Current Affairs Activity Class Arooj Shahzad

Topic: Decline of Education in Pakistan

Introduction
Education plays a pivotal role in the development of the country. High literacy rate ensures
sustainable economic development, labour productivity and economic prosperity. Equalization of
educational levels eliminates regional inequalities and gender discrimination. It also strengthens
to meet the emerging challenges of the modern world through upgrading the intellectual level
and adoption of the new technologies. It is important for developing countries, where majority of
the world’s population exists, need to redesign educational policies in line with the advanced
nations for enhancing productivity through highly skilled manpower.

Literacy Rate and Budgetary Allocation to Education

Pakistan has not made progress adequately in the field of education with literacy rate of only 58
percent i.e. 42 percent of its population remains unable to read or write. This limits the
opportunity considerably towards acquiring skills and technical knowledge for higher
productivity and better earning levels. School enrolments are low and school drop-out rates are
too high. The budgetary allocation to education has remained static around 2.0 percent of GDP
for the past decade, with a big chunk being spent on recurrent heads mainly salaries, leaving a
small amount for quality enhancement such as teachers training, curriculum development,
provision of school facilities and monitoring and supervision of education.

Factors for the Decline of Education in Pakistan

Low Enrolment and High Dropout Rate especially at Primary Level

Low enrolment and high dropout have attributed to number of both out-of-school and in-school
factors. Of the out-of- school factors, general poverty, low motivation of rural people to
send their children to schools, uninviting rural conditions and socio-cultural inhibitions
towards education of the females, malnutrition of children are said to be responsible for this
situation among the in-school factors, extremely poor condition of school buildings, lack of
equipment and teaching aids, shortage and absenteeism among teachers, inadequate supervision,
poor communication facilities, and low morale of primary school teachers and the harsh
treatment towards the pupils, unattractive school curriculum and environment significantly
contribute to the present state of primary education in Pakistan.

Low Quality of Curricula and Textbooks

The curriculum and the combination of the courses have lost their motivational value for lack of
relevance to the aspirations of the individual and the development needs of the country.
Their usefulness for national integration has become questionable. The delivery of school

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curricula, that is, textbooks, teacher training and examinations suffer from a number of
distortions. For example, the textbook do not properly reflect the spirit and intentions of
the school curricula. These are generally of poor quality and contain materials which are
unnecessarily repetitive. The language in many cases is defective as is the presentation of
concept which is not in agreement with the understanding capacity of children. Apart from poor
layouts and unattractive illustration design of science books, the books in social sciences fail to
inculcate the desired national cohesion. Also, the teachers are not adequately oriented and
trained in accordance with the needs of the curriculum. And the examination questions, based
mainly on textbooks, are hardly designed to measure the competencies required to be inculcated
in students. All this promotes rote-learning.

Substandard Evaluation System

Reforms in examination system, must, therefore, be considered in totality of the

educational system, perceived to consist of academic, organizational, political and socio-
cultural dimensions. This four dimensional analysis of the present situation forms the basis of
the policy on evaluation and examination. It has constantly been observed that one of the
fundamental reasons for the deterioration of educational standards is the perpetual
continuation of an obsolete system of external examinations which encourages learning by rote
and subjects the students to various stresses and strains. Evaluation is a crucial phase in the
teaching-learning process.

Culture and Conservative Attitudes

Our society predominantly consists of conservative social class which has its own mores and
norms. At times out of these social aspects and customs the families do not tend to send their
females to the educational institutions especially in the rural and remote areas. Getting their
females admitted in the co-educational institutions is another issue. Even some families do not
let their females study for middle classes though they may be dwelling in urban societies. The
basic reason for the disparity between male and female literacy rate is the conservative social
behavior of people.

Ghost Schools

Pakistan´s poor report card comes even as the number of so-called ghost schools which receive
funding but have no teachers or students increase.

Rapid Growth in Population, Poverty and Unemployment

Corruption

Terrorism

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Remedies
Eliminating Multiplicity in Education

A uniform system of education should be adopted gradually to eliminate the problem of

different educational systems. Three important steps that the government can take in this regard
are as follow:
1. One medium of instruction should be introduced. In the present day
computational international environment of competition, English is assumed to be an
unprecedented important tool as a medium of instruction. Although Urdu will perhaps,
remain a language of our people for a long time to come, English has to be given preference if a
choice is to be made.
2.Religious education should be incorporated in the mainstream of education. For this
purpose, most important thing is to introduce Arabic as a second language at the
appropriate stage.
3.Free text material should be provided free of cost at all levels and for all the public/private
institutions, and can make it mandatory for all the institutions otherwise their certificates and
degrees should not be recognized and their affiliation with different boards and
universities should be cancelled.

Increasing Educational Budget

1. Government should take an active eye and should allocate more funds for the improvement of
education.
2. Maturate the public to financial contributions for the purpose. Modern marketing and fund
raising techniques can be adopted for the purpose.
3. Offer tax exemptions and other such incentives may be offered to private sectors to invest in
education in rural and less developed areas

Eliminating Political Influence

The following steps may be helpful to abolish the interference of the politics/political leaders:
1. Politics must be eliminated from education department.
2. Student should pay attention much more on their studies than chalking walls in
propagation of different leaders, by doing so they are just wasting their time; nothing can be got
by immoral means.
3. In rural areas where needed, provide each school with security forces to ensure that
people face no resistance from the feudal in educating their children

Enhancing Media Role

A combination of broadcasts and cassettes related to the teaching of science, medicine, and
technology at the tertiary level including (a) video cassettes of the best tertiary teaching talents
especially in science subjects for distribution among universities and colleges, (b) broadcast
lectures of eminent professors in identified and selected subject areas, and (c) special
enrichment programmes broadcast on new scientific disciplines not yet generally included

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in university syllabuses such as genetic engineering, superconductivity, fibre-glass optics,

ceramic engineering, particularly catering for advanced students as well as educationists,
planners, decision makers, and the educated general public, will be made easily accessible to
learners. Different programs on importance of education should be presented and a proper place
should be given to these programs in media with special focusing on that the education
must be got for the purpose of education not for getting jobs. Awareness should be created
amongst un-aware fellows; the importance of education must be expounded in real terms but
in an easy way, and different literacy programs which are commenced throughout the
country. Use electronic media more extensively for educational purposes. A channel should
be devoted for the purpose: teachers of high caliber can take classes for different subjects at
various levels, these lectures can be telecast as well as recorded, the lectures can be delivered by
telecasting them or by playing recorded cassettes even in schools in far flung areas to provide
quality education later on computers can also be used with sufficient data banks and with
internet and e-mail facilities for more interactive education, if an appropriate system is designed,
more students can be taught in one school using cassettes, discs, etc. with relatively less but
efficient teachers, and print media must reserve a weekly page for education.

Recommendation
Early Childhood Education (ECE)

 All children between the ages of 3-5 should be enrolled in ECE programs
 Schools must have separate ECE classrooms that are fully equipped with learning aids
 Special ECE teacher training certification should be introduced
 ECE teachers should be hired on a longer term basis
 A greater budget should be allocated to ECE programs
 Appoint education counselors who can address the special needs of younger children and
help with mental and emotional development

Secondary Education

 A school ranking system, similar to the primary system, should be introduced at

secondary level as well
 Community service and sports activities should be made part of the curriculum
 National merit programs should be introduced to encourage enrollments and retention
 Teacher training and certification should train teachers to teach in a hands-on manner. A
culture of learning by doing needs to be introduced at secondary level
 Different incentives should be created and offered to parents so they continue to enroll
their children in schools
 Supply and demand of teachers must be monitored and balanced
 All teachers must be subject specialists
 Teachers must ensure they are disseminating strong conceptual knowledge
 Well-equipped labs and libraries must be made available

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 Training methodologies should be developed keeping in mind new trends and

development

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)

 Create an awareness regarding TVET opportunities and bring about a shift in the stigma
attached with TVET
 Define standards for various fields – brick laying/plumbing etc
 Integration of conventional/skill based trainings in schools
 Create awareness about the benefits of trained/certified workforce
 Accountability systems for teachers/trainers/institutes/instructors have to be introduced
 Alignment of training and industry expectations so students have employment
opportunities after the training
 Career counselors must be present in all secondary schools to guide children with regards
to technical and vocational training
 Research based studies, reports and findings should be considered for policy making
process
 Monitoring and evaluation tools should be put in place to ensure efficient performance

Financing for Education

 Increasing the GDP allocated to the education sector – recommended percentage was 4%
 Creating attractive incentives to prevent dropout rates – scholarships, food, gifts etc.
 Directing fund towards developing infrastructures – libraries, Audio Visual aids, labs,
play grounds etc.
 Bring per student public sector spending to the same level as private sector spending

Governance

 Proper training of stakeholders – teachers, school management etc

 Accountability across the board
 Suitable monitoring measures
 Appropriate recruitment processes
 Relevant personnel for governance
 Involvement of and training of students and parents and school councils to build capacity
for meaningful engagement

Korean Education System

By 1970, the literacy had gone up from 22% in 1945 to 87.6%. This progress did not stop, and
now Korea has a literacy rate of 97.9%; breaking this percentage down further, 99.2% of males
and 96.6% of females are literate. Literacy is defined as people over 15 years of age who can
read and write.
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The Korean public education structure is divided into three parts: six years of primary school,
followed by three years of middle school and then three years of high school. In 1996 only about
five percent of Korea's high schools were coeducational. The proportion of coeducational
schools has increased by almost ten percent. However, classes in many coeducational high
schools are still divided along gender lines. The curriculum is standardized so now both boys and
girls study technology and domestic science.

The primary curriculum consists of nine principal subjects: moral education, Korean language,
social studies, mathematics, science, physical education, music, fine arts, and practical arts.
English-language instruction now begins in the third grade, so that children can start learning
English in a relaxed atmosphere through conversational exchange, rather than through rote
learning of grammatical rules as is still the practice in many middle and high schools. The major
objectives, as stated in a 1996 background report by the Ministry of Education, are "to improve
basic abilities, skills and attitudes; to develop language ability and civic morality needed to live
in society; to increase the spirit of cooperation; to foster basic arithmetic skills and scientific
observation skills; and to promote the understanding of healthy life and the harmonious
development of body and mind.”

There have been proposals to change the nature of the educational process—from focusing on
preparation for college and entrance into schools that will ensure economic success and
intellectual development, over the cultivation of attitudes and abilities needed to become
responsible citizens. Toward this end a practice-based approach to humanity education has been
implemented, with the goals of instilling values of etiquette, public order, and democratic
citizenship through experiential activities.

Along with their strong belief in the family and cultural traditions, Koreans value education and
are willing to make significant personal sacrifices to ensure that their children are afforded the
best available learning opportunities. No nation has a higher degree of enthusiasm for education
than Korea, and nowhere are children more pressured to study. Evidence of major educational
accomplishments, such as degrees from prestigious colleges and universities, strongly influence
a person’s suitability for employment, marriage, and everyday interpersonal relations.

Conclusion
Education needs to be delivered inclusively, effectively and equitably across the country to
ensure that it is a driver of social cohesion and resilience. The government is making all efforts
to recuperating both the quality and the coverage of education through effective policy
interventions and expenditure allocations. Provincial governments will have to take all necessary
steps towards educational reforms and delivery of educational services at gross root level.

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