KARACHI:
In Karachi, there are private schools on every other block in most localities. Many middle and low-income families send their children to these schools to provide them with quality education and enhance their prospects. But most private schools in the lower strata of the city have failed to provide good education despite charging higher fees compared to government schools.
These schools lack basic facilities such as playgrounds, and practical and computer labs. The classrooms are overcrowded, but the number of overall students is low, so there is no competition to improve education quality, and the students are not motivated. Teachers are not well qualified with many just being matriculation or intermediate graduates. Even English medium schools do not have proficient English-speaking students.
Most parents are unwilling to send their children to government schools due to the absence of monitoring and regulation. However, parents can and should enrol their children in government schools as the government pays teachers’ salaries and allocates resources to the schools. Thus, parents can pressure the school administration and faculty to perform better. The education department should tighten regulations over government schools to ensure that all children have access to quality and affordable education.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2023.
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