Uncomfortable realities

The K-P PSC has called for a “drastic overhaul” of the education system in the province “before it is too late”

The education emergency is a national problem. It is evident in every corner of the land and contributes in no small way to the laggardly development of Pakistan. Now the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Public Service Commission (PSC) has put its finger on a number of sensitive pressure points, identifying the systemic flaws that bedevil education. The PSC has called for a “drastic overhaul” of the education system in the province “before it is too late”. Unfortunately, it may be too late already. With over 90 per cent of children in government schools in K-P, the quality of education they are getting is sub-standard, and this eventually feeds through up the system where second-best is the benchmark, until men and women emerge from the other end inadequately equipped for the job market. The PSC has remarked on the poor quality of candidates applying for the 338 teaching posts it advertised. A staggering 19,000 people applied, all of them having graduate degrees. Relatively few of them were considered of sufficient quality to recruit.

There are no surprises in what the PSC recommends; indeed it is merely restating what has been said for decades now. A complete revamp of the curriculum, more emphasis on social sciences, technical and scientific disciplines, completely free — as in including free textbooks — primary education, recruitment of better teachers, better enforcement and better management. This is not the educational equivalent of rocket science. Whilst credit must be given to the PSC for bringing the problem to the fore, it will have wasted its breath unless resolute action is taken. The PSC recommends piloting reforms in a sample of schools before generalising to the entire province. This is a common-sense approach and deserves support — whether it will be picked up politically beyond spineless platitudes remains to be seen. The Pakistan education emergency is a self-inflicted wound. It need never have happened. It will need more than common sense and fine words to heal it.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2015.

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