Our Education system must assume some of the Responsibilities for our National Failure
Pakistan was created in the name of Islam under the outstanding leadership of Jinnah. The Quran has placed great emphasize on education. As Jinnah has also envisioned the importance of education for the survival of naïve state, “education is a matter of life or death for Pakistan. World is progressing so rapidly that if we couldn’t acquire required standard in education we will not only lack behind but also we wiped out altogether”. Undoubtedly, education is sine qua non to uplift society in all dimensions. It has greater role in economic growth as well as in nation building.
With little doubt, Finnish’s education system has ranked as the best model of education, its human development and prosperity is squarely hinges on its education system. Unfortunately, despite high and repeated rhetoric, education system of Pakistan is facing challenges in these fields. Unluckily, our education system has riddled with multifaceted problems, especially crumbling infrastructure, narration sickness, alarming drop outs as well as digital divide. Yet, all these malaises are manifestation our national failure. Is our national failure is due to fragile state of education? Yes, our national failure is succumb to our weak education system. Although our education system lies at the heart of many challenges, this crippled education system will deliver if the government get ridd- off narration sickness, weak infrastructure, and high rate of drop outs and developed single national curriculum (SNC).
To begin with, Pakistan is developing with burgeoning population, it requires conducive environment to exploit such demographic dividends. Peace and harmony besides political stability no doubt will heightened the prospects of human development and prosperity. Vital to such turnaround is well educated population. Indeed, skilled and well educated population will reinforce economic revitalization. In 1960s the pioneering work of Schultz and Becker working on the concept of investment in human capital proved that a high level of education is pivotal to economic growth and no country can make significant economic progress if majority of its citizen are illiterate. The high growth of economic progress and national strength of South East Asian countries is largely attributed to its excellent system of education system.
Although Pakistan education policy has topsy- turvy history, the nationalization, Islamization along with commercialization of education policy have downplayed the importance of the education system in the country. As the Islamic fundamentalism and extremist driven mindset of society has hurled the holistic fabric of society into abyss, it’s functioned ceased to eschew tolerance and pluralistic tendency in such a heterogeneous population. Indeed, this chaotic transition of education policy in the country weakened the roots of education in Pakistan which leds to inadequate efforts for nation building.
As an ethnic nation state, Pakistan is facing roadblocks to national integration and social cohesion since long time, due to the dichotomy of our national education system. Indeed, Pakistan education sector is anomalous in that it has three parallel and largely unconnected systems of education operating simultaneously .This system therefore, end up producing three distinct cohorts from within the Pakistani youth, each quite cut off from the other. The Elite school system, public school system along with traditional Madrasah have laid down three discordant approach in nation building. Such means of education is posing serious threat to national integration, inducing incompatible life style and economic well-off among the three cadre.
The Madrasah graduates have hardly economic opportunities rather than only volunteer Imman or Madrasah teachers. On the other hand, the Elite school graduates have hardly any difficulties while acquiring white-collar jobs. Because they groomed in such a way which they easily compete in competition rather than public or Madrasah graduates. This system of education did cease to harbor economic and social equality in such diverse population. This division has potent force behind discrimination, besides conflict which is fuelling extremism and intolerance inside the country. Hence double standard education has derailed nation building since long time, injecting incoherent and an abhorrent set of ethos within a society.
Despite the exhortation of Quran and the Quid along with quintessence of international experience, Pakistani’s planners continued to allocate insufficient resources for education. It has sidelined the reformation of education in post-colonial Pakistan. The scarcity of resources and budget constraint have deprived development of basic amenities in educational institutions. Yet, the menace of ghost schools, proper sanitation system along with dilapidated road system have remained bottleneck in attainment of high literacy rate in the country. As budget constraint and leadership ineptitude are bulwark, which deprived moderation of an obsolete infrastructure.
Unluckily, the alarming drop out despite the passage of 18th amendment has hardly transcend the ratio of attendance in schools. The addition of an article 25 A did not uplift the right to educated a child range from 6 to 16 years of age. Although school closure and logistic issue has downturned affects during pandemic, it will result nearly one million school dropout in Pakistan according to World Bank report. This alarming rate of dropt out in school is causing unseen ambience in the society. As research has revealed that the high primary school dropout is challenging law and order situation, it is fuelling internal discord and conflict.
Moreover covid 19 has created high uncertainty about the governance and technological advancement in developing countries, especially the digital divide has become Gordian knot to streamline education activities in such a chaotic state of affairs. This digital divide in and after pandemic will directly accentuate the menace of high school dropout. Thus this pandemic has exacerbate the problems in the way of national development due to lack of modern approach.
However, the pandemic has revealed new opportunities and challenges which it demands new approach and research to normalize activities in post pandemic eras. Although, it convinced us to transform our education set up, our education system as well as models of pedagogy is retarded and incompatible with changing pace of modern requirements. Indeed, our contemporary education has a narrative character….. It suffers from narration sickness. Though it lacks creative and out of box thinking attitudes, leads the student to memories mechanically the narrated content. In this style of ‘banking’ education there is a focus on memory, repetition, rote learning.
The objective is to turn men into automatons. ‘The educated man is the adapted man, because he is “more fit” for the world’. For this reason, banking methods cannot be used for the purposes of liberation because its objective is to change the consciousness of the oppressed so they adapt to the situation of oppression. So only narration of pre-determined concept by rote learning will cease the problems solving skill and aptitudes. So our curricula has driven by narrative content is incongruent to modern mode of thinking based on creativity and research which is posing hurdles to produce high caliber citizens to uplift community from nation crises.
As we are on the threshold of a new millennium, we must turn toward the high road of education, knowledge, learning science, and technology. We are living in an age revolution through knowledge. No doubt, the rise and fall of great powers greatly count on theirs education system. As a nation we should emulate such developing countries which revitalized their education sector, they have had acquired the zenith of human prosperity and dignity by reforming their education set up. Even though our education has checkered history, it requires political will and commitment to reform such unfulfilled direction.
To revamp up such tumultuous system of education, it’s pivotal to streamline mechanism to worn off different modes of education system in our country for developing strong nation. Indeed, Single national curriculum (SNC) will laid bare while synthesizing the various modes of education as uniform education. Though SNC classless education system is not less than cementing foundation behind national integration and harmony, along with it requires what every modern education system needs, for instance, school infrastructure, a proper student assessment system and examination system, trained teachers who can teach designed syllabus and good text book. Resultantly, this will uphold the requisite ingredients for national integrations.
However, such ways led to think and triggers knowledge which led to innovation besides creativity to think out of the box mindset to resolve contemporary problems. As our education system is alien to such concepts, so rote memorization should be discourages, instead other educational philosophies should be executed like comprehension, reasoning and problem solving skills.
Nevertheless, if school is a knowledge economy, Pakistan is a student then Pakistan will get a failing grade. Even though the South East Nations has emboldened their knowledge economy, lack of political will along with commitment gap derailed the transformation of Pakistani education system. Yet, it requires to allocate huge budgetary allocations to reframe the system of education, to meet the minimum UN benchmark of 4pc of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).Without such trajection, we would hardly transcend into stable and prosperous nation.
So in general, Education is the vanguard of peace and harmony within a society.it will be a historic movement if we could install the spirit of knowledge and education in our citizens. For nation building it is hardly possible to decouple education from holistic development of its citizens. Through education we will able to compete in the pace of development among the comities of nations, otherwise we will be cease to exist as an independent and sovereign country. For such a monumental transitions it requires to ascertain the reformist approach to reframe an obsolete mode of education system. Vital to such development is political will and sincerity to project education as a strategic need of our time rather than other thing else.
Shafiqravian@gmail.com
