This old saying of ‘invest in rubies so that you earn profit in diamonds ‘might be one very correct formula for our Pakistani government to think about investing in education so that we see a substantial future.
Education in Pakistan could be seen as the foremost factor deciphering the fate of 160 million people in our country. Yet we are victims to the lowest literacy rate, lower education standards and lower growth that our country has witnessed during the last 60 years .The society as a whole is suffering due to lack of education .Narrow mindedness and intolerance prevails on a large scale. Our society has deteriorated its values, norms and culture just due to lack of awareness on many issues and areas; the main reason being lack of education.At the grass root level we even see that many menaces of the society are inborn due to lack of education ; one such problem is that of child labor which prevails widely and children which need to be going to school end up earning livelihood for their family at a very early age.
In order for Pakistan to survive in the coming years it should be highly projected that education needs to come on the top agenda of Pakistani government and its people. It is time, where there needs to be mental reconcile amongst the masses and the government that they need to focus on the education sector. It should be considered the pivotal point of balance for things to turn favorable.
It would be hence essential to lay a spotlight on the way education works in our country .There are three distinct patterns of education systems which allow individual to be a part of it. Firstly we have the privately operated madressahs, secondly we have the government schools and the third system is a privately operated network of schools which are primarily English medium as well. What seems to be the dilemma is that we lack one single system which is fully integrated with all fields of education including religious studies. This dilemma of having three different streams of education opens a wide gap of levels that one can achieve during his/her career. A graduate from a government school might not be able to get through to a higher place of hierarchy in an organization as compared to one who passed out a foreign exam of studies. Many of these privately operated schools offer American and British exams which include the O/A ‘levels and international baccalaureate as well To have a look back in history of our country we would be able to identify that we have a very low growth and development process .The key factor which leads to this is education. The masses cannot certainly afford private schools for their children .This usually creates a lesser standard of studies for them.
However, there could be some key steps which the government can take in order that the situation improves. The government should aim at introducing a standardization of curricula and also licensing and certification of teacher’s .The government could introduce a board or an authority to achieve this. In order to make education a universal one in Pakistan two things can be done to eliminate these distinct variants of studies .The prime issue is to make one language of instruction. For example if English is the medium of instruction then all schools in Pakistan should have studies carried out in English. Secondly religious studies should be incorporated in the main stream education. For this purpose Arabic could be introduced as a second language in schools as well.
Looking at different people from different social-income groups and walks of life around me , I certainly do acknowledge the fact that most individuals carry a desire to study leading to credentials as well.Many such people might be very successful people in everyday life yet they lack education which they ought to attain .The reasons why they are still convinced that education is beneficial for all is that it would make an individual a better person and also be able to utilize his skills better in life as to any profession that they have opted . Better education gives a hope for our nation in the times to come. This is the time for our institutions to act and make rectifications in the chaotic system of education which exists till now.
