BY DR. NUZHAT ARA

lotustrust@hotmail.com lotustrust@yahoo.com 

Education Education sector needs attention

 

History bears testimony to the fact that the progress and development of societies and nations were largely dependent on the quality and quantum of their human resources. The nations, which paid special attention to education, progressed and prospered. The living examples in the 21st century are countries like USA, Western Europe and Japan. Emerging from the ruins of the 2nd World War, Japan, whose resources were destroyed with nuclear bombs surprised the whole world. It made miraculous progress by giving special attention to education. Education, in fact, is a vehicle of social, economic and cultural change that shapes the destinies and earns for the nation’s glorious place in history.

Unfortunately, education sector in Pakistan has been ignored since the creation of the country. The scarce resources allocated to the education sector coupled with indifferent attitude of the ruling elite who preferred to send their children abroad for education complicated the issues and problems of the education sector in Pakistan.

It is a shame that the rate of literacy in Pakistan even after over 50 years of its independence, is so low. As we enter the 21st century, 49% of our adult population is literate (includes those who can just write their own names) which is one of the lowest in the world. The literacy rate differs in men and women ie 61.3% of men and 36.8% of women are literate.

As the world is becoming a global village and attention is being paid to pragmatic education and huge amounts are being spent to improve it, we are reducing budget allocation for education every year. This can cause havoc to country’s progress. If we glance at the budget percentage for education, it manifests the lowest priority attached to the education sector.

If we look at the percentage for education of the last decade, it reveals that we spent 2.22% of GDP in 1993-94. Instead of increase in the spending on education, we have rather decreased the budget allocation reducing it to only 2.06% in the year 2000-2001.

Our education budget is less than other countries of the South Asian region. It is distressing to note that even the meagre amount of resources for education is squandered away and allowed to be misused by the policy-makers and the implementation agencies.

As far as the education system is concerned, it is characterised by different problems. Pakistan is the only country where education is being imparted in three different mediums each contrary to the other as regards the ethos and culture of the society. The country has witnessed formulation of many education policies in the past 50 years but no serious effort has ever been made to provide education for all and without discrimination. Many developed and developing countries are now rejecting our degrees and employing their own standards to judge the IQ of Pakistani students ignoring their degrees. It is a general feeling that the syllabus prescribed by the Government for the students in Government Educational Institutions is not only outdated but also impairs the ingenuity and development of child’s brain. It does not produce curious readers but rote learners. It does not cope with the international standards. This inefficient system gives birth to poor teaching force. Many teachers in government schools come into this field by chance or they have no better option except to join this field. Owing to this fact, they have no grip on the subjects, they teach. As a result the teacher cannot command requisite respect from the students. Along with other uncompromising social attitudes, a teacher (builder of nation), is also trapped in the vicious economic circle. These unfavourable circumstances alternately give birth to non-professional behaviour and perpetuation of tuition and booty Mafia. As far as the policy-making is concerned, it reflects a gloomy picture. Successive governments in the past did nothing but made good for nothing promises. They announced policies that were impressive on paper only but actually were a piece of rhetoric. The policy-makers themselves were such people who did not know what they were talking or writing about. I shall share an incident with my readers that may help expose the true state of affairs of our learned policy-makers. When Bernard Shaw died, an Education Minister in Pakistan was delivering a speech on general knowledge to the students. When someone passed him a note asking him to say a few words on the life and work of Bernard Shaw, the worthy Minister said, “ I am sorry to say that pillar of Islam has expired leaving a space behind him, a great loss for Muslim World. Shaw (Shah Sahib) is no more with us”.

Keeping in mind the gravity of the issue it is high time that the people of Pakistan impress upon their policy-makers to rise to the occasion and implement far-reaching reforms in the education sector. Increase in the budget for education is the need of the hour. Good governance, simplification of procedure for the expenditure and drawing of the funds and adequate check and balance system to restrict corruption should be adopted. Education for all and restructuring of education system and abolition of gender discrimination should be carried out. Improvement in the status of teaching community both in social and economic aspect may be effected so that it might become the most prestigious sector of our society. Such training programmes should be launched that can bring about qualitative change in a teacher’s knowledge, skills and attitude.—The writer is a student of Rural Sociology in University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.