Pakistani Educational system: Loopholes and suggestions

• Asif Maqbool
• Miss Shabana
• Muhammad Rasheed
• Naeem Qasim

Education is the cornerstone of broad-based economic growth and poverty reduction. No nation can take advantage of trade and development opportunities in a technology-driven and rapidly integrating economy without making major advances in education. Education offers an escape from poverty by empowering people and enhancing opportunities for grater participation in the labour market.

          Basic education is a fundamental human right. Literacy being a key learning tool is the first step towards basic education. Illiteracy breeds a vicious cycle i.e., the illiterate are poor, the poor are powerless and the powerless are illiterate. Literacy is not just attaining the skills of reading and writing but providing people with the skills to learn, protect and empower themselves in society and effectively contribute to decision-making at various levels. The United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-12) is focusing on the promotion of literacy, especially for the poorest and most marginalized groups. As follow-up of its international commitments, the Government of Pakistan is placing emphasis on literacy in its recent education policies, well-documented in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Literacy rate for both sexes is estimated at 54.0 percent in the current year. Literacy rates for male and female are estimated at 66.25 percent and 41.75 percent in the current year respectively and up from 56.48 percent and 32.59 percent in 1998.

Education can make people aware of their good or evil. It is a key to change and progress. It is the most important factor which distinguished the poor from the non-poor. He or she can think better or in a positive way as compared to an illiterate person. First of all we should know how the present educational system of Pakistan is working? What are the loopholes and how can we remove these shortcomings? There are two types of school systems in Pakistan. One is Govt. schools and the other private schools. Our educational system is not so good as compared to our neighbours like India, China, and Bangladesh. We now look the problems which someone may face  in Govt. schools. There is shortage of trained and qualified teachers, especially females. These schools lack proper physical facilities. Teachers lack dedication, motivation and interest in their profession. Their method of teaching is old. Discussion and presentation activities are ignored in these schools which are being done in an effective way in private schools.  Curricula are mostly non-relevant to present day requirements. The student of English medium school can read, speak and write English well as compared to Government schools. The students of Govt. schools find the English book in the 6^th class, but the students of English medium schools find English book from 1^st class.  Being an international language, English is considered as a symbol of pride in Pakistan.

Education is necessary in order to make a country progressive and prosperous but increasing rate of private schools is creating a difference among the children of high and low class. The private schools no doubt are doing excellent job in providing better education than Govt. schools, but at the same time they are separating the country into two parts. One the onside there are highly educated people and on the other side there are less educated or medium educated people.

The students from English medium schools are preferred to the students from Govt. schools in most of the fields. As students of English medium schools are good in speaking, writing and reading in English, therefore they get more advantage in jobs as compared to other students. As the poor people have not enough resources to fulfil the requirements of these schools therefore they are bound to face the pitiable plight of Government schools.

The education is becoming one of the defining enterprises of the 21^st century with the emergence of globalization and increasing global competition. In this fast changing and competitive world, education and technology are the master keys for respectable survival and progress of Pakistan. This can only be due to diversity and flexibility that can be built on a coherent policy and funds base that recognizes a new priority particularly for higher education in the country. The fundamental reality is that Pakistani educational institutions are under-resourced. Pakistan needs a pool of high quality human capital capable of innovation, forward thinking and professional quality management. The quality education system is very important to ensure an adequate supply of qualified, highly skilled and well-trained manpower to augment the process of economic development.

The whole education system — from pre-school till tertiary level must be reviewed properly and restructured, for meeting the workforce requirements of a knowledge-based economy. For a nation aspiring to achieve sustainable growth and maintain its competitiveness, emphasis must be placed on creating a knowledge-based environment to attain this goal. Local standards of education must be brought at par with that of foreign education systems.

Pakistan needs to respond positively to emerging opportunities and challenges of globalization. This is possible only if the constituency of the education, which is the sacred home ground of the knowledge, is given its due importance. The world community has realized the importance of knowledge based economy and has concluded that degree of success is directly proportional to strategic investment in education. Knowledge and people with knowledge are the key factors of development, main drivers of growth and major determinants of competitiveness in the global economy.

          Knowledge, both an input and output, is seen a key source of long-term growth and job creation. Pakistan needs to promote industrialization because industry is the main source of creation of national wealth. Various governments in the past have formulated an assortment of policies and plans to fulfil the constitutional commitment of providing education to the people and removing inequalities with limited success. The level of public spending is an important indicator of government’s commitment to the cause of education. During the last four years the integrated approach has produced good results but much more needs to be done for the country to achieve its due economic standing in comity of nations.

This will lead Pakistan on road to rapid and sustainable economic development. The Government should accept education as one of the fundamental rights of a citizen and should give due importance to provide education to every citizen. The challenge is to implement the Education Policy through creative and efficient use of all available resources. These resources may come from the government, private sector, civil society groups and development partners. The emergent consensus is that Pakistan’s sustained economic growth can be achieved with emphasis on the quality of its human capital.