Surviving through Competition – Reforming Priorities!

The primary dilemma of the deteriorating educational system of Pakistan is the social injustice; elite and poor education.  A survey conducted by UNESCO in the year 2006 reported 62% of the registered students attending the government schools in Pakistan. In every society public educational institutions play the pivotal role to elevate the rate of literacy, however in Pakistan the government schools have failed to offer quality education to the registered students. In Pakistan, the government schools are run as per the National Education Policy (NEP), which is merely a political ploy. The NEP for 1998 – 2010 allocated 2% of National GDP on Education sector, with such a low GDP allowance highly unrealistic policies with no explicit strategies were presented. Humongous tasks like elevating the education standard of government schools and equalizing them to that of the private sector was a fancy idea; dead line to meet it was 2010. Sadly 2010 has already passed half; the government is unable to fix their magic wand to meet their promised announcement.On the other hand, the private sector with excessive resources and pricey gadgets has radicalized many young people while it has brought revolutionary change towards the educational priorities of the stake holders which is another acute dilemma of our society. To equip students with the skills necessary for a modern world and to outclass the competitors fancy terms like centrally air conditioned building, dance classes, riding clubs and swimming have become the newest fashion.Ms. Mehwish Raza, who works for an elite private school, commenced a competitor analysis survey to gauge the competitors' strengths. The survey resulted in getting to know about immensely altered educational priorities; shallow indeed. Schools, being an institution to raise moral values among the youth of the country are openly promoting class-difference in the name of ‘Extra Facilities'. Though various studies conducted in the West (Rebecca Waller, 2009) prove that air conditioning does have an impact on the students' attentiveness and energy level; however the major concern should be what the child is indulged in during the lesson. West is ahead of us in providing quality education to every child enrolled even in their public schools; whereas we are still struggling to develop effective curriculum to suit our basic requirements. Considering the power shortage our country is facing, makes this idea even more insensible and depressing. School institutions are not playing their due part to educate the society, wrong values are being imparted and the irony is the lack of understanding towards the required parameters for quality education held by the parent body, who are the most significant stake holders in the industry under discussion. The curriculum, teaching methodology, teaching resources, attention paid at to the children and the amount of opportunities provided to students to learn through academics or play matter the most. These priorities are rapidly being replaced by the superfluous policies to survive through the increasing competition faced by the schools, the parent body has adapted these fancy ideas to emerge as a member of the elite class of society, they no more care what is happening in the air conditioned rooms; all that matters is the classroom being artificially kept cold! The contrasting patterns in the expectations of the stake holders and the offers made by schools are alarming. Emphasize laid on the extra facilities is exceeding the motivation to gauge the quality of education offered by the school. The curiosity to find about the depth of swimming pool is more than taking a round of the school library. This new culture imparted and very sturdily bred in the society by the private schools is causing un-amendable damage to the moral and social values of our country.Policy makers should prioritize ways of improving the quality of education in terms of developing a compatible curriculum to keep abreast of the modern world, latest teaching methods used for teaching and most importantly well trained teachers to impart quality education to every child in the class irrespective of their heterogeneous socio-economic background. For a country like ours; where floods have ruined the crops and cattle, power shortage is killing the economic industry and inflation has exceeded prior records, the swimming pools and air conditioned environment in schools can wait till they have produced more able minds than only numerous shallow brains belonging to the so called high-class-society!