There are a number of theories about education and methods of educating children. The Islamic method is one of the oldest ones but the British system introduced in the sub continent was to produce a class of literate men who could work under British officers but must not outrun them. It was imparted in a way that was fit for office work but those who entered govt. service as teachers were given training in special institutions as how to teach students in a classroom atmosphere. Then they were to appear in the exam. And the successful ones were given positions on the basis of their scoring.
The NTS idea or version of selection for teachers of the PTI government is based only on objective/ multiple choice questions for which there are scores of books with solutions and the student has no time for wide scale study but to read multiple choice questions and their answers from one or two books. This approach does not meet the basic objective of education which is based on 4 skills- reading, writing, listening and speaking. The NTS candidates do not pass through this process. The four skills have no role in this type of selection of the best candidates. The highest scorer of NTS lacks many of the four skills. His writing skill, speaking skill or listening skill is not shown or elicited and thus a good number of NTS winners cannot write a paragraph in correct sentences with correct spellings. The 100 marks allocated for this purpose must be divided and 50 marks each; 50 marks should be for multiple choice questions and 50 marks be given to essay writing and comprehension so that the really able candidate should stand prominent. This writing must be in English, Urdu, Arabic etc. as the case may be. It will surely take longer time but will be a true merit based examination for recruitment as writing skill has to be prominent and requires in all kind of government jobs. The present NTS approach is a hoax and there have been incidents of malpractices in tests and ,therefore, the credibility of all such tests remain doubtful and the required skills are not visible.
Prof. Rahmat Karim Baig
Chitral
