The education system includes all institutions involved in delivering formal education and their faculties, students, physical infrastructure, resources, and rules Pakistan’s education system consists of 260,903 schools, and supports 41,018,384 students with the assistance of 1,535,461 teachers. The system consists of 180,846 public institutions and 80,057 private ones. Thus 31% of educational institutions are owned by the private sector while 69% are public institutions.

In Pakistan, education’s crucial role has been ignored, leading to low growth in all life spheres. Education has been treated like a stepchild. Since the establishment of Pakistan, the lowest budget has been given to the education system, which has weakened education quality. Consequently, the education system has failed to lift the nation economically, politically and socially. Following the lapse of half a century and the introduction of over 25 educational policies, the education system has still failed to remove the nation from the rising economic, political, and social quagmire.

Pakistan’s education system does not base itself on universal standards. Different education systems operate at the same time in the country. Also, the curriculum is not uninformed, which gave birth to numerous schools of thought. For example, there is much difference between students’ attitudes from the public educational institutions, Deeni Madaris and the few private elite institutes. This process has speeded up the rate of polarization within society.

There is a lack of cohesion in the system, and it is more prone to general education, which does not bring any skilled workforce to the market. Resulting, there is increasing unemployment. This situation may promote a sense of deprivation among the masses. Cultural and political instability in society occurs because of this. Furthermore, there is a lack of scientific and technical educational resources. The students’ development of thought, reasoning, and imagination is not refined in this way.

The examination is the evaluation of student’s learning. Pakistan’s assessment system is not only obsolete, but it does not have the consistency to assess learner results thoroughly. Pakistan’s exam system checks student memory only. Besides, the tests are affected by external and internal powers that have facilitated unethical activities such as unequal means. Consequently, the examination system encourages rote learning and cramming, which negates the role of the learners’ high intellectual capacity in the field of education, such as logical thought, observation, analytical skills, etc.

Educational services like books, libraries, and physical facilities are essential for the educational process’s smooth running. There are practically no books, libraries, and reading materials in almost all country’s educational institutions. Also, there are overcrowded classrooms, insufficient teachers and unequipped labs. This entire grim situation has resulted in despair and a low standard education system.

Since the inception of Pakistan, several education policies were created. We have had much political will on the part of the successive government to execute the procedures vigorously. The proposals were too optimistic, but they could not be enforced in an actual letter and spirit. Corruption, shortage of funds, and gross inconsistency when preparing various Pakistan political regimes have been an issue. Also, the teachers were overlooked in the overall policy formulation. They are known as an unimportant element that has led to the alienation between the teachers and the education system.

Finance is regarded to be the engine of any framework. Pakistan’s education system has been hampered primarily due to insufficient resources. According to the International Crisis Group, Pakistan is among the 12 countries that spent less than 2 percent of its GDP on the education sector. With this insufficient budgetary allocation, the government will hardly meet the universalization targets of primary education as a signatory to the Dakar Conference’s MDG goals by 2015 and onward.

Corruption is the major contributing factor among other factors that have profoundly affected Pakistan’s education system. There is a poor system of checks and balances and transparency, which has allowed many criminal elements to misappropriate funds, unlawfully use authority and offer undue favors in allocating funds, transfers, promotions, and decision-making. According to Transparency International, Pakistan is included in the list of the world’s most corrupt countries. Due to low salaries, teachers searching for decent living standards and keeping their bodies and souls together attempt to unfairly examine matters relating to certificates, degrees, etc.

Pakistan’s education system has struggled to play its role effectively in nation-building. This factor has contributed to discontent emerging in Pakistani society. Pakistan’s future generation is directionless due to the flawed education system, which has drastically failed to raise the nation on sound economic, social, political and moral grounds. The directionless education system is producing forces of degree holders who are deficient in high-order live skills such as reflection, critical thinking, analysis, research, and creativity. Instead, the education system has focused on feeding individuals with outdated information and knowledge, which is less relevant to the current fast-changing world. Students coming out of the Pakistani education system are theoretically sound, but they have no skills to apply what they learn from their institutions due to the conventional teaching methods.

 

Tanveer Hussain, Punjab University
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