Daily Times

An objective assessment of educational sector reform must identify problem areas at different levels of education and give suggestions for improvement in terms of structure, organisation, functions and personnel. We are not paying attention to complex issues. What we say is that it is only a small percentage of the GNP, which goes into education. We forget all other important in-puts, investments and the environment of education. Infrastructure should contribute to broad social goals. Yet it may be effective only when efforts are narrowly focused. Until the representatives of the people have the same choice of educational facilities as is available to those who voted for them, little will change. Unless the provincial administrations make it their priority to deliver quality education to all children in all districts, there will hardly be a real way forward. We need to proceed on knowledge base and the needs of our society. Once we are clear on goals of education it should not be difficult to fix priorities to enable the system to deliver the product, well informed, socially responsible and civic minded individuals.

It is required to make education a meaningful and exciting learning experience that contributes to meeting multiple challenges such as personal and social development, cultural preservation, character building, skills development, national integration, creativity, rational thinking, and developing analytical ability and independent judgment. Two most important manifest functions of education are: to prepare people to make living and; to help people to reach their potential for personal fulfilment and social contribution. In this way education can improve the ills of society.

A good general education does not always produce marketable skills and narrowly focused vocational education may leave one ignorant of the cultural understanding needed for successful living. Thus one of the perennial issues in education is the relative concern devoted to general or cultural as opposed to strictly vocational instruction.

Considering the fact that no society is static and that challenges of social change exist at all times, deviant behaviour may be viewed as one way of adapting a culture to social change. The process of adapting signifies the need for learning newly emerging socio-cultural norms an implication for leadership to create an environment for this kind of learning. In their respective fields of activities, education included, leadership may develop what C Wright Mills calls “sociological imagination” i.e. to see things in their proper perspective and their relationships or linkages.

The emergence of new cultural norms is illustrated in the decline of the patriarchal family; the problem of fast growing human population; social mobility; urbanisation; growth of new ideas and ideologies; concern for quality of life and standard of living etc. Taking care of all these emerging socio-cultural conditions is a complex task. Educational leadership has the opportunity to share in this difficult task and to assist other social groups in preparing people for adequate, appropriate and efficient role performance to address social issues and all related aspects.

It may be of particular interest to all concerned with performance of educational institutions that in the ultimate analysis education has to be seen in relation to other social institutions, the cultural expectations, societal limitations and the role that community can effectively play. An agenda for reform and efficacy of society requires critical analysis to develop an understanding of the linkage between culture of the society, the system of education and the role of educational leadership.

Culture is everything that is socially learned and shared by the members of a society. The culture of a society may condone or encourage almost universal education or may limit education to certain social classes. It may be the purpose of education to mould people along a single basic pattern or it may consider desirable to encourage individuality and individual difference. Scholars may be inhibited due to cultural factors but they may also be as free as they are due to distinctiveness of their culture. Educational leaders, anywhere in the world, are confronted with the challenge of maintaining a dynamic balance in a society, catering to the need for facilitating continuity of culture for maintaining social order, as well as adapting a culture to changing needs and circumstances, the twin processes of change and stability work simultaneously.

The cultural and social situation defines the role of educational leadership. Successful educational policies, plans, strategies, methodologies, forms and contents are essentially culture oriented and need related. However, education may modify the society instead of serving the intended purposes of the society, including internationalisation of cultural norms, values and attitudes. The aim of education in Pakistan may also be in that direction, particularly, where change in some dysfunctional aspects of culture is desirable.

Conflict between education and other aspects of society is probably inevitable because of the difference in the role of the scholar and most of the rest of society. The scholar is an innovator, in search of new truth, while many of the other agencies of society are the perpetuators of old traditions. Educational leadership may direct its effort at groups and forces seeking to subordinate education to other societal interests. The leadership has a role to maintain a semi-autonomous community of scholars and learners called a “free educational system”.

Education is a function of the total society. Educational reform agenda will be workable only if an integrated and comprehensive approach to societal issues is made part of educational programmes as instrument of change. Educational leadership can play an effective role as an agent of change with the dual purpose of societal stability as well as social change.

Evaluation of education is biased by one’s social class position, values and aspirations. Quality of education is therefore a relative rather than an absolute standard. However, quality of education is determined by a complex factors or forces in the internal and external environment of educational institutions. Leadership has the responsibility to ensure quality in its totality.

An effective system of education has to ensure a dynamic balance in society, simultaneously making stability and change possible as an ongoing process. Qualitative and quantitative analysis should become a tool to suggest improvements in education at primary, secondary and higher level with a view to addressing issues and crises that Pakistan confronts. Educational leadership and intellectuals should be able to guide how to tackle ongoing issues of development as well as conflict resolving, stability and change. There is need for rethinking to address what are now the global issues of extremism and terrorism. There is need for peace and security and religions harmony at local, regional, national and international level. We need to fight against prejudice, bias and ignorance as these are the source of injustice, violence and most conflicts. We need to fight against vested interests and seek from knowledge and experience the necessary guidance. This guidance and insight comes to us through an education that prepares us for self awareness and helps us understand social dynamics.

There is an urgent need to re-analyse the priorities and consequent investments by the government, with the understanding that strengthening the education system is the only way to tackle major national issues, such as poverty, crime and intolerance. We have to improve innovativeness, vision and wisdom. We need to support universalistic against particularistic standards of governance, responsibility and accountability and culture of discipline.

The writer is a former director of the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), a political analyst, a public policy expert and an author