BY TAYYABA AWAN
The system of education includes all institutions that are involved in delivering formal education i.e. public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, onsite or virtual instruction and their faculties, students, physical infrastructure, resources and rules.
In a broader definition, the system also includes the institutions that are directly involved in financing, managing, operating or regulating such institutions like government ministries and regulatory bodies, central testing organizations, textbook boards and accreditation boards. The rules and regulations that guide the individual and institutional interactions within the set up are also part of the education system.
The education system of Pakistan is comprised of 260,903 institutions and is facilitating 41,018,384 students with the help of 1,535,461 teachers, according to rough estimates. The system includes 180,846 public institutions and 80,057 private institutions. Hence 31 percent educational institutes are run by private sector while 69 percent are public institutions.
The education system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education is different in both, public and private sector. This creates a sort of disparity among people, dividing them into two segments.
Regional disparity is also a major cause. The schools in Baluchistan, the Largest province of Pakistan By Area, are not that much facilitated as that of Punjab, the largest province Of Pakistan By Population. In FATA, the literacy rate is deplorable constituting 29.5 percent in males and 3 percent in females.
The lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the educational policy that has never been focused before. The allocation of funds for education is very low. It is only 1.5 to 2.0 percent of the total GDP. It should be around 7 percent of the total GDP.
Poverty is also another factor that restricts the parents to send their children to schools. So, they prefer sending their children to madrassas where education is totally free.
Recently, minister for education announced a new Education Policy for the next 10 years. It is being projected to give new plans and to make more promises with the nation. The Policy says that all the public schools will be raised up to the standard of private schools. No plan of action have been discussed, yet a notice has been issued to private schools to introduce government course in 5th and 8th class and these classes will bound to take board exams. This disturbed the students of private sector.
Estimating the value of education, the government should take solid steps on the issue. Implementation instead of projecting policies should be focused on. Allocation of funds should be made easy from provinces to districts and then to educational institutions. Workshops must be arranged for teachers.
Foreign states are using LSS system. This should be introduced in Pakistani schools to improve the hidden qualities of children. Technical education must be given to all the classes. The education board of Punjab has projected a plan to give tech education to the children of industrial workers. Promotion of the primary education is the need of time.
Teachers, professors and educationists should be consulted while devising any plan, syllabus or policy. The state seems to be relying on private sector. The need of time is to bring education in its original form. Burdening students with so much books will not work. Education is the only cure of the instability in the state and can bring revolution through evolution, by eradicating the social evils.
The reforms required in the education system of Pakistan cannot be done by the government alone. Public-private participation and a mix of formal as well as non-formal education can pull out majority of country’s population from illiteracy. Similarly, to make the youth of the country an asset, attention should also be paid to vocational and technical training.
Also read: POVERTY- A student’s take
(Writer is a student of National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad. She can be reached at tayyaba.awan99@gmail.com)
