We lag behind world nations in education, says minister
Rawalpindi : 29 August : Minister of State for Education Engineer Mohammad Baleeghur Rehman has said that he entirely agreed with the fact that education policies of the governments have been extremely flawed and the country unabashedly lags far behind the nations of the world in the field of education.
He added that the government wanted to raise the expenditure on education to 4 percent of the budget by the year 2018. Rights given to children under Article 25-A of the Constitution with regard to education have so far been denied to them.
He expressed these views while talking to Hamid Mir, host of Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’. Others who took part in discussion on the topic: “Challenges to Education in Pakistan: An Educational Appraisal” included education experts Syed Azhar Abidi, Dr Munazza Ambreen and Director ‘Alif Ailaan’ Musharraf Zaidi.
Azhar Abidi said that every successive government made education policy of its own but it was never implemented. To get better results it was essential to impart good training to teachers and give them good amenities. Dr Munazza Ambreen said that in the society those who could not get adjusted in life, became a teacher. Balighur Rehman further said that teachers in privately-managed schools were paid less, but they showed better performance than the government-run schools where teachers were comparatively paid more.
The basic reason for the state of affairs was the lack of system and framework. There were many places in the country even today where schools did not exist at all, and the government had no resources to transport all children in buses.
Educationist Syed Azhar Abidi said that no government had implemented its education policy in a befitting manner. “We do not even have reliable data and statistics in the light of which right steps could be taken,” he said and added that if provincial governments provided correct figures, the job of policy makers could become easier. In order to provide best training to the teachers, the government could enter into agreements with universities of international repute.
“If we send a foreign-educated teacher to a tehsil, he would not be in a position to do justice with his job. Therefore he should be appointed at the right place commensurate with his qualifications to reap maximum benefit from his education. It is absolutely necessary to teach language, and addition and subtraction.
He further said that the education policy we make is not implemented in its true spirit and I have a vision that we must have a perpetual body for collecting statistics. Currently we do not make the best use of data collection and preparation of statistics. We do not get the right figures and consequently we cannot implement the policies properly,” he said and added that right figures at the table could play a positive role in implementation of education policies. He was not satisfied with the veracity of data at the grassroots level.
The reports prepared by for the UN are by those which give utmost importance to statistics. They at the UN decide about aid to a country on the basis of these statistics. This shows the importance of statistics. He is of the view that there should be a unit to oversee our data collection mechanism. He wants that unit to verify the statistics prepared by our statistical officers as well as DMG officers and even secretaries, so that a reliable data is prepared which would facilitate the job of planners and implementers. He was of the view that it would save money as well.
Syed Azhar Abidi parried a question whether the performance of Punjab was better in the field of education vis-à-vis other provinces. He said that provincial governments hire consultants who give their own suggestions.
Such a campaign was initiated by Punjab too. However the report of the consultants on literacy rate on the basis of which they formulated their policies seems to be unauthenticated. The figures given by Pakistan Social and Living Standard Management Survey (PSLM) are not trustworthy. He said that the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is not different from other provinces. He however conceded that there was a zeal and enthusiasm in Punjab.
Speaking about better standard of education in privately-managed institutions as compared with government schools, Azhar Abidi said that apart from teaching there is another aspect which makes a good teacher. His capacity and radius of responsibilities are very important while making appointment of a teacher. He was of the opinion that teacher training and perks and privileges (the package) are not under discussion. There is no comparison in Malaysia of today with the Malaysia of 20-25 years ago. Most prestigious universities of the world have their campuses in Malaysia. They have sent around 10,000 students to study in foreign universities.
Dr Munazza Ambreen said that there is a wide gulf between the policy-makers and those who implement the policies. Our standard of education is so dull that we are pouring plain water in the jug with the hope that it will be transformed into syrup. This is simply impossible. In our social set up, one who is not adjusted anywhere else, he chooses the profession of teaching. In addition to that a salary of our teachers too is a big problem.
Musharraf Zaidi said that Geo’s campaign ‘Zara Sochiye’ and promulgation of education emergency in KP bode well for the future. Around 25 million children in the country are out of schools. Until and unless we resolve to solve this problem in all sincerity, we cannot hope for a better future.
