Mahmood urges steps to end educational inequality

Education minister says prevailing issues require huge efforts

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Education, Professional Training and Heritage Shafqat Mahmood on Friday said the government is striving to remove disparity in the education sector and taking initiatives to introduce a single national curriculum to cater to students from all backgrounds.

“In our country, private schools cater to the elite, whereas students from lower and middle class backgrounds opt for government schools. Madrassas on the other hand, cater to the poor,” he said during a session titled ‘Education in Pakistan: A Rollercoaster Ride’ at the 11th Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) held at the Beach Luxury Hotel in Karachi.

The panel for the discussion included NBP Funds CEO Amjad Waheed, Deloitte Pakistan Managing Partner Asad Ali Shah, educationist and political personality Shahnaz Wazir Ali, researcher and linguist Shahid Siddiqui.

The minister stressed the need for removing discrimination in the education system. “This is a very unjust system, which we cannot change overnight. We can, however, at least make an attempt to have a curriculum common to everybody,” he said, adding that the initiative would be a huge step forward.

Mahmood, who has been making efforts to bring changes in the education sector, highlighted that one of the most significant achievements would be to have all madrassa schools follow the national curriculum and enable their students to appear in Matric and FA examinations. He underscored that a large number of career opportunities would be made available to them through the step.

The government is also keenly working to foster skills development among youth, he added.

“We have taken some measures but areas that require massive effort are overcoming illiteracy, enrollment of out-of-school children, and reducing the rate of learning poverty,” Mahmood said, citing a World Bank research that pointed out 75% learning poverty in the country, which meant that after five years of education, 75% children aren’t able to read or write.

“I find it difficult to believe this but it’s one of the things we were told,” he added, stressing the need for having local organisations producing accurate statistics.

The minister also emphasised on emergency measures to deal with the crisis hampering productivity with regard to the education sector.

Speaking on the occasion, NBP Funds CEO Amjad Waheed identified governance and funding as two issues greatly affecting the state of education.

“Around 23 million children from age 5-15 – out of the 50 million – are not going to school at all. It’s almost half the population,” he said.

“15 million children are going to government schools, while 11 million go to the private ones,” he said, adding that only the latter are getting a “decent level of education”.

Deloitte Pakistan Managing Partner Asad Ali Shah said education has not been delivered by the public sector over the last 72 years despite tall claims by politicians and governments.

Presenting his paper, Shah proposed an “unusual strategy” comprising a charter of education to address the causes of the problem, increased spending on education and an end to education departments.

Shahnaz Wazir Ali also shared her two cents on the topic and shed light on public sector mass education. She pointed out lack of efficiency, quality and accountability in governments and said crisis and emergency have long been associated with the education sector and lost their value.

“I definitely think one part of it [problem] is the entire theoretical and ideological construct of Pakistan... If you don’t want to invest in human resource, you will never have budgets for health, education or infrastructure,” she said, highlighting the importance of social justice and social welfare state.

Talking about the state of education, researcher and linguist Shahid Siddiqui said there was “education apartheid” in the country.

“There are separate schools for the rich and poor which wasn’t the case in the past,” he said, adding that the educational institutions were perpetuating those inequalities.

He said the most important skill needed for the 21st century is critical thinking, adding that it was high time to impart creativity in courses and question ourselves.