Time for a paradigm shift

Experts censure education system and those managing it 

Karachi: Why quality education remains a challenge for Pakistan? some of the renowned educationists sat together to find the answer at the Adab Festival and concluded that managers of our education system are floundering in dark.

Rumana Husain, an artist, educator and children’s writer, conducted the session. Shahnaz Wazir Ali, politician and educationist, termed the abysmal situation of education in Pakistan as a failure of the state and an utter violation of Article 25A of the constitution which clearly says, “the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children from the age of five to sixteen years.”

She said that it was indeed a matter of deep concern that despite clear directives of the constitution, only 1.8 per cent of the total budget has been set aside for free compulsory education. In other south Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and even Bangladesh, around 6 to 8 per cent of the budget is spent on education. “Isn’t it a matter of great shame?” she asked.

Shahnaz pointed out that no one could deny the failure of the government in implementing the Article 25A in letter and spirit as out of 47.5 million school-going children in Pakistan, 47 per cent – almost half – attend private schools, which could also be termed as a clear violation of children’s right given to them by the constitution.

Shanaz was of the view that the prevalent education system in Pakistan was at the heart of multiple challenges facing the country currently on many fronts like population explosion, social stigma, cultural taboos etc. “Being in constant grip of these challenges is symptomatic of the failure of the education system,” she added.

She said that situation in higher education was also not up to the mark as only 6 Pakistani universities were ranked in the top 1,000 varsities in the world. Unfortunately, Sindh was nowhere to be seen, she regretfully added.

Bela Raza, a public policy specialist and former technical adviser to the education ministry, was of the view that children only remember lessons that touch their hearts and soul, and the best way is to add music and rhythm to lessons. “For instance, I can still remember nursery rhymes of my childhood now almost 56 years ago,” she added.

Highlighting the need of introducing music in schools, she argues that music helps students expand their minds and increase their self-confidence. Music serves a greater purpose in our lives and by combining teaching and music, teachers can help students increase their memory, concentration as well as academic grades.

Taking part in the panel discussion, Sister Elizabeth Niamat, principal of St. Joseph’s College endorsed the idea of introducing music in schools, at least at the primary level. Supporting her views and referring to her childhood days she added, “We still remember Pahara (tables) like ‘do dooni char’ and so on, even at this age simply because it was taught to us during our childhood in rhyme and rhythm in the form of a music.”

Hassan Khan, an educationist and entrepreneur who runs several private schools said that for him it had always been quite a problem to find devoted and passionate teachers. Most of them who applied to become teachers were not conversant either with the subject they were offered or the method of teaching, he added.

The reason is that those who fail to get any job, as a last resort, apply for a teaching job, he added. Naturally with such disinterested and underqualified teachers in schools how can one expect quality education? Bad teachers waste a great deal of effort and spoil many lives which might have been full of energy and happiness.

Elaborating on his point, he said, “In this modern world, teaching is considered the most special and important field. It is the backbone of the education system of every country. Teachers are given specialised training to teach in a better and friendly way.”

Moreover, he pointed out that malpractices and corruption in the education Board had also been detected which was also a big problem. In a quest for good marks, some parents approach board authorities and bribe them to change the mark sheet of their children. “Parents get involved in such malpractices just to get their children to better colleges or universities,’’ he added.

He said, “We are teaching age-old syllabus to our students which is just a joke with the education system. How can we improve the education system in Pakistan with the old-age syllabus? We can’t compete with the modern world of education with this quality. We need to come up with fresh and latest knowledge which can be compared to the foreign updated syllabus to overcome the challenges of quality education in Pakistan.”

Dr Fouzia Khan, an eminent psychologist and educationist, taking part in the discussion said the quality of education would never improve unless we as a member of society strive for it. “I’ve seen protests and demonstrations against price hikes, power outages, gas shortage and other such problems, but I’ve never seen people on streets protesting against the abysmal quality of education,” she remarked.

She argues that the participation of the community as a whole to compel the government to take effective measures to appoint qualified teachers in schools to ensure quality education is an absolute must. “If we keep on watching what is happening in our schools as a silent spectator, we must not expect any positive change in the quality of our education. It may keep on worsening,” she remarked.

On the other hand, she argues that the teaching method has witnessed revolutionary changes all over the world, and unfortunately neither our curriculum nor teaching methods have changed accordingly. As such we are not in a position to cope with the emerging challenges and prepare our youth to meet the requirements of the modern day.

Being a psychologist, she also stressed the need for making the environment of schools healthy and pleasant. In this regard, she pointed out. “Mere attending class creates an atmosphere of boredom. As such every school must have facilities for both indoor and outdoor games, with a physical instructor, specially assigned to ensure healthy activities in the school, she emphasised.

Suggesting that the school assembly could be turned into a productive event she said, “Students have the chance to perform different activities like singing prayers and the national anthem, reading news headlines, reciting a thought or a story delivering a speech, etc. This way they can boost their confidence and overcome stage fear and develop speaking skills.”

Dr Shehzad Jeeva, director of the Aga Khan University Examination Board, taking part in the discussion said, “Soon after boarding the plane if we come to know that the pilot of the plane has no flying licence from the civil aviation authority, we all will refuse to go on that flight. Similarly, we will never go to quake for our medical treatment. But unfortunately, we send our children to schools despite knowing the fact that the teaching staff is incompetent. So there lies the problem”

It was indeed a thought-provoking session. The participants have rightly highlighted the flaws in our education system, which include redesigning the curriculum of public schools, measures to attract qualified teachers, healthy and pleasant environment in schools, ample facilities for extracurricular activities and most importantly active participation of every member of the community in ensuring the implementation of Article 25A in letter and spirit.

It cannot be emphasised enough that education is one sector that holds the key towards progress, and Pakistan should strive towards providing equally good education to all of its citizens. Ranging from the reform of organisational structure to teacher selection and training, the public education sector would have to overhaul itself to become efficient and to provide quality service to the public. There is a quote from Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah: “Education is a matter of life and death for Pakistan. The world is progressing so rapidly that without requisite advancements in education, not only shall we lag behind others but may be wiped out altogether.”

Unfortunately, we never highlight this in our social media. Unfortunately, there are no such messages, and still, there are several low or middle-class families in Pakistan who have no access to quality education due to the high tuition fees of private institutions.