Pakistan inherited a well-established primary and secondary educational system, especially in the urban centres and much of Punjab, although it had been predominately manned by Hindus, many of whom left for India after the partition. The major educational assets Pakistan inherited were situated in Lahore, where several elite states and missionary schools had taught several generations of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims, producing many of India’s and Pakistan’s future leaders.
In 1947 Pakistan’s First Educational Conference recommended universal primary education and quality improvement, but at the time the state’s resources were concentrated on the industrial and economic infrastructure, including communications, railroads, water and power, and defence, with education and health receiving low priority. For the next fifty years, the pattern remained much the same.
Pakistan is currently facing two problems concerning education. One is “access to education” which means a lack of educational infrastructure and the other is “access in education” which means a lack of quality education. The former issue has been addressed to some extent by various regimes over time. Educational infrastructure includes schools, colleges, universities, laboratories, and libraries.
Access to education is universally recognized as a fundamental human right, yet Pakistan, as a state, has faltered in fulfilling this essential obligation to its citizens.
Some major cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Multan, and Bahawalpur have some prestigious institutions like Aitchison College, Cadet College Fateh Jang, Roots International Schools and Colleges, La Salle Higher Secondary School, Sadiq Public School, etc. Such institutions are providing quality education to a particular demographic only. However, the middle and lower socioeconomic classes are deprived of both access to and access to education.
In South Punjab, Interior Sindh, and rural Balochistan, modern educational facilities are lacking, overshadowed by the dominance of feudal systems. Feudal lords in these areas obstruct the access of their subjects to quality education. I have observed a similar pattern in Muhammad Hussain Marri Goth in rural Mirpur Khas.
The remains of a single primary school in the aforementioned village of Interior Sindh serve as a stark reminder of the dearth of basic educational infrastructure. Access to education is universally recognized as a fundamental human right, yet Pakistan, as a state, has faltered in fulfilling this essential obligation to its citizens.
The deficiency in quality education, encompassing both the standard of teaching and learning, poses a significant challenge to Pakistan’s education system. While educational infrastructure exists in many urban areas of the country, comprising schools, colleges, and universities, the absence of quality education within these institutions could potentially render them more detrimental to society than regions lacking educational facilities altogether.
Teachers are not synchronized with modern teaching methodologies, resulting in low levels of student engagement and participation in educational activities. Additionally, research endeavours across various fields are lagging far behind in our country, contrasting sharply with advancements elsewhere in the world.
The prevailing “rote learning” culture heavily influences our educational system, which remains out of sync with the evolving demands of the job market. Graduates from universities in underdeveloped regions are increasingly contributing to the economic burden due to rising unemployment rates. Their inadequacies in navigating a competitive and dynamic global environment stem from a lack of quality education. These individuals are unfamiliar with contemporary trends, struggle with self-confidence issues, and are primarily hindered by a deficiency in quality education. Consequently, the absence of quality education proves to be more detrimental than the absence of educational infrastructure.
Authorities in Pakistan should institute an educational framework of superior quality, aimed at addressing the issue of educational accessibility while also working to mitigate existing cultural and civilizational disparities without inadvertently creating further divides. Additionally, this educational system should strive to cultivate a proficient cohort of future leaders capable of effectively guiding a nuclear-capable Pakistan through the swiftly evolving global and regional landscapes.
The writer is a student of Strategic Studies at National Defence University, Islamabad. He tweets @afnanwasif