Waiting for education reform

For so many years, each successive government in Pakistan has been under pressure to increase the literacy rate, cover more areas with schools and colleges and provide graduating students with job opportunities. The Millennium Development Goals and donor insistence on them have made education reform a catch phrase for bureaucrats and politicians alike. But we have not progressed beyond statistics.

There is very little creativity in government schools; teachers are not trained in teaching methods; the staggering problem of absenteeism seems uncontrollable and teachers are thoroughly politicised, like the rest of the government machinery. Lack of planning for location of schools, provision of human resources and failure to train teachers is adding to the problem. Yet, the government is trying to ice a rotten cake through new initiatives rather than reforming or doing away with them.

The basic requisites of teaching are what is being taught, who is teaching and how. The interest of the pupil needs to be piqued. It is not smart boards at Danish schools which make education successful; it is the subject matter which needs to be made interesting to the student, lovingly and through discussion, which will inspire him to think for himself and thus truly imbibe knowledge. If that were not so, Socrates would not have taught his students in the open and still spread vistas of light which guide us even today. The distinguishing feature of his method of teaching was freedom of speech and discussion. Socrates would ask the students questions, which made them think and form their own ideas and knowledge. This method is prevalent in most civilised nations, yet debate is still unheard of in our schools and even in our society. Thus, the familiar guidebooks, rote learning and note-taking are the teaching tools in our schools. So, we are not only taking the interest out of education, we are also suppressing a citizen’s individuality and ability to question very early, as a child.

I do not discount the importance of buildings and facilities. But overspending on the trappings is simply not required for success in education. The basic amenities and a reasonably comfortable environment is enough. The enterprising student will rise on the basis of devotion to study, not a large campus nor a taat school. However, the teacher, syllabus and the method of teaching are pivotal. Creating an interest in the syllabus is crucial. Our syllabus is crying out for reform and complete overhauling. Who would want to teach and study this outdated curriculum? And what can it give to today’s students? The curriculum has to be interesting and must have current and quality subject matter. Curriculum reform and quality of teaching in government schools, and making it uniform for all schools across the board, is the actual key for creating equal opportunity in society. What a child takes away from school, at the end of the day, are not the trappings, but the knowledge. Once out of the golden gates, he is the same child who came to school from the slum. What empowers him is the difference the education received makes to his mind and heart.

One of the major policy flaws is that our funds allocation is skewed towards higher education, ignoring investment in schools. We know that there are regional disparities, as well as gender discrimination, too. But if the government is able to provide a comfortable neighbourhood school with a good teacher, with an up-to-date curriculum, that will give enrolment a boost. People are aware now and want to educate their children. It is a shame that none of the reform projects are able to address the main reasons for school dropouts: teacher absenteeism and classroom violence, including hostel violence and abuse in some cases. Danish Schools in every tehsil are fine and as a statement or signature school, it is a good policy initiative but reforming the neighbourhood school should be the first priority of the government. Let the reformed neighbourhood school become the symbol of change in Pakistani culture.

A free society is distinguished by the number of choices it offers to its citizens in making crucial decisions at different stages in their lives. Let us offer the choice of being educated to our children at the first stage of their lives. It will change their life forever, as well as the fate of this nation.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2013.

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