Invisible education reforms

It has become a sort of tradition to lament worsening education situation in public schools, then do nothing about it.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is launched every year highlighting challenges of access, quality and equity in Pakistan. Each report reminds us about continuous deterioration of educational standards from all aspects. The report is generally accepted and widely quoted by the media, the private sector, donor agencies, NGOs and federal as well as provincial governments. Considering the pathetic situation in public schools, we all tend to take every survey findings at face value.

This year ASER 2013 was launched, the fourth report in the series, which made headlines in newspapers revealing that Sindh was at the bottom in terms of students’ learning outcomes and even lagged behind the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). It is very strange that Fata, a war-torn area, fared better than Sindh!

It is a matter of serious concern, considering that every year the province allocates a massive budget to education.

I was a panelist at the launch of the ASER Pakistan Provincial report for Sindh, which was held on February 11, 2014. Unfortunately, it has become a sort of tradition to lament the worsening education situation in public schools and then do nothing practical about it. We have almost taken our stakes out of the system and our children are now enrolled in private schools, creating an apartheid-like education system in the country. We deliver long speeches about education being a fundamental right but then leave parents of poor children to fend for themselves. Some of them are now getting their children enrolled in madrassas due to the failure of the public school system.

I noticed and pointed out mistakes in the ASER report’s assessment tools in my speech. The audience looked very much surprised and quite taken aback as they did not expect it. The government of Sindh may now refute its findings, raising concerns about authenticity and credibility of the survey.

Moreover, if I recall correctly, the Sindh Assembly has passed two separate resolutions, asking private schools in the province to teach the Sindhi language as a subject. The Sindh education minister has issued show-cause notices to around 500 private schools that are not doing so. It puts the education minister in a very odd position if the Sindhi language is not taught even in public schools — on what moral grounds can he force private schools to teach it if this is the case?

While we all know that the public education system is in a shambles, these are serious questions. If the quality of the tools is so poor, then how can one rely on its results? Moreover, what are the assurances that when these tools were administered in the field, proper research protocols and norms were followed?

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2014.

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