Afnan Wasif
Pakistan inherited a well-established primary and secondary educational system, especially in the urban centers and much of Punjab, although it had been predominately manned by Hindus, many of whom left for India after the partition. The major educational assets Pakistan inherited were situated in Lahore, where a number of elite states and missionary schools had taught several generations of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims, producing many of India’s and Pakistan’s future leaders.In 1947 Pakistan’s First Educational Conference recommended universal primary education and an improvement in quality, but at the time the state’s resources were concentrated on the industrial and economic infrastructure, including communications, railroads, water and power, and defense, with education and health receiving low priority. For the next fifty years, the pattern remained much the same. Pakistan is currently facing two problems with respect to education. One is “access to education” means a lack of educational infrastructure and the other is “access in education” which means a lack of quality education. The former issue has been addressed to some extent by various regimes over time. Educational infrastructure includes schools, colleges, universities, laboratories, and libraries. Some major cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Multan, and Bahawalpur are in possession of some prestigious institutions like Aitchison College, Cadet College Fateh Jang, Lawrence College Ghora Gali, Roots International Schools and Colleges, La Salle Higher Secondary School, Muslim College Multan, Sadiq Public School, etc. Such institutions are providing quality education to a specific segment of society only. But the middle and lower classes are deprived of access to and access in education in the true sense. In the rural areas of South Punjab, Interior Sindh, and Balochistan, there are no state-of-the-art educational institutions. Feudalism prevails in these areas. Feudal lords do not allow their subjects to get quality education. I personally have witnessed the same phenomenon in Muhammad Hussain Marri Goth in rural Mirpur Khas. Anyone can visualize the ruins of only one primary school in the aforesaid Goth of Interior Sindh. So this is the problem of access to education. Our general masses are deprived of the infrastructure of education. Populations from such backward areas cannot be able to access education facilities. Access to Education across the globe is considered to be the basic need of subjects living under any regime. But unfortunately, Pakistan is lagging behind in the provision of this particular basic need to its public. Lack of quality education including quality of teaching and learning is another potent issue faced by the education system of Pakistan. Most of the urban areas of Pakistan have an educational infrastructure. Schools, colleges, and universities are running. These educational institutions without quality education including the aforesaid two contours may become more toxic to society than those societies without even educational infrastructure. No proper method of training for teachers is practiced in Pakistan. Teachers are not synchronized with contemporary teaching methods. Financial constraints are another prominent problem in this regard. The level of engagement and participation in educational life by students is very low. Research is required in every field of study. But in our country, this department is out of the race as compared to the rest of the world. “Ratta System” dominates our educational system. The educational system is not synchronized with the dynamic market. Our graduates from backward areas’ universities are becoming a burden for our economy as the unemployment rate is increasing. They are incompetent to excel in a vigorous and challenging world as they were deprived of quality education. They are unaware of current trends. They are victims of shyness and face the issue of lack of confidence mainly. Lack of quality education is more afflictive than lack of educational infrastructure. Pakistani officials or relevant stakeholders must establish an educational system of high enough caliber to tackle the problem of access in education in particular and help bridge the cultural and civilizational divides that already exist without producing new divisions, and in addition produce a trained cadre of future leaders able to navigate a nuclear-armed Pakistan through a rapidly changing global and regional environment.
(-The author is a student of Strategic Studies at National Defence University, Islamabad. He could be reached at afnanwasif84@gmail.com)
