FAILURE OF OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM MUST ASSUME THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR FAILURES
Outline:
I.
Introduction:
Thesis statement:
A sound education
system is pivotal for individual and national success. The lack of progress in
Pakistan reflects flaws in its education system.
II.
John Dewey's
perspective in "Education and Democracy" supports this notion.
III.
Failures in the
Political Arena:
A. Conformity over Leadership:
The education
system promotes conformity over critical thinking, hindering the development of
leaders.
B. Outdated Ideas:
Outmoded
educational practices hinder the adoption of progressive political concepts
like democracy and plurality.
IV.
Failures in the
Social Sphere:
A. Lack of Unified Identity:
Fragmented
educational systems contribute to a lack of a shared national identity.
B. Emphasis on Competition:
The focus on
competition rather than compassion fosters a morally deficient society marked
by corruption and crime.
V.
Failures in the
Economic Arena:
A. Dropout Rates and Talent Wastage:
Educational deficiencies,
particularly among girls, lead to talent wastage.
B. Shortage of Skilled Human Capital:
Poor education
quality results in a dearth of skilled labor.
VI.
Failures in
Science and Technology:
A. Lack of Creativity Encouragement:
The failure to
foster creativity stifles innovation and research.
VII.
Impacts across
Sectors:
The repercussions
of neglecting informal education permeate various aspects of society.
VIII.
Comparative
Analysis: North and South Korea:
A comparison
between the educational systems of North and South Korea highlights the
importance of education in national development.
IX.
Shared
Responsibility:
Beyond the
education system, other sectors also bear responsibility for societal
development.
X.
Call for Overhaul:
Establishing
responsibility underscores the urgent need for comprehensive education reform.
XI.
Conclusion:
The
transformation of the education system is imperative for national development.
As stated,
"The struggle to raise a nation's
living standards is fought first and foremost in its classrooms."
History
bears testimony to the fact that the struggle for the progress of a nation is
initiated in its schools. Those nations that equip their young ones with the tools
of learning are bound to make progress. From the academies of Athens to the
learning centers of Anatolia, from Al-Azhar of Cairo to the University of
Cambridge, all institutions helped in building such nations that ruled over the
world. This is so because education edifies a nation and prepares for overall
development. A nation without education can never aspire to prosper. The
prosperity of a nation is directly dependent upon its education system. If the system
of education falters prospects of prosperity become bleak. Pakistan falls in
this category. Despite its unlimited. Natural and human resources, it could not
prosper because its education system was flawed. Progress in all sectors of
Pakistan is stymied due to the fact Pakistan can never progress unless Its
education system is reformed. In short, it can be stated that a sound education
system always leads to a successful individual and a nation. So, if Pakistan
has failed to progress, it implies that Pakistan's education system is flawed.
To
begin with, a similar position has been taken by a famous American philosopher
and pedagogist, John Dewey. In his renowned work "Education and Democracy'',
he writes:
"Education
is to society what nutrition is to the body. Lack of education impedes social
growth in the same manner lack of food hampers growth of a body.”
Dewey
explains that all chemical processes in a human body require energy. This
energy is supplied through the intake of food Similarly, social processes like
human interactions, adherence to social norms, and social sanctions also
require energy. This energy is provided through education. If an education
system that provides education fails, whole social progress is stalled which
causes the failure of a society and a nation.
Pakistan
has failed in the political arena due to the failure of its education system.
It is often complained in Pakistan that the basic reason for Pakistan’s
backwardness is a lack of sincere and charismatic leadership. This lack of
leadership is a consequence of our failed education system. Our education
system does not encourage debate and discussion. It only rewards the student,
if he strictly conforms to the rules and the procedures prescribed by the
school administration. This practice makes students servile and dried of
leadership qualities when those students grow up, they become followers of
cunning demagogues who continue to exploit their gullible voters. The result is
a herd of sheep without a herder. The directionless nation is indeed, the worst
failure.
Furthermore,
our education system is outdated which perpetuates a retrogressive mentality in
Pakistan. It is a well-known fact that the curriculum of Pakistan is not
synchronous with the exigencies of the present times. It teaches those facts
and ideas which have long been discarded by the developed world. Moreover, the
methods of teaching. Which are employed in Pakistan have also been abandoned in
most parts of the world. Similarly, grading techniques in Pakistan are also out
fashioned. As a result of this outmoded education system, students don't learn
new ideas. When such students grow up, they stick to outdated ideas and do not
adopt modern concepts. This creates a political milieu that does not accept
progressive ideas like democracy, gender equality, and human rights. When such
ideas are not accepted, a nation fails to keep up with the global progress Same
has happened with Pakistan and this is why it is sometimes labeled as a failed
state
Not
only in the political arena, but Pakistan has also faced failures in the social
sphere due to its flawed education system. First and foremost, Pakistan has
failed to forge a common and united national identity Society of Pakistan is
fragmented along various fault lines. These fault lines include class
divisions, sectarian divides, provincial factorizations, and many more. All of
these divisions are direct repercussions of a faulty education system In
Pakistan, there are numerous sub-systems of education. Madrassahs and mainstream
education systems are diametrically opposite to each other as they impart
different kinds of education. Even in the mainstream education system, there
are divisions of public private, English-Urdu medium, and elite-low-end
schools. Moreover, some schools have a Cambridge system while others have a local
board system. All these divisions, manifest themselves in the form of a divided
nation.
Furthermore,
our education system focuses exclusively on competition while completely ignoring
the moral upbringing of our young ones. Though competition is a positive thing
if it is constructive, if this competition becomes a zero-sum game, it is
surely a negative thing. In such a form of competition, two competitors not
only want to gain some benefit but also want to deprive the other of the same
benefit. Such competition breeds jealousy and is detrimental to social
integration and social cohesion. Rather, the education system should promote a
conducive environment for all and impart feelings of compassion and sympathy to
the students. Pakistan’s education system is completely oblivious of this fact
and thus, Pakistan has failed to produce a tolerant and compassionate society.
Like
the social sphere, Pakistan has suffered in the economic arena too due to its
failed education system. The economy of any country is based on the
contribution of its citizens. If citizens are well-educated, they contribute to
the development of all economic sectors. They play their role in their
country's development through different professions. In industries, they
increase productivity. In services, they increase the efficiency of the
services. They provide. In agriculture, work increases crop yield through the employment
of new techniques. On the contrary, if the citizenry is non educated it
becomes a burden for their country. In Pakistan, a large number of Pakistanis
are illiterate. Either they don't enroll themselves in schools or they quit
schools at an early stage. Our flawed education system is to be blamed for non
enrollments and drop-outs. According to a study conducted by Alif Ailan, 35% of
parents don’t get their children enrolled because they think education is not
useful and it will not help in get employment in the future. Among such
children, most are girls. The absence of girls from the country’s pool of workforce
and educated citizens is detrimental to Pakistan’s economic development
Moreover, according to the same study, 41% of students quit school because they
are beaten in the schools. Such alarming figures cast a dark shadow of doubt
over the efficiency of Pakistan's education system. Surely, Pakistan has
suffered in the economic arena due to the broken education system.
Furthermore,
poor education is being provided by the educational system □f Pakistan Except
few institutions, most of the education don't provide quality education
Government Schools and Universities are under-resourced while private
institutions focus on money-minting only. As a result, those students who even
complete their higher education are incapable of serving their motherland in a
useful manner. Consequently, Pakistan sixth largest country in the world-faces a
dearth of skillful human capital. The absence of skillful human capital affects
all sectors of the economy. Thus, a failed education system has a direct
bearing on Pakistan's deteriorating economic situation.
Likewise,
Pakistan’s education system does not encourage creativity, which has resulted
in Pakistan's worst performance in the sector of science and technology. From
day one in school to the passing day as a university graduate, the creative
abilities of a student are deliberately suppressed. Only getting good marks is
encouraged. To get good marks, students often resort to cramming and cheating.
As out of the box solutions don't’ fetch good marks so students avoid them.
Gradually, their creative ability dies out and they become like a storage
device that has memorized all mathematical formulas but cannot devise a new
formula. Such students cannot devise innovative strategies to solve the
problems of Pakistan. In this scenario, old problems remain unsolved and
meanwhile, new problems combine to prop up. This is the dismal picture of
present-day Pakistan which is engulfed in a myriad of problems but there are
very few bright minds who can contrive methods to solve, those problems.
Not
only our formal education system is in a state of shambles, but an informal
aspect of education is also being neglected Jean Jacques Rousseau in his magnum
opus “Emily" or “On Education", brands informal education as a
foundation on which the whole edifice of learning is erected. In Pakistan, academic
culture from a very young age is becoming popular. Parents don’t take part in the
culturing and normative rearing of children, anymore They have delegated this
responsibility to the school As previously mentioned, schools do not impart
moral values in students either. The result of this sheer ignorance is mentally
active but morally backward children. As it is rightly said, “As the twig is
bent, so the tree will grow” so such children give rise to a nation that is
devoid of moral sensitivities. Not only can moral values be instilled in
children through informal education but other useful traits like hard work,
consistency, and steadfastness can also be taught. So, in absence of proper
informal education system, there is little hope of Pakistan's progress
What
is true for Pakistan is also true for other nations. Both North and South Korea
were similar to each other concerning economic and social development fifty
years ago. However, South Korea devised an education system that took into
account the true purpose of education. South Korean education system not only
taught Confucian ethics but also instilled healthy work- ethics in its students.
They promoted some inquiry and curiosity. They encouraged creativity and
innovative ideas. On the contrary, North Korean educational institutions under
Kim II Sung, indoctrinated a biased worldview among North Koreans as they
usually focused on amoral communist doctrine Moreover, they preferred military-style
discipline in schools over creativity After fifth years or so results are
visible. It is easy to discern between the correct and incorrect approach.
South Korea is now a developed nation because it developed a sound educational
system while North Korea has failed due to the failure of its educational
system. Nevertheless, other sections, along with the education system, should
also assume responsibility for our failures. For instance, diplomatic failures
and setbacks faced by Pakistan in the past few years cannot be blamed on the education
system The political administration of Pakistan has failed to present our
country in a positive light to the world, and as a result, the majority of
countries consider Pakistan a duplicitous and an untrustworthy country.
Similarly, the mismanagement of economic affairs is a result of flippant and
desultory policies contrived by myopic economic policymakers. Balance of
payment crisis, circular debt, foreign debt, and dwindling exports are
symptomatic of flawed macro-economic adjustments planned by economic advisors.
Government focuses merely on vote-earning and money-grabbing projects while
completely ignoring structural inefficiencies of Pakistan’s economy. Many more
instances can be quoted in this regard but the basic point remains that all
sectors of Pakistan should assume responsibility for Pakistan's failures.
Once
established that our education system is underperforming and this
underperformance has bearing on Pakistan's stymied progress, it follows as a
logical conclusion that the education system needs a head-to-toe overhaul. Such
an overhaul can be subdivided into two steps. First of all, operational
deficiencies and problems should be rooted out. Incompetent teachers and dearth
of competent teachers is one such problem. For this matter, recruitment should
be strictly based on merit. After recruitment, continual modular training
should be conducted. These trainings can either be subject related or pedagogy
oriented. Further, a proper evaluation mechanism should be put in place to
gauge a teacher’s performance. Finally, the burden of extra responsibilities
like election duties should be released from teachers, shoulders. In a similar
vein, infrastructure. Educational institutions should be bolstered. According
to the IDEAS 2015 report, 48% of public schools lack either one or more basic
facilities. As modern education is not merely theoretical where teachers only
give teachers but also practical learning is required such facilities should be
provided on a priority basis.
The
second step towards a complete overhaul of the education system is the betterment
of education quality. For this purpose, modem practices and innovative policies
should be adopted. First, student-based learning which is also called the Japan
model should be introduced. In this model, each student is treated according to
his needs because every student has disparate conception and comprehension
capacities. Some students require extra attention while others may need minimal
effort to grasp a concept. Secondly ‘adopt a school’ AAS program should be
extended to the whole of Pakistan. This project is being run on a pilot basis
in 1000 schools in Punjab. The results of this pilot project are encouraging as
24% enrolment has increased in those schools. Moreover, according to a recently
published report by Progressive Education Network, AAS-based schools have a better
teacher-to-student ratio, and students have, on average 12% better grades in
primary schools. Thirdly, Higher order. Transformative skills or HOTS should be
taught in colleges and universities. World Economic Forum has pointed out four
such skills which are required for success in the modern age. Those skills
include cognitive flexibility, creativity, critical analysis, and coordination
skills with other people. As Pakistani students lack these skills, they tend to
get lower wages in international job markets Hence, these skills should be imported
to our youth on war footing.
The
quintessence of all discourse is that the education system is the check
jugular
vein of a country. If this vein is blocked or malfunctions, the chances of the country’s
survival much less its progress become grim. Pakistan is an archetype in this
regard as its education system is in a state of tatters. Very few go to
schools-especially in rural areas and those who go soon drop out of school.
Those who are either lucky or persistent enough to continue their studies,
often find themselves in a difficult situation. They find out that in Pakistan
their education is worthless to land them in a decent job. This is a matter of
collective concern as flawed education does not only spoil the future of
individuals but also of nations. To turn the tables and turn the fate of
Pakistan around, the education system should be set right. In education system
gets reformed all maladies afflicting Pakistan will gradually heal up and a
developed Pakistan will no more be an elusive and fanciful dream.
“The
dawn of development will shine on Pakistan's soil once the sun of enlightenment
and education rises above its horizon."
Akbar S.Ahmed
Chairman Ibn-e-Khaldun Chair,
Washington University
