File photo. Farooq Naeem—AFP
In a recent article for daily Dawn, former finance minister Miftah Ismail outlined the flaws in how Pakistan educates its children. He wrote: “Unfortunately, 75 years after independence, almost four in 10 Pakistanis remain illiterate, consigned to a life of hardship and poverty. Worse still, literacy rate isn’t even improving. In 2020, our net enrolment rate in primary schools was only 64 percent—down from 67 percent in 2015. Punjab and Balochistan maintained their ratios at 70 percent and 56 percent, respectively. Yet Sindh’s net enrolment actually went down from 61 percent to 55 percent and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s ratio (even excluding the former tribal agencies) went down from 71 percent to 66 percent. Half of all school-aged children are not in school.”
Further on, Ismail claims Punjab spends about Rs. 31,000/child annually on its government schools; KP Rs. 38,000; Sindh Rs. 40,000; and Balochistan Rs. 61,000. Yet, instead of producing educated individuals equipped for the modern world, what we get is youth whose knowledge is heavy on religion and ideology, but no real skills. There is no denying that the present system has entirely collapsed, including in teaching hospitals training future doctors. Few of our degrees are recognized internationally, but in recent years, they struggle to even find acceptance in the domestic private sector. The only entity obliged to recognize them is the state, which cannot produce any jobs beyond politically propelled inductions. The private sector increasingly prefers foreign qualifications for professional openings.
Unlike Ismail’s advice to reduce education spending, it is necessary for the state to retain welfare projects in such sectors as health and education. However, attention must be paid to modernize, especially by reducing bureaucratic control that has played a major role in destroying the education sector. The most glaring result of state intervention has been a decline in the quality of teachers and a consequent loss in prestige of the teaching profession. To make amends, several steps are needed. Teachers must, first and foremost, be subject to performance evaluations. This should not be done in a Darwinian fashion popularized in developing states, but rather should protect the interests of both teachers and students.
During his time as prime minister, PTI chief Imran Khan advocated a single national curriculum, but this did little to correct the three parallel systems comprising the state, private sector and madrassas. He used to claim the SNC would produce educated individuals with uniformity of thinking. This was also flawed; true education remains a form of mental training that promotes individual creativity, not uniformity.