The emergence of private schools in the late 1970s and early 1980s appears to be the birth of an educational business era. These schools were initiated by businessmen and driven under the sole objective of profit maximization. Apparently, a school providing high-quality education would be a great source of revenue generation. Parents, most concerned about their children’s education, prefer private schools over government educational institutions. The schools after gaining a decent repute lean towards their main aim i.e. profit maximization. Hence, increasing their tuition fee, and in order to maintain their reputation they would increase the salary of the teachers, but always keep an increased profit margin.
This group referred to as “The private school mafia” had absolutely no intention of increasing the educational standard or improving the literacy rate of our country. The development of private schools has created a segregated society, depreciating the standards of government schools immensely. On the other hand, the tuition fee for these schools is set so high that a common man cannot afford to enroll his child there.
Laws like Article 25-A state that, “The state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 5 to 16 years in such a manner as may be determined by law”. These have not been implemented, resulting in a lower literacy rate. Current approximations show that over fifty-five million Pakistanis (age 10) are unable to read and write. More severe conditions prevail in the rural areas where 52% of women are not enrolled in any school mainly because of poverty and lack of awareness hence leading to a patriarchal society.
Forming an oligopoly, these schools exploit the students (customers) by charging higher fees. They are least concerned about the quality of education. The students are treated more like customers rather than pupils. The teacher is just a salesperson, promoting a mere product i.e. education for the benefit of his organization. Furthermore, studying in private institutions has become a status symbol. In the beginning, when these schools were established, educated parents used to admit their children to these schools. However, today it is observed that most students enlisted in these institutions belong to families of businessmen, landlords and social elites, who boast about their social status and look down upon government schools despite the fact that they might completely fail in their academic life.
It is time that the government focuses on allocating a higher amount of budget to education. Strict actions must also be taken to avoid exploitation done by private schools. As stated in article 25-A, every child has the right to free education. Scholarships should be initiated for higher education as most our population is below the poverty line, henceforth unable to afford the high priced private institutions. Career counseling should be made mandatory. Moreover, teachers should be given proper training before appointing them to teach. Pakistan is on the 4th number in freelancing worldwide. If we focus enough on the modern age technical and digital skills, not only our people but our economy will benefit from this.
Education is the cheapest and the most tangible defence mechanism for a nation on its political, social and economic fronts but the repressed condition of Pakistan’s educational system testifies the fact that it is unable to defend its own sector. Over the span of 74 years, the government has made multiple policies and action plans but sadly we could not start the march towards success and are waiting for a saviour to take us out of this turmoil. Noting will be done unless we take a step to secure the future of our children.
The writer is a student of Accounting and Finance at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)