Education System of Pakistan

by Sidiq Pyara
1. Introduction
2. Education system of Pakistan
3. Problems:
a. Two education system (Religious vs Modern)
b. Different curriculum (Cambridge, Private & National)
c. Multi Medium (English, Urdu, Sindhi, etc.)
d. Educational Institute – A Private business
e. Lack of professional staff and their training
f. Very low budgetary allocation
g. Outdated curriculum
h. Gender gap
i. Corruption
4. Recommendations
5. Conclusion
“Education is a matter of life and death for Pakistan. The world is progressing so rapidly that
without requisite advance in education, not only shall we lag behind others but may be wiped out
altogether.” (M.A Jinnah)
Education is the road to national development. It creates sense of responsibility among the
people. On the basis of education people not only realize their duties but also know how to achieve
their national, societal and individual rights. One of the goals of education is to enable the people
by enhancing their general consciousness regarding their national and international position as
global citizens. This realization creates an atmosphere of trust and cooperation in the society. It
develops people in all domains of life such as social, moral, spiritual, political and economic. It is
an established fact that countries that have developed a sound system of education have a sound
social and political system. With effective educational systems many countries are playing a
leadership role in the comity of nations. They are enjoying their liberties and also are politically
and economically free and developed.
The education system of Pakistan has not been able to play its role effectively in nation
building. This factor has contributed towards development of frustration among the Pakistani
society. The future generation of Pakistan is directionless due to defective education system which
has drastically failed to raise the nation on sound economic, social, political and moral grounds.
The directionless system of education is producing forces of degree holders who are deficient in
high order live skills such as reflection, critical thinking, analysis, research and creativity. The
education system instead has focused on feeding the individuals with outdated information and
knowledge which is less relevant to the current fast changing world. Students coming out of the
Pakistani education system are theoretically sound but have no skills to apply whatever they learn
from their institutions due to the traditional methods of teaching and learning. Today Pakistan is
faced with many problems such as poverty, insecurity, sectarianism and terrorism. The reasons for
these problems are lack of tolerance, lack of general awareness and illiteracy promoted by an
ineffective education system.
Basically, there are two systems of education prevalent in Pakistan: the traditional religion-
based education system and the modern formal education system begun under British colonial rule
and continued after the country's independence. Madrassah’s all over the Pakistan provide free
religious education including Nazra, Hifz, Dars-e-Nizami, Daura-e-Hadees, Mufti course, etc. This
dualism in education has given birth to different schools of thoughts. For example, there is a world
of difference between the attitudes of students coming out from the public educational institutions,
Deeni Madaris and the few private elite institutions. This trend has accelerated the pace of
polarization in the society. This system has created a huge gap among the nation and even has
deeply penetrated into the cultural veins of the nation. The recent wave of terrorism and the
increasing sectarian division are the logical consequences of this divided system of education. As a
result of this current polarized system of education there has occurred a great social division in the
society on political, social and economic grounds rather than unity among the people.
Different curriculums in education system are big challenge for education system in Pakistan.
There is division on financial basis; elite class prefers Cambridge curriculum, and rich class prefer
private English medium. The rest of them (medium or poor class) chooses public educational
institutes for their children. This multi curricula education is creating a different mind of set.
Each province prefers its native language. It further deepens the differences and consequent to
inter-provincial disharmony. Pakistan failed to apply Urdu as a national language in education
system. Our education system was already divided between Urdu and English medium but, the
introduction of native language in each province like Sindhi, Pashtu, etc. increased it to such an
extent that it seems impossible to generate a single nation.
Education is considered as a profitable business in Pakistan. Day by day, new institutes are
opening not to provide quality education but to benefit from the lack of schools by govt. and earn a
huge amount by charging very high fees. The perceptions of the students and their parents are not
much different as well. They are taught to study and pass exams to get a degree and then offered a
job to earn money. They have no vision to contribute to society or country through education. It
becomes a business. Parents invest in children to get Return of Invest later.
Faculty of education (teachers) has pivotal role in education system. Training is essential for
quality performance. Teaching is a challenging job. There is lack of training opportunities for
teachers in Pakistan. Teaching has become the job of last resort in Pakistan. An individual failed to
acquire a position in all other departments of Pakistan, gets an elementary or higher school teacher
job. There are no proper training standards in the available training institutes around the country.
Most of the training institutes have been closed down due to lack of funds. The courses being run
in the teacher education intuitions are outdated and very traditional which does not enhance the
skills, motivation and quality of teachers.
Finance is considered the engine of any system. The education system of Pakistan has been
crippled mainly due to scarce finance. Current budgetary allocation for education is not sufficient
for the growing educational needs of the nation in the present changing times. Education resources
such as books, libraries and physical facilities are important for smooth running of educational
process. There are despairingly no facilities of books, libraries and reading materials in all
educational institutions of the country.
Curriculum is the tool through which the goals of education are achieved. The curriculum of
education in Pakistan does not meet the demands of the current times. It is an old and traditional
curriculum which compels the learners to memorize certain facts and figures without taking into
consideration the reality that education is the holistic development of an individual. It places much
emphasis on the psychology of the learner as well which cannot be negated in the process of
teaching and learning. The objectives of education must develop the psychological, philosophical
and sociological foundations of education. The present educational curriculum of Pakistan does
not meet these modern standards of education and research. Hence this curriculum is not
promoting the interest of the learner for practical work, research, scientific knowledge and
reflective observation, rather, it emphasizes on memory and theory.
A major problem in education in Pakistan has been the low rate of female participation and the
substantial disparity between males and females in educational achievement. In order to
understand the low numbers in education and employment for women, one must understand that
gender status in Pakistan, as in some other Muslim societies, is based on two assumptions: that
women are subordinate to men and that a family's honor depends on the activities of female
members of the family. Therefore, such societies believe that women's mobility should be severely
restricted by encouraging them not to go outside the home. Even for those who manage to obtain
higher education, the colleges and universities are segregated by gender. In general, people
consider a woman—and her family—to be "shameless" if no restrictions are placed on her
mobility.
Among other causes, corruption is the main contributing factor which has deeply affected the
education system of Pakistan. There is a weak system of checks and balances and accountability
which has encouraged many criminal elements to misappropriate funds, use of authority illegally
and giving unnecessary favors in allocation of funds, transfers, promotions and decision making.
Due to low salaries, teachers in search of decent life standards and to keep their body and soul
together attempt to unfair means in the examination and matters relating to certificates, degrees
and so on.
I would like to suggest some suggestions to improve the educational system of Pakistan: There
should be sufficient budgetary allocation for education in the national GDP. This will provide the
system with resources to take fresh breath of life. The existing system of teacher education
institutions must be provided with funds qualified human resources to run programs of training for
teachers on periodical basis. The system of accountability must be strengthened and all the
professionals associated with the system of education should be educated to own their
responsibilities on individual and collective basis. A vast survey could be conducted to seek
opinions of teachers, parents and community regarding their expectations and observations. There
should be as less political interference as possible. Polices should be implemented without any
delay of time and resources. Examination system should be made free form the mafia of unfair
means. The culture of research should be promoted within educational institutions. Government
should increase the volume of funding to higher education commission for this purpose. Similarly,
vocational and technical training should be paid attention to make skilled youth as an asset of
Pakistan. At least 8-10% of GDP must be allocated for education sector.
Education is the key to the development and advancement of any nation. Pakistan needs highly
knowledgeable and skilled professionals equipped with innovative abilities to gain a respectable in
the comity of nations. Pakistan is passing through the turbulent phase in terms of social, economic
and political turmoil. It stands at the crossroads and the only way forward is the promotion of
education. Time is ripe, effective and implementable strategies must be formulated to come out of
these crises. The reforms in the education system of Pakistan cannot be brought by government
alone. But, every citizen of Pakistan is responsible to help the government in the improvement of
the education system.

by Sidiq Pyara