Education in Pakistan: Causes of Failed State

and Future Road Map - Jahangir's World Times

Jun 24 2017 Highlights with LINER

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Education in Pakistan: Causes of Failed State and Future Road Map
Education has been accorded great importance in every religion and society. Islam also
attached utmost importance to it. 1. Introduction 2. Importance of Education 3.
Present state of Education: Dismal a) Literacy b) Equity c) Quality d) Access e)
Relevance f) Environment 4. Technical Education 5. Higher Education 6.
Causes of Failure a) Historical and societal b) Governance-related Factors 7.
Impacts on society and development 8. Recommendations for improvement 9.
Conclusion

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1. Introduction

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2. Importance of Education

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Education in Pakistan is in a dire state when seen in terms of vitality for socioeconomic
development. Education is aimed at to develop human capabilities through knowledge,
skills and creative strength that, in turn, enhance the socioeconomic growth. But
ironically, in the present-day Pakistan, even the importance of education has not been
recognized. Given the multifarious importance and diverse role of education in building a
stable society, it becomes imperative that in Pakistan, the provision of education is
ensured urgently and its uplift is sought through prudent policies with a pragmatic
approach.

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importance in every religion and society
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Islam also attached utmost importance to i

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Present state of Education: Dismal

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Muslims ushered an era of glory only with education but when they renounced it, they
fell into the depths of despondency and dejection.

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The West, today, dominates the world only because it realized educations vitality to
development. Article 26 of the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads:
Everyone has the right to education. It is the second objective in UNs Millennium
Development Goals (UNMDGs) which requires education for all (EFA) by year 2015.
The World Bank also underscores the positive outcomes of education as reduction in
poverty and inequality, improvement in health status and implementation of
socioeconomic policies.

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far from satisfactory

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in all the six important indicators that include literacy, access, equality, quality, relevance
and environment.

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literacy rate

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10 years and above in Pakistan, according to World Bank, is 55 per cent (67% for males
and 42% females). This is the lowest rate in the developing nations in Asia. Sri Lanka
has 90.7%; Indonesia has 90.4% while literacy rate in Vietnam, Iran and India reach
90.4%, 82.4% and 61% respectively. In contrast, in developed countries, it is almost
100%.

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access to education

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Pakistans main problems are the paucity of funds and gender discrimination. Moreover,
most villages are without schools and students of many villages share one school. In
addition, the parents dont allow girls to study in coeducation system. Girls schools,
particularly at secondary level, are not in sufficient number.

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equality

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It has many forms including gender-disparity, rural-urban divide and class structure. As
regards gender-disparity, the literacy rate shows a gap of 25% between male and
female. A gap of more than 10 per cent is internationally considered a serious
concern, writes

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Rural-urban divide, another serious concern, is caused mainly due to economic disparity
and condition of schools. P

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public and private sector divide is also there.

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These institutions have their own curriculum and examination system. This further
widens the class divide in society; the rich become highly-educated while the poor
remain poorly educated.

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third indicator i.e. quality of education

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determined by curriculum, textbooks, teachers skills and assessment system that are far
below the international standards.

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relevance

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What is taught in institutions must be relevant to what is in demand in the outside world.

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disconnection between education and employment sector as there is no system of
consultation between academia and economic managers.

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environment

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Approximately, 12737 schools have been reported as non-functional (Ghost Schools).

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At present, there are 1140 government and 382 in private vocational institutions in the
country
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In the sphere of higher education, unfortunately, only 3.7 per cent of Pakistani youth of
18-23 age group is enrolled. This is very low as compared to other developing countries
as Malaysia has 12% while India has 7%. A

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Only 25% of university teachers are PhDs and only 20 per cent of them are active
researchers.

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disband

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disband

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factors

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historical and societal to governance-related issues.

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feudalism

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Poverty

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More than 30% of Pakistans population is living below the poverty line. Pakistans is an
agro-based economy and its 65% population lives in rural areas

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These impediments could have been removed had there been realization, vision,
planning and seriousness among our leaders. Unfortunately, there has always been lack
of commitment to education development on part of those at the helm of affairs. This is
evident from the paltry resource allocations in the annual budgets. The funding to
education in Pakistan has always been below or around 2.5% of GDP that is extremely
low.

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embezzlement of funds as well because corruption is rampant in the education
department

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This grave situation is the outcome of two main factor i.e. no accountability system and
undue political interferen

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All the areas of education primary, secondary, technical and higher education reflect
neglect of education sector. Though there have been policies formulated and goals set,
but when it comes to their implementation, there is a lack of commitment. So, the
education system has failed which has resulted in deteriorated social conditions and a
vulnerable economy.

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Pakistan at 134th place among 177 countries of the world as education is a major
indicator in human development index

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Its a universal fact that the education develops thinking of man but in our society its
failure has led to the widespread discontent and chaos. World has genuine concerns
that poorly-educated people pose serious threat not only to Pakistan but also to world
security.

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recommendations that provide a pragmatic roadmap to reform the education sector in
Pakistan.

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1. Primary education must be made compulsory. The textbooks and uniforms should
be provided free of cost to the indigent children and rewards may be offered to them on
passing examinations. Usher, Zakat and Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP)
should also be linked with enrolment of child in school.

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2. Technical education should be encouraged. Introductory technical subjects should
be taught at the middle level to enhance awareness and encourage interest of students.
The network of polytechnic colleges should be expanded to cover the remote areas as
well.

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3. The 19th century was of steam and coal, 20th was of electricity and the 21st is of
information technology (IT). Therefore, due importance should be given to IT. Computers
with trainers should be made available in secondary schools.

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4. Government must develop a uniform curriculum to eliminate the multi-tier system of
education that furthers the class divide. It should enable the child to compete at national
and international levels. The curriculum of private schools may be adopted with little
modifications. It would be convenient as the private schools will be less resistant to such
change.

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Education must be relevant and responsive to national environment, culture, society and
economy. The social and religious values must be embedded in the children to make
them good citizens. The education should conform not only to the local industry but also
to international market.

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6. Higher education deserves serious attention in this regard. Steps should be taken to
attract youth to higher education. The investment in this sector should be increased to
meet the demands of universities. An effective reform of the higher education system in
Pakistan requires a down to up approach; without the improvement of colleges, it is out
of question to improve the quality of university graduates.

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7. A uniform and sound system of national testing should be promoted. The National
Education Assessment System (NEAS) should be entrusted with more such tasks. A
federal council to ensure uniformity in all the universities examinations can be another
prudent step.

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8. The importance of teachers in education need not be overemphasized. The
remuneration and incentives for teachers should be increased to attract the intellectual
and competent persons. In-service teachers should be required to qualify some exams
to go into the next pay scale.

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9. A qualified and motivated teacher also needs training and grooming. Therefore, the
capacity of training institutes should be enhanced with expert trainers. A well thought-out
syllabus and policy should be formulated containing modern teaching techniques.

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10. Importance of private sector cannot be undermined as it has saved Pakistans
education system from complete collapse. Its difficult for government to uplift the
education sector single-handedly, so the private sector should be encouraged to invest
more. The establishment of private education foundations on non-profit basis may be a
good option. The private schools should be made to give admissions to poor students.
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Original Source : http://jworldtimes.com/jwt2015/magazine-archives/jwt2013/may2013/africas-
voice-goes-silent-chinua-achebe/