Issues in education system
Maryam Riaz
Education lays the foundation for political, social and economic development of a country and a viable education system enables any nation to achieve its goals easily. In this context, if we talk about Pakistan, we would know that being a developing country it has faced a number of critical problems regarding education since its inception and therefore, its education system has failed to deliver according to the expectations and aspirations of the nation. It means that the educational system is deteriorating in Pakistan day by day.
There are multiple factors responsible for this situation. The problems that are deep-rooted in the education system of Pakistan are; less budget allocation, memorization, defective policies, non-implementation of policies, lack of practical work in schools and colleges, disoriented educational policies, directionless priorities, lack of political will and an outdated curriculum and all this make Pakistan with a non-uniform educational system.
Here, it is pertinent to note that there are different systems of education, functioning simultaneously in the country, including public, private, and deeni madaris (religious seminaries) and they all are contrary to one another. This has paved the way for polarization and creating wide gaps among the people. So, it should be clearly remembered that a divided nation cannot lead to marked progress and development.
Well, our education system has hit the rock bottom as almost 40-50 percent students of primary schools can neither read nor write a sentence in Urdu or English. It means that most of the schools, both private and public, are being fast turning into junk factories only. Therefore, students must not be graded by how much they memorized but how well they are capacitated to use their learning to solve problems. However, in Pakistan, the situation is worst. Rote learning, low enrollment rates at primary level, dearth of trained teachers, outdated syllabus and poor planning are the major issues of the day.
It should be remembered that education develops people in all domains of life such as social, moral, spiritual, political and economic. It is a dynamic force that enables any nation to achieve its national objectives, while it is an established fact that countries who have developed a sound educational system have a better social and political system. With effective and vibrant educational systems, many countries are playing a leading role in the world. They are enjoying their liberties and politically and economically are free, developed and prosperous.
However, the education system in Pakistan has not been able to play its due role effectively in nation building. This factor has contributed towards the cause of frustration in society. As a result, the young generation is directionless, whereas the deteriorated educational system is producing just degree holders, instead of graduates having the qualities of high critical thinking, analysis, research and creativity.
To conclude the discussion, our education system instead of high standards and goals is just focusing on feeding the students with outdated information and knowledge which is less relevant to the current fast changing world and graduates coming out of our educational institutions are theoretically strong but they do not have any skills to apply whatever they learn from their institutions. Therefore, there is a dire need for reforming the education system of Pakistan on emergency basis.
The writer is an academic and researcher, based in Faisalabad. She has done M.Phil in Inorganic Chemistry from the Government College University Faisalabad. She may be contacted at: marry3725@gmail.com.
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