Foreign boards funnel billions out of Pakistan annually

Educationists say dependence on foreign boards push local academic systems to the brink

RAWALPINDI:

According to the British Council, 100,000 candidates from Pakistan will sit the O Level examinations this year.

The total fee for eight O Level subjects is Rs211,000. Sources said this means the Cambridge Board will collect Rs21 billion from Pakistan through just one O Level exam session.

In comparison, the federal government's total annual budget for higher education is Rs6 billion, and this amount equals seven years of the budget of Quaid-i-Azam University.

This calculation does not include A Level, IGCSE, or GCSE students. If all are counted, Cambridge University collects Rs30 billion from Pakistan in a single exam session. Since O Level, A Level and IGCSE exams are held twice a year, nearly Rs50 billion is taken out of Pakistan annually by one university alone.

In addition, American schools, Pak-Turk schools and other foreign university campuses earn separately.

Educationists say international institutions are exploiting weaknesses in Pakistan's education system and taking huge sums from within the country.

President of the Rawalpindi High Court Bar Association, Ahsan Hameed Lillah, said Pakistan must reform its education system, universities and college structure according to modern standards to save this massive outflow of money and use it for national development.

Education leaders Basharat Raja, Shafiq Bhalowalia and Dr Sagheer Alam said Pakistan has damaged its own examination system to support the earnings of foreign universities.

They said the country changes its academic and textbook policies every year, pushing the national education and teaching system to the brink of collapse.