In Pakistan, the state of educational institutions is appalling. The education sector has been neglected in comparison to other pressing issues. It is amongst one of the most ignored and neglected areas of our nation.Some main reasons behind the failure of educational system to address issues like illiteracy, government allocation to educational budget, high dropout rate , less teachers in comparison to students, education is unaffordable as private schools are highly paid and the curriculum taught in the schools is outdated, the traditional methods have a downside, which doesn’t make it an optimum choice.
Pakistan is ranked at 125th spot out of 130 on the list of countries, according to World Economic Forum’s Global Human Capital Report 2017. The ranking is based on how well countries perform in the education and skills development and infrastructure. This clearly indicates that in terms of education, Pakistan is amongst the world’s worst performing countries.
The educational sector in Pakistan is facing numerous challenges ranging from illiteracy to low allocation of budget which has led to failure of successive governments. When we talk about illiteracy- Pakistan is considered to be the most illiterate country in the Asian region. Roughly 40% of population in Pakistan is illiterate. The traditional education system is unable to fulfill the needs of children leaving them deprived of this blessing. With 25 million children out of school, this is posing to be a serious threat for Pakistan. One main reason behind this is that education is not considered a priority. It has lead to devastating impacts on the Pakistani state as well as the society.
Additionally, according to UNESCO- Pakistan’s average spending on education from 1971 to 2017 as a percentage of GDP is 2.34%. It clearly indicates that the overall spending remains among the lowest in the region. One main reason is that the 18th Constitutional amendment has resulted in education as subject has been devolved to provinces, and federal government mainly finances higher education.
Consequently, schools are not enough to cater to the ever-increasing population of learners in Pakistan. According to IPRI the total number of institution in the education system consists of 260,903 which are assisting/ facilitating a total of 41,018,384 students. Whereas the total number of teachers involved in this process are 1,535,461. Moreover, these statistics highlight one of the main flaws in our system that there is a significant gap between the teachers and student ration. There is a significant rise in number of teachers but they are unable to cater to the student’s demands.
To sum it up, the curriculum taught in our educational institutes is outdated. It has no practical relevance from which the students can benefit after completion of studies. It doesn’t address the local needs of the Pakistani society at large. Moreover, the knowledge taught to our previous generations is being currently taught to our present generation as well. Cramming is the method adopted through which the students are forced to grasp scientific concepts rather than activity based learning. These methods are meaningless to the modern society.
Furthermore, the traditional schools are not enough to cater the needs of the growing learners of Pakistan. As the purpose of education is to polish the hidden capabilities and strengthen inner mind. It aims to enhance individual human life in every aspect. Moreover, in the traditional methods we observed that they couldn’t address problems faced by students as they lacked proper guidance and counseling. In a traditional setup we observed that students were lumped under a single roof with a single instructor. In addition, modern educational methods should be introduced which focus on cheaper and flexible study options. Additionally, online based courses offer flexible options in terms of choosing your own time to study rather than being forced. As traditional education is insanely expensive, online education gives cheaper options. Social interaction is not ignored online as the student and lecturer can communicate through online portals and video calling.
The traditional education system should be amended accordingly as it has many shortcomings. The challenges faced by it should be properly addressed at various platforms. As they are not enough to meet the increasing needs of students, new methods of modern education should be introduced that are more relevance to the age that we live in. The old system is damaging our educational sector. Steps should be taken to ensure the basic provision of education. As education is the instrument through which one can turn the population of any country from a burden to useful human resource. Moreover, we must devise innovative methods to resolve the current crisis.
