attling with a full plate of issues like energy crisis, poverty, corruption and international debts since the past 15 months, the PTI government is slowly inching forwards to set the course of the country right.One of the few positive initiatives that the government has taken is its continued focus on information technology and its promotion, the key step being the Digital Pakistan program. The initiative includes plans to build digital cities in the country, launch of mobile applications for various federal institutions, an online complain cell for public complaints, as well encouraging global Fintech leaders like PayPal and Amazon to start operations in Pakistan.According to a recent survey done by CNBC, Pakistan is among the top 10 countries in the world that have skilled labor for emerging global IT outsourcing needs. The country’s current IT exports are around $800 million to $1 billion, but per the prime minister’s vision,
Think tanks are fast becoming the go-to resource for paving to the way towards a career in research. Syeda Ailiya tells us what think tanks are all about and how you can be part of one.
n his book The Fifth Estate: Think Tanks, Public Policy and Governance, James G McGann aptly defines think tanks as “public policy research, analysis, and engagement institutions that generate policy-oriented research, analysis, and advice on domestic and international issues that enable policymakers and the public to make informed decisions about public policy issues. Think tanks may be affiliated with a political party, a university, or a government; they are independent institutions that are structured as permanent bodies, not ad hoc commissions.” While this definition might seem broad, it is more important to understand the role of think tanks in bridging the divide between academics and policymakers by acting as a medium through which research can be applied to policymaking for the greater good of the public. In Pakistan, a limited understanding of a profession in social science subjects has resulted in a lack of students willing to study them in higher education. A lack of information on the scope, career pathway and job opportunities in these particular fields have further added to the discouragement amongst pupils in pursuing these subjects. It is essential to apprise the upcoming generation of social scientists in the country regarding adopting research as a profession.According to the University of Pennsylvania’s 2018 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, there are a total of 25 think tanks in Pakistan. There has been a gradual increase in the number, many of which are still not part of the list. Majority of these policy institutes are located in Islamabad.
The new year often brings in new hope and renewed resolve to set one’ own house in order. But the motivation is often fleeting. Mahrukh Nadeem writes how you can stay focused on your goals in 2020 and be in a better position to finally get the goals you have been failing to achieve for the past many years.
hat is your resolution for 2020? Have you set any goals for the New Year? Maybe you have skipped the thought of goal setting as you have never been able to accomplish them? We all have been into this making and breaking of New Year resolutions, haven’t we? As soon as the New Year approaches, we all look back analyzing our past year, looking at our achievements, our failures, our habits and our routines. After scrutinizing our past year thoroughly, we usually pen down, or draft mentally, the new habits we want to adopt, changes we want to instill in our lives, making note of all the resolutions we want to stick to in the upcoming year by making a new start. We all want best for ourselves, and the New Year is an opportunity to start fresh with more enthusiasm and motivation.But what really happens to all of us is that this zeal and zest fades away quite quickly and we fall out of our newly acquired habits, start neglecting our goals and are unable to keep up with our resolutions. But why is it so hard to stick to our resolutions? Why can’t we keep account of our new habits? And what are the ways that can help us in understanding our behavior towards our goals and resolutions.
In this age of forced competition, parental pressure to start getting kids ‘educated’ begins much before the child can take the first step. That is really, very wrong, writes Sameera Hashim.
few years ago, I was approached by a friend. She asked, “How old is your son now? 20 months? Does he know his colours, animals and modes of transport yet?”I thought she was kidding, but unfortunately she was absolutely serious.The race to win the educational grand prix is real and toddlers are the chariots of choice. Parents nowadays have become obsessed with making, or rather forcing, children learn as early as possible. As a mother, I have been a front row spectator to this insatiable sport for the past seven years and I can assure you, with all my zeal, that I am NOT a fan.
With Higher Education Commission of Pakistan being the apex regulatory body of educational institutions in Pakistan, it often finds itself at the receiving end of almost all criticism aimed at the state of higher education in Pakistan. But is it the only culprit? Dr Sameen Motahhir explains why it isn’t.
he HEC has always been considered as a regulatory body for higher educational institutes in Pakistan, so if there are problems in higher education institutes or those that are affiliated with higher education- then the HEC must be at fault. Possibly.The problems that Dr Bari outlined in his article (Dawn, 19-4-19) suggests that PhD holders in Pakistan are essentially products of a failed higher educational system that was not thought through and, in the rush to create comparable institutes and partake in a global educational race, the HEC feverishly doled out PhD scholarships and encouraged PhD programs at local universities. So, it would seem that the HEC is at fault. Possibly.Instead of instinctively blaming the HEC and budget cuts, the question that warrants investigation requires a closer look at how and what is being questioned. Are we questioning the educational system in Pakistan, the creation and mandate given to the HEC, the mismanaged educational budget that has dwindled or the insipid motivational and moral attitude towards educational currency?
The climate of complacency with declining standards in the higher educational institutions is really the result of a torrent of prolific questions with little or no attempt in providing answers. Such as questions as to why well-established universities in Pakistan, that have been around for 30+ years and that boast foreign highly qualified PhD faculty, have still not been able to break into the Times Higher Educational Index (THE) at even 500 or with all the incredible talented foreign faculty and teaching staff at universities, why is it that our universities cannot attract international students?
Cues From The West
In order to look for a solution, a very brief study at the top 50 ranked higher educational institutes (THE), reveals that they are primarily in the US, UK and Australia and that all are not only nations of native-English speakers but that their educational institutes are magnets for international students from developing countries giving them billion-dollar revenues (Australia – $32 Billion in 2018 and the US- $39 Billion in 2019). Even though in many of these countries, especially the US, the budget for fighting wars is significantly higher than its budget for fighting illiteracy or developing research, yet these countries are known for churning out PhDs. How does this information help us find a solution to Pakistan’s educational fiasco? It seems that the solution may not rest on the increase or decrease of the educational budget, or the HECs draconian and unrealistic expectations but it might just come down to the way that higher educational institutions in Pakistan view the notion of researching and more importantly ‘teaching’.
Instead of instinctively blaming the HEC and budget cuts, the question that warrants investigation requires a closer look at how and what is being questioned. Are we questioning the educational system in Pakistan, the creation and mandate given to the HEC, the mismanaged educational budget that has dwindled or the insipid motivational and moral attitude towards educational currency?
While teaching English at Melbourne University’s Trinity College, I recall teaching students whose first question was – why. There was never a question on what the course content was, where the class would be or even how I was going to teach and develop the course during the year. The only question was – why. This is the typical behavior that ignites an out-of-the-box answer to what can only be safely assumed is an out-of-the-box question. The truth is that it was not the content that I relayed but the fact that I was happy to relate that made all the difference.
Teach It Right
In essence, teaching requires communication between student and teacher/lecturer/professor- which means that teaching is not only about being able to speak in the language/lingo that you need the student to learn, in this case it was English, but also the behavior you need to have when teaching.So, in reality, it is not only what you teach but how you teach it that needs to be addressed. In conversations with highly qualified faculty members all one hears are complaints about the poor quality of English academic writing skills, student behavior, and then the solution by some to “teach only the few that they think deserve to be taught”. This is certainly not the fault of budget cuts, the HEC, the administration, or even the students- this is the fault of not knowing the value of teaching. Jobless PhDs, unemployed IT professionals or engineers are either taught by bad teachers or are bad teachers themselves. This self-perpetuating cycle of incompetency has to be rectified immediately if the decline of educational standards in Pakistan is to be seriously addressed.
Jobless PhDs, unemployed IT professionals or engineers are either taught by bad teachers or are bad teachers themselves. This self-perpetuating cycle of incompetency has to be rectified immediately if the decline of educational standards in Pakistan is to be seriously addressed.
It all comes down to a solution that is simple and yet so complicated. The HEC needs to train teachers to teach with the intent to instigate, encourage and motivate their students. The belief that anything and everything is possible is vital if students are to begin visualizing creative solutions and adopting innovative strategies to solve problems.The first step would be to train English language teachers to teach English so that students have access to and comprehend ideas in a language that has become a lingua franca.
This language platform would help students reach out and learn not only from within the classroom but outside. English would cease to become a language- instead it would be seen as a communicative medium that had the power and potential to permeate all disciplines.English Labs, like EL3 (English Language Learning Lab) launched at Information Technology University, are just the beginning of this nascent revolutionary strategy and what the country needs is many more labs that research, educate, innovate and create course content and teaching strategies that help students not only in English language acquisition but ‘learning acquisition’.
Dr Sameen Motahhir is an Australian Pakistani who taught English at Trinity College at the University of Melbourne and is currently an Assistant Professor at Information Technology University in Lahore and the Director of EL3 (English Language Learning Lab) at ITU.
eenagers from China’s wealthiest regions have outdone students in some of the richest countries of the world in an annual international test taken for reading, math and science. The results show that most 15-year-old Chinese students aced the test in all three categories, achieving the maximum highest level 4 rating. Majority of the students belonged to Beijing, Shanghai, and the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.The findings were reported following the results of the 2018 Program International Student Assessment (PISA), an international standardized testing that gauges the efficacy of education systems around the world. The test is conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a body of the world’s richest economies.Chinese students’ rise to the top meant that the previous test’s leader, Singapore, was pushed to the second spot. For years, Singapore’s education system has been ranked as one of best in the world, with its students regularly featured at the top of various global educational tests. However, the study said that the difference in Singapore’s scores compared to the four Chinese regions was not “statistically significantly different”.Students in the US were ranked at level 3 for reading and science, and level 2 for math. British teens achieved a level 3 ranking in all three categories.
Be it the terrorist attack on a mosque in New Zealand or the skirmish between Pakistan and India, events like these capture the attention of the world. In a much larger canvas, the event and what follows become a case study contributing to the academic field of International Relations. Aisha Saeed discusses how the field of IR is as relevant as it ever was.
ne wonders how or why countries voice their concerns over a problem that may soon become global in its context. States function on different policies and laws. Some of these laws are for internal functioning of the state; others are of the external dealings that the states have to maintain in order to become an effective member of the international community. Be it President Trump’s tweets, or the recent Pakistan-India standoff, we are being pointed at one particular subject that offers extensive understanding of these matters in a time where we might be confused as to what is going on in the world. Since globalization has blurred the lines of isolation between states, state interactions have become common and no country can exist by isolating itself from the rest of the world. The interaction of nations or states and their dealings with the rest of the states around the world have become a discipline in its own right. The phenomena of globalization was so rapid that it influenced everything and everyone; from culture to people to states.
Any action taken by a certain actor in the international community will make some “cause and effect” impact on the other states, linked to it by any means. So, with changing milieus of the international community of the states, Political Science as subject has expanded into many roots, producing disciplines like international law, foreign policy and most importantly international relations. It definitely sounds intriguing but only few take up this subject at the graduate level, but back in the day, International Relations was the preferred subject of the elites and those who aspired to join the civil or foreign services. Like any other field that makes a wave among students and universities, International Relations has had its time as well. Post-Cold war, the subject might have seen its sheen diminished, but it remains relevant as ever in this day and age as well.
Back in the day, International Relations was the preferred subject of the elites and those who aspired to join the civil or foreign services
Some study it as a single introductory course, others pursue it as degree. As we are fed news 24/7, a major portion of which is dominated by political news from around the world, knowledge in the discipline of International Relations matters more than what many assume. Affairs of the world are perhaps more fluid than ever before. The theory of International Relations is a reflection of how states and the overreaching international system operates. Hence, those equipped with a degree in the subject are better able to apprehend and analyze policies and their impact at the individual, state or the systematic level.
The Future At Stake
In an interesting perspective published in The Independent, authors Mike Sheehan and Helen Brocklehurst logically argued the need for better understanding of International relations as the future of the world depended upon it. “It was said a few years ago that if the human race is wiped out in the next 50 years it will not be because of disease or an asteroid hitting the earth, but because of foreign policy and international relations. In a world where thousands of nuclear weapons exist and more countries are trying to acquire them, where suicide terrorist strikes come without warning and thousands die each day from poverty caused by the way the international system operates, we need to know about and understand international relations.”
Many academic experts suggest that in the coming years, a degree in liberal arts, including International Relations, will be one of the most sought after disciplines.
The overall outcome of how an international system runs, affects the situation of the world. Leaders who understand the severity that can come with one wrong decision can trigger an endless wave of consequences leading to the end of the world. With lethal weapons in the play, it has never been easier to set the world ablaze. Not only this, many academic experts suggest that in the coming years, a degree in liberal arts, including International Relations, will be one of the most sought after disciplines in 2020. One logical reason for this can be the rise in current and quick happenings in the world.
Relevance At Home
International Relations is not a myopic subject and pairs well with cousin subjects. Pakistan is a country that is in actuality a scholar’s delight as it has regained its position in the international stage and many universities offer degrees in International Relations. Events taking place in this part of the world impinge upon theory. Given the current situation in the country and around the world, it is an exciting time to study international affairs. In his essay for Foreign Policy, Francis J Gavin says, “It’s never been a better time to study IR “. International Relations programs are better situated than other disciplines and professional programs to help us understand and develop solutions to the complex, vexing, and ever-changing array of global challenges and opportunities. IR and diplomacy are the hallmarks of a country’s functioning and will continue to be so even in the digitalized modern age (internet). Like doctors, teachers and engineers, people who study International Relations or subjects similar to these are responsible for the future government of a country. They are the architects of their countries and its standing in the world.
Our love affair with the International Relations is far from over and the reason many are studying it again is due to the growing change in world dynamics. Now, it is not only needed to become a diplomat or to clear the civil services examinations but to become an academician, political analyst, journalist, policy officer or even an intelligence officer. Different organizations require different skill sets, but if its outreach is international and involves governmental matters; having a degree in IR is considered essential; including NGOs that require aid/ developmental workers or even communication officers.If you are looking to study IR you must ensure that you are an avid reader and follower of international news. Secondly, brace yourself for critical thinking and detailed analysis on international news and complex governmental and bureaucratic norms. IR can be as interesting as any other subject of science.
Finally, the question of why study International Relations in today’s age? As Pakistan has become a regional pivot, to understand the complexities that come along with it and how the world views us, IR has the answer to many of the curiosities. The geopolitical landscape around us is changing and to help a country cope with those changes, individuals with a sound understanding of International Relations can be of tremendous value to any country, after all – countries and communities can only co-exist if peace prevails in the world and IR is perhaps the best way to go about it.
If there is one person who knows education in Pakistan like the back of one’s hand, it is Baela Raza Jamil. Cutting a towering figure, she has been a leading voice calling for educational reforms and has led the movement from the front with various policy suggestions, frameworks and research. Sehrish Khan talks to Baela about many things education and what Pakistan needs to be doing to get its educational act sorted.
Considering your immense exposure to and experience with the education sector in Pakistan, where do you think the fault lines lie? Are we bidding at teaching, have a sub-par curriculum or do we simply do not regard education the way the world does?
Baela Raza Jamil: We are bad at teaching, by and large, and you can read some excellent reports on the subject. Our curriculum is sub-par too, it’s 13 Years old and badly in need of revision, including textbooks, teacher prep and training, pedagogy and assessment system for sure. The problem is seen as that we simply do not regard education as the world does. Education is not a part of any national/provincial agenda – political or economic. If it was, you would not have such a sub-par budget consistently and even more sub-par spending. Even more troubling is the sub-par state of affairs of post primary opportunities and facilities. Our education system is designed for ‘push outs’ and low learning. It is shocking to think that it is not a national priority, despite being a fundamental constitutional right.
At present, around 23 million children are out of school. How do you think this crippling national disease should be approached by the state and the people?
Baela Raza Jamil: This is indeed shameful and needs to be addressed firmly with results in the shortest period of time, I would say 5-7 years as an all-out effort. At Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi, we have some great solutions for OOSC and second chance learning (Chalo Parho Barho/CPB and Siyani Sahelian) that have been tested. CPB has huge potential but the government is not taking this seriously. Files keep moving from table to table as we cannot sort out ‘procurement and PPRA rules”. After all, the OOSC is the government’s responsibility, not its development partners’.
The uniform curriculum debate concerns only 3-4% of population – the 2% students in Madrassas and just over 1% that use O/A levels/American and IB curriculum – the remaining 96-97% use the National Curriculum 2006. How much more uniform can we get?
For some time now, there has been talk of a uniform curriculum in the entire country. How do you weigh the idea?
Baela Raza Jamil: I am confused and also appalled. It is essentially an issue of 3-4% population of the country – just 2% of students in Madrassas use the Islamic curriculum and just over 1% use the elitist O/A levels/American and IB curriculum – the remaining 96-97% use the National Curriculum 2006. How much more uniform can we get? Having said that, I think the
The NC 2006 needs to be revised as it has been 13 years since its revision. Unlike Tertiary Education, the basic /school education curriculum is not revised on a rolling basis every 5 years. No one seems to know why. So there is an urgency to revise it for the right reasons and for the 4th industrial revolution, 21st century reasons, AI/etc.
The challenge is to ensure that the National Curriculum gets to the teachers, headteachers, schools, citizens, assessors, textbook writers and training institutions so that the right pedagogies are transacted and the right assessments are constructed. Our disconnect is with curriculum and textbooks, training pedagogy and assessment. Who will bridge that disconnect? How will the most vulnerable be ensured quality learning? How will those excluded be included in the learning business? These are the billion-dollar questions that need answering. We are not talking about such real issues, only what is essentially politically attractive. Let us get our metrics and basics right. Faisal Bari also wrote about this in Dawn. I am, mercifully, not the lone voice.
We have also been hearing about going back to teaching in Urdu? What do think will cut the mustard, Urdu or actually devising curriculum based on myriad regional languages that Pakistan is blessed with?
Baela Raza Jamil: I think the discussion is underway in Punjab because of what was shared with authorities several years back by many of us. We explained that English medium did not make sense when teachers in both public and private sector did not have the skills, besides children losing out on a language of communication. We need clear policies in this regard. In the NEP 2009, the issue of medium of instruction is seen as ‘equity’, with suggestions that early years or up to primary, the medium of instruction should be in mother tongue /Urdu with English added as a subject at some point, then moving on to a mix of language in Post-Secondary with English being used for Science and Math and of course, English. Sindh has Sindhi medium, KP remains confused on language. Teachers are most comfortable with Pashto as the language in classroom, but Urdu as a medium for examinations. Punjab refuses to embrace Punjabi at any level- making its children most unhappy emotionally. This decision has stuck since colonial times – and a language has been rendered an orphan.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) has brought some key aspects to light over the years. Do you feel the exceptional work done has led to some real-time efforts on the ground?
Baela Raza Jamil: ASER Pakistan (2010-2019) is the most benchmarked report on learning in Pakistan. It has brought attention to the centrality of ‘learning’ provincially, nationally and globally. Today education is only related to learning and the World Bank has used two of our metrics on citizen-led assessment in their concept of “Learning Poverty” or the number of 10-year-olds out of school and not learning and those in school and learning. The Punjab Government, and now other provincial governments, are using the instruments of ASER for Learning & Numeracy Drives (LND) on tablets etc. TCF and many other organizations nationwide are using ASER Tool. The low primary indicator on learning (ASER) has become a Tier I indicator for SDG 4.1.1 (having earlier been thrown out by many and downgraded) It is now a rigorous indicator of learning acknowledged by the world, (we have 15 countries using this indicator and methodology) www.palnetwork.org. ASER has now got disability tools (hearing/visual). It also does disability prevalence surveys of 5-16 years old (CFM Tool). From what we have found, the government must be hurrying to act, for a large number of children are enrolled in govt/private schools but the government does not know how to prepare teachers for children with disabilities!ASER is now also conducting research on early years too (Feb/March 2020) – it is a great methodology for finding out fast about the learning crisis, and an even faster way to go from Assessment to Action! Having said this, Pakistan has a long way for committing and ensuring that ALL CHILDREN LEARN! Backed by imagination and resources and the will of politicians and the people.
A key malaise of our education system has been the continually falling pride society associated with teaching and the subsequent diminishing quality of teachers. What has led to all of this? And what is the way ahead?
Baela Raza Jamil: The teaching profession over the decades has been relegated to a second class, or a profession of last resort. We have a ‘When all else fails one becomes a teacher’ attitude. However, it is important to have a course correction in our perception. The profession has been overhauled in a big way in terms of ‘conditions and salary/pay scale’ in the public sector, where 50%-60% of the total teaching force serves (Economic Survey of Pakistan 2018-19). The salary packages have improved rapidly over the past decade and a half. Teaching has become a coveted/sought after profession for 2 reasons:
a) Higher pay and
b) Lifetime service with little possibility of being chucked out due to non-performance.
Biometrics has also improved absenteeism and attendance accountability of teachers across Pakistan, especially in Sindh. However, what still remains a dream distance is the pride taken in teaching, the passion for delivering and the excellence for transforming the lives of students. Some of this has to do with poor support for in-service training and continuous professional development. In the private sector, the salaries are driven by market rates and also the owners/management, but their accountability and hire/fire authority remain intact, pushing the teachers to deliver (not necessarily with passion). This is the case with most of the private school spectrum – from low/no fee schools to ones charging the highest fee. So, all in all, I do not agree with this perception of “continually falling pride society associates with teaching and the subsequent diminishing quality of teachers”. I think that teaching is a preferred profession for a majority now, but we do need a turn around on the cliché and also a communication strategy to upgrade the profession and showcase better results where ever they may be found due to excellence in profession. This is urgently needed in our society. This is a time of co-creating the curriculum and pedagogy in the 21st century. The possibilities for the profession are immense.
Higher education in Pakistan has become a lucrative business and higher education become just that, a business. What measures must the state take to make private universities worth their salt?
Baela Raza Jamil: What we need is better regulation with quality assurance that can be implemented in letter and spirit by both HEC (federal and provincial). Lack of regulation and/or excessive meaningless regulations do not produce results. We also need to ensure that students are not being fleeced in a one-sided manner and there is accountability of private institutes as well students’ voice on quality of service.
Everyone seems to agree with the idea of reviving student unions. Do you think there is a need to frame a regulatory perimeter to not make student unions become yet another pressure group that gets away with all?
Baela Raza Jamil: When there is poor governance, every freedom or fundamental freedom becomes a threat to the state. The challenge is improving overall governance where the state performs its responsibilities and society lends a hand. Currently, when you have events like we have had in universities in Mardan, Punjab, Karachi and many more where the management becomes complicit in politics and gain, unions become a threat. Yes, all unions need a regulatory framework, but more than that, they need substance of objectives and methods to achieve them constructively. Unions mean voice for social improvement, not destruction or negativity.
Our education system is designed for ‘push outs’ and low learning. It is shocking to think that it is not a national priority, despite being a fundamental constitutional right
What is the role of community in ensuring quality of education? Any success stories?
Baela Raza Jamil: There is an immense role the community can play if given the space and voice. Since 1971, the state has remained ambivalent about community being brought back. We have been on a push and pull ride over community engagement, such as through SMCs/PTAs/PTCs etc. In government schools, the community is sometimes asked to be active and other times not to be so. If community is made part of the school and its annual improvement programs, delegated as an important part of the eco system for schools, communities can deliver and there are many success stories everywhere in Pakistan at all levels. But it will only happen when the community is included for school support and school quality. People must not be dismissed as illiterate, poor and ignorant.
With well over 16 months’ worth of experience under its belt, it is time the PTI government begins delivering on the promises it made with regards to education and reforms in the sector. We look at things that might unfold as the year 2020 moves ahead.
new decade begins, 2020 has arrived, and it appears this year the education sector of Pakistan will be experiencing a touch of rejuvenation or so tell the claims made by the current office-holders. For Pakistanis, unfulfilled promises are not entirely a vexing concern anymore. Nonetheless, the optimists in us never cease to hope that change will come, and the country will find apprehended consolation in the form of societal reformation. So, what is it really that we the ever hopeful Pakistani’s expect in this year from the stakeholders of education?There are four key promises that we presume will be delivered by the current policy-makers. And these are not whims of some writer sitting at a desk, punching keys and weaving stories, but the words of the federal minister of education, Dr Shafqat Mehmood, which we hope don’t end up free-falling toward the periphery of an abyss.
Agenda Items
In an interview with the Academia Magazine in 2019, the minister clearly outlined the key focus areas of PTI govt, as far as education and its development are concerned. From catering to out-of-school-children, deciding on a single national curriculum, improving quality of education, skill-building, to adding the fifth dimension of increasing the overall literacy rate, the policy-makers have vowed to achieve several goals. According to estimates, an estimated 22.8 million children aged 5-16 are currently out-of-school. The challenge is to provide education to the underprivileged, disadvantaged children living in the remotest areas of the country.
In major cities where education is relatively more accessible, the inherent social polarity and economic disparity continue to hamper all possible moves to ensure systematic uniformity. Therefore, it is important to understand that the provision of education is not a one-way road. Economic constraints often end-up determining the course a child’s future might take in Pakistan’s education system. In the less than idyllic educational scape, there is already so many out-of-school that any further burden on the economy might force the ones who do try attending, a shove out of the school doors too.
Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood has outlined four key focus areas: out-of-school-children, single national curriculum, improving quality of education and skill-building and increasing overall literacy rate
Education is not an individual concern; it has socio-economic implications. Therefore, proper budgetary provisions, active remodelling of the system, and proper facilitation of infrastructure are all needed for reforming the system of education.For real growth of the education sector, it is pivotal to provide standardized education. There are many places in this country where schools are deprived of basic facilities, proper buildings or even sitting spaces. If the government truly wants to improve the education sector perhaps, building better schools would be a good start.
Curricular Reform
A uniform national curriculum can help reduce the ever-widening gap between private and public schools, but enforcing it would require more than said effort. As per the announcement made by the federal minister for education, a single curriculum model is to be introduced in March this year. The move, as mentioned earlier, is a step in the right direction since it will provide the same footing and level playing field for student across the board. Implementation of a national curriculum can come as a relief for low-income families who have been forced to send their children to substandard private schools in their localities. For these schools have been believed to provide better education due to the continued abysmal state of public schools. However, focusing on the medium of instruction only ensures that the question of educational infrastructure and course-building does not surface. People continue to believe that the strengthening of the education system lies with changing the language. When, in fact, the focus should be on the facilitation of education and concept building of students with the help of focused teaching through an updated syllabus.
Ideological change can also play a pivotal role in mobilizing the education sector. Girls’ education should, therefore, be paid close attention. The number of girls who are out-of-school face a massive impediment in the form of social resistance. Until and unless the girl-child is provided education, there can be no true reform. Inclusive education is one aspect most governments have failed to take note of. The sheer neglect suffered by children with special needs over years needs to be rectified. When the aim is to provide education.
Managing Illiteracy
The fifth dimension is rather contestable considering that literacy rates maybe empirical indicators but they cannot truly reveal the state of education in a country. What is needed is revisiting the parameters of determining the literacy rate. Literacy rate does not determine the success of educational reforms. The reformation of a system of education lies in progressive changes in the curriculum. The focus should be on the content taught in schools at various stages. Changing the medium of instruction, setting difficult papers, shunning the repertoire of language, are not solutions for the promotion of education.
Murad Raas, Punjab’s school education minister, says government will steer away from ‘bricking model’ and focus on quality of educatio
In words of Murad Rass, the focus of PTI govt is to steer away from the ‘bricking model’ and focus on the quality of education. The minister responsible for the school education says digitization is the heart of the present government’s educational reforms. The overall effort towards digitizing processes is the core of official initiatives it seems. From E-transfer to E-governance, there is an apparent effort being made to revolutionize, and pace-up process. However, it is revamping schools and providing model facilities to children is what should be a top priority for those deciding the fate of education. In 2020, what Pakistanis expect are results and not promises. What is hoped for is visible improvements and tangible reforms. There is much on the government’s agenda, but time will tell whether deliverance is on the list or not.
The year 2019 was another year of overall disappointment for the education sector, as little of the perennially promised reforms came to light, writes Ammar Sheikh.
he year 2019 began with renewed hopes of change. Four months into the government, the PTI-led federation had begun to get into its stride and people from all walks of life began looking up to it to start delivering on its pre-election promises. The case was the same with stakeholders associated with the education sector. They were hopeful that PTI, who had made education a centerpiece of its election manifesto, would go all guns blazing towards manifesting the reforms it had rallied the masses around and educational matters would, finally, start some of the much needed change. But contrary to what students, academics and other observers had hoped to see, the year remained quite an unfavorable one for education sector, with budget, rather the lack of it, taking center stage of the discussion around education and educational matters in Pakistan.
Financial Woes
The public higher education sector got a major financial shock in 2019 when the PTI-led government slashed the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC’s) budget, and subsequently, suddenly leaving universities with little options to sustain their existence.HEC was allocated Rs 59 billion for the fiscal year 2019-20, of which Rs 28.646 billion was earmarked for development. To put it into perspective, HEC had demanded Rs 103.5 billion for the year. With this cut, HEC had to cut its funding for public universities, leading to a crisis where many government-run universities were unable to pay salaries to their staff and teachers.Left with limited solutions, universities had no other option but to increase fees and other charges for students across the board, leading to an overall increased burden of about 20-30 percent on each student.
Teachers remained angry with HEC, claiming the commission did not play the role it should have to demand the required budget from government
This, was not the only bad financial news for students, as budgetary cuts meant discontinuation of several scholarships and other fee concession mechanisms. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2018-19, Pakistan had a higher education enrollment of 1.6 million in 2017-18. The growth in enrolment was projected to decline by 0.2 percent in 2018-19. This decline was predicted for the previous year without taking the then unforeseen budgetary cuts into account. This year, the decline in number could be much higher and more students are likely to miss out on higher education given the severity of the financial constraints.
Teachers’ Outcry
The financial cuts did not go well with the teachers of public sector universities in the country and academics took several rallies and protests throughout the year against the government’s move. These movements, however, had no effect on the government in 2019 and the crisis continues. Teachers also showed their anger towards HEC, claiming that the commission did not play the role it should have to demand the required budget from the government. The teachers also claimed that the HEC failed to fight their case with the federal government and thus failed the higher education community.
The Case Of Universities Act
Another cause for concern for university teachers in Punjab was the Punjab government’s intention to replace the Acts of all universities with a single Act. The teachers did not oppose a singular Act for all universities of the province, but remain wary of the idea of getting their representation removed from the statute and executive bodies of varsities.Teachers believe that the government wanted to fully take over public universities through the new law and end the elected representation of teachers from public universities of Punjab.
Student Uprising
With the financial consequences of budget cuts taking a toll on students in the higher education sector as well as several cases of abuse of power or recklessness on the part of administrations coming to light, the year 2019 saw student activism gaining a renewed momentum, encouraging the youth take to the streets to press for their rights, especially that of restoration of student unions.The Student Solidarity March was held across the country on November 29, where thousands of students and their supporters took to the streets to demand rights and raise the call for revival of student representation on campus in the form of student unions.
Higher education budget cuts remained at the center of discussions around education throughout the year
Thought the march was organized by the left-leaning student political activists, the right-wing Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) also weighed in their support later for the demands.Surprisingly, the federal and the provincial governments, one after the other, announced lifting the ban on student unions. However, the mechanism and in what form and with what powers the student unions will operate is something that might become clearer in 2020.
Trends In Schools
Though the latest numbers are yet to come in, the public schooling in the country has not improved much. This has a lot to do with an overall falling percentage of budgetary allocation to the education sector by the federal and provincial governments.According to the Pakistan Education Statistics 2016-17, the last overall survey available, a total of 29,360 primary schools in the country are without a toilet, and 27,181 or 93 percent among these are in the rural areas. Punjab was reported to have 326 such schools in rural areas, Sindh 13,994, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa 796, Balochistan 7,180, Azad Jammu & Kashmir 2,136 schools,
Gilgit Baltistan had 423 and FATA had 2,320 schools without the availability of a toilet. Security, another major concern for parents, especially girls, is also reported to be missing in many primary schools as a large number of schools remain without a boundary wall. A total of 28,703 primary schools were reported to be without a boundary wall and 26,781 or 93 percent of the total were in rural parts of the country. In Punjab, 1,064 public primary schools in rural parts of the province had a boundary wall missing; Sindh had 14,969 such schools, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 783, Balochistan 6,032 schools, Azad Jammu & Kashmir 2,396 schools, Gilgit Baltistan had 428 and FATA had 1,104 schools that did not have a boundary wall.
Changing Schools In Punjab
Punjab, being the most populous province in the country, has the most out-of-school children as well as the most government-run schools and schoolteachers. Thus, structural changes in Punjab can change the overall dynamic of schooling in the country. Many changes promised by the PTI government, for the sector, were not implemented in 2019 and thus remain merely slogans.What the PTI government in Punjab did manage in 2019 was that it decided to make schooling and various responsibilities attached with it part of the local government system through the Punjab Local Government Act 2019
The Punjab government also managed to put in place an effective digital system of transfers of school teachers
and the Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils Act 2019.Schoolteachers, however, have serious objections to the law but are unclear of its implications, as the law is vague and does not answer many of the concerns pertaining to the status of schools. Still, teachers are critical of the new law given that the previous such attempt ended in a disaster. The main concern of schoolteachers is the effect it might have on their employment status. This too, like many other things, the PTI government was unable to implement in 2019.The Punjab government also managed to put in place an effective digital system of transfers of school teachers, something that Punjab School Education Minister Murad Raas said would end corruption worth millions of rupees involved in the transfers and posting mechanism of the province.Other notable incidents in the year included conviction and sentencing of the killers of Abdul Wali Khan University student Mashal Khan, who was killed in an incident of campus violence in April 2017, as well as the Punjab government’s decision to revert to Urdu as the primary medium of instructions in schools.Here’s to hoping the year 2020 brings in much needed relief to this crucial sector of Pakistan, for without the uplift of education sector, the country and its people can hardly hope of improvement in their fortunes in any foreseeable future.
attling with a full plate of issues like energy crisis, poverty, corruption and international debts since the past 15 months, the PTI government is slowly inching forwards to set the course of the country right.One of the few positive initiatives that the government has taken is its continued focus on information technology and its promotion, the key step being the Digital Pakistan program. The initiative includes plans to build digital cities in the country, launch of mobile applications for various federal institutions, an online complain cell for public complaints, as well encouraging global Fintech leaders like PayPal and Amazon to start operations in Pakistan.According to a recent survey done by CNBC, Pakistan is among the top 10 countries in the world that have skilled labor for emerging global IT outsourcing needs. The country’s current IT exports are around $800 million to $1 billion, but per the prime minister’s vision,
n his book 
hat is your resolution for 2020? Have you set any goals for the New Year? Maybe you have skipped the thought of goal setting as you have never been able to accomplish them? We all have been into this making and breaking of New Year resolutions, haven’t we? 
few years ago, I was approached by a friend. She asked, “How old is your son now? 20 months? Does he know his colours, animals and modes of transport yet?”
he HEC has always been considered as a regulatory body for higher educational institutes in Pakistan, so if there are problems in higher education institutes or those that are affiliated with higher education- then the HEC must be at fault. Possibly.
The climate of complacency with declining standards in the higher educational institutions is really the result of a torrent of prolific questions with little or no attempt in providing answers. Such as questions as to why well-established universities in Pakistan, that have been around for 30+ years and that boast foreign highly qualified PhD faculty, have still not been able to break into the Times Higher Educational Index (THE) at even 500 or with all the incredible talented foreign faculty and teaching staff at universities, why is it that our universities cannot attract international students?
eenagers from China’s wealthiest regions have outdone students in some of the richest countries of the world in an annual international test taken for reading, math and science. 
ne wonders how or why countries voice their concerns over a problem that may soon become global in its context. States function on different policies and laws. Some of these laws are for internal functioning of the state; others are of the external dealings that the states have to maintain in order to become an effective member of the international community. Be it President Trump’s tweets, or the recent Pakistan-India standoff, we are being pointed at one particular subject that offers extensive understanding of these matters in a time where we might be confused as to what is going on in the world. 
new decade begins, 2020 has arrived, and it appears this year the education sector of Pakistan will be experiencing a touch of rejuvenation or so tell the claims made by the current office-holders. 
he year 2019 began with renewed hopes of change. Four months into the government, the PTI-led federation had begun to get into its stride and people from all walks of life began looking up to it to start delivering on its pre-election promises. The case was the same with stakeholders associated with the education sector. They were hopeful that PTI, who had made education a centerpiece of its election manifesto, would go all guns blazing towards manifesting the reforms it had rallied the masses around and educational matters would, finally, start some of the much needed change.