Daily Times

Crowding affects communication between a teacher and her students. It becomes an impediment to their access to each other.

Education is an indispensable need in the modern world. It helps people realize their potential. Nations with established educational systems have made phenomenal progress in political, economic and social spheres. Sadly, an adequate education system remains a distant dream in Sindh.

In the last week of May, I had an opportunity to visit two government-run intermediate-level education institutions in Larkana division.

At the higher secondary school, there were 710 students in Grade 11 in pre-engineering and pre-medical groups. Last year the number had been 680. The school has six classrooms for Classes XI and XII. There are two subject specialists in English, three in Sindhi, one in Urdu, three in Islamic studies, one in chemistry and two in Pakistan studies to teach the 1,390 students. There are no teachers for biology, physics and mathematics. There is a big room constructed eight years earlier for a science laboratory but no equipment, chemicals or furniture.

At the boys’ college, the number of students admitted in Grades 11 and 12 in pre-engineering, pre-medical and arts groups was 1,620. The number of lecturers, assistant professors, and associate professors was 51. There are 600 seats for students in all seven classrooms. This means that there 1,020 of the admitted students cannot attend the classes. Every year, 750 to 800 students seek admission in Grade 11 in this college.

The principals of the institutes noted that for many years, the provincial administrative heads of the department had been informed of the dismal situation. They said no measures were taken to solve the problems.

According to a report on the website of College Education Department, there are as many as 155 colleges for boys, 115 for girls, 94 higher secondary schools for boys, 90 for girls, and 106 co-education facilities working under the department’s administrative control in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, Sukkur and Larkana regions. There are 11,000 teachers in all 270 colleges.

A teacher is meant to perform many important roles in a classroom including those of an instructor, a psychologist, an assessor and a manager. In crowded classrooms, it becomes impossible

There are 920 subject specialists in 290 higher secondary schools to impart education to students in Grades 11 and 12.

Physical facilities and teachers are basic elements necessary to ensure access to quality education. Many of these institutions face a shortage of classrooms and furniture. Therefore, they are unable to cater and accommodate a large number of students admitted every year. As a result, many students of the institutions have been unable to attend even a single lecture for the whole academic year. Many leave the institutions without learning a word. A large number of schools have no teachers for subjects like biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. These subjects are important for all science students and most important for those wishing to seek admission in medical and engineering universities and colleges. The schools have simply not been imparting science education to their students.

The increased number of admissions and the diminished capacity to accommodate the students result in crowding in classrooms. There are frequently more than 80 students in a classroom. The recommended student-teacher ratio is 30:1. The crowding affects the communication between a teacher and her students. It creates impediments to access. A teacher is meant to perform many important roles in a classroom including those of an instructor, a psychologist, an assessor and a manager. She evaluates students’ learning methods, checks their weaknesses and strengths and ideally prescribes an appropriate remedy to achieve optimum academic outcomes. In crowded classrooms, it becomes impossible for a teacher to do all this.

Some of the colleges and many of the schools have no science laboratories. Research shows that educational institutes that combine classroom or textbook teaching with laboratory experiments have better results. The experiments and the equipment help develop scientific learning amongst students and cultivate a deep interest in the field. The knowledge that students gain in classrooms and through books is not effective without understanding and learning the methods and processes. Lab equipment and tools help students utilise the data they gather from books in developing practical logic. Using various tools and equipment with different techniques improves students’ scientific knowledge.

If the government wants to purge the board examinations of the cheating culture, it should take some constructive measures to fulfil the educational needs of the government-run educational institutions to provide students with access to quality education.

The writer is a freelancer