Daily Times

Horace Mann was an American educational reformer reported to have said, “education is our only political safety — outside of this ark all his deluge “. If we cast a quick look at the past, education was undoubtedly the monopoly of the great few in olden days. As time passed, education began to spread, evolved awakening among the all and sundry. The progressive advancement of education has synchronized with the growth of developed nations in the world. Contrary to those well- developed communities, the under-developing society such as ours is still victim to a medieval outlook and remains comparatively backwards on the educational ground.

Fifty years ago, the UNESCO declared 8 September as international literacy day. Under the banner of “Reading the past, writing the future”, the core purpose of celebrating the international literacy day is to address the challenges and carve out feasible solutions to further boost literacy among nations.

Literacy is part of the Sustainable Development Goals, which the United Nations took it as a key component of its 2030 Millennium agenda for sustainable development. The agenda on literacy ensures equitable quality education and endows all the people with promoting sufficient learning opportunities.

But as a nation, we still lag far most behind in the fields of education. Pakistan still has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world. The country’s literacy rate declined from 60 percent according to the Economic Survey of Pakistan (2016-2017). Despite 70 years having passed, we’ve not made any good progress in education yet.

We have more than one standard of education: it should be transformed into a single system for all classes of people; otherwise it will be hard to achieve sustainable development goals in the education sector

Though Article 25-A of the constitution of Pakistan obligates, “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as may be determined by law”. Taking a quick glance at a recent survey, the number of out-of-school children has, no doubt, reduced from last year’s figure 24 million to 22.6 million:the statistics for 2015-16 still reflect a gloomy picture. It is reported by the National Education Management Information System (NEMIS) that 44 percent children between the ages of five and sixteen are still out of school. Further the report added that only 30pc children remain enrolled from class 1 till 10th, 40pc public sector primary schools were operating without electricity, 28pc did not have toilets, 25pc without boundary walls and 29pc had no access to drinking water. Moreover, the report says, Balochistan is comparatively facing a greater crisis in education, wherein, 70pc children out of school.

Though Balochistan government has announced educational emergency since 2014, and it has allocated 26pc of budget on education, but it remains a tall claim as such; the education emergency has proven mere rhetoric words, as the actual progress on ground is virtually at a standstill.

The provincial education minister, Rahim Ziaratwal, reported to have said, “in Balochistan, 60pc of children quit education by the time they reach the primary and middle school level, whereas 45pc of students leave schooling prior to completion of their matriculation”. It obviously surprises us: such an increasing dropout rate of children is a grim problem for the education department in Balochistan. In the densely-populated and resource-rich province of Balochistan, more than 5,000 government-run-primary schools are reported to have single-teacher schools. In addition, the provincial education department sources say that thousands of ghost teachers and hundreds of ghost schools remain in the province. Despite the education emergency in Balochistan, the ground situation in the field of education is so far unchanged. It is observed that an inefficient and mostly unprofessional team failed to give a solid policy for education. The education departments in the province mostly operate under the supervision of politically-affiliated men than the professional educationists. Most often, the officials are appointed on political basis and through political likes and dislikes, which have unduly damaged the education department, so as the case with other public sector institutions.

According to the latest survey by Pakistan Social and Living Standards Management (PSLM), the literacy rate of the population (10 years and above) is 60pc as compared to 58pc in 2014-15. The data also shows that literacy rate is higher in urban areas (76 percent) than in rural areas (51 percent). Province-wise data suggests that Punjab leads with 63 percent followed by Sindh 60 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkwa with 53 percent and Balochistan with 44 percent.

Above all, the ongoing deplorable education system in our country desperately needs rethinking. We have more than one standard of education, which should be transformed into a single education system for all classes of people. Otherwise, it will be hard to achieve the sustainable development goals for the education sector.

Some kinds of education in religious seminaries spawn religious and cultural conflicts. It thwarts modern knowledge and will possibly further spew bigotry and intolerance in the society. The miserable conditions of government schools also disappoint the people. The underprivileged people desire to send their children to quality standard schools, but they cannot because they do not have enough resources to translate their wishes into reality. Ironically, our curriculum — especially in government schools — is somehow a sorry-tale of subjugating our knowledge. In a society where invaders become heroes, warfare ideology creeps in. It is a great dilemma: the finer sides of our history have rarely been revealed through our textbooks. The curricula for public schools promote an isolationist mindset that glorifies wars.

Several drawbacks in government’s policy have hampered the real progress in education. Most regrettably, even such grim realities and sore statistics fail to capture the attention of our policymakers.

Education is a fundamental right of every individual and it cannot be ignored under any excuses. The entire education system needs to be overhauled at par with the changing demands and modern needs. All education departments should work independently without any political interference.Instead of appointing unprofessional men, professional educationists should be hired and given space to freely mould an articulated policy for education, and execute it effectively.

An enlightened and educated society does not normally surrender their self-respect, dignity and independence. In the long run they work for the good of the nation in the national workforce. Nations which are not in the habit of perpetuating progress in education ultimately end in peril.

The writer is a freelance columnist and blogger, writes on socio-political and literary issues

Published in Daily Times, September 8^th 2017.