. Most local NGOs (my rough estimate is over
80%) do not emphasize impact-oriented implementation, rather they are involved
in action oriented implementation. 2. Most of the funding provided by the
donors are either consumed in management expenses, under the table deals with
the local distributors, or with the government authorities through which the
funds are floated to the implementer.
3.
The culture of consuming the money inappropriately has made its way to
the lowest receiving end where the visible impacts could be seen.
4.
The local tradition of less inclination towards literacy has also
played a vital role in hindering the process and modern concepts of education
(which of course shall need more energy, time and innovative thinking). This
extends to teachers, who are not even discouraged by the local administration.
5.
The vague curriculum, non-activity-based instruction and the
traditional rote memory teaching has deep roots in the educational system of
Pakistan. Even the highest evaluation agency, the Board of Intermediate and
Secondary Education, is based on the written Answer books, with anonymous
identity of those examining. The result is considered as a criteria for acquiring
admission to the next phase of education, i.e., college (higher secondary
stage). The so-called practical examination is taken by less qualified,
incompetent and less interested teachers, who are unable to evaluate the
students inclination, aptitude or attitude toward further education.
This system has encouraged those elements who
want to impose their own agenda with comparatively no expenses on the part of
parents, less formalities and with a promise of making those taught good human
beings. Some of the institutions are striving hard to impart quality education
but are far away from the reaching the largest chunk of society.
What makes one fundamentally upset about
debates regarding Pakistan's education system is overlooking of:
On the one hand, an undeniable huge country
wide public interest and need for quality education which has concrete
manifestation in the ever expanding enterprise of education; today we have over
270,000 institutions of learning, of which private sector is expanding annually
by almost 25% since 1999/2000, when the first survey on private education
institutions was done in Pakistan by the Federal Bureau of Statistics On the
other hand, is a phenomenon of mushrooming partnerships with the public sector
with two key strands:
1.
Helping public sector to
improve its quality of supply
2.
Seeking public sector financial assistance for low cost quality private
schools to expand choices for quality
eduction
So as the society rises to the challenge,
conversations are 'fashionably' only about doom and gloom - as is the nature of
the current conversation in this bold VIRTUAL initiative.
What we need to do is sift through the debris
and speak about all those elements that make the glass half full with plenty of
evidence, if we want to be a part of the RESCUE
TEAM For education in
Pakistan.
We have a tremendous opportunity in the people
of Pakistan like us and all those teachers/educators that Plymouth
representative speaks about (and many others), who are totally passionate about
making this system turn around.
Those who believe that in education lies
Pakistan's transformation; there are plenty like us, believe me. We must find
believers in the public sector who are equally committed towards this
enterprise of education in its most comprehensive sense. Sector wide, all the
way and, system wide, all the way as there is a crying need to be part of the
REDESIGN of the Education system which is all wrong. Not because of its
colonial legacies but because of the unhealthy and unthinking continuation of
these beyond the time and scale that it was intended to be. (we will come to
this later with good evidence).
Moving away from the madrassah stories, I would
like to introduce for this discussion three issues affecting the entire
population in Pakistan: National Education Policy 2009 Status; GDP Education
Allocations, and Governance. And if there is interest, I can expand to the next
four critical areas: public private partnerships; teacher education,
ECE and the recent decision to shift age bands
for calculating indicators of Net
Enrollment
Levels (NERs) Primary from 5-9
to 6-10...
If there is an interest, I would like to
elaborate with evidence on the issues, their scale, and what can be done
practically.
Recently, the initiative of the Pakistan
Education Task Force (PETF) was formed to make good decisions on how best to
make use of the UK 225 million pounds being
given by the British govt to implement the
National Education Policy 2009. It is cochaired by Michael Barber and Shahnaz
Wazir Ali and also has USAID as a member. PETF mandate has an echo of the Rs 1
lac in 1823 or so, allocated for education under the Company Raj, which was
debated well over a decade until the famous Macaulay Minute in 1835 was pitched
at the orientalists vs. anglicists. The latter won the day. But what are we
debating about today? Let us be clear ... speak about substance and not
sensationalize for media attention only, but for serious public and global
action. Baela Raza Jamil, Director Programs ITA and Institute for Professional
Learning Pakistan
Failure over the past 62 years to correct the
public school system in Pakistan has led to ignorance and a high rate of
population growth. Today, Pakistan has schools for the rich and schools for the
poor - a polarisation and segmentation of society which is engulfing the nation
in a war on terror.
The system needs to be re-vamped with a rights
based, citizen based curriculum, bright, cheerful classrooms, interesting
textbooks and trained teachers who have some standard of education needed to be
a teacher.
The system of 145,000
public schools can now only be uplifted by rectifying all the ills that plague
it across the board. A piecemeal approach will only waste time, effort and
money.
Too much time has already been wasted by
tinkering here and there.
The backwardness is related to religious
faith,If a nation chooses to recite religious scripture 5 times a day,how can
they grow.West should stop military aid to Pakistan, IMMEDIATELY.
A Khalaf of Houston Texas, TX said, "As
long as Muslims will cling to Islam which is a hateful violent cult they will
be poor and backward. The few well off Muslim countries are either secularly
influenced or oil
rich."
Apparently you are ignorant of both Islam and
history for making such a ridiculous statement. Islam is NOT a "hateful
violent cult" and if you study history you will see that the Muslims were
most affluent when they most closely followed their religion which advocates
that they gain knowledge and benefit humanity.
Pakistan looks like a problem from the top
down. Just like they don't know who to befriend; the Taliban who hangs people
on hooks with their head between their legs, or successful, civil countries who
are willing to help them.
Pakistan needs to sit down and chart a coarse,
and eliminate all the greed, and corruption, and write a central value system.
I salute the whole team, specially David
Montero, for providing the world with a partial insight into Pakistan's
education system. Highlighting the problems is one thing, offering a solution
is an entirely different one.
Was there any concrete solution or suggestion
offered by any of the participants for a change and improvement?
The predominance of private schools offering
the same curriculum as British and American hasn't even been alluded to. The
schools offering all sort of amenities and luxuries from pools, baseball,
concerts, excursion trips to foreign lands. The schools which do help students
to qualify for the British,American and European universities goes back to the
same old masters, who then return to rule the people whose very language they
aren't able to speak.
David should have asked the authorities he was
interviewing about the schools of their kids.The owners of such schools are
either brutal business people impervious to any educational sense or the people
from the political and governmental hierarchy, forces, and bureaucracy, who are
in cahoots with one of the most vicious,veiled, covert and plaguing feudal
systems.
An episode on another kind of generation,
though equally lost, might strike the balance by evoking feelings of
covetousness and jealousy instead of pity, compassion and awe in the audience
about this land full of dumbfounding oddities.
As long as Muslims will cling to islam which is
a hateful violent cult they will be poor and backward.The few well off Muslim
countries are either secularly influenced or oil rich.
Congratulations to Frontline on addressing the
complexities of public education in Pakistan. However, there are success
stories due to dedicated Pakistani educators, administrators, and NGO's who are
working at the grassroots level. Since 2003, the State Department's Bureau of
Educational and Cultural Affairs has been funding a professional development
project for Pakistani educators. Hosted by Plymouth State University and
facilitated by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, it includes U.S. and Pakistan
components. The 120 alumni of the project are remarkable - change agents in
their own country. How can the work of Pakistanis like them be supported and
sustained effectively?
Very superficial coverage of an acknowledged
problem. For example, the story does not mention several charity organizations
doing excellent work in this area and their outreach is expanding. I hope your
correspondent would look at the work of organizations like TCF, DILL and so on.
A balanced report on the situation and constructive criticism would have been
helpful
I've always wanted to be a teacher in history
and english. I was unable to finish because my father pulled me out of college
because teachers in California couldn't get jobs in l972. He sent me to
secretarial school and then I went back to school in 81-84 for business and
computers. I was a senior when my mother got cancer and I had to stop my last
two quarters before I finished. I then got married, disabled, abandoned by my
husband and now I'm trying to get back to finish my interest in teaching again
in history/english.
Since I've always been interested in other
peoples religions and customs and do not have any family, I'm trying to get to
Afghanistan or Pakistan to teach. I have no set religion because I value all
religions and learned through self education that everyone is to be respected
and valued as a child of God. I guess after studying all major religions I've
taken all of the most important parts of each one as a value to the human race.
Compassion is my #1 commandment that I always try to follow. As well as
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". It will be
through education and teaching the children how to read and thinking for
themselves instead of following what others tell them is right will all
children learn to value one another. When the children read all different kinds
of philosophies and ideas and learn how to think critically will things begin
to possibly change.
Hopefully I'll be able to get in touch with
someone or an agency that will help me reach my goal of teaching in Afghanistan
or Pakistan.
If anyone has any ideas or a person I should
contact I would be very grateful for any help you could give me to reach this
goal.
Thanks, Kerry Pay, 59, female
I've never missed a Frontline show because this
is the best that T.V has since it began!
What is clearly happening is that an entire
generation of under educated Pakistani children is being steered toward
carrying on the holy war against the west, while an entire generation of under
educated children in the United States is being prepared to keep going into the
middle east and 'spreading democracy'. The children of our future are being
prepared from birth to carry on the campaign of hatred and ignorance that their
fore-bearers have started before our very eyes. For these poor children, both
here and in Pakistan, their birth certificate amount to little more than death
sentences, and most of them will never know the reality into which they have
been brought. It is one of the great tragedies of human kind, and it has not
even begun to unfold itself.
This report was really lacking, especially in
contrast to the "Behind Taliban Lines" program after which it was
broadcast. If "For the past three centuries the Europeans have been
working to subjugate the countries of the Muslim world" is met with
|
incredulity, it only illustrates that Pakistan is not the only nation
with a failed education system. True, it is poorly worded and is clearly
being used for propaganda value, but it is -not- factually incorrect. How
many American students, or adults, for that matter, understand the role the
British Empire played in the creation of Pakistan and the present cultural
standoff between that nation and India? How many know of the brutal Dutch war
with the Sultanate of Aceh? Public Education and propaganda go hand in hand,
in the "West" and elsewhere. I watch you program last night in awe.It is a shame that the Pakistan
government doesn't use the money that is allocated for education in the
proper way. it seem like they really don't care about the future of the
country or the children that have to live in it. Too bad. I found this segment as well as the one on Afghanistan highly
informational. There was no mention of Greg Mortenson and his selfless
dedication to building schools without the aid of the US government's money.
I read his first book "Three Cups of Tea" and came away with a
strong sense of hope for Pakistan's children. I look forward to reading his
new book "Stones for Schools" about his attempts in Afghanistan.
How could such important work not be mentioned in the program?! Are his
schools being destroyed and abandoned as well? Thank you. This story was a great eye opener. It helps me to
understand how bad it is there, and to understand a little more on why the US
is trying to help. My family just suffered the ultimate sacrifice as one of
the American solders that were killed on Feb 3rd in Lower Dir was from our
family. But not only was my family member killed, but 3 young girls were
killed and many more were injured, and their school is no longer there, so
sad... I think Pakistani people need to change their mind about education
but it is a difficult target when they are grown under religious discourse
and never are able to have another point of view. Brazilian people have a
distorted idea of education, similar to that of Pakistan: school must produce
people to serve power. Thanks for the great documentaries! One day we will all ask questions
like: Why are some so much better off than others and why the rest so
oblivious? Are we to be judged by how we treat the least amongst us? If so,
how are we doing? This is bad. A pilot program should be set up
immediately, with broadband and cloud computers placed in the hands of some
10,000 kids, and internet access provided for |
education. This is a cheap solution all things
considered. The Gates foundation would likely be interested.
I think
education system in Pakistan needs
a complete
overhaul. The major issues it has
under trained or untrained teachers at all levels. A curriculum which may be
suitable to create a generation of office clerks but not more than that.
A variety of madrassas are creating a
generation of closed brain religious sects.
A class system in institutes, only results in
further segregation within society. Overall, corruption in society results in
broken labs to ghost schools.
This creates a culture of getting marks instead
of learning. A culture of degrees instead of skills. A culture of shortcuts to
pass exams instead of reading. A culture of avoiding books. All this results
only in a mediocre class of degrees holders who do not know how to question or
how to comprehend.
The culture of knowing the W's is totally
missing in lower levels of education.
Denver
Why is it so hard for people to see that
sometimes they blame others for exactly what they do. Such as that of imposing their
belief, morals, norms on others! The Taliban accuses the Western world for
imposing democracy on Pakistan and Afghanistan; yet they impose their hatred,
to die while killing non-Muslims, blessing idolatry on the minds of young,
innocent children! I think any idolatry of killing others is NO BETTER! Is it
so easy to forget 9/11? know the first time the Trade Towers were bombed in
1993, it became so easily forgotten that we couldn't (wouldn't) prepare
ourselves for another attack. Or think that it was a possibility. Now, please
tell me if I am wrong, but every man or woman who has blown themselves up to
kill non-Muslims had a lot of hatred for the Western world, and on top of that,
a belief that they were doing the right thing, that they were living out the
Will of God. This idolitary can only come from a misguided education.
Propaganda. I think NOT!
I ache all over when I watch a documentary like
this. I am huge fan of Greg Mortenson and his approach to gaining support of
Afghani and Pakistani people. He makes sure that he has the support of local
elders, shows respect for their ways and has done an amazing job of providing
schools for girls. Would that Americans and NATO allies have similar way of
doing operations there. The present military effort will only end in disaster.
In Western countries,
education is taken for granted...as it should be! When will people be able to
see that the future is about the now, and that means the children! I hope that
there is a change in thinking of the Eastern governments soon! Otherwise they
won't even need war to perish.
The state
of education in Pakistan – Ali Moeen Nawazish
The
importance of education cannot be overstated; as a great equalizer and a
foundation for the future of any developing country. The world has moved on to
a knowledge-based economy and without the right skills and training,
indiscriminately accessible to all, it will be a difficult road ahead for
Pakistan. Pakistan started o with a fairly good education system coming out of
colonial rule.
Of
course, the goal of education then was different, as one colonial ruler said,
―the purpose of the Indian education system is to produce clerks‖. Still, we
saw brilliant minds emerge, educators like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who took
education by the helm.
However,
the past 40 years have seen that, rather than adapting, modernizing and
improving the quality of education, our public sector education has been on a
downward trajectory. Earlier generations swear over the higher quality of
education they received and this was despite schools lacking basic
infrastructural facilities. Today, the quality of education has plummeted,
forgotten by bureaucrats, coupled with an indifferent ruling class.
We are producing a
workforce, which lacks the ability to research and generate workable solutions
to the problems in our society. Universities are not spending enough on
developing research proficient alumni, rendering the higher education systems
incompetent.
The
consequences have been daunting. We are producing a workforce, which lacks the
ability to research and generate workable solutions to the problems in our
society. Universities are not spending enough on developing research proficient
alumni, rendering the higher education systems incompetent. There is an urgent need
to develop critical thinkers, with independent minds, ready to engage in
debate, to cultivate a culture of innovation through research.
Our
graduates are becoming less competitive, a qualified workforce will go a long
way to ensure mutually beneficial deals are possible with foreign companies.
This lack of technical and academic discourse directly impedes progress. In
most cases, students are left to the mercy of employers, for training and
acquisition of technical skills required to solve the real problems in our
society, industries, and economy.
Free and Compulsory
Education
Article
25(a) of the Constitution codified into law, that the state was responsible for
providing free and compulsory education: ―The State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of veto sixteen years in such
manner as may be determined by law.‖ Yet, we still see that a significant
portion of the population is still out of school; it is a collective failure of
the nation.
Free
and fair education laws need to be followed up by a strong political and
bureaucratic will. In India, Kerala achieved 100% literacy because of the
presence of will to take actions. In January 2016, Kerala became the first
Indian state to achieve 100% literacy rate through its education programme
―Athulyam‖.
The
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE Act) which was enacted in 2009 made it compulsory
for all private schools to reserve 25% seats for children from disadvantaged
groups which were to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private
partnership plan. We see this in some areas in Gilgit Baltistan as well, and
the village of Rasoolpur in Gujrat Pakistan, which has also achieved 100%
literacy. There has to be a will, even at the lowest of levels, in the
bureaucracy, which brings about change.
Divide and Rule
The
principal challenge in bringing about reforms lies in the massive divide
between education systems across the country. It is divided via different
boards that conduct the examinations, the language of instruction by the public
and private sector, the local and international qualifications, religious
education vs. secular education, by province, by the textbook board, and by
geography.
We
don‘t have a one-size ts all approach to education in Pakistan, which can be a
positive given the flexibility it provides to the masses. But, in Pakistan‘s
case, it has become a roadblock in the way of equal access to standardized
quality of education for all citizens. The core issue is of education system
variance, and a lack of quality control, resulting in graduates of the same
level producing different qualities of work.
A large part of our
technical workforce is informally trained and not certified. This means that a lot
of our workforce can‘t avail opportunities abroad in countries which pay well
but require formal training.
If
you were to start reforms you would have to bring everyone on the same page and
make reforms universal, so no child gets left behind. One affordable curriculum
and accessible exam system will go a long way in providing equal opportunity to
all our children in exploring their potential.
Partly
this divide is caused by bad government policies. Multiple boards were created
by different governments both provincial and federal. The Education Act needs
to create one board to minimize this impact.
No one to Care!
One
of the most important reasons for the dismal state of affairs is that no one
with the power to bring change and reform to our education system has any
personal stake in doing so. The concurrent private vs. public education systems
in Pakistan means that our ruling elite and middle classes are completely
disconnected from the public education system.
As
Pakistan‘s own education system deteriorated in quality, the elite, movers and
shakers of society moved to alternatives in the form of private education with
―imported‖ education. O Levels, A-Levels, IB, senior Cambridge and junior
Cambridge have become status symbols for the elite.
Only if examination quality
is guaranteed will we be able to bid adieu to foreign boards, who also
contribute hugely in eating up foreign reserves as well as creating an
iniquitous society.
This
movement away from an indigenous education system by the chattering classes
reduced pressure on the government to implement reform to improve the system.
Only if examination quality is guaranteed will we be able to bid adieu to
foreign boards, who also contribute hugely in eating up foreign reserves as
well as creating an iniquitous society.
Everyone
in parliament, top executives and top military personnel send their children to
private schools. These elite private schools provide education for only those
who can afford to pay. When you have people running a system, with no personal
interest in improving that system, you won‘t see the system improve.
A National Priority?
The
importance of education is ingrained in our societal and cultural values. We
are all taught at home about how important it is to study. With the exception
of a few tied down by economic circumstances, most families would like their
children to study and succeed.
This
prioritization of education at the social level; however, has never translated
to prioritization at the government and political level. One argument is that
political education is a hard sell to voters – you can‘t easily show bene ts of
high- er quality education unlike pointing to a bridge built by the government.
Similarly,
voters don‘t demand education with the same gusto and zeal as they demand other
things from their political representatives such as assistance in police and
legal matters.
Thus,
there is a great disconnect between our belief, ―Education is vital and
important,‖ and the implementation of this belief. We would like to believe it
is a priority, we support it being a priority, but when it comes to putting our
money where our mouth is, we fail.
Is it about Money?
A
lot of debate has always revolved around how much money we spend on education.
As a percentage of GDP, our spending on education is the lowest in South Asia.
It can be tempting to think that throwing more money at the problem may x it
but the truth is that there is a fundamental lack of capacity to use the funds
in a meaningful way in our system.
The
money needs to be spent, but not before reform is undertaken to make the system
more efficient. For example, ghost schools and ghost teachers who don‘t show up
to teach are a big issue. If we want to develop 100 more schools in a year, the
existing bureaucracy will fail to deliver that.
It
won‘t be possible to hire the required quality teachers toll these schools.
Even if such schools were established we wouldn‘t be able to get enrollment in
them as per required levels. So, it isn‘t just money, it is the implementation
and consumption of that money which becomes a problem.
The State of Higher
Education
Over
the last few decades, we have made significant strides in improving the state
of higher education in the country. It has borne fruit and we see many quality
universities producing quality graduates. Higher education, in general,
received a huge push under the era of General Pervaiz Musharraf with Dr. Atta
ur Rehman as his Minister for Science & Technology. We saw universities
increase ve-fold in number.
The
private sector also invested and we saw the establishment of private
universities. While this increased enrollment and brought a check on quality,
the research side still suffered. Quality across the board also remains a real
issue. We see many graduates in various subjects like Urdu or Arabic or even
Law who don‘t have any of the skills required to be successful in professional
life.
The concurrent private vs.
public education systems in Pakistan means that our ruling elite and middle
classes are completely disconnected from the public education system. As
Pakistan‘s own education system deteriorated in quality, the elite, movers and
shakers of society moved to alternatives in the form of private education with
―imported‖ education.
If
you speak to employers they tell you that, even students who have done Masters
are not for basic jobs, and can‘t write a letter properly. This speaks of the
need to reform and more importantly, cultivate industry and academia linkages
in the higher education sector. Our biggest industries have very little
linkages with our graduates or what is studied.
The
other major deficiency lies in the lack of research capability in our higher
education sector. While at some level, some universities are producing
graduates who are competitive and these graduates go abroad to work and study
and do well, research wings in universities are struggling.
We are simply not producing world-class
research and the quality of our Ph.D‘s is not up to mark. Part of this has to
do with funding research needs, without funding good research cannot be carried
out. Secondly, we need an industry which believes in using local research to
solve local problems.
That
has been an allusion so far, this vital link which has to feed resources into
our academia has not worked. Without funding both private and public schools,
and a real focus on research needs and applications of that research, we won‘t
be able to improve our research standings.
Focus on Technical and
Vocational Training
One
of the key solutions to Pakistan‘s economic problem lies in equipping our
workforce with technical skills. Countries that have recognized that a
traditional education is not the only way have produced great results.
Especially, Germany, where traditional college and technical education are seen
as equally good in the eyes of the public.
A
large part of our technical workforce is informally trained and not certified.
This means that a lot of our workforce can‘t avail opportunities abroad in
countries which pay well but require formal training. It also means that even
locally we don‘t and the requisite skills to uplift the Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector and technical trades.
Technical
training o ers fast-track employment with opportunities for entrepreneurship
and is an absolutely vital way of helping the country and people move forward.
It is important to let go of traditional ways of looking at the sector as
having less prestige. Many in the TVET sector can now make more money than
people having had more traditional degrees in subjects which don‘t have demand
or employability.
The Solution
I
have always held the view that fixing the education system in Pakistan is no
rocket science, it just needs to be done. The following reforms and actions
need to be taken on a priority basis to x our ailing system:
1. Create consensus on a
national curriculum which will enable learning outcomes to be the same for all
students.
2. Simplify and unify the
examination system. All students in Pakistan should be taking a quality
standard exam.
3. Revamp our current books to
ensure that the mistakes present are not there.
4. Empower public sector
principals to manage their own schools (i.e. re/hire and hold accountable for
their staff).
5. Increase spending while
increasing number of schools.
6. Create public and private
partnerships where the government can foot the bill for private schools in
areas where public schools aren‘t available.
7. Link higher education
courses and research with industry needs.
8. Promote technical training
as an alternative career path.
With
the proper political will and good governance, we will see improvements in
education. However, people need to feel that it is a national priority not
through words but through actions.
Abstract
Every
nation state is struggling hard to improve the living standard of its people so
that Pakistan is looking for its people. It is believed that education can
bring long lasting and sustainable transformation or change in any society
towards better living standards and improve socio-economic conditions. There is
consensus among the majority of nations and academia that quality education
with inclusiveness and equity is the only tool which can bring a desired
change. Education has a very close relationship with the contemporary paradigm
shift of education for sustainable development to create critical thinking
mindset of the nation to create healthy minds. Literature on sustainability and
education demonstrates a causal link with socio-economic development. Academia,
society, researchers, scientists, industry and all folks of society are
convinced that education is the key tool to bring a change from local to global
level in order to curtail contemporary challenges human beings and the planet
is facing. A system analysis approach is used to understand logical links among
loops. The causal relationship is demonstrated in the form of a Causal Loops
Diagram (CLD) reinforces the idea that education is not only a key driver for
introducing more sustainability into the development process, it is also a set
of leverage points that should be gradually removed. Therefore, it is
understood that quality education is affected by multiple factors to achieve.
Keywords: Causal Loop Diagram,
Education quality education, Equitable education, Sustainable development,
Sustainable development goals, SDG4.
Received: 27 February 2020/
Revised: 30 March 2020 / Accepted: 5 May
2020/ Published: 22 May
2020
Contribution/ Originality
This
study contributes to understand the long quest to Education for Sustainable
Development from Brundtland Report (1987) to SDG4 ―Quality Education‖
(2015-2020). We use Pakistan‘s case study to explain how Education and
Sustainability change the representation of developing country.
1. INTRODUCTION
Pakistan
is one of the worst affected countries in a long list of multifaceted global
challenges such as poverty, education, illiteracy, climate change, terrorism,
peace, pollution, environment, social security, tolerance, health, basic
necessities so on. Many of these issues are directly or indirectly related to
education, economic development and growth. During the previous review of
educational policies of Pakistan (Khushik & Diemer, 2017) it was observed that most of the educational policies focused on two
main aspects, economic development and character building of the nation.
However, it is a dilemma for the country that it could not achieve any of these
targets. Education is the prime need of
the contemporary era of the country. It is considered as the only tool for the
long-term development of the nation and country as a whole. It is widely
accepted truth in the developed countries and evident that education
transformed many societies (Mundy, Green,
Lingard, & Verger, 2016). Many developed countries' living standard is high in HDI because they
invest all types of resources into the nation for the developing human capital.
Investing in the generations is a productive business in the contemporary world
and ensures safe, healthy and productive individuals as well as communal life.
Ultimately education enhances the quality of life by improving socioeconomic
conditions of the country (Hannum &
Buchmann, 2005). Legal framework is important for any nation state to operationalize
educational objectives or vision or goal for provision of basic education up to
a level to each and every citizen of the country. Similarly, provision of
education to each and every citizen of Pakistan is mandatory for every
individual but it remains challenging since inception of Pakistan. Although its
first 1973 constitution guarantees every citizen access to basic education as a
basic fundamental right. Before the 1947 education conference, the Government
of India 1935 Act was adopted as an interim constitution of Pakistan as well as
an education policy. During the year 2010, the Constitution has been amended,
according to constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan‘s article 38(d) it is
state‘s responsibility ―to
provide basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, housing,
education and medical relief for all citizens, irrespective of sex, cast, creed
or race‖.
The Constitution also provides a basic right for literacy to minimize
illiteracy in the country. Article 37(b) ensures that the state should ―remove illiteracy and
provide free and compulsory
secondary
education within a minimum possible period‖.
Not
only Pakistan but globally it is mandatory for every country to provide access
to basic quality education to each and every child of the nation according to
different UN declarations. The state shall provide free and compulsory
education to all children of the age of Five to Sixteen years'' [Article 25-A];
Moreover, the article 26-1 of Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948) (UDHR) also mentions the right to education, it states, ―Everyone has the right to
education.
Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.
Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education
shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally
accessible to all on the basis of merit‖. But the statistics about education in
Pakistan present a depressing picture; the official literacy rate is still 58%
(Pakistan, 2019) and that too is characterized by wide male female and ruralurban
disparities.
Education
should be the priority of the country's development agenda. Without putting it
on the top of the list, it seems challenging for the nations to achieve
targeted objectives. However, it seems less of a priority in the budgets of
Pakistan. Unfortunately, education remains a less priority for all governments,
its evidence is all previous percentage of budget allocations for education in
the last seven decades. Even after devolution through 18th constitutional
amendments some ministries dissolved at federal level and handed over to
provinces/regions according to the new amended constitution of Pakistan as a
move to provincial/regional autonomy. However, budget allocation for the
education sector throughout the country in all provinces is below from
international commitment. Federal government usually reserved about 2.5% as an
average of GDP for education sector in every yearly budget, according to World
Bank data in year 2015 it was 3% (Pakistan, 2019) and so on as the provincial government except North West province of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan‘s
educational administration or management is divided into several horizontal and
vertical tiers to manage it effectively. Although it proved to be a complex and
inefficient administration to implement a national policy of literacy to
educate each and every child in the country. Before the year 2010 since
independence 1947, Education was managed or administered by the federal level
government and it was national level responsibility therefore the national
ministry of education was responsible to devise policies, programs, projects
and budgets and to ensure the provision of education in public sector education
from primary to higher level. After the 2009 national education policy, the
federal government of Pakistan passed an 18th constitution amendment. This
constitutional change devolved some national level ministries and division into
provinces and one of the major ministries was education. Soon after this
amendment provinces authorized to develop their own regional educational
policies. Therefore, conceptually provinces/regions become more independent in
ensuring quality issues of education. It is another debate whether all
provincial/regional governments are competent enough or have capacity to manage
decentralization especially education.
Pakistan‘s
primary level public educational system is classified in five different tiers,
starting from Primary school (grade or year 1-5), middle schools (grade or year
6-8), high school (grade or year 9-10, higher secondary (grade or year 11-12)
and above is university level. Another parallel education type is religious
education which is officially recognized education, which is called Deeni – a local word means
religious education, commonly called the Madrasah system. There are two types
of institutions which are key stakeholders and education service provider
public (state owned) schools, colleges and universities and private
institutions from primary to university level. Within the public and private
education system, there is another distinction between them is the medium of
instruction and education syllabus. Military also has their own schools,
colleges and universities which also have different syllabus. Children of
officers and other non-commissioned military go to schools which have the
Cambridge (O and A) examination system as well as the matriculation system.
Therefore, in Pakistan the educational system is not uniform which creates a
difference among nations on understanding the social and other issues of the
society and it creates an inequality between individuals. Pakistan‘s
educational system is highly fragmented and segmented. As mentioned above a
variety of educational syllabus, medium of instruction, examination pattern,
curriculum, religious, private and public institutions… are the reasons of
Pakistan‘s failed education system to produce a harmonized, peaceful,
pluralistic, tolerant and sustainable society.
Federal
government used economic objectives as a key driver for education. Although, it
is another debate about why it could not fulfill its objective to achieve even
economic growth. National curriculum was used by different political regimes
for their own political purposes. Especially military dictators especially
modified national curriculum of schools. Although provinces/regions have
adopted other than the federal level curriculum. Some private schools follow
the Cambridge school system where they are teaching entirely a different
curriculum. It may be because of all these reasons the country failed to create
a pluralistic society.
Another
key driver of education in Pakistan is the zealous attitude of the nation
towards war with neighboring countries, especially with India. Previous
syllabus prepares military mind militia to prepare people for war with India.
It also diverts the country's educational system from developing people by
providing quality education to live a quality life. This type of approach
diverts nations overall interests of development into unproductive goals.
Pakistan
obliged the global community and signed the global agenda 2030 for the
betterment of the people of Pakistan and the planet as a whole. Soon after
acceptance of the challenge during the summit, the government of Pakistan
unanimously adopted SDGs through its national parliament and started working on
it. It establishes a separate sustainable development goals unit at
federal/country level in order to create a focal point for coordination, data
collection, information, research, policy formation, progress monitoring and
mainstreaming the SDG agenda in order to recommend a framework of action to
align next planning from local, national and global level. Pakistan as a state
since inception took several initiatives for educational progress under
different policy reforms, training programs, local and international
conventions etc. Pakistan is a signatory of Millennium Development goals 2000,
education for all initiative 1990, Dakar framework of Action 2015.
First
challenge for Pakistan‘s educational system is accessibility of education.
According to UNICEF an estimated 22.8 (UNICEF, 2016) million children aged between 5 to 16 years are out of school. Few
reasons for not attending school are overall quality of education, facilities
(water, sanitation, furniture, electricity, classrooms) accessibility to the
children is also a hurdle, irrelevant curriculum, teachers rude or no friendly
behavior, poverty because children support their parents in earning by doing
labor work, unavailability of text books and note books etc.
Keeping
this context and educational scenario of Pakistan where basic educational
access is still very challenging for the country to achieve then it would be
very difficult to achieve its targets for SDG till year 2030. This study
addresses the SDG4 to understand the pattern of progress against SDGs in
Pakistan. Therefore, in order to assess the status of SDG 4 and its progress
against set targets this paper reviews the progress of the country and builds a
future scenario to recommend a sustainable framework in order to achieve not
only SDG targets but transform its society to a sustainable society. In this
paper, we explore the relation between Education and Sustainability through the
objectives/targets of SDG4. This proposed a SDG4 scenario in order to assess,
monitor and plan educational policy and programmes to achieve agenda 2030
targets.
2. EDUCATION, THE LONG
QUEST TO SUSTAINABILITY
Education
has often been presented as an important variable -human capital (Lucas, 1990; Romer, 1990) - of endogenous growth in most economists' work (Ozturk, 2001; Psacharopoulos,
1985). It is only since the Brundtland Report that it has been associated
with the concept of sustainable development. The term Education for sustainable
development (ESD) was first introduced in the year 1992 in the United Nations
(UN) World Summit on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. Since its
inception, it remains on the global development agenda to address global
sustainable development challenges. Later on, United Nations launched in the
early 2000s an initiative to integrate the principles, values and practices of
sustainable development (United Nations,
2004) into all the aspects of education and learning. The Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development (DESD, 2005 to 2014) sought ―to mobilize the educational
resources of the world to help to create a more sustainable future‖. Unesco is the lead
agency for the DESD. Education for Sustainable Development is presented as a
holistic and transformational education which addresses learning contents and
outcomes, pedagogy and learning environment. It is an important part of the
quality education that the United Nations introduced first into Millennium
Development Goals (MDP 2 - Achieve Universal Primary Education) and then into Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG4 - Quality education).
2.1. The Brundtland Report and Education Issues
The
term sustainable development was first introduced in the Brundtland report in
1987. According to the definition, Sustainable Development ‗Development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs‘. This explanation stresses on the needs of future generations and
sustainable utilization of resources in the present. In this report, many
important areas have been discussed such as the concept of sustainable
development, different approaches and strategies, economy, ecosystem,
environment, education, food security, population etc. Although it did not
focus on the educational perspective of sustainable development, the Brundtland
report shared important issues related to sustainable development.
1. The report called for a
common endeavour and for new norms of behaviour at all levels and in the
interest of all. The changes in attitudes, in social values and in aspirations
―will
depend on vast campaigns of education, debate and public
participation‖ (1987, Foreword of Gro
Harlem Brundtland).
2. There are many feedback
effects between Education, Population and Human resources. Rates of population
growth compromise many governments‘ abilities to provide education. Education
improves the human potential to manage resources (education and training
produce practical and vocational skills, reduce unemployment). It also gives
women the choice to define the size of the family (family planning and
contraceptives, social development programmes, female education), this basic human right for
self-determination
raises the status of women.
3. Education creates the
conditions of fair society, equity and common interest: ―Sustainable development has
been described here in general terms. How are individuals in the real world to
be persuaded or made to act in the common interest? The answer lies partly in
education, institutional development, and law enforcement‖ (1987, p. 44).
4. Education introduces change
in the content of growth, it takes into account the quality dimension: ―Sustainability requires
views of human needs and well-being that incorporate such non-economic
variables as education and health enjoyed for their own sake, clean air and
water, and the protection of natural beauty‖ (1987, p. 49). Money spent on education may
raise human productivity.
5. Lack of education is part
of a downward spiral in developing countries (high infant mortality, poverty).
At the same, the growth in primary education doesn‘t stop illiteracy which is
continuing to rise in terms of sheer numbers.
6. The understanding of the
interactions between environmental processes and economic development requires
educational programmes aimed to kids, students and adults. The report considers
that: ―Environmental
education should be included in and should run throughout the other disciplines
of the formal education curriculum at all levels - to foster a sense of
responsibility for the state of the environment and to teach students how to
monitor, protect, and improve it ― (1987, p. 96).
Finally,
the Brundtland report suggests a societal and economic transformation, the main
task of education policy should be to make literacy universal, to close the
gaps between male and female enrolment rates, to improve education in quality
and in relevance to local conditions.
2.2. The Agenda 21 and the Crucial Role of
Education
The
crucial role of education in achieving sustainable development has been duly
noted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in
Rio de Janeiro in 1992, through Chapter 36 of its outcome document.
Agenda
21 is a document which is a non-binding action plan and a product of a meeting
in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 1992 prepared after a meeting of 178 nation
states. The United Nations organized an international meeting in the follow up
progress of Brundtland commission. It is also called the earth summit report.
It was discussed as an agenda of global, national and local level for each
participating country in the meeting to contribute in identified areas to
protect people and the planet. Agenda 21 refers to its scope relating to
upcoming challenges of the 21st century. Its aim was to achieve sustainable
development at a global level by contributing from a local level. Its main
feature was introducing global guidelines for every country who can create its
local and national agenda according to its culture and context. Document
consists of 40 chapters and four sections, its section first is about social
and economic dimensions, section two conservation and management of resources
for development, section three, strengthening the role of major groups and the
last section is about means of implementation. It was the highest level global
commitment of nation states to fulfill their responsibility to contribute in
protecting planned and people. Agenda 21 was considered as a dynamic programme
which has a wide scope of changes with the passage of time and evolved as a
guiding document on sustainable development.
This action plan focuses mostly on the environmental and economical
perspectives of sustainable development. This dynamic document proposed the
background or context of a specific area of improvement, its concrete
objectives, activities and means of implementation so that the governments and
civil society should act in a guided manner to achieve specific objectives in a
specific time frame.
Education
is discussed in chapter 36 of agenda 21. This document is relevant with this
effort because it recommends certain means of implementation against each
objective in all areas of improvement. This effort also suggests four major
areas to implement education for sustainable development principles and
objectives. First, promote and improve the quality of education, second,
Reorient the curriculum, third, raise public awareness on the concept of
sustainable development and the last one, about training the workforce or human
capital. These four objectives provided significant grounds for building the
next generation to act according to nature and sustain the future of human
beings. Quality education which focuses on lifelong learning will ultimately
improve quality of life and it's only possible when the teaching material or
text focuses on the priority on sustainable development agenda issues. This
effort is also focusing on such highly important issues to implement through a
sustainable development agenda on specific target groups to contribute on a
smaller level. ESD is about education
and learning - engaging people in SD issues, developing their capacities to
give meaning to SD and to contribute to its development and utilizing the
diversity represented by all people - including those who have been or feel
marginalized - in generating innovative solutions to SD problems and crises (UNESCO, 2009).
2.3. Dakar Framework for Action on Education for
All (2000)
The
Dakar Framework for Action on Education for All (EFA) was adopted at the World
Education Forum in April 2000. It reaffirms the vision of the World Declaration
on Education for All (UNESCO, 1990) supported by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child: ―all children, young people and adults have the
human right to benefit from an education that will meet their basic learning
needs in the best and fullest sense of the term, an education that includes
learning to know, to do, to live together and to be ‖ (World Education
Forum, 2000). The achievement of EFA involves to reach different goals and targets
: (i) expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education,
especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children; (ii) make sure
that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult
circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and
complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality; (iii) ensure
that learning needs of all young people
and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and
life-skills programmes.; (iv) achieve a 50 per cent improvement in levels of
adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and
continuing education for all adults; (v) eliminate gender disparities in
primary and secondary education by 2005, and achieve gender equality in
education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls full and equal access to and
achievement in basic education of good quality; (vi) improve all aspects of the
quality of education.
If
the Dakar Framework sets these six goals and proposed strategies to reach
them, it insists also on the following
three principles : (1) Education is a right and an inclusive concept, it
imposes an obligation upon states to ensure that all citizens have
opportunities to meet their basic learning needs : the education of girls
remains a major challenge, especially in South Asia and Sub-Saharan
Africa; (2) Primary education should be
free, compulsory and of good quality : quantitative achievements tell nothing
on the nature and quality of teaching and learning ; (3) the indispensable role
of the state in education must be supplemented and supported by bold and
comprehensive educational partnerships at all levels of society. ; the spread
of democratic principles requires the growing contribution of civil society.
2.4. Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (2002)
In
2002 the representatives of 191 governments gathered in Johannesburg, South
Africa for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), with the aim of
examining the progress made on the outcomes of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio and
also to reinvigorate the world‘s peoples toward true sustainable development.
The participants in the Johannesburg Summit all reaffirmed their commitment to
the Rio principles, the full implementation of Agenda 21 and the Programme for
the Further Implementation of Agenda 21. They also committed themselves to
achieve development goals contained in the United Nations Millennium
Declaration. The eradication of poverty was highlighted as the greatest global
challenge facing the world and an indispensable requirement for sustainable
development, particularly in developing countries. The different countries have
been invited to develop programmes for
sustainable development to increase access to productive resources, public
services and institutions, in particular land, water, employment opportunities,
credit, education and health ; to promote women‘s equal access to and full
participation in, ―on the basis of equality with
men, decision-making at all levels, mainstreaming gender perspectives in
all policies and strategies, eliminating all forms of violence and
discrimination against women and improving the status, health and economic
welfare of women and girls through full and equal access to economic
opportunity, land, credit, education and health-care services‖ (United Nations,
2002). The challenge is significant: children are the agents of behavioural
change, so national governments have to ensure that boys and girls will be able
to complete a full course of primary schooling and will have equal access to
all levels of education.
Education
as training, capacity-building and skills enhancement are aimed also to promote
the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, to develop awareness-raising
programmes on the importance of sustainable production and consumption
patterns, to provide information for the population about available energy
sources and technology or to protect/manage the natural resources base of
economic and social development. Finally, the JPOI called on the various
governments to ―create
and
strengthen networks for science and education for sustainable development‖ (United Nations,
2002) and to follow the recommendations proposed by the Dakar Framework for
Action on Education for All.
2.4. United Nations Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (2005 - 2014)
Following
the Johannesburg plan where education was taken as an indispensable element for
sustainability, the United Nations designated its agency UNESCO to lead this
initiative at global level. United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (2005 – 2014) (DESD) aimed at integrating the principles and
practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and
learning, to encourage changes in knowledge, values and attitudes with the
vision of enabling a more sustainable and a just society for all (UNESCO, 2014). UN DESD marked an essential milestone to achieve progress against a
sustainable global society. Its goal was to integrate knowledge to protect
people and the planet and live a healthy sustainable life as a being of planet
earth. This document provides a foundation in the field of ESD. For the
advancement and progress evaluation UN endorsed a Global Action Program to
work. The initiative of decade of education for sustainable development is
evidence in the domain of ESD which proves significant advancement at global
level. By its vision, aim or purpose, objectives, approach and nature many
nations states reported changes in legal structures, policies, priorities and
pedagogies. Participatory learning, critical thinking and problem based
learning approaches are taking importance in the field of education. DESD
initiative was a successful evidence in implementation of the ESD agenda at
global level by acting through local level. Key focus of the DESD approach was
content and purpose of education at all levels. Its initial strategy was to
create networking to expand the agenda to larger scale through networks. Along
with the principal DESD initiative some other parallel platforms were
introduced such as RCE (Regional centres of expertise) and GUPES (Global
Universities partnership on environment and sustainability). It was designed in
a broad scope and far-reaching effects on the countries especially developing
countries in order to transform their whole educational system in accordance
with ESD guidelines.
ESD
empowers learners to take informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental
integrity, economic viability and a just society for present and future
generations, while respecting cultural diversity. It is about lifelong
learning, and is an integral part of quality education. ESD is holistic and
transformational education which addresses learning content and outcomes,
pedagogy and the learning environment. It achieves its purpose by transforming
society. DESD was considered as the most effective agenda for promoting the ESD
objectives to achieve sustainability at a higher level.
The
focus of the 2009 progress report prepared by the M & E Expert group was to
track the progress and evaluate its achievement at the midpoint of the
programme. The 2009 report was a mid-term review after five year of efforts on
advocating the agenda of global challenges. Overall after this report it was
observed that with the passage of time and starting from the initiative more
and more people are in the surge of a sustainable world. It motivates the
objectives of such initiatives to continue until a significant change in the
world. It is because this programme will continue for the next five years.
Chapter
three of the report of the DESD emphasis more on meaning of ESD to create a
common understanding about the concept. Consensus on the definition of the
concept is rather difficult but following the principles and purpose of ESD a
common meaning can be derived. ESD is a process of learning based on the principles of learning and
practice
about sustainability. Five types of learning have been discussed in the report (UNESCO, 1990) such as learning to know, to be, to live together, learning to do and
learning to transform oneself. Overall the concept of ESD in the chapter is
defining it as a dynamic concept by keeping its huge scope and flexibility to
fit in every context, culture and country in the world.
On
one hand, another important point is discussed in the report about the
relationship between ESD and other adjectival projects or programmes such as
global education, environmental education, AIDS education, Education for all,
UN Literacy day as well as MDGs (Millenium Development Goals. Although, the
objectives of these initiatives resemble the objectives of ESD. On the other
hand, it creates confusion among practitioners about the clear scope of ESD
because at one stage all of these domains interlinked and mixed with each
other. It can be considered as the strength of ESD because its scope covers the
majority of academic domains to rapidly influence at a greater level. It is
also a reality that all issues are interlinked poverty and quality of life
cannot be separated from quality education. This nature of challenges makes ESD
a dynamic and wide scope approach to deal with all types of issues and
challenges for people and planet in the present and future. It seems this
approach is becoming a foundation in transformation of current policies to new
policies to achieve sustainability.
On
the onset of DESD, implementation of the agenda was a complicated and difficult
task. UNESCO took advantage of its already in place networks, mechanisms and
partnership to start implementation. Later on with the passage of time the UN
established special mechanisms and frameworks in order to operationalize the
concept of ESD within a decade.
Here
it's interesting to discuss ESD integration in formal and informal educational
policies around the world. Some countries implement it by integrating into
curriculum, some by adopting certain activities in extra curricula activities.
ESD in this report focused on primary and secondary formal education as an
institution and target for integration of DESD agenda into every section and
level of education schools. It also considers formal primary schools the way to
cope with challenges human beings face at all times at global level. At the
same time, it is also argued that sustainable development is adding more burden
on the students through an already overcrowded curriculum. That was the key
question reviewed during the review of DESD that how the education system
integrates ESD agenda in a way that it can be a part of already in place
curriculum, training and practice. Learning outcomes are important in ESD and
what we are expecting from education to teach. Some learning outcomes were used
to evaluate the progress of ESD in that particular decade. It is observed in
this report that some poor regions stressed on some social issues such as
peace, poverty, equality etc.
Informal
and non-formal education is also an important component of the ESD. Illiteracy
is still a bigger challenge when about 10 million children remain out of
school.
A
very important and relevant discussion has been covered in the DESD review
report in which is emphasis on continuing research on ESD to bring evident
evidence to convince the countries which are lagging behind achieving targets
in time to contribute to the cause. For the success of the ESD agenda UNESCO
recognized research and key strategy along with other seven strategies. Therefore, this research is also focusing on
a few of the focused areas of ESD such as policy review and learning. Review
report highlighted some obstacles identified during the exercise by the key
stakeholders that partners lack clarity about the concept of ESD and
environmental education. Methods, content, curriculum, scope, funding and clear
roles and responsibilities were also discussed in the report in order to expand
the agenda at higher levels. It seems that similar challenges still exist in
some countries where there is a need to define the concept and its scope of ESD
to avoid confusion among people. It is recognized that non-governmental
organizations and other platforms associated with and without UNESCO played a
vital role in promoting ESD agenda besides the constraints of funding and other
resources. Overall this report contributed to the clarity for the meaning,
methods, research, development, approaches etc. for widespread understanding in
the domain of sustainable development.
The
previous report was a review exercise where we observe certain initiatives and
challenges in order to pace up the agenda. In this stage, the decade of
education for sustainable development was officially closed but its mission is
still continuing until the achievement of the maximum percentage of the set
target.
Higher
Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI, 2015)
At
the Rio+20 Conference, the Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI)
has been created as a partnership of several sponsor UN entities (UNESCO,
UN-DESA, UNEP, Global Compact, and UNU). Over 300 universities from around the
world joined the network and signed the TOR (Terms of Reference) intended to
clarify the role and the responsibilities of the various actors involved in
HESI. All the members of the network
have been committed to work and promote implementation of the SDGs by
supporting higher education in their pursuit of integrating sustainable
development into teaching, research, curricula, outreach and sustainability
practices by HESI (2018):
1°
Teach sustainable developments across all disciplines of study, including
through online based platforms.
2°
Engage with students on campus and seek to represent and support their
interests through the group.
3°
Encourage research and dissemination of sustainable development knowledge.
4°
Green campuses and support local sustainability efforts.
5°
Engage and share information with international networks.
6°OUtline
an advocacy agenda that would see partners make contributions towards either
systemic, sectoral or thematic issues relating to the SDGs with governments and
other stakeholders.
7°
Explore innovative practices from other sectors / Partners that seek to deliver
transformative change around this agenda.
2.5. The Global Action Programme (GAP) of UNESCO
(2014)
As
a follow-up to the United Nations Decade of ESD (2005-2014), UNESCO launched
the Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD. The overall goal of the GAP is to
generate and scale up actions in all levels and areas of education and learning
to accelerate progress towards sustainable development. GAP has identified five
priority areas to advance to ESD agenda: policy support, whole-institution
approaches, educators, youth, and local communities. UNESCO has established
five Partner Networks, each corresponding to the five priority areas, as one of
its main implementation mechanisms of GAP. The Partner Networks will create
synergies for the activities of their members and catalyse actions by other
stakeholders.
Keeping
the disasters situation of the planet earth where climate change, social
inequalities, economic crisis, shrinking of natural resources and a long list
of challenges convinced the global community to take decisive actions and
convinced that education is the only tool which can contribute in the cause for
long term sustainable development. The final report of DESD demonstrates some
major steps in contributing and advancing the implementation of the agenda. It
reorients learning, teaching, knowledge, information, communication, values,
skills, decision making, mobilizing masses, creating awareness in all three
dimensions of ESD social economic and environment. It is believed and observed
during the decade long interaction of different stakeholders that the top
leadership of every country seems convinced and committed to the cause which
advanced in progress of achieving their agenda. This initiative also
contributes in advancing the quality of education with reference to sustainable
development. A solid foundation has been laid for ESD at the end of the DESD,
achieved by raising awareness, influencing policies and generating significant
numbers of good practice projects in all areas of education and learning (UNESCO, 2014).
Access
to education is the major thrusts of DESD agenda and same is prioritized in
this effort. It is prioritized because without the access of education in
formal setup how could one realize the benefits of ESD. This article is
focusing on the formal educational setup or institutions.
It
is important to highlight and discuss how DESD transformed education which is
evidence for the next step of planning and implementation.
The
2014 final DESD report highlights major trends and findings learned from the
past one decade at different levels. It founds ESD as an enabler for
sustainable development by shaping the vision for future generations. Education
and sustainable development agenda are reinforcing each other in all three
dimensions of ESD social, economic and environmental. Many countries
transformed policies, strategies, tools, education curricula etc. to achieve SD
agenda. Partnership and political institutions observed instrumental in
advancing educational agenda during the decade. Partnership was an observed key
effective mechanism to implement the agenda on a large scale to achieve maximum
objectives within the limited time frame. Formal education at primary and
secondary level achieved significant progress towards agenda within ten years
of duration. If this pace progresses, which is although a little slow in
achieving objectives, it will bring significant contributions in the human
present and future. Change reported by member states specially in transforming
curricula and pedagogy. UNECO observed encouraging evidence through the QME
report to demonstrate progress in educational approaches all across member
states and other countries of the world.
Overall
UNESCO witnessed many challenges and obstacles in implementation of the ESD
agenda at high scale. Some countries found it very responsive and interested in
implementing ESD objectives, others seemed more reluctant to change curriculum
and educational approaches. During the Decade, a variety of implementation
strategies were reported from member states. Many initiatives and projects were
introduced and implemented. One example is the Australian whole school approach
which focused on four basic pillars for integrating ESD, governance policy and
capacity building, community partnership and relationship, school facilities
and teachers teaching and training and curriculum.
The Muscat Agreement (2014)
The
growing international recognition of Education for Sustainable Development
(ESD) as an integral element of quality education has been recognized by the
MUSCAT Agreement (Global Education For All Meeting: Oman, 12 - 14 may) and the
proposal for Sustainable Developments Goals (SGDs) developed by the Open
Working Group of the UN General Assembly on SDGs (OWG).
The
Muscat Agreement reaffirmed that ―Education is a fundamental human right for
every person. It is an essential condition for human fulfilment, peace,
sustainable development, economic growth, decent work, gender equality and
responsible global citizenship‖ (UNESCO, 2014). The post-2015 Education Agenda has to empower learners to take
informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity,
economic viability.Education must be a stand-alone goal in the broader
post-2015 development agenda and be integrated into other development goals.
The Muscat Agreement supported "Ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" and translated this
goal into global
targets.
2.6. The Sustainable Development Goals (2015 - 2030)
United
Nations general assembly resolution 70/1 approved Sustainable Development Goals
(2015-2030) as follow up agenda of Millenium Development Goals (2000-2015) and
a global development agenda with larger scope and scale then, the previous
agenda to achieve global progress towards a sustainable future of people and
the planet. This global challenge is a paradigm shift from the policy and
planning to implementation of this agenda by aligning it with the national
goals of countries' strategic plans. Its scope broadens its scale and engages
almost all countries to incorporate objectives into planning policy to achieve
goals on large scale.
These
SDGs are an urgent call for action in a global partnership strategy. They
address a simple message to developing and developed countries: the end of
poverty and inequalities requires a holistic and systemic approach aimed at
integrating issues related to water, energy, urbanization, transport, climate,
technology, food, air quality, health, education...
3. SD GISSUES FOR PAKISTAN: TRANSFORMING THE SDGS INTO
NATIONAL GOALS AND TARGETS
Pakistan
obliged the global community commitment and signed the global agenda 2030 for
the betterment of the people of Pakistan and the planet as a whole (Diemer & Khushik, 2020). Soon after acceptance of the challenge during the Paris summit 2015,
the government of Pakistan unanimously adopted SDGs through its national
parliament resolution and started working on it in February 2016 to become the
first country to initiate the process of policy and planning at high level
national forums.
Planning,
Policy and implementation of SDGs in Pakistan
After
experiencing challenges in the previous development agenda‘s (MDGs, EFA, Polio)
or global issues fails to achieve the targets, therefore, this time Pakistan
developed a national level SDGs framework to implement SDGs see Figure 1. It is discussed and approved at a high-level government policy and
decision making forum. This framework provides a basic foundation for the
baseline and indicators against each and every target to track, monitor and
evaluate the progress. It is called the
national SDGs framework which includes five critical pathways (CPW5) that would
converge to reduce regional inequality by fostering inclusive and sustainable
development. In this critical pathway, strategy a comparative criteria model
was adopted to prioritize SDG targets. Width, depth, multiplier, level of
urgency, low structural change is required, low resources required and
relevance for the provinces. Major regular data collection instruments have
been modified and aligned with the new tracking target and reporting against
targets. Apart from the above discussed framework, there are a number of other
initiatives that have been taken since 2015 to address the global agenda.
SDGs
are as important as the future of Pakistan because all SDGs are targeting
contemporary challenges which are similar to Pakistan and human beings are
facing all around the world. Change of policy and enabling environment was
considered as the first step in achieving the agenda 2030. Below section is
discussion about the first step of policy guidelines regarding SDGs. Pakistan addressed all 17 SDGs in resolution
passed in its national assembly on 16 February 2016 by giving it a legislative
initiative but keeping its internal context and limited resources in mind, it
prioritized the SDGs to achieve targets. Gradually Pakistan started working on
all SDGs targets on a regular basis to map the implementation challenges. Below
is the brief discussion on the progress of Pakistan on mainstreaming SDGs into
its planning, policy and implementation.
According to an official report of voluntary national review (Pakistan‘s
implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development) (Pakistan's,
2019) introduced four means of implementation:
1. Institutional mechanism for
the SDGs.
2. Localizing the goals.
3. Monitoring and reporting
mechanism.
4. Critical challenges.
5. The secret of success of
any great nation lies in its education. A well educated and learned nation is
the guarantee of a bright and prosperous future. Material resources and man
power can only be optimally utilized with the help of proper information and
specialized education. Malik Riaz chairman Bahria Town, aims to strengthen
Pakistan‘s future by fortifying the foundations of educational sector and
providing vigilance to the masses. He strongly believes that rich or poor,
everyone should be provided equal opportunity to obtain knowledge and reap
fruits of quality education.
6. Under the banner of his
prestigious company Bahria Town, he has devised free educational plans to
provide education to those who are deprived of basic facilities of life and
have no hope of bright future. Free of cost education is offered to 4000 orphan
s along with lodging facilities. A number of primary and secondary education
schools, institutes and colleges in different cities and villages are sponsored
which provide basic and specialized education to common masses. Scholarships to
more than 7000 students are granted each year. Micro finance loans to the
students of Rawalpindi Agricultural University are provided. Millions of rupees
to various government institutions and other rural institutions are donated to
facilitate the process of learning and education. Donation of over 9,400,000 to
reach Public School and Kallar Syedan School has so far been granted.
Additionally coordination with many educational organizations and institutes of
remote areas is ensured to support them in the times of need.
7. The goal of objective
learning can be achieved with conscientiously designed school setup and finest
team of educationist. To support this mission, the schools built under the
patronage of Malik Riaz are fully equipped with state of art learning and
recreational facilities which include science laboratories, computer rooms,
libraries and playgrounds. Apart from highest quality of teaching extra
circular activities for an all round balanced growth is also provided. These
schools not only impart quality education but have also raised the general
standards of education and they are emerging as one of the most esteemed seats
of learning, creativity, and overall grooming.
8. In the present day of
advancing technology and cut throat competition the significance of general
education is undeniable but only broad education cannot suffice in the current
situation. Technical education is a must, if a nation wants to progress and
make its mark in the annals of history. Malik Riaz has keenly analyzed this
factor and has accordingly set the foundation for building two international
standard universities in major cities of Sindh, Karachi and Hyderabad.The fees
charged in these universities shall be subsidized and will be much less than
any other university. A total expense of Rs 2 Billion shall be made on the
construction of these universities. Moreover many other technical institutes,
computer centers, medical and dental college and Bahria university is already
serving the public by giving expert education to the masses.
9. All these efforts shall go
a long way in mentoring the future generations as the only key to success is
through learning and education. These services of Malik Riaz shall be written
in gold not only in this world but also in the hereafter as our religion
implores us to seek education and be informed. Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W) said
―The seeking of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim both male and female‖
Women Education in Pakistan:Engendered Legacy.
Astract
Knowledge
as power1" has historically been a contested arena of engendered
hierarchies. The sluggish waters of women education in Pakistan run deep and
the formulation and execution of education policies at State level have been a
classic case of two steps forward one step back."2 Based on ideas
developed during informal interviews with three human rights activists3 this
paper explores the question of female inequality in education. It argues that
there is no coherence in the aspired educational goals and that State policies
lack a clear vision for the future vis-a-vis women education. Both the public
and private education systems in Pakistan consist of an array of educational
institutions with divergent standards of instruction catering to the needs of
different socio-economic groups. This scenario has created varied tiers of
pedagogic hierarchies and women are the worst victims.
Introduction
Women
rights activists argue: educational achievement and opportunities for women are
effected by their lower status in social hierarchy" (Saigol 2011).
Historical legacies language of instruction financing nationalist - religious
agendas and gender role stereotypes embedded within the curriculum interact to
shape the educational environment (Lyon and Edgar 2010). Historians have
outlined the role of culture and civilization in fortifying public private
boundaries and relegating woman as others' within each tier of a caste system
(Greer and Lewis 2002). These findings are especially significant for Pakistan
a country having strong geo- historical links with ancient cultures and with a
civilization possessing an entrenched caste system. Though Buddhism had risen
against this apartheid Brahmanism had almost obliterated it by the time Muslims
ventured into the subcontinent and adjusted their outlook to the elements of
local culture (Iqbal 1996).
Dynamics
of women education in Pakistan therefore must be seen in the backdrop of its
complicated conception in an era when the intensifying state of intellectual
bankruptcy among Indian Muslims was culminating in the finale of Mughal rule.
Poetry a hallmark of intellectual expression had become boldly women centric4
and poetic elegance a defining feature of courtesans so shurfa5 women had to be
kept pure'. British colonized India and English replaced Persian as official
language (Rahman 1999; 2004). Colonization subverted the socio- economic
hierarchy to the detriment of Muslims who now defeated and dispossessed
retreated to their private sphere and doubled its walls for the women. Saigol
describing the melancholy of those times said: For the disillusioned Indian
Muslims women became the repositories of a lost tradition that had
To
be defended at all costs."
Formal
education in India was introduced by the British but even Sir Syed a great
proponent of Muslim education viewed female education with scepticism albeit by
establishing Aligarh University he had unwittingly set a ball rolling when
Aligarh graduates started looking for enlightened homely wives' (Ali 2000).
Saigol shedding light on the literature written during that era said: Indian
Muslim male writers glorified Muslim women's domestic role on the lines of
Colonial Victorian values juxtaposing characters of good and bad women like in
the line of Eve versus Mary' phenomenon suggesting that in the same way as
Queen Victoria ran England efficiently so Muslim women can run their homes with
similar precision."
In
a bid to protect their private kingdom of heaven' and after losing the empire
in the public sphere Muslims opened zenana schools as a parallel pedagogic
system emphasizing the teaching of religion language and domestic sciences
(Minnault 1982). British educational system in India remained circumscribed by
colonial compulsions. Thus an educational apartheid6 became entrenched as its
defining feature with educational institutions reflecting a pedagogic caste
system in which children of elite classes studied in English schools totally
oblivious of their cohorts in vernacular institutions and madrassas7"
(Rahman 2004).
During
the British era Muslims who could afford to be educated attended one of the
following pedagogic tiers: Government sponsored elite schools for children of
Feudal and Tribal lords;
(a)
Public Schools for boys
on the
lines of
Eton and Harrow8
(b)
Schools for future wives of elite on lines of Finishing schools in
Europe9
Prestigious
English medium schools for boys and girls run by Christian Missions catering
for the upper and upper middle socio economic classes.
Government
vernacular schools for middle and lower socio economic class
Muslim
NGO (Anjuman) run schools imparting vernacular/religious education Free
indigenous madrassas providing religious education only to male students.
Government colleges for boys and few
girl colleges
Few
Universities/Professional Colleges with negligible number of Muslim girls
Women Education in Pakistan 1947-1960
In
the backdrop of a deep-rooted cultural patriarchy and a history of colonial
domination multi-faceted compulsions circumscribed the future of women
education in Pakistan. After 1947 education became a provincial subject but
State remained involved in its macro planning through control over provincial
income.10 An oft- repeated clichACopyright is that Sir Syed while laying the
first brick of Aligarh College inadvertently founded the Two Nation Theory'.
Basing her argument on this premise Saigol spoke her mind thus: State army and
nationalism are gendered identities and Pakistan from day one was geared
towards establishing an identity based on difference and till today this schism
manifests in the education system."
Muslim
movements for women education were launched in areas that eventually did not
become parts of Pakistan. [The] British had governed Baluchistan and [the] NWFP
by reinforcing tribal structures and Punjab and Sindh by creating a loyal class
of landlords overseeing a subservient class of tenants" (Khan 1995). Colonial
education was formulated to produce office workers trained to follow orders
conveniently assisted by educated housewives. Thus promotion of a domestic role
for women evolved as a commonly shared end for both colonists and tribal feudal
elite of Pakistan and Colonial education system remained acceptable for policy
makers of the fledgling State. Formal education is a powerful tool for
controlling the mind-set of people and ethnographic anthropological historical
and pedagogical aspects of education are influenced by social policy agendas of
the State" (Lyon and Edgar 2010). Pakistan did not inherit a legacy of
education.
In
1947 there were only 8413 primary sc hools 2589 secondary schools 02 medical
colleges 02 engineering colleges and 02 universities. The number of educational
institutions was inadequate and the situation of girls' education was worse
than for boys. In 1951 the total literacy rate was 13% while the female
literacy rate was only 8% (Zafar 1991). To combat this situation an All
Pakistan Education Conference and a National Education Conference were held in
1947 and 1951 respectively. Though due to an influx of refugees enrolment
apparently increased during 1947-55; however schoolteachers were untrained
classrooms overcrowded and this quantitative expansion was gendered. Thus
female participation in education in 1949 was only 4% at the primary and 3% at
the secondary level (Khan 1997; Rittalick and Farah 2004; Jalil 1998).
Pakistan
movement was initiated by educated middle class Muslims of North Central and
Eastern India while feudal and tribal elite of NWFP Baluchistan Punjab and Sind
played a negligible role in it however they were the majority among those
elected as members of Pakistan's first Constituent Assembly. Most of them had
attended elite schools and looked down upon vernacular schools for masses (Khan
1997). This pedagogic apartheid was also engendered thus while their sons were
sent to English medium institutions their daughters either remained uneducated
studied at home or at local vernacular schools though a few were sent to
schools like Queen Mary College Lahore with curriculum based in domestic
sciences. In pre independence era Muslims had justified women education as a
fundamental Islamic imperative. Muhammad Ali
Jinnah
declared in 1948: in nation-building women have a most valuable part to
play"
(Hassan 1981).
Women
had pinned great hopes on Pakistan but State's denial of women's socioeconomic
rights overwhelmed the fledgling women's movement. Thus as they struggled for their
socio economic rights educational activism took a back seat (Shaheed Zia
Warraich 1998; Wilmer 1996).
Pakistan
started its journey with a paucity of girl schools in rural and urban areas.
Its first Prime Minister was killed in 1951 leaving behind a dearth of
politicians well versed in the core idea" of Pakistan. For the next seven
years there was a quick succession of Prime Ministers thus bureaucracy in
cohort with army trained in colonial traditions acquired the roll of
policymakers. Another factor having long- standing implications was immigration
of Deobandi Barelvi Jamaat-e-Islami and Majlis-e-Ahrar clerics who opposed
Iqbal's brand of Muslim nationalism. Having fixed notions about education they
set up madrassas linked to their own Central Examination Boards11 and their
students spread in rural and urban areas as prayer leaders of mosques.
Thus
the education system saw no major change until 1958 due to a gendered vision of
the State. This apathy was reinforced by dual standards of Post-Colonial era
when three Home Economics colleges for girls were set up in Pakistan with
American Aid ironically coinciding with rise of the second feminist wave in
America. As public disillusionment with political status quo reached its climax
the military stepped in to fill the leadership vacuum under General Ayub Khan
raising slogans of development. To fulfil its bid for modernity the government
formed a National Education Commission in 1959 and its findings became known as
Sharif Report (Khan 1997). It juxtaposed concepts of religion nationalism
citizenship and patriotism by emphasizing that Pakistan must develop the idea
of Pakistani nationhood with emphasis on Islamic values" (Saigol 2011).
Consequently
education became a centrifuge for nationalism religiosity and control.
It
also recommended Home economics education for girls at secondary and college
level to prepare them for their role as mothers' while male cadet colleges on
the lines of Dehra Dun School of British India were being set up by the
military government (Farah and Shera 2007). Ayub Khan was a British trained
soldier hailing from a tribal/traditional background and his regime's education
policy was an amalgamation of regimented modernity and superficial measures for
women development within stereotyped roles.
Thus
female literacy rate of Pakistan in light of a redefinition in 1961 was only
8.2%
(Zaheer 1998).
Women Education
1960-1980
The
number of male and female primary schools in 1949 was 7825 and 1586
respectively which rose to 14276 for boys and 3260 for girls by 1960 (PCR
1992). This increase was gendered and not according to the requirements of a
rising population. The Second Five Year Plan (1960-65) incorporated
recommendations of the Sharif Report and though quantitatively boasting a 96%
implementation its curriculum revisions that emphasized ideology and new
concepts in scientific/technical subjects failed to give the desired results
(Khan 1997). Ayub Khan's government enjoyed American support and passed the
women friendly Family Law Ordinance 1961. However its status was challenged
when Fatima Jinnah contested against him only to be defeated in a controversial
election in 1964. With this backdrop the regime's future policies were an
epitome of gendered dichotomies. According to Saigol Despite its rhetoric and
slogans of women empowerment Ayub Khan's education policy was an imprint of the
Sharif report based
on a
public/private sphere divide."
Public
unrest on rigged defeat of Fatima Jinnah and an unpopular accord after the 1965
Indo-Pak war led to the downfall of General Ayub Khan who handed over power' to
General Yahya in 1968. The Second Military regime inherited the power related
compulsions' of its predecessors. It framed the New Education Policy 1970'
aiming to open separate girl schools and appoint more female teachers by
relaxing rules as women not having equal educational opportunities' could not
meet required selection criteria." Reflecting a marshal psyche this
education policy also did not strive to change the stereotypical image of women
and in fact perpetuated it by providing crutches for them as the weak Other.'
Saigol believes: In the backdrop of Indo-Pak wars [the] country's education
policies remained geared towards men as protectors of [the] educated but
domesticated vulnerable women".
Pakistan
was established after a democratic exercise when the majority of Muslims voted
for a Muslim state. Realizing its egalitarian underlying character the second
military regime held transparent and fair elections in 1970 and a significant
feature of this democratic exercise was an overwhelming mobilization of women
in the electioneering process. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto rose as champion of the
downtrodden raising slogans of equality and promising the upheaval of ancient
hierarchies. Fareeha Zafar expressed her opinion thus: Elections of 1970
represented the second phase12 of feminist consciousness in Pakistan. Women
hoping to end ancient hierarchies participated in elections rallying to
Bhutto's call of equality for all but apparently that did not mean equality for
women."
Bhutto's
government framed the 1973 Constitution that seemingly abolished
discrimination. Education was included in the federal concurrent list
empowering the federal government to legislate and administer the key areas of
educational planning curriculum development centers of excellence and Islamic
education. Federal Ministry of education formulated the policies and provinces
carried out their implementation (ISAP 2012). Bhutto's National Education
Policy (1972-80) supported free/universal education for all till tenth grade.
The Policy endeavored to overcome parental resistance to coeducation by
appointing female teachers at primary level convert existing primary male
teacher training institutes into female facilities and offer adult education
classes in sewing nutrition poultry knitting embroidery for rural women to
enable them to become better housewives' (Farah and Shera 2007).
Bhutto
government established Allama Iqbal Open University opening vistas of education
for female students residing in remote villages and tribal areas for girls
living in strict purdah and for married women. It has established
multi-media/multi-method teaching systems offers courses from literacy to Ph.D.
level and is filling the gender gap left by conventional formal system of
education to some extent (Baksh 2007). Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had a feudal/rural
background. Thus despite professing socialist leanings his education policy
though apparently egalitarian favored maintenance of a public/private divide
specially in rural areas emphasizing that rural women' should be trained for a
domestic future13. Neelam Hussein lamented Educational policies in Pakistan
have consistently remained class based hierarchical and lack vision and
cohesion." However a significant outcome of 1970 elections was fading of a
mental glass ceiling separating ancient class hierarchies and appearance of a
public urge to provide the best possible education for children. Increased
urban parental aspirations to cross educational class divide witnessed rise of
a novel phenomenon in women education: establishment of female owned and
staffed private English medium schools. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in his socialist
spree nationalized Christian- Mission owned educational institutions leading to
depletion of foreign staff at Convent schools. Urbanization and population
explosion resulted in an increased demand for English medium schools for girls
in cities. At this juncture some educated women stepped forward to fill this
gap. They established private schools affiliated with British Secondary
Examination Boards offering Ordinary and Advanced level examinations held under
supervision of British Council in Pakistan and created another schism in the
education system. Though in view of diverse socio economic realities this
period also saw the growth of private schools in middle and lower middle income
localities charging lower fees and affiliated with local secondary boards (Lyon
and Edgar 2010).
In
view of the above analytical appraisal Pakistani children after the
mid-seventies have been attending one of the following parallel pedagogic
systems;
Private
elite English schools offering O/A level exams under British Council
State subsidized Cadet
Colleges and Elitist Colleges for
boys
Government English schools
for middle-class
under Secondary
Boards.14
Private English schools
for middle-class
under Secondary Boards
Government vernacular schools under local Secondary
Boards.
Private vernacular schools
for poor
under local
Secondary Boards.
Freeindigenousmadrassas imparting religiouseducationwith
boarding/lodging.
Women Education in Pakistan; 1980-1990
Pakistan
experienced a third military rule under Zia-ul-Haq who riding on the wing's of
a reaction to Bhutto's modernist stance used religion as crutches to maintain
control. However its policies towards women were an apt reflection of Fatima
Mernissi's views on manifestations of the despotic nature of power' (Mernissi
1996). To legitimize his coup Zia initiated his own brand of Islamization
committing to build a Women's University in 1978 and sending a questionnaire to
government officials in 1980 asking them about the type of education women
should receive (Saigol 2003). In view of regime's intention to rewind the clock
of women's progress a group of thirty women formed Women Action Forum (WAF)
signifying that a nascent women's rights movement was ready to adorn a feminist
garb (Zafar 1991). Though education was not on the agenda of women's rights
organizations engrossed in fighting for women's legal rights but Naeem Mirza15
of
Aurat
Foundation16 justified their socio-legal rights approach: Education is a vital
part of Pakistani women's overall rights thus a struggle for political and
legal rights of women indirectly contributes towards attainment of equal
education opportunities."
Commercialization
Talibanization and Education: A Three-Legged Race America backed resistance
against Russian expansionism in Afghanistan and Islamic revolution in Iran had
its effects on Pakistani women (Haq 2004). As an aftermath 1980's saw a
mushroom growth of madrassas in Pakistan. Farhat Hashmi17 a woman Islamic
Revivalist set up Alhuda a madrassa for women in Islamabad and its graduates
spread all over Pakistan initiating a home-based chain of informal dars18
lectures . Management of some male seminaries also started women sections some
appointing their female kin as teachers19 and issuing certificates of various
durations. The madrassa curriculums emphasize women's subordinate roles in the
family and Women's housework and childcare responsibilities are defined as
equivalent to jihad20 and sacrificing their own needs to those of husbands
bestows the status of martyrdom on women (Saigol 2011; Bradley and Saigol
2012). Neelum Hussain expressing her concern said:
All
interventions for educational development subsequent to Sharif report
consistently remained cosmetic and focused on educating the girls to be
patriotic religious and skillful homemakers."
Globalization
economic and demographic change became added factors in increased demand for
girls' schools commercialization of education and mushroom growth of private
schools. The after effects of Afghan War saw an influx of foreign NGO's giving
incentives to local groups to work for women education. Girls in Pakistan were
thus attending four types of private schools.
Women
owned O/A Level schools that expanded into expensive school systems Women owned
O/A Level schools charging high fees (single school not a system)
Lower
fee English medium schools in middle class areas often headed by men.
NGO
administered formal and informal girl schools and adult literacy classes. These
school systems have their own curriculum committees and teacher training
programs affiliated with British Universities. Teachers get reasonable pays
pension benefits and free education for offspring. These schools despite higher
fees provide quality education for girls and job opportunities for educated
middle class women. Most of their school branches are located in custom made
buildings. Apart from these chains there are other single school facilities
employing trained teachers and experienced staff offering reasonable pays and
free education for children but no old age benefits. These schools operate from
hired buildings and do not have adequate sports facilities (Rahman 2004).
However education activists are skeptical about schools falling in the third
category. These so called English medium schools mostly headed by owners employ
untrained female teachers at nominal salaries taking advantage of the fact that
teaching is a preferred profession for Pakistani women.
These
schools prepare their students for metric exams held under local Secondary
Boards. Despite low standards of instruction these neighborhood schools
flourish because of a dearth of Government schools for girls in upcoming urban
localities. The fourth category consists of informal schools run by
international and local NGO's and funded by foreign donor agencies or local
philanthropists. They cater for children residing in poor urban slums and
remote villages and mostly offer basic literacy classes.
Women Education and Government Policies; 1990 Onwards
First
female Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto had studied at elite schools
and foreign Universities. She could not do much for women education as she
ruled in two short stints. She was followed by Nawaz Sharif also for two short
periods. He came from a business background thus for him it was not education
but industrial progress that spearheaded the progress of a nation. However
since globalization and mass communication had opened vistas of worldwide
change Pakistan also could not remain unaffected. Accordingly for the first
time stereotypical role of girls was not mentioned in the National Education
Policy 1992. It aimed at providing free primary education for girls and gave
incentives for enrollment and retention of girls in schools (Bengali 1999).
Stress was laid on providing increased facilities for distant education through
Allama
Iqbal Open University setting up of vocational and polytechnic institutes at
district levels and introducing basic education programs for women in rural
areas (Baksh 2007). The provision of well equipped science laboratories for
girls' schools and colleges was its salient features and as a paradigm shift
the National Education Policy
1992 did not
endeavor to prepare girls for
a domestic
role.
This
was a defining turn but it may have been an indirect effect of a woman's
premiership the wave of information technology and because Pakistan became a
signatory to all post 1990 international commitments against gender
discrimination. Pakistan ratified CEDAW on 12 March 1996 committing to end
discrimination against women in all forms. As a signatory to The Beijing
Declaration 1995 Pakistan agreed to ensure equal access and treatment of women
in education". By committing to The World Declaration on Education For All
(2000)21 and Dakar Framework for Action (2000) Pakistan pledged to implement
integrated strategies for gender equality in education. Pakistan signed The
Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals (2000) and MDG 2 calls
for commitment to achieve equality in access to primary education for all boys
and girls by 2015 (WGEBEP 2010).
A
reflection of changing times was the National Education Policy (1998-2010) of
the second Sharif government. It professed to provide free/compulsory education
for girls launching of informal schools for women in rural areas construction
of more schools for girls and building women universities in the country (NEP
1998). Thus Fatima Jinnah Women's University was set up in Rawalpindi in 1998
despite a strong protest from human rights activists who feared that this may
further strengthen the private/public divide. Nawaz Sharif was deposed through
a military coup by General Musharraf. In view of an existing 1998-2010
education policy his government issued the Education Sector Reform Action Plan
(2001- 2004) professing equal opportunities for everyone reduction of the
gender gap at all levels' of education improved teacher training facilities
curriculum reforms and improved textbooks (Bengali 1999).
In
the post 9/11 scenario curriculum reforms achieved a special relevance in
Pakistan as it became a stakeholder in War on Terror'.
Teacher Training and Curriculum Reform:
The
key problems for girl's schooling in rural areas is a lack of trained female
teachers and the fact that the curriculum is mostly unrelated to their day to
day life thus girls find schooling uninteresting and their families see no
benefit in educating them. Teachers enforce harsh discipline are poorly paid
and live in difficult rural conditions leading to absenteeism and requests for
transfer to towns. Thus in 1990 the government started a policy of recruiting
local teachers and training them for Primary Teacher's Certificate via Mobile
Training Units. Such programs were started in all provinces of Pakistan but
poor management low interest of education department and lack of teacher
monitoring hindered long lasting improvements. Due to a consistent dearth of
women in educational management cadres' female education officers were
recruited in 1990-2000 however many posts continuously remained vacant.
Women
officers are often criticized for inefficiency and dependence on their male
subordinates but in reality it reflects an internalization of women's
disempowerment" (Shah 1978). However much more important than trained
teachers is the curriculum. Unfortunately the syllabi for government schools in
Pakistan are prepared under predefined government policies by committees
lacking innovation imagination and required knowledge to execute this task.
Saigol expressing her concern says Books mostly portrayed girls as helping
their mothers and depicted boys as partners of fathers and future participants
in public life."
Greater
emphasis on higher education is a major obstacle to the development of primary
and secondary education in Pakistan. There is a paucity of facilities in most
rural schools lack of classrooms textbooks and teaching aids and the level of
training of rural teachers is very low. Teachers enforce strict disciplinary
measures and curriculum is too academic and unrelated to life. Students find
schooling uninteresting and parents take schooling as a negative activity for
girls due to opportunity costs. To combat this state of affairs organizations
like SDPI22 and some syllabi but there is a dearth of thought provoking and
non-gender biased books in Pakistan. There is urgent need for a systematic
change in the curriculum to make it more egalitarian ( Dean 2007) Neelam
Hussain supporting this argument says Books taught in government schools are
gender biased boring and unimaginative and will only produce
insensitive/unmotivated citizens.
Thus
we at Simorgh are producing gender sensitive interesting syllabi but there is a
dearth of governmental support and a dire need for raising public awareness on
these issues."
Role of Non-Government
Sector: Formal and Informal Education
Agha
Khan Rural Support Program has played a significant role for women education in
Northern areas and became a precursor of similar programs in other under
developed districts of Pakistan. After 1990's the government and foreign donor
agencies supported NGO's to reduce the gender gap in education in poor/rural
communities. Non-profit organizations were promoted by International
development institutions for the provision of education in Pakistan. The
premise was that these organizations are more successful than the government
and the private sector in the deliverance of education. About half of 45000
registered non-profit organizations provide education. However may be driven by
donor agendas and cannot replace the responsibility of the State. Pakistan's current
Education Sector Reform Plan emphasizes the role of education provision by NGOs
to address the problems caused by the non-affordability of private education.
However
research indicates that rather than addressing the needs of the poor NGOs may
increase the demand for private sector schools (Bano 2008). Some of the
prominent Non-Government Organizations are the Sindh Education Foundation Agha
Khan Education Services Idara-e-Taraqi-o-Agahi and SAHE etc. Most of these
organizations work for female education and teachers training while Citizen's
Foundation and Committee for Advancement of Rural Education (CARE) adopt
government schools to ensure improved efficiency. Though NGO's are mostly
working in selected districts their initiatives motivate the government to
reduce the gender gap. Fareeha Zafar is of the opinion: Traditional subordinate
status of girls housework frequent pregnancies of mothers joint family system
cultural practices parental preference of sending boys to school and above all
poverty are major constraints for women education in Pakistan. SAHE works on
BRAC23 model collaborates with
Simorgh
Women's Resource Centre IED of the Agha Khan University and Lahore University
of Management Sciences for the purpose of improved/ innovative curriculum
development and research."
Primary Secondary and
Higher Education of Women: 1990
Onwards
Number
of girl students remains less than boys from Pre primary level onwards
including the students of one room informal schools. The returns to investment
on a girl's education are seen to be lower for girls than boys because of their
limited opportunities in the Job market and because of the feeling that they
will marry out of the family It is obvious that opportunity cost of sending
girls to school is high in lower socio economic cadres and thus number of girls
studying in government primary middle and high schools is much lower than boys
(Sathar and Loyd 1994).---------
Pathways to the Future
Conclusion
Summary
―Pathways
to the Future‖ renders a conclusion to Understanding Modern Nigeria by providing solutions to
the identified challenges of Nigeria‘s development, democracy, and modernity.
Despite increasing ethnic differences, Nigerians have collaborated to overcome
shared challenges and emerge with impressive results. These narratives of unity
continue to be downplayed while narratives of the nation‘s unstable
foundations, vices, and challenges are exalted and exploited by members of the
country‘s political class for divisive and destructive goals. This discourse
identifies the following as challenges hindering the development of the nation:
lack of progressive political ideas, absence of true federalism, bad
educational system, increase in poverty and unemployment, ethno-religious
intolerance, lack of effective economic policies, etc. But identifying the
challenges is not as difficult as providing the solutions or implementing them.
Hence, necessary steps to actualize a desirable future are presented, which are
arguments not offered as an exhaustive list, but rather fundamental approaches
to achieve common goals for national development that should guide the conduct
of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multicultural community like Nigeria.
What Has
Gone Wrong with The System of Education in Pakistan?
OUTLINE
Introduction
•
Quaid's view on education
•
The concept of education - meaning and definition
•
The significance of education…..a pillar of success
•
Education…..an agent of socioeconomic reforms
•
The spinal cord of the nation
•
Thesis statement leading to the conclusion
Pakistan's Education System as per 1973 Constitution
•
Educational and economic reforms in backward areas
•
Removing illiteracy
•
Promotion of technical education….. basic concern
•
Education…..access to all
•
Women participation, etc.
Factors Leading to Catastrophe
•
The indecisive medium of education….English? / Urdu?
•
Co-education….a social dilemma
•
Lack of uniform academic syllabus
•
Women education….. concept in the doldrums
•
Lack of creative education methods…… cramming culture
•
Political interference in education institutions….student/ teacher
unions
•
Political pressures/ influences
•
Teacher absenteeism
•
Ghost schools
•
Less than 2% GDP, for education Crippled economy, etc.
Education Policy
2009
•
The budget for education….. increased by 7%
•
All primary schools upgraded to middle standard schools
•
Higher education percentage to be increased from 4.7% to 15% by 2015
•
Emphasis on technical education
•
Establishment of residential colonies for the teachers
•
Special incentives for teachers willing to work in remote areas, etc.
Suggestions
•
Decentralised system/ local government
•
At least 7% budget for education sector
•
Accountability and transparency in the education department at all
levels
•
Public-private partnership
•
Madrassa reforms
•
Registration of madaris
•
Introduction of English and technical subjects
Education Sector
Reforms
•
Primary education for all
•
Making civil society vibrant
•
Female education…. A keystone
•
Promotion of technical education
•
Incentives for the teachers…. Increase in salaries
•
Revised and updated curriculum
•
PTC/CT replaced by a Diploma in Education
•
Enhancing the role of the Higher Education Commission
•
Expansion in universities Virtual
universities, etc.
Conclusion
―Come forward as servants of Islam, organise
the people economically, socially, educationally and politically, and I am sure
that you will be a power that will be accepted by everybody.'' _ Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
The
importance of education cannot be negated. Education paves the way for
advancement. It is a primary catalyst for national development and its
availability ensures accelerated growth and progress. It is a key factor that
distinguishes one nation from another. It's the education which makes a person
live a better life and more importantly contributes to his social well-being.
However, it is unfortunate that the education system of Pakistan is
fundamentally flawed, thoroughly shattered and exceedingly divisive despite the
fact that Quaid-e-Azam was a staunch supporter of educational reforms. He
provided the basic guidelines for the future development by emphasizing that
education system should suit the genius of our people, consonant with our
culture, history and instill the highest sense of honor, integrity and
responsibility. He was also of the view that scientific and technical skills
are the only way forward. Pakistan today stands at the crossroads where there
is a stringent need for educational reforms based upon moral edifice. This is
only possible if all creeds of mind sit together and evolve a consensus policy
in the light of Islamic ideology.
The future
of education in Pakistan
The
education is of great significance. Education is the only thing which maximizes
one‘s potentials. It seems right to say that a man cannot be considered having
proper senses until he gets the education.
There
are two reasons for the importance of education. The first it that the training
of human mind cannot be completed without education and it makes a man right
thinker and guides him about how to think and how to take decision.
The
another reason for the significance of education is that only by getting
education, one is able to fetch the information from external world; to be
cognizant himself with past history and attains all important information
regarding present. Without proper education, man seems to be in a closed room
having no out way and with education he finds himself in a room having windows
open towards outside world.
In
future, education is of great significance in Pakistan as the geo-economic
aspects are going to be changed in the region and new alliances are coming into
being. Pakistan is advancing toward economic progress and one of the main
considerable is CPEC. When the CPEC would start to be running in its full then
Pakistan will have to fulfill the requirement to run it fully for, a great
number of educated people will be required. It looks that it will not be
restricted in some sectors such as IT and finance but it is the conjecture that
the people of all trades and sectors will be needed highly. So, the government
will have to take an appropriate step to bridge the gap which is considered to
come when these needs come. And, this is possible in only one situation and
that is when education is given due importance. There is no doubt to say that
only proper education will be able to move the wheel of progress toward
success.
The
above-mentioned significance of education in future is possible in only one
case when planners of government departments could realize the call of time and
take sober step for ing the importance of education.
Education
Reform In Pakistan:
Two possible futures
Imagine Pakistan in
mid-21st century. Currently, its population is 180 million; by then it will be
340 million and, unlike India and China, its population will still be rising.
It will be a young population at a time when most of the rest of the world will
be ageing.
In one possible future the
opportunity this offers will be seized. It is possible to imagine Pakistan as
an economic powerhouse, helping to fuel sustainable, global economic growth. A
thriving Islamic republic could exemplify what the future holds for Muslims
everywhere: a country developing its wealth to foster the spirit of community and
the generosity to the poor that have always been at the heart of Islam. In this
scenario, Pakistan could have established good relations with its neighbours
and have played a significant part in solving both regional and global
problems. It will, after all, in population terms be the fourth largest in the
world.
Confident in its identity,
it would be open to ideas from around the globe. Of course, there is another
possible future for Pakistan in which the size and youth of its population
become a burden rather than an asset – a threat not an opportunity. I do not
need to spell out what the implications of this might be, except to say that
there is an association throughout history between countries with a large
proportion of unemployed young men in the population and violent revolution.
This second future, it goes without saying, would be devastating for Pakistan
and deeply problematic for the global community.
What
will determine which of these futures for Pakistan will unfold? A number of
factors will play a part, including regional and global geopolitics, but what
has struck me so forcibly in conversations I have had with business, community
and political leaders in Pakistan over the last year is that, with one voice,
they say the single most important factor will be education. Shortly after
founding Pakistan in 1947, Mohammed Ali Jinnah said prophetically, ―Education
is a matter of life and death for Pakistan. The world is progressing so rapidly
that without the requisite advance in education, not only shall we be left
behind others but we may be wiped out altogether.‖ (24 Sept 1947). The recent
devastating floods, needless to say, heavily preoccupied Pakistan‘s leaders,
but before then and now, as the waters recede, they acknowledge that Jinnah was
right. To seize the opportunity at midcentury, those 340 million will need to
be well-educated, able to imagine and
innovate, construct and create. It is plainly the case that without a
good education system, this will not be possible. Pakistan‘s leaders will need
not just to acknowledge Jinnah‘s words but act on them if, this time, it is
going to be different.
Problems and possibilities
At present, Pakistan is
without a good education system. Indeed, if we are to speak plainly – as the
times require – we must admit that the current education system is very poor
indeed. Consider the following facts:
•
One-third of primary age children, a larger proportion of girls than
boys, are not in school at all.
•
Around 35 per cent of those children who do attend school and make it
to grade 3 cannot do single digit subtraction.
•
Each day around a quarter of the country‘s teachers do not turn up to
school; each day, many thousands of schools that could be open are not – ―ghost
schools‖ they are called.
•
Government school facilities are very poor – 60 per cent have no
electricity and 34 per cent no drinking water.
•
The low-cost private sector delivers better performance than the
government schools at around a quarter of the unit cost.
•
Karachi, a city of around 16 million people and four million children
of school education age, has just 600,000 children enrolled in public schools
and up to two million more in low-cost private schools. This suggests perhaps a
million children unaccounted for; Karachi, it seems likely, can lay claim to
the unenviable title of the worst educated megacity on the planet.
Of course, even against
this desolate background, there are isolated examples of wonderful public
schools such as the one I saw in the dusty, litter-strewn Karachi suburb,
Gadap, where a principal of 17 years was sustaining high standards through
sheer force of personality. But we have known for years the individual hero
head, while wonderful, can never be, by definition, the solution to a system‘s
problems. And the system, according to global rankings, is far behind the
developed world. It ranks 163rd (out of 177 countries) on the UN‘s index of
education systems. It is also behind its own regional neighbours, some of
which, at independence, shared a similar starting point. While the floods have
been devastating socially and economically, it should be pointed out that the
economic impact of Pakistan‘s educational failure far exceeds that of the
floods – indeed, it is the equivalent of a flood like that several times every
year. As Andrew Mitchell,
the British International
Development Secretary, has said Pakistan faces ―an education emergency.‖
Clearly, therefore, at this moment Pakistan is far from ready to seize the
opportunity that lies ahead.
Before turning to examine
why Pakistan‘s education system is in such a parlous state, it is worth
pointing out that however poor it may be now, it would be perfectly possible to
successfully transform it over a generation. If the right steps were taken, we
could see evidence of progress within a year and substantial progress –
life-changing for millions of children – within two to five years. Either way,
it is vital to start now. To put it simply, Pakistan‘s education system does
not need to be this way. The problem looks huge – it is. And intractable – it
is not. The fatalism that grips too many of Pakistan‘s leaders when they
consider the education system needs to be swept away. Recent history provides
an everincreasing number of success stories; stories of invigorated education
systems where sustained reform has liberated and empowered millions of people
and transformed economies.
Singapore‘s remarkable
story is too easily dismissed as that of a small city-state but the equally
remarkable stories of Korea, Estonia, Poland, Minas Gerais in Brazil, and the
progress over the last decade in India – particularly in some very large states
such as Rajastan – cannot be dismissed. In short, there is an evidence base.
We know not just that it
can be done but also how it can be done. I will explain how in a moment but
first we need to explain why Pakistan‘s education system is currently so poor.
Before we come to the brutal facts, we should first deal with a
plausible-sounding explanation which is sometimes advanced: that parents in Pakistan
don‘t think education is important. This I reject entirely. Islam is a religion
that values education highly. The Quran tells us that the first word revealed
to the Prophet was, ―Read‖. Moreover, there is no reason to believe that
parents in Pakistan are any less keen on seeing their children succeed in life
than parents anywhere else. Even in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA), when parents are asked what they want most for their children,
education is their first priority and employment their second. In addition, we
know that the moment parents in Pakistan see the possibility of a good
education for their child, they seize it. The extraordinary growth of the
low-cost private sector in the last decade reveals incontrovertibly that as soon
as parents in Pakistan have the marginal extra income to afford these low-fee
schools, that is what they choose to do. Nowhere else is the world have I seen
so many streets where the most commonly advertised product is education.
Make no mistake; parents
want their children, girls as well as boys, educated. As the LEAPS (Learning
and Educational Achievements in Punjab Schools) study argues persuasively,
―Contrary to popular belief, parents know a lot about how their children are
performing…and how good the schools in their villages are…the results do not
depend on whether the parents are literate…when parents say a school is good,
it usually is…mothers know best.‖
The reason so many children are not in school is not lack of will on
the part of parents; it is a failure of provision by the state:
•
Poor school facilities – of course, if a school has no toilet, parents
will be reluctant to send their children, especially girls, there;
•
Poor location – of course, if children, especially girls, have to walk
far, parents will be anxious;
•
Poor experience – of course, if when the children do get to school,
there is no teacher present, why would we expect parents to keep sending their
children there? And, if there is a teacher there but the quality of the teaching
is very poor, again why should we be surprised if parents‘ (and children‘s)
enthusiasm wanes?
People in poverty whether
in urban or rural areas, have hard choices to make all day, every day. The
LEAPS study suggests that, ―Households with children enrolled in public schools
spend Rs 155 every month [per child] and households with children enrolled in
private schools spend Rs 231 every month. These are large sums given that the
median monthly income is Rs 4700, with, by definition, many families on incomes
far below the median.‖ Overwhelmingly then it is clear that families will make
major sacrifices to enable their children to get ahead – but there is no sense
in making that sacrifice if the school system is profoundly dysfunctional and
provides no opportunity for advancement.
So, if the poor track
record is not the fault of parents, where does responsibility lie? Once the
complexities are untangled, the central explanation seems to be, simply, that
for most of the decades since Pakistan became independent, providing good
education for every child has not been a priority. A sympathetic observer might
point out that Pakistan has faced many challenges, some truly existential, over
those decades. The recent floods are by no means the only devastating crisis
this beleaguered country has had to face.
A less sympathetic observer
might reply that other countries facing similar challenges (including, for
example, South Korea and Taiwan) have not neglected education and suggest that,
perhaps for much of that time, some of those who have ruled Pakistan have not
wished to see the mass of the population educated. As Mehnaz Aziz points out,
―the problem is feudalism. People [in the elite] think that if we educate the
people, they will revolt.‖ (TES, 2 April 2010). Reinforcing the point, the
Minister of Education said recently, ―In the past, we saw our population as our
greatest liability, not our greatest asset.‖ As a result of the floods in
northern Sindh and southern Punjab, many bonded labourers and their families
have fled to the cities. Their plight may be desperate there, but for many this
is a first opportunity for their children to get an education and they will not
wish to return to the impoverished circumstances in which they found themselves
before the waters rose.
These
people know from their own experience what the minister meant.
It is certainly striking
that Pakistan has devoted a much smaller proportion of GDP to education than
many comparable countries. While the government‘s recent commitment to increasing
that proportion to 4 per cent is welcome, the current level remains,
unacceptably, below 2 per cent and has not risen since the commitment was made.
The pitiful truth is that the state fails to collect even a fraction of the tax
revenue it should and then spends too little of the meagre amount it does raise
on educating its people. In short, the reality in over 60 years since
independence falls far short of Jinnah‘s aspiration.
Given then that the
education system is very poor and that a major part of the explanation for that
is a lack of political will over several decades, what grounds are there for
believing that there is a genuine prospect of successful education reform now?
Why would anyone argue, as I continue to do even after the floods, that this
time it‘s going to be different?
The opportunity
While inevitably the floods
and the security situation have dominated Pakistan‘s attention in the last
year, it has also become widely recognised over the same period that unless
progress on security is matched by improvements in the basic services the state
provides to the people, sustained development – economic, social and political
– will not be possible. Moreover, the global economic crisis has sharpened the
recognition among Pakistan‘s leaders that the country‘s economic prospects
depend more than ever on vastly improving the school system. The case is
further strengthened by the fact that the government of Pakistan and the
international community, including the major donors such as the World Bank, US
Agency for International Development (USAID) and UK Department for
International
Development (DfID), share
this understanding. As Prime Minister Gilani said in May; ―The
current…government is determined to promote education, to materialise it in
letter and spirit.‖ (27 May 2010). The government needs to redouble its
commitment to this sentiment in the aftermath of the floods; indeed, there is
an unparalleled opportunity right now to seize the moment, as the state of
Louisiana did after the trauma of Hurricane Katrina.
Less
often stated (but in some ways even more important) as a reason for seizing the
opportunity for reform now, is the widespread and growing evidence that there
are people, schools and organisations within Pakistan demonstrating daily what
can be
done. It is simply not true to say that successful education in
Pakistan is not possible; there is evidence to the contrary in every corner of
the country.
The Citizens‘ Foundation,
for example, runs 600 schools, free-at-the-point of use, in areas of rural and
urban poverty, serving over 80,000 students. In the US that would be the
equivalent of a large school district. The schools are well-run and the
children are learning. The Citizens‘ Foundation does not depend on government;
it raises its funds from concerned citizens and businesses and has been able to
expand steadily. The Punjab Education Foundation, another success story,
receives public funds from the government of Punjab. It uses these funds to
provide places in low-cost private schools that again are
free-at-the-point-use, again for poor students. In effect, the Foundation buys
all the places in the schools that join the network. In return, the schools
agree not to take any fee-paying students and to demonstrate that the students
are making progress in regular tests organised by the Foundation. These schools
are the Pakistani equivalent of charter schools. Currently, over 800,000
students, in both urban and rural settings, across the Punjab are benefitting.
This is successful impact at scale. There are plans for continued rapid
expansion. The charitable organisation CARE, by contrast to the other two
examples, does not provide alternatives to the public schools; instead, it
supports them – extra staff, materials and professional development. Its model
too is working well, helping to improve hundreds of schools in and around
Lahore. Meanwhile, the Children‘s Global Network helps to train thousands of
teachers in effective, interactive pedagogy so that they can move away from the
mind-numbing rote learning that is the norm in so many of Pakistan‘s schools.
These are just four
examples of successful programmes in Pakistan. There are also glimmers, in
places, of improved governance and administration, admittedly from a low base.
For example, with the support of the World Bank, the Punjab government has
developed its Programme Monitoring and Implementation Unit. Indeed, the Punjab,
Pakistan‘s most populous province, has begun to develop a two-pronged strategy
which funds low-cost private schools through the Punjab Education Foundation
whilst simultaneously strengthening the public sector as a whole. Along with
the enhanced regularity and reliability of its monitoring, this strategy has
brought progress, until 2007 but seems to have stalled since then. Moreover, in
August 2009 the national government, with the support of all provinces,
published a new National Education Policy which is disarmingly honest about the
terrible problems facing the country‘s public education system and sets out a
long list of proposals for addressing them. It was in this context that the
Pakistan Education Task Force, which Shahnaz Wazir Ali and I have the honour to
co-chair, was established jointly by the Pakistan and British governments. Its
work is supported and given high priority by the UK Department for
International
Development.
The Task Force represents a concerted effort to bring together
eminent leaders of
Pakistan‘s education system with major business and civil society
representatives, donors and global experts to enhance the chance of success.
The challenge of education reform in Pakistan is not a lack of ideas or
experiments; it is one of scale, capacity to deliver and political will to
tackle some longstanding binding constraints. The Task Force has no intention
of writing yet another report; it is working boldly and persistently to assist
provinces with the task of implementation and of ensuring that intent at system
level translates into results at classroom level.
Rising to the challenge
Across a country as large
and diverse as Pakistan – from teeming cities to remote villages, from arid
deserts to snow-capped peaks – successful, universal education reform is an
immense challenge. It requires sustained political will and courage, a clear
narrative of reform, a coherent strategy and greatly enhanced capacity to
implement reform at scale. I will touch on each of these in turn.
Universal education reform
is never easy anywhere in the world. While, as I have mentioned before, there
are impressive success stories, the history of education reform is littered
with failed attempts. It is not just the challenge of scale, though this is
daunting enough (if the education secretary in Punjab visited 10 schools every
day it would be 40 years before he had visited every school in the province);
it is also that around any existing system, however poor, there are entrenched
interests benefiting from the status quo which can be expected to resist change
actively or passively. Experience tells us, not just in education, that it is
much easier to block change than make it happen, much easier to identify the
risks of change than the risks of doing nothing, much easier to destroy than
create.
Sustained
Political Will
It is these circumstances
that make courageous political leadership essential for sustained education
reform. Transforming Pakistan‘s education system will, for example, require
effective performance management of teachers and principals. The best teachers
and principals will no doubt welcome it; however, the teachers who collect a
salary but rarely go to school will inevitably resist – and in some cases they
will be well-connected. Similarly, public school teachers, who often earn more
than twice their private sector equivalents, are likely to oppose government
funding for low-cost private education precisely because of the threat it
poses. Moreover, habitual political practices that stand in the way of
progress, such as the appointment of education administrators on grounds of
politics rather than merit, will have to be swept aside. Indeed, the sheer
turnover of senior administrators prevents progress. In the year I have been
involved in Pakistan‘s education, there have been three different secretaries
of education in each of Sindh and Balochistan.
The phrase is easy to use
but what does ―sustained political will‖ look like in practice? For a start it
is never a question of just one person; the demands of education reform require
what I have called, taking a phrase from John Kotter, ―a guiding coalition‖–
seven to ten people in key positions (for example, President, Prime Minister,
Education Minister, Finance Minister, plus top officials) who share a
commitment to reform and an understanding of what it will require including
facing up to home truths such as the need to move to appointment of
administrators strictly on merit and to tackle endemic corruption. Such leaders
also need to be willing to take risks to overcome the deadweight of decades of
failure. Moreover, sustained effort will be needed in each province as well as
at federal level because of the extent of devolution, which was further
enhanced in 2010 by the 18th amendment to the Constitution.
Above all, national and
provincial leaders need to persist because, if education reform in Pakistan is
to make the required difference, it will take a decade at a minimum. For this
reason the guiding coalition needs to build ever-widening circles of
leadership; more and more people inside the system who share the sense of
mission and the understanding of what it requires; and more and more people
outside the system – business leaders, for example – willing to provide the
necessary public support, particularly when the going gets tough. It is
therefore important that the leaders of reform not only take the necessary
decisions and provide the necessary funds but also keep explaining publicly why
reform is necessary, what it could mean for the country, what progress has been
made and what lies ahead. They also need to take the risk of unlocking citizen
pressure for reform. Success will only be possible if reform is not just from
the top down but also from the bottom up. Demand must be unleashed as supply is
strengthened. In short, a key factor in the differential progress of different
countries over recent decades lies in the presence, or absence, of outstanding
leadership. Unless, soon, Pakistan summons leadership of this kind from among
its political and business elite, progress will not be possible.
A Narrative of Reform
The second requirement is a
narrative: what is the mission; why does it matter; and how will it be
accomplished? In Pakistan‘s case, the mission is clear – ensure universal
access in line with the Millennium Development Goals, ensure quality, and
increase equity. Put another way, the mission is to take a very poor education
system and enable it to succeed. But why does it matter? The case needs to be
made over and over again. As I argued at the beginning of this paper, at stake
is the success of Pakistan economically, socially and politically; its place in
the 21st century world. But the case for education reform goes much deeper than
this. It raises the question of identity both for individuals and for a society
as a whole and I venture to suggest this needs to become part of the narrative.
Pakistan
is a relatively young country – the very idea of Pakistan is no more than 80
years old and the country just 63 years old – with a chequered history in an
uncertain part of the
world. In these circumstances, survival alone can all too easily become a goal
but it is surely not enough. Britain‘s Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks – whom I
take the liberty of quoting here – says, ―Identity is…being part of a
continuing narrative …We are the story we tell ourselves.‖ (The Home We Build
Together, 116).
What is the story we tell
ourselves for people in Pakistan? Needless to say, as an outsider, I am hardly
qualified to answer this profound question, but let me cautiously advance an
observation or two. Of course, there is the important story of the political
entity, Pakistan, created in 1947 with all its accomplishments and challenges.
There is also the story of the remarkable civilisations which have risen and
fallen in the lands now called Pakistan, the Mughal Empire among them. Often
associated with the Indus, a tremendous river with, as we have seen this year,
the power to destroy as well as create, these civilisations have left their
imprint on the landscape and a rich heritage for the country‘s current inhabitants.
The British Lieutenant, John Wood, who explored the Indus in 1836, called it ―a
foul and perplexing river,‖ and in 2010 many may be tempted to agree but
others, much earlier, knew better. Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai may have used poetic
licence but he recognised a deep truth, not changed by the floods, when he said
of the Indus that ―every wave is filled with rubies‖ (Empires of the Indus, 26,
79). Either way in these civilisations and this river, the potential for
narrative is immense.
There is another story too.
Pakistan‘s story has been bound up from its conception with the story of one of
the world‘s great religions, Islam, a religion that has brought to the world
great art, spectacular scientific advancement and remarkable literature and
history. To its adherents, it has also bought profound insight into how life
should be lived.
Let me assert, while
admitting the limits of my knowledge, that it should surely be possible to
weave for Pakistan, from these three strands, an inspiring narrative of Pakistan‘s
future and place in the world. A successful education system – one which
enabled students to learn the language and mathematical skills requisite for
the 21st century, the richness of their history, and the Islamic values of
tolerance, generosity and community – would not just assist in building a sense
of identity but, eventually, would itself become a crucial part of the story.
This is the mission – and
the case for this or something like it is surely powerful – but what about the
capacity to deliver this mission? The will and narrative might come into place
but, without a strategy, success would still be impossible. As one official in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told us, ―Iraddaha hai, Magar Plan nahee.‖ (―The intention
is there but not the plan.‖)
Strategy
The Pakistan Education
Taskforce, at its meeting in February 2010, identified seven key strands in the
2009 National Education Policy. As a result, the plan can be explained simply
and easily both to those who work in the education system and to the citizens
who depend upon it for their future learning. Our work at national and
provincial level is guided rigorously by these seven strands. Drawing from the
global literature on education reform, the Task Force‘s account combines
accountability and capacity-building or, in simpler terms, pressure and
support.
This
combination, if put in place and sustained, will work.
The pressure for change
will come from three sources. First, there should be clear standards for all
students in Urdu or the mother tongue, in English, and in Maths and Science.
Similarly there should be clear definitions of ―good‖ for schools, districts
and provinces. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa school report card, on which work started
before the floods, was a bold attempt to do just this for that province. Its
development now needs to be completed. Second, simple, clear processes for
monitoring performance should be put in place at every level. With USAID and
the World Bank‘s leadership, the National Education Assessment System (NEAS)
needs to be reinvigorated and become routine. Regular student assessments (as
Punjab has already embarked upon) as well as school reviews and district
reviews are essential.
The
outcomes of these should be public.
Third, a major national
public advocacy campaign is needed so that every community and, indeed, every
parent, becomes aware of what they should expect of the schools in their local
area. They have a right to a school which is open on a minimum of 180 school
days per year, has effective teachers who are present every day, has the
necessary basic facilities and has textbooks for every child. Moreover, it
should be easy for parents and communities to complain when these conditions
are not met, perhaps, for example, via a free-phone line to an independent
national agency which would have both the power to act on those complaints and
the responsibility to publish an annual report. The Sindh Education Foundation,
for example, has signboards outside the schools it funds and, according to
Anita Ghulam Ali, the remarkable veteran educator who leads it, parents use the
mobile phone number on the sign to call her, sometimes even in the middle of
the night! In short, the pressure for change should come as much, preferably
more, from the citizens as it does from the government.
The support for change
should have four aspects. First, drawing on models such as the Punjab Education
Foundation, the state should seek to expand rapidly the number of school places
in the low-cost non-government sector, whether private or not-for-profit. Where
non-government schools accept state funding certain obligations should apply,
including quality assurance arrangements. In this way, provinces could rapidly
provide many more good school places. For example, given the dire state of
affairs in Karachi and the other cities in Sindh, it is clear that there is no
solution without something along these lines; the moribund state sector has
neither the quality nor the scale the crisis demands. Of course, this would
require government and donors to move beyond the fruitless argument between
advocates of public schools, on the one hand, and those of private schools, on
the other. Rather, the central challenge is surely to ensure the right
relationship between the two sectors. Encouragingly, I find that the trend in
thinking, both within Pakistan and among the donors, is in precisely this
direction. The idea of a major fund – The Urban Sindh Fund – has, for example, won
enthusiastic support in principle from business leaders in the province and
major donors, such as DfID.
The second aspect of
support focuses on ensuring that teachers have the skills necessary to teach
the curriculum. This requires high quality professional development and the
curriculum materials, especially good textbooks and teacher guides, to enable
each teacher to teach each lesson well. Here again there are models that work
all over Pakistan, even while the vast majority of the provision is ineffective.
The keys to success, therefore, are to ensure that professional development and
text books are aligned with standards and assessments and that the system
learns from known successes. For example, good practical teacher guides would
really help teachers achieve basic standards of performance. Meanwhile,
successful professional development involves coaching and modelling by
effective practitioners working in classrooms alongside teachers – not sending
individuals to dreary courses unrelated to daily reality. The Children‘s Global
Network has shown
this can be done, including in its support for education in the
immediate aftermath of the floods.
The third aspect of support
recognises that, however much the non-government sector may expand, the vast majority
of school places across Pakistan will remain in the traditional public schools
for the foreseeable future. This makes it essential to improve the quality of
management and administration at every level from the school, through districts
and provinces, to the federal government. In the jargon, this is a challenge of
capacity-building – the capacity of head teachers to improve school
performance, of district administrators to manage quality and of federal and
provincial administrators to translate policy into practice and strategy into
delivery. Unannounced visits to government schools, even in well-reputed
districts, reveal starkly massive inefficiencies such as absent headteachers,
absent teachers and poorly managed facilities, for example.
The definitions of ―what good looks like‖
mentioned earlier, should inform welldesigned capacity-building at each level
in the system. Equally importantly, political leaders need to ensure all key
appointments are based not on patronage but on performance. The recent shift in
some provinces to the selection of teachers based on merit alone, needs to
extend to teacher transfers and, indeed, to district administrators. In Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, for example, the system of 27,000 schools has 1900 cluster
leaders, 300 district officers and 24 district education officers. To deliver
effectively, each level in this delivery chain requires people of quality. No
one should underestimate the scale of transformation this requires in culture
as well as practice.
The fourth and final aspect
of support is the obvious but essential provision of good basic facilities –
buildings with water, electricity, toilets, boundary walls, desks and chairs
and good text books, universally available. The absence of such basic provision
across large swathes of Pakistan in the early 21st century is frankly
scandalous. Too often this failure is attributed solely to the absence of
resources; in reality it should also be attributed to the absence of effective
administration. For instance, among low-cost private schools in Karachi, over
95 per cent have electricity whereas, among the government schools, only 50 per
cent do, even though the capital investment in the latter is many times greater
than the former. If these seven strands of reform were advanced in combination,
the performance of Pakistan‘s education system would improve steadily and
significantly. Needless to say, setting them out on paper is the easy part; the
real challenge is getting it done. The first step is for the government of
Pakistan to make a highly visible commitment to its people – constantly
reiterated – that this is what it intends to do. A major speech by the Prime
Minister, perhaps at a major international event, committing to prioritising
and funding education, would be a good way to start.
Provincial
chief ministers are equally significant.
The second step should be
for the entire international community, especially the major donors, to get
behind the strategy and to integrate their support. Too often around the world,
including in Pakistan, the major donors – no doubt each with the best of
intentions – have offered such a bewildering array of uncoordinated programmes
and projects to support an education system that it often seems as if, to adapt
a phrase of Michael Fullan‘s, ―The helping hand strikes again and again and
again.‖ The result is confusion and fragmentation rather than whole system
reform. If, by contrast, the government of Pakistan embarked on delivering the
strategy described here and all the major donors integrated their support
behind it, the prospects for success would be vastly enhanced. The emerging
close collaboration in support of this strategy among USAID, DfID and the World
Bank is a significant step forward, which needs to be deepened and sustained.
Only with what Ashraf Ghani
and Clare Lockhart call the ―Double Compact‖ – a simultaneous compact between
government and people on the one hand and government and the international
community on the other – can the clarity of direction be established to make
the long hard slog of delivery possible. The Task Force is assisting government
and donors to put this double compact in place at both national and provincial
level.
Implementation
The entire system should
then turn its attention to the biggest challenge of all which – to hammer home
the point – is implementation, implementation, implementation. As Michael
Fullan and I say to governments around the world, getting the strategy right is
difficult but only 10 per cent of the task; the remaining 90 per cent is
getting it done. At the Federal level and in each of the provinces the basic
ingredients of driving delivery need to be put in place – clear goals and
priorities, delivery plans, trajectories, routines for monitoring performance
and problem-solving capacity. The Task Force has just begun this
capacity-building task but there is so much more to do. In addition the Federal
and Provincial governments need regularly to give an account to the public of
what progress with implementation has been made and what remains to be done.
The Task Force has begun to play this role too by developing its implementation
scorecard, which enables it, in dialogue with each of the provinces and areas,
to assess progress on implementation of the seven strands of policy listed
earlier. For the first time in Pakistan‘s history, there is therefore a census
of implementation across the entire country. Provincial leaders are finding
this process of accountability both challenging and helpful in equal measure.
Crucially, because there is
a common scheme now, a common language of implementation is beginning to
emerge. As a result, the provinces are starting to learn from each other in a
way which was not possible before. This may not be exciting but it will be
decisive. Plans and routines to drive their implementation are the essence of
delivering tangible outcomes.
The Task Force has also
developed one further idea which will become a reality in early 2011 – an Innovation
Fund. Its purpose will be to invest in proposals which might become the next
generation of education reform in Pakistan. After all, even if the strategy
outlined above is completely successful, the quality of the education system in
Pakistan will still fall far short of those in many developed countries for
many years. But suppose it found ways to leap ahead? Suppose, for example, that
Pakistan could realise the potential of modern technology to bring education,
outof- school, to Karachi‘s slums; suppose it could find much more effective
ways, again through technology, of providing excellent materials, guidance and
development to teachers, especially those in remote, rural areas, as the
British Open University has done in Africa. All over the world, as described
vividly in Charles Leadbeater‘s and Annika Wong‘s recent report Learning from
the Extremes, there are experiments, some of which may ultimately have
implications for system transformation. It is in these kinds of innovation that
the proposed Innovation Fund will hope to invest. It will also be innovative in
the way it works. Its processes will be transparent, including its meetings
which will not just be open to the public but recorded on video and posted on a
website. In this way, it can become an innovation in administration and a forum
for debate, as well as an investor.
Conclusion
All of this – the
aspiration, the narrative, the strategy and the approach to implementation –
will create the conditions for change. But there is one further barrier to
overcome: the barrier in people‘s heads. The story of education reform in
Pakistan is an unhappy one. Let me give just three examples. The first five
year plan in 1956 set a target of universal primary enrolment in five years. It
did not happen.
In 1979 another target of
68 per cent enrolment by 1982 was set. It did not happen. In 1988 yet another
target was set, this time for universal enrolment by 1992-93. Again, it did not
happen. And, as we have seen, universal primary education has still not
happened. With this track record, no wonder Pakistan‘s education leaders are
sceptical that this new venture will succeed. They need to suspend disbelief,
to have the courage to start and to develop confidence as early progress
becomes visible. Nothing succeeds like success.
By
drawing on success within Pakistan (and in other countries) the Task Force can
help instil this belief. It
has been established to assist the country‘s leaders in the creation of the
successful education system to which the people of Pakistan aspire. The hard
work, of course, will be done by teachers and principals, administrators and
politicians at all the different levels in the system. By shaping government
thinking, by influencing the international community, by building the capacity
to implement throughout the system and, above all, by creating the belief that,
this time, it really can be done, the Task Force can make a major contribution.
Now the flood waters have gone, a monumental national effort to create an
education system in which the country can take pride is required. This time it
really is going to be different.
Bibliography
Andrabi, T., Das J., Khwaja, A., Vishwanath,
T., Zajonc. T., Learning and Educational Achievements in Punjab Schools
(LEAPS): Insights to Inform the Policy Debate, (World Bank, 2008).
Albinia A., Empires of the
Indus: The Story of a River, (John Murray, 2009). Barber, M., Instruction to
Deliver: Fighting to Transform Britain‘s Public Services, (Methuen, 2008).
Bennett-Jones,
O., Pakistan: Eye of the Storm, (Yale University Press, 2009)
Bloom,
A., Pakistan's elite faces up to a future of reforms, not feudalism, TES, (2
April 2009).
Government
of Pakistan – National Education Policy 2009.
Ghani,
A., Lockhart, C., Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured
World, (OUP, USA, 2009).
Kotter,
J., Leading Change, (Harvard Business School Press, 1996).
Leadbeater,
C., Wong, A., Learning from the Extremes, (Cisco, 2009).
Sacks,
J., The Home We Build Together: Recreating Society, (Continuum International
Publishing Group Ltd., 2009).
Tooley,
J., The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World‘s Poorest People
are
Educating
Themselves (Cato Institute, U.S., 2009)
Whelan,
F., Lessons Learned: How Good Policies Produce Better Schools, (2009).
.png)
Post a Comment