PROBLEMS OF PAKISTAN EDUCATION AND SOLUTION

What is Education?

Education is the simple process of learning and knowing. It is not restricted to the
schools only. Education starts from the mother’s lap. Parents and family inculcate good
manners and make responsible citizens out of their children. Home is called first school
of the children, but the formal education starts from the school, where they are taught,
how to behave and understand what is going on around them.

Importance of Education
“The foundation of every state is the education of its youth”. Diogenes Laertius

Education is very important for every

human being. It makes one able to understand what is happening around us logically
and clearly. Only educated person has the ability to take practical decisions and make
right moves at the right time. Human existence without education is just like fecund
land. Education not only enables individuals to put their potential to best use and do
something productive in the upcoming future, but also plays a main role in shaping an
individual to be a better, responsible citizen and an active member of the society. An
educated person with self-confidence and precise moves knows how to transform the
world. Education provides the ladder for achieving success in life and enables us to
utilize skills and caliber in a constructive way. Therefore, it’s the prime responsibility of
an individual to get educated and live a prosperous life while being a responsible
citizen.
 Problems in Education of Pakistan
Education is considered as the cheapest defense of a nation. But the down trodden
condition of education in Pakistan bears an ample testimony of the fact that it is unable
to defend its own sector. Though 62 years have been passed and 23 policies and action
plans have been introduced yet the educational sector is waiting for an arrival of a
savior. The government of Pervaiz Musharraf invested heavily in education sector and
that era saw a visible positive educational change in Pakistani society. Now a days, the
economic situation in Pakistan is under stress and education is the worse effected
sector in Pakistan. The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan says,
“The state of Pakistan shall remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory
secondary education within minimum possible period.”
In Human development Report Pakistan is placed at 136th position for having just
49.9% educated populace. The primary completion rate in Pakistan, given by Date
Center of UNESCO, is 33.8% in females and 47.18% in males, which shows that people
in the 6th largest country of the world are unable to get the basic education.

Problems in Education
Following are the problems in education in Pakistan.

1. Education System is based on

Unequal Lines
The educational system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education is
different in both, public and private sector. This creates a sort of disparity among people,
dividing them into two segments.
2. Regional Disparity
Regional disparity is also a major cause. The schools in Baluchistan (The Largest
Province Of Pakistan By Area) are not that much groomed as that of Punjab (The
Largest Province Of Pakistan By Population). In FATA, the literacy rate is deplorable
constituting 29.5% in males and 3% in females.
3. Ratio of Gender Discrimination
The ratio of gender discrimination is a cause which is projecting the primary school ratio
of boys & girls which is 10:4 respectively. For the last few years there has been an
 increase in the growth of private schools. That not only harms the quality of education
but creates a gap among haves and has not.
4. Lack of Technical Education
The lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the educational policy that has never
been focused before. Therefore, less technical people mean less.
5. Funds
The allocation of funds for education is very low. It is only 1.5 to 2.0 percent of the total
GDP. It should be around 7% of the total GDP.
6. Untrained Teachers
The teachers in government schools are not well trained. People who do not get job in
any other sector, they try their luck in educational system. They are not professionally
trained teachers so they are unable to train a nation.
7. Poverty
Poverty is also another factor that restricts the parents to send their children to public or
private schools. So, they prefer to send their children to madrassas where education is
totally free.
Recently, minister of education announced a new Education policy for that next 10
years. The interesting thing is that the previous educational policy from 1998 to 2010 is
still not expired. Although it is projected to give new plans and to make more promises
with the nation. It is said in this policy that all the public schools will be raised up to the
level of private schools. No plan of action have been discussed, yet a notice is issued to
private schools to induct government course in 5th and 8th class and these classes will
bound to take board exams. This disturbed the students of private sector also.

Solutions for Educational System

Estimating the value of education, the Government should take solid steps on this issue.
Implementation instead of projecting policies should be focused on. Allocation of funds
should be made easy from provinces to districts and then to educational institutes.
Workshops must be arranged for teachers. Foreign states are using LSS system. This
should be inducted in Pakistani schools to improve the hidden qualities of children.
Technical education must be given to all the classes. The education board of Punjab
has projected a plan to give tech- education to the children of industrial workers.
Promotion of the primary education is the need of time. Teachers, professors and
 educationists should be consulted while devising any plan, syllabus or policy. The state
seems to give up her responsibility and totally relying on private sector. The need of
time is to bring education in its original form to masses. Burdening students with so
much books will not work as he will not understand what the world is going to do next
moment. Education is the only cure of the instability in the state and can bring revolution
through evolution, by eradicating the social evils. This is how to remove illiteracy in
Pakistan.
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Education System in Pakistan, Issues and Problems

Country Ranking (out of 177 countries)
Country 2005 2006 2007
Iran 99 96 94
Sri Lanka 93 93 99
Maldives 96 98 100
India 127 126 128
Bhutan 134 135 133
Pakistan 135 134 136
Bangladesh 139 137 140
Nepal 136 138 142
Issues and Problems About Education:
 Lack of Knowledge / guidance:- Here are the most unguided student in the Pakistan. Neither the parent due to their
ignorance nor the teachers due to lack of professionalism are able to guide them. Lack of guidance/Knowledge is very serious
problem which student face in our country in Pakistan education maximum parents are uneducated so they can’t guide their
children better.
 Educational System:- The educational system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education is different in
both, public and private sector. This create a sort of disparity among people, dividing them into two segments.
 Lack of Technical Education:- lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the educational policy that has never been
focused before. Therefore, less technical people means less.
 Untrained Teachers:- There are teachers in government schools are not well trained. When People who do not get job in
any other sector, then they try their luck in educational system. They are not professionally trained teachers so they are unable to
train a nation.
 Psychological problems:- Students due to high expectations of their families and absence of guidance for both the
parents and students experience a lot of psychological stress, which has a retarding effect on their growth.
Literacy Rate Of Pakistan:

 PAKISTAN = 55 % (Male = 67 %,Female = 42%) Province Literacy Rate

 Punjab= 60.2%
 Sindh = 57.7%
 NWFP = 49.9%
 Baluchistan = 48.8%
Education Policy of Pakistan:
 Weakened Governance
 Fragmentation
 Lack of Clarity in Inter-Tier Relationships
 Poor Quality of Teachers & Managers
 Quality of curriculum, textbooks & exams
 Low level of literacy
 Out of school children
 Dropouts
  Public Private Partnership
 In-adequate financing
 Gender Equity
 Poor monitoring & evaluation
 Imbalance in primary, middle & secondary schools
 Inconvenient school location
For the Further Details You keep in Stay with us on Studysols. And if you have any query about Education System in
Pakistan, Issues, Problems and Ranking in the World education System you can comment us here in given below
comment session.
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Flaws in education system

 Columns

 Comment

JUNE 29, 2015 BY NABIHA SALEEM

And some suggestions how to remove them

Education plays an important role in political stability, economic development and social
progress of a nation. It brings political stability by realising the people their national rights and
duties. It brings economic development by enhancing the productivity and efficiency of the
people and seeks them moral obligations and duties, so they can play their part in the society.
Education is the backbone in the development of any nation and the progress of any nation
depends on the better state of their education system. It develops the people mentally,
physically, socially and spiritually. The countries that have an effective system of education
also happen to be the leaders of the world, both socially and economically.

Today Pakistan is facing a number of problems i.e., poverty, insecurity, political instability,
economic crisis, terrorism, gender discrimination and many more and all these problems are
because of lack of awareness, tolerance and illiteracy, developed by ineffective educational
system. The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan says, “The state of Pakistan shall
remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within minimum
possible period.” In Human Development Report Pakistan is placed at 136 th position for having
just 49.9 per cent educated populace.

Pakistan is facing number of drawbacks in its education system. Today our education system
does not offer the environment and opportunity of one and equal system of education. The
main problem is the inequality in public and private education sector of Pakistan. There are
many systems working in the country which result in conflict and social division. Pakistan is
an ideological state based on Islamic ideology but our system of education is not able to
protect our religious norms and guide our new generation according to Islam.

Another important reason of the failure of our educational system is less trained faculty. New
techniques of teaching and materials to make lessons more interesting to the students have
not been adopted. One of the chronic problem of our education system is the shortage of
teachers. The number of teachers has been gradually increasing but it does not match
favourably with the number of students and there is a gap between the students and teachers
ratio. Our poor examination system encourages rote learning. The students look upon a degree
as a passport to employment in a commercial commodity which can be purchased if you pay
the price.

Our curriculum is not updated to compete with the rest of the world. It has no direct
connection with the practical life which the students will have to face after the completion of
his studies. Lack of technical education is one of the major problem of our country. A number
of educational policies were introduced from time to time by various regimes in the history of
Pakistan for reforms but due to lack of implementation and inconsistency, it showed no result.

Allocation of budget for the education sector is not enough. Pakistan is one of only 12
countries in the world that spend less than two per cent of its GDP on education. Corruption is
one of the major contributing factors for failure of educational policy. It is due to lack of
accountability and transparency along with low salaries of the staff. It is believed that
Pakistan is among the most prominent states affected by gender discrimination. That not only
harms the quality of education in Pakistan but creates a gap among haves and have-nots. The
adult female illiteracy rate in the country was twice as high as for males. The illiteracy rate
was 23.3 per cent for males and 46.9 per cent for females.

To overcome this alarming situation the first and foremost step should be the better
implementation of the existing policies. We do not need new policies while our previous
policies are pending. Our curriculum should be appropriate according to the needs of today’s
world. Interactive teaching method should introduce so that students feel free to ask about
ambiguities. Capable and outstanding professionals prefer foreign jobs instead of serving in
their own country. By facilitating them we can restore our outstanding professionals. In
developed countries besides teacher’s training there is strong concentration on parents
training. Parents should be trained as to how they should behave with their children in
different matters. If we prepare our generation according to the needs of today’s world, they
can play an important role in the country’s progress. In short it is education that can turn the
population of any country from a burden to useful human resource.

How To

Educational Articles

How to Improve Education System in Pakistan

How to Improve Education System in Pakistan

Education is one source which can single handedly turns the fortune for any nation and can be
the best and most appropriate solution for any of the respective problem any state is going
through. Pakistan is one of those countries which are going through so many problems and it
cannot be wrong to say that the nation is being surrounded by several threatening problems,
amongst such problems education problem is on the top of the list and it is the fact that many of
the problems have been created due to the deficiency of education in the local public.
There are so many sub-problems in this regard of education which must be resolved on high
priority because they are critical. There are so many issues which should be addressed so that
the education should prevail in the country. The every basic issue is that the country has relevant
policies regarding the educational practices but they are not followed. As per the Article 25-A in
the constitution of Pakistan it is the duty of the governing body to provide free quality education
to the age group of 5 years to 16 years, but this is not being practiced. So to improve the
education the basic step is that the education should be made compulsory and in this regard
government should come forward and play its vital role so that this basic problem should be
resolved.

The other very core educational problem in Pakistan is that there is no unity in the curriculum of
the institutions. Each institution has its own body which develops and designs the curriculum as it
is the wrong strategy. The ministry of education should design the curriculum and then should
make sure that all the institutions should follow it. This is because through such differentiation
the level of education gets disturbed and at the same level and age group the unity disappears,
so it is very much crucial to bring unanimity and solidarity in the curriculum to improve the
educational system of the country.

In Pakistan there are two major educational systems followed which includes the national
educational system that includes Matric and Intermediate while the second is British Educational
system that comprises of O-Levels and A-Levels. This is very unfortunate that the educational
system has two classes which are being differentiated on the basis of economic and financial
strengths. And this creates disparities and enhances the complex in the students at the very
young age, which remains in their mind throughout their lives. On this concern the government
should come forward and should bring unity in the educational system as all the people should
have one educational system either poor or rich as this will also eliminate the class system in the
country and ultimately will bring unity and prosperity for the state.
…………………………

C) Vision 2030

Vision 2030 of Planning Commission of Pakistan looks for an academic environment which promotes the
thinking mind. The goal under Vision 2030 is one curriculum and one national examination system under state
responsibility. The strategies charted out to achieve the goal included:

(i) Increasing public expenditure on education and skills generation from 2.7% of GDP to 5% by
2010 and 7% by 2015.

(ii) Re-introduce the technical and vocational stream in the last two years of secondary schools.

(iii) Gradually increase vocational and technical education numbers to 25-30% of all secondary
enrolment by 2015 and 50 per cent by 2030.

(iv) Enhance the scale and quality of education in general and the scale and quality of
scientific/technical education in Pakistan in particular.

Problems: The issues lead to the comprehension of the problems which are faced in the development of
education system and promotion of literacy. The study outlines seven major problems such as:

1) Lack of Proper Planning: Pakistan is a signatory to MDGs and EFA goals. However it seems that it will
not be able to achieve these international commitments because of financial management issues and
constraints to achieve the MDGs and EFA goals.

2) Social constraints: It is important to realize that the problems which hinder the provision of education
are not just due to issues of management by government but some of them are deeply rooted in the social and
cultural orientation of the people. Overcoming the latter is difficult and would require a change in attitude of the
people, until then universal primary education is difficult to achieve.

3) Gender gap: Major factors that hinder enrolment rates of girls include poverty, cultural constraints,
illiteracy of parents and parental concerns about safety and mobility of their daughters. Society’s emphasis on
girl’s modesty, protection and early marriages may limit family’s willingness to send them to school. Enrolment
of rural girls is 45% lower than that of urban girls; while for boys the difference is 10% only, showing that
gender gap is an important factor.

4) Cost of education: The economic cost is higher in private schools, but these are located in richer
settlements only. The paradox is that private schools are better but not everywhere and government schools
ensure equitable access but do not provide quality education.

5) War on Terror: Pakistan’s engagement in war against terrorism also affected the promotion of literacy
campaign. The militants targeted schools and students; several educational institutions were blown up,
teachers and students were killed in Balochistan, KPK and FATA. This may have to contribute not as much as
other factors, but this remains an important factor.
 6) Funds for Education: Pakistan spends 2.4% GDP on education. At national level, 89% education
expenditure comprises of current expenses such as teachers’ salaries, while only 11% comprises of
development expenditure which is not sufficient to raise quality of education.

7) Technical Education: Sufficient attention has not been paid to the technical and vocational education in
Pakistan. The number of technical and vocational training institutes is not sufficient and many are deprived of
infrastructure, teachers and tools for training. The population of a state is one of the main elements of its
national power. It can become an asset once it is skilled. Unskilled population means more jobless people in
the country, which affects the national development negatively. Therefore, technical education needs priority
handling by the government.

Poverty, law and order situation, natural disasters, budgetary constraints, lack of access, poor quality, equity,
and governance have also contributed in less enrolments.

An analysis of the issues and problems suggest that:

The official data shows the allocation of funds for educational projects but there is no mechanism which
ensures the proper expenditure of those funds on education.

 The existing infrastructure is not being properly utilized in several parts of the country.

 There are various challenges that include expertise, institutional and capacity issues, forging national
cohesion, uniform standards for textbook development, and quality assurance.

 The faculty hiring process is historically known to be politicized. It is because of this that the quality of
teaching suffers and even more so when low investments are made in teachers’ training. As a result
teachers are not regular and their time at school is not as productive as it would be with a well-trained
teacher.

 Inside schools there are challenges which include shortage of teachers, teacher absenteeism, missing
basic facilities and lack of friendly environment.

 Out of school challenges include shortage of schools, distance – especially for females, insecurity,
poverty, cultural norms, parents are reluctant or parents lack awareness.

Solutions

There is a need for implementation of national education policy and vision 2030 education goals. An analysis of
education policy suggests that at the policy level there are several admirable ideas, but practically there are
some shortcomings also.

It may not be possible for the government at the moment to implement uniform education system in the country,
but a uniform curriculum can be introduced in educational institutes of the country. This will provide equal
opportunity to the students of rural areas to compete with students of urban areas in the job market.

Since majority of Pakistani population resides in rural areas and the access to education is a major problem for
them, it seems feasible that a balanced approach for formal and informal education be adopted. Government
as well as non-government sector should work together to promote education in rural areas.
 The government should take measures to get school buildings vacated which are occupied by feudal lords of
Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. Efforts should be made to ensure that proper education is provided in those
schools.

The federal government is paying attention to the vocational and technical training, but it is important to make
the already existing vocational and technical training centres more efficient so that skilled youth could be
produced.

Since education is a provincial subject, the provincial education secretariats need to be strengthened. Special
policy planning units should be established in provinces’ education departments for implementation of
educational policies and formulation of new policies whenever needed. The provincial education departments
need to work out financial resources required for realising the compliance of Article 25-A.

Federal Government should play a supportive role vis-à-vis the provinces for the early compliance of the
constitutional obligation laid down in Article 25-A. Special grants can be provided to the provinces where the
literacy rate is low.

Pakistan is not the only country which is facing challenges regarding promotion of literacy and meeting EFA
and MDGs commitments. Education remains a subject which is paid least attention in the whole South Asian
region. UNDP report 2014 suggests that there has been an improvement in other elements of human
development such as life expectancy, per capita income and human development index value (in past 3 years);
but there has been no progress in the number of schooling years. The expected average for years of schooling
in 2010 was 10.6 years but the actual average of schooling remained 4.7 for all South Asian countries. In the
year 2013 the expected average of number of years increased to 11.2 but the actual average of years of
schooling of South Asian countries remained 4.7. Regional cooperation mechanism can also be developed to
promote literacy in South Asian region. Sharing success stories, making country-specific modifications and their
implementation can generate positive results.

Recommendations

 Technical education should be made a part of secondary education. Classes for carpentry, electrical,
and other technical education must be included in the curriculum.

 Providing economic incentives to the students may encourage the parents to send their children to
school and may help in reducing the dropout ratio.

 Local government system is helpful in promoting education and literacy in the country. In local
government system the funds for education would be spent on a need basis by the locality.

 Corruption in education departments is one of the factors for the poor literacy in the country. An
effective monitoring system is needed in education departments.

 For any system to work it is imperative that relevant structures are developed. Legislation and
structure should be framed to plan for the promotion of education in the country. After the 18 th amendment
the education has become a provincial subject, therefore, the provinces should form legislations and design
educational policies which ensure quality education.

 Unemployment of educated men and women is a major concern for Pakistan. There should be career
counselling of the pupils in schools so that they have an understanding of job market and they can develop
their skills accordingly.
 Counselling of parents is required, so that they can choose a career for their child which is market
friendly.

 There are two approaches to acquiring education: First, which is being followed by many in Pakistan is
to get education to earn bread and butter. The second approach is to get education for the sake of personal
development and learning. This approach is followed by affluent and economically stable people who send
their children to private schools and abroad for education. The problem arises when non-affluent families
send their children to private schools, and universities. This aspiration for sending children for higher
education is wrong, because the country does not need managers and officers only. There are several other
jobs where people are needed. Hence the mind-set of sending one’s children to university only for becoming
officers and managers needs to be changed.

Conclusion:

The reforms required in the education system of Pakistan cannot be done by the government alone, public-
private participation and a mix of formal as well as non-formal education can pull out majority of country’s
population from illiteracy. Similarly, to make the youth of the country an asset, attention should also be paid to
vocational and technical training.

References:

Human Development Report 2014 “Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building
Resilience,” United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (New York: UNDP, 2014).

Mehnaz Aziz et al, “Education System Reform in Pakistan: Why, When, and How?” IZA Policy Paper No. 76,
January 2014 (Institute for the Study of Labor, 2014), P 4.

Annual Report: Pakistan Education Statistics 2011-12, National Education Management Information System
Academy of Educational Planning and Management, Ministry of Education, Trainings & Standards in Higher
Education, Government of Pakistan, (Islamabad, AEPAM, 2013).

Economic Survey of Pakistan 2014, Ministry of Finance, Government of Pakistan.

Pakistan: Education for All 2015 National Review, Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher
Education Academy of Educational Planning and Management Islamabad, Pakistan June, 2014 (available at :
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002297/229718E.pdf).

Maliha Naveed, Reasons of Low Levels of Education in Pakistan, Pakistan Herald, January 03, 2013 (available
at: http://www.pakistanherald.com/articles/reasons-of-low-levels-of-education-in-pakistan-3065).

“Pakistan may miss EFA goals by 2015-16: Report,” Daily Nation, October, 3, 2014.