Daily Times

The youth of the country is hell-bent yet helpless against the status quo of clandestine leadership. Appallingly, the partisans in Pakistan form a touring circus, with eccentric and erratic theatrical performers of self-professed prophetic saviors of the realm. In the tent are the age 60+ ring leaders of deceitful master planning, age 40+ class of attention diverting hecklers, age 30+ league of radical gymnasts hopping from stance to stance, and age 20+ confederation of boxed up party-political contortionists. The collective communion of which becomes a sentiment stimulating political party and the public their victim.

Leaders are no god-sent avatars of purity, and leadership is not a god-gifted inheritance. Leaders are birthed in a folly culture of their predecessors, influenced through principle teachings and personalized through a life riddled in action. The community defines the contours of society through its morals, activities, and commandments. The society determines the cerebral physiognomies of its populous, and the inhabitants reflect their idiosyncrasies in their political discernment. Through this intonation, we select leaders as a reflection of ourselves; that is precisely why the waling prayer for a saint never comes to a pass.

As of the 2018 census of a 210+ million population, the literacy rate of Pakistan stood at 62.3% (Male: 72.5%, Female: 51.8%, Urban: 76.6% and Rural: 53.3%) in comparison to the global average of Male: 90% and Female: 82.7%. The rural population accounts for 63% and the urban only 27%, with 24% of the total population below the poverty line. The expenditure on education equates to 2.9% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The hierarchical schooling structure of the country is also complex, with parallel regimes at every stage. In the public sector, the primary and secondary level education is subdivided into English and Urdu mediums, whereas higher/intermediate education is in English. All levels of the affluent private sector are English based with contractually hired high salaried academics.

The curriculum for public schools is modeled on the pre-partition British era education program with timely inclusions of modernity, history, and religion up to intermediate level (Matriculation and Intermediate). The private sector runs on a more contemporary syllabus in compliance with and under the supervisory of the Universities of London, Cambridge, and Oxford. The university-level education systems are mostly inclined towards the American set up and governed by yet another autonomous body, the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Therefore, a child transpires from the British into an American system over their academic lifecycle across overlapping ministries of education, science, and the HEC.

In the educational sense, the disparity between the public and private systems and the lack of a unified syllabus has played havoc with the minds of the young. In Pakistan, from childhood, parental financial standing determines a child’s mental signature and academic roadmap. The rich brats flaunt to Aitchison colleges, the barbies to Grammar schools, and bourgeois to Beaconhouses. The monetarily deprived working-class venture through governmental model setups with meager academic standards.

The Ministry of Education and Professional Training and the Higher Education Commission with all stakeholders should conduct system-level reforms rather than cosmetic initiatives across the academic spectrum at every level. The financial gains for the government can be enormous if the rules are followed to the letter. These changes should include drastic measures, such as:

Unified governance across all levels: An autonomous centralized body should be established for administrative management, fiscal resources, human resources, and curriculum setup. The required regulatory and enforcement frameworks, authority and accountability hierarchies, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms should be chartered and implemented by having a single system in place.

Madrassa integration into educational sphere: All religious schools to be standardized under the single syllabus program with the only exception of religious study extended classes.

Standards of excellence: A pre-defined set of performance and control measures should be set in place to keep the system abreast with international standards. The best practices should be set up and reviewed regularly to ensure a high level of education and monitored strictly.

Academic training program: A point-based qualification criteria, including academic standing and teaching experience, should be set as a pre-requisite to teaching position allocations in all forms of institutes. An array of training institutes for teacher preparedness should be established across the country for human resource development and quality control. Refreshment courses to be made obligatory to receive promotions and pay rises for all levels.

Ranking and promotion scheme: A title and ranking system should be implemented similar to the military and judicial system for promotion for all levels. Perks, privileges, and responsibilities to append with titles and honors. Academic staff to be included as respected members on boards of companies, national advisory councils, cabinet, official advisories, etc.

Fee receivables and salary payable under governmental regulation: The academic salary structure is mostly unregulated in the country, with institutes charging as they find necessary with no control over annual rises. A national-level pay cap to be introduced for all institutions on both the fees charged to students and the salaries paid to teachers. Incentives such as index-linked pensions, medical benefits, and allowances to substitute for current pay structures.

Single curriculum system across all schools, both public and private: Choose a system, even if it is borrowed from another region or self-developed, and abide by it. The syllabus should be based on conceptual and scientific learning to enlighten minds rather than rote methods.

Student education streaming: A single standard national examination for aptitude testing and university enrollment to replace individual college/university-based scrutiny. Point-based ranking to allocate pupils to the respective tier of national universities in subjects with the most promise.

Scholarship/Coop/Educational loans programs: A standardized performance ranking performa to be made mandatory for every pupil starting from the higher education level. The system would select the brightest minds to attend local and foreign courses, and monetary incentives must be instituted.

National talent hunt program: The existing talent search is restricted to 5-10% of the population. Greater access to better-educated segments of society will provide a wider spectrum to pick the sharpest minds.

International collaborative program: All foreign collaborations to be under the rules and regulations of the governance body. All applications not in compliance with the single curriculum structure to be prohibited.

Through these reforms, the institutional structure of the country would be uniform, regulated, evolve dynamically, and run professionally. Pakistan can emerge as the knowledge center of the world, where the fourth smartest nation can become the most educated with our future leaders as the offspring of the much-needed reform.

The writer is a PhD in engineering from University of Cambridge, and currently serves as Vice President of Core Group in Pakistan