Daily Times

It is generally discussed that public sector education institutions have delivered less than private sector. And private sector education is expensive to the reach of common people. We have been listening people saying public sector education has no or low quality but private education institutions are offering quality education. This is a public opinion about education being delivered in the country. Before discussing education being imparted, let’s analyze the term quality of education. The word ‘quality’ impliesthe meanings for market, things; products, services, status class and etc., though it has multiple meanings and implications but it is hardly used for processes. So, we can say the word quality doesn’t suit for education, because education is process not a product. We commonly use quality for products and effectiveness for processes. However education is process its effectiveness is measured and analyzed. Since we have taken education as product of some simulations/teaching actions and we deduce quality of that in numbers and grades. However education being process could not be calculated only in grades but some other indicators need to be thought of; which delicately measure its effectiveness on change in human behavior, adjustment with burgeoning needs information age, and applicability of skills in emerging job markets.

It is appropriate time to think that we are discussing service delivery of education and increase of literacy rate in 21st century, as National Education Policy 2017 has estimated to achieve that up to 90 percent by 2025. Whereas education models around the globe are assimilating changes to face challenges of 21st century. Let’s take an example of how do we have improved our education system, to understand this we turn back to the history and learnthat our educational system was developed under auspices of British Empire whose Lord Macaulay sketched Indian education system which we have adopted after partition of subcontinent.

However many fake quotes are attributed to the Lord Macaulay for his attitude towards indigenous people and their culture and education. Leaving them back, come to the advent of English Language in the education system; which was supposed to facilitate residents to grow; but on contrary that education system resulted in self-praise of Lords. Because English Language teaching was introduced through Grammar Translation Method, which didn’t gave space to whole language learning process, but two aspects of English Language i.e. reading and writing were focused which enabled the people of then subcontinent to read and write in English Language instead of talking in English.

That was the mistake in the language learning process which was continued after partition. That is still applied in public and private sector schools, organizations and commercial language learning centers. If we analyze the results at lager scale, by this time we haven’t learned English Language properly and at the same time we exemplify the decreasing readership of our native languages due to change of education focus to English. Because in later stages in a response to the public policy English language was introduced from class one, prior it was taught from class six. The induction of language was thought of but teaching methodology remained same Grammar Translation Method. By now some of private schools systems have shifted to other language teaching methods but it are same in public sector schools across provinces.

After partition we, instead of developing our own education system build on the same and applied methods which limited thinking process, out of box thinking, creativity, reason, rationality was least emphasized but only languages were given priority to which were are still playing to be bilingual, trilingual and even at some places children in Pakistan learn four languages, if we do not calculate Arabic. Over the time the same system was revised, refreshed, re-phrased, sometimes some things were added and subtracted keeping in mind the needs of national policies, and thoughts of some influential officials in place.

But we understand along with language, unless progress in human values is not achieved through education, the scientific and technological progression is of little use in society. That was taught by our pro-Islamic education prior to partition. The people were high in morals, coexistence, respect, cultural nourishment, values based personality, tolerance, purity of soul and body, broad mindedness, foresight, visionary personality, reflective, aesthetic, patience, bravery, generosity, honesty, justice, humility were found in learners; but after partition we focused our education on western footprints, which we could not even follow in true means and spirits. And in a result the education we imparted through our madrasah which is supposed to be pro- Islamic education institution lacks integration of scientific and societal needs, schools education lacks both ethics and skills.

If we had continued with our own education patterns followed since centuries in subcontinent and reformed that by including science and technology we would have been not in such educational and human development crisis. You may take example of countries who didn’t replace their educational language with that of English. You may count Malaysia, Iran, Turkey, China, Japan and so many other countries as example.

By now the time has proved the system which only has prepared students for learning languages, laid no emphasis on science and math learning. In a result our education system has not brought scientists, mathematicians, and the people of high intellect, but manual workers, clerks, administrators are counting as outcome. Quoting the progress the average Math score for Class VIII students in the National Education Assessment System (NEAS) exams conducted in 2014 was 461 out of 1,000, In Sindh, 2016 Standardized Achievement Test (SAT) results show that average Math scores for Class V were 24% and science results show that average science scores for Class V was 23%.

By changing governments it was sometimes realized that our education is not delivering in the national and international markets, our graduates are low informed, less knowledgeable and less equipped with skills that are required in international markets. The reforms introduced focused only on improving access of education, instead of reviewing the system flaws, and aligning and monitoring the effectiveness. Let’s review in seventy years history of Pakistan how many education policies are framed. That are only six, these include the new education policy 1970, the education policy 1972-80, national education policy and implementation plan 1979, national education policy 1992, and national education policy 1998-2010, and the current one is of 2017. The rest of time five year plans and some projects were introduced at national level education system.

Let’s think for a while the education system we had in place and what the world has in the same times. During 18th Century Industrial Revolution it was needed to develop skilled human resource to work in the factories to fill the human resource gaps for technical and scientific positions. That age needed to meet potentially the public demands to scientific innovations and transformation outcomes. We during that time were having pro-Islamic education systems though it was good, but we were undecided to integrate scientific knowledge based educational approach. According to a SPDI document ‘at the time of partition 85 percent of the population was illiterate and in some regions like Baluchistan, the literacy rate was even lower, and the rate for rural women was around zero’. This is the reason for that Mohammed Ali Jinnah said “Education is a matter of life and death for Pakistan. The world is progressing so rapidly that without the requisite advance in education, not only shall we be left behind others but we may be wiped out altogether.” (24 Sept 1947).

The world has gone away with the education from industrial age by now. During the period of the 1960s and early 1970s which was marked by patterns of scientific progress and economic growth, the more collective and social dimensions of learning were somewhat neglected in favor of a more liberal and individualistic approach to education. Today we find ourselves in an entirely different socio-political context at the global level. We are now clearly moving into a new phase of development with a changing global landscape. There is a shift in global trends of economic growth, there is return of identity-based politics, and there is transformation in well-established forms of financial, economic, scientific and technological power of nations. The nations which were respected as a model of political, economic, scientific, and educational development, now find themselves in the crisis. The global context of development is now characterized by the increased interconnectedness and interdependency of all societies.

Let’s have a glimpse of education philosophy previous and now, putting in the words of Alvin Toffler “The illiterate of the 21st century is not the person who is unable to read and write; rather he or she is the person who is unable to learn, unlearn and relearn”. So we need to understand that learning is not an automatic consequence of teaching, but it needs sequential thinking process to form concepts, undo and redo them.

This time developing societies are thinking for the education for information age, the education for emancipation, development of capabilities for societal transformation, the development education for climate change, and the peace and tolerance. We probably are playing within same spheres of academic development on curriculum guidelines of 2006, which even doesn’t promote ethics and values in changing norms of society. I get amazed on how structured standards qualify for all humans, whereas we accept every human is different. NASA has found that at the age of going to school, 98% children think different, but at the age of 25 years only 02% children think different and 98% children think same. This is perhaps the result of structured schooling, which to us is not aligned with the standards of world education standards; so let’s assume how our children will be thinking.

If we take an example of development education, which is learning and research area discusses connections of the communities around the world to that of global development perspective. It reinforces important features of development, environment, interdependence of societies, values and perspectives, justice and rights, and sustainable development through education at larger scale. The main objective of development education is to prepare world communities to undertake the upcoming challenges emanating from environmental degeneration, economic downfall, disharmony and conflicts which are created by the world itself by not focusing on the integrated world development. In juxtaposition to this our education system has very little relevance to the development education in our country. Development education is least offered subject in our educational institutions. However it is taught in esteemed institutions in the world.

As discussed above education policies, and numerous five year education plans and programs has grabbed billions of financial resources; but we have reached 58% of literacy rate and more than 22 million of out of school children adding illiteracy in national education outcome. So coming to the point the education approach of either type has less delivered in increasing even the literacy rate. Hence different experiments have kept teachers engaged in different times by increasing filthy load of training, owing to which they have kept themselves at distance from the schools and drop out and out of school children increased in a result of making things right.

But putting in the words of John Dewey education is not preparation for life, education is life itself. It is important to recognize that the global context has undergone significant transformation since the 1970s and the 1990s. We have to bring a life in the education by aligning it with the world. And now we must understand by Kirshinamurati who is saying in his note on education is not only learning from books, memorizing some facts, but also learning how to look, how to listen to what the books are saying.

While investing some time in education I have found that many education themes which are highly reinforced don’t need to be worked. The people have scarcity of drinking water, they are at risk of secure food due to climatic changes, and the law in order situation sometimes goes worsened due to lack of livelihood opportunities. Formal education is not yielding due to its teaching priorities, governance issues since years. The load of low learners, absent, dropout is enhancing.

The education debates are conventional, discussions remain within lines, and same frames are placed against needs of changing society. We have the few examples where some people by working on the change models have found when students are taught happiness, diversity, citizenship, peace, tolerance, and life skills and sports; they have exceled in technology and science based education. Because education in society needs basic conceptual development, values and ethics among learners to live with humility, shared understanding, equity, equality, coexistence, harmony, cultural recognition, practical democracy, and human rights; information and a learning society.

So coming to the end let’s hope the political will for education development in the country transforms the universally applicable education approach for all in Pakistan; because the future of education and development requires the integration of knowledge paradigms, and visions originating from within societies. A revised education approach within education policy has to be brought up, which fits to the all types of schooling i.e. Madrasah, Public and Private sector schools. It is hard to bring revised approach the curriculum is also that could fill the vacuum for aligned education approach with that of the world. The new education approach needs to adopt future, the changing world concerns, concepts, ethics, values and applied paradigms in the education and knowledge based systems. And if they are relevantly thought for the development, the growth will be progressively settling within our society and will lead us as emerging nation.

The writer is freelance contributor