Bottlenecks in Education
English Essay on "Bottlenecks in Education" - Compositions on "Bottlenecks in Education"
Primary and secondary education are prerequisites for providing the tools necessary for making a decent living in the present day society. One’s ability to learn, to innovate, to emulate, to operate modern gadgets, find to survive in a paper driven society is crucially linked to the training that one has in the early part of one’s life: education.. Even the ability to do vocational training in later life, the ability to re-skill oneself and to improve one’s skills in a particular field depend on early education. In light of the importance of the area, it is good to hear that the government has started to focus more on it.
The real issue is that we want to educate our population irrespective of whether they want to be educated or not, understand its importance or not, have the ability to pay for it or not, and have inclination to pay or not.educationsight.blogspot.com This requires that the state and the people expend resources in the area sometimes even when individuals who have the money are unwilling to do so. Furthermore, we also have to ensure the product we deliver to the students is of a good enough quality. Otherwise the entire purpose of providing Education and spending state resources on it fails.
But this is exactly wF.ere we are facing severe bottlenecks. On the quantity side even today we find that we have not been able to establish, in the private or public sector, enough schools at the primary and secondary level enough to cater for the entire young population. The schools are too few, they are located at large distances from the students, and there are no transport facilities. The problems hit the girl-child much more severely.
On the quality side, the bottlenecks are even more constricting. The quality of infrastructure in the schools, if present at all is simply appalling. Schools lack building. If buildings are there, there is no furniti.re, no provision for washrooms, water, electricity and so on. M5t classes are badly lit (if at all), and the peeling paint, sagging furniture and the generally appalling conditions make it almost. impossible for a person to stay in the room for long. And children, the future of this nation, are supposed to get educated under these conditions. But the most binding constraint on the quality side comes from the quality of teachers. Tests conducted on teachers for primary and secondary levels, from curricula they are supposed to be teaching, show that many would not be able to pass the tests themselves. How can they teach others? What they can do is inculcate the method of rote learning in students so the students can learn the same ‘notes’ their teachers had done as students, and somehow just pass the examinations set by the respective boards.
When these students enter situations where rote learning is not possible or does not yield optimal results, they do every poorly. But this defeats the purpose of education completely. Education is supposed to open minds and inculcate an inquisitive attitude towards learning. If it deadens people and makes them blind and deaf, it is of no use to us, even though formally these students might have all the certificates and degrees. One problem is of the incentives given to teachers. How much do we pay them? Can a teacher have a decent middleclass standard of living in this society? We pay Rs 3000-4000 a month to teachers in primary and secondary schools, and sometimes even less than that. The salaries do not go up substantially for even the last few grades of secondary education, and they do not go up substantially with experience either. How can a person make a career ii teaching? The pattern is then clear. No one wants to be a teacher. Young people will explore all other avenues before thinking about going into teaching. So people try to be doctors, engineers, bureaucrats, policemen and so on. If they cannot be any of the above, teaching becomes one of the last ways a person can make a living. It is then not only the case that we get very disgruntled people in the profession, it is also the case that via self-selection we get the least talented and the least motivated people. Where this is not the case with every person who is a teacher, as a teacher I can say that the trend described above by-and-large holds.
But there are other significant problems with teachers too. Teacher training is of poor quality. The Certificate of Teaching (CT), B.E.D. and M.Ed. certifications and degrees are poorly designed and very poorly delivered. The general malaise in education hits teacher training as well. Furthermore, there is no incentive for any teacher to improve her skills as well. But this just perpetuates the poor quality and ensures that we do not break out of the vicious circle. We get less qualified people in the profession of teaching, we train them poorly, we compensate them poorly, and then they teach poorly and we get the same cycle in the next generation.
There was a time, one hears, when teachers at least had a certain respect in the society. They might not have been well compensated, at least they were looked upon as the beacons of enlightenment for the next generation. The psychic rewards from being in teaching were higher then. But that too has changed. As the society has become more monetized and ‘modem’, and as values have changed, the ‘respect’ for the teacher is gone as well. Now she is just a person doing her job and being paid very poorly for it. How many people write ‘teacher’ on their cars or motorcycles in a society where many write ‘Senator’, ‘MNA’, ‘MPA’, ‘Press’, and so on. Clearly it is a refection of the lack of signal-value that such an announcement would have that is dictating the non-revelation. If one looks at other countries one finds it is true teaching is not the profession to enter if you want to be Bill Gates or Sam Waldon, but teachers are in the middle class in most developed countries. They might not be paid well directly, but they have good health benefits, old-age support and job security. They are also given opportunities and incentives for self-improvement. This is missing in Pakistan.
The intervention in the education field has to now come in quality terms. We need to make more schools surely, but it will be futile to do so if the quality of education is going to be what it is. It is in quality, and especially the quality of teachers and teaching, and teacher training that we need major interventions.
Here we will not look at how these quality interventions are going to be financed. In some ways it is futile to discuss that. W4. have to finance these interventions, and whether we borrow internationally for it or look for grants, whether we borrow locally or tax the citizenry now, and whether we depend on philanthropy for it is somewhat immaterial. But the interventions have to come, and have to come very soon if we want to start impacting the system in the next five years or so. The interventions are somewhat clear as well. There has to be a concerted effort to improve teacher training and returns to being a teacher. Right now we have a self-reinforcing vicious cycle in which poor quality gets paid poorly and so only poor quality gets delivered. The society needs to intervene, demand and deliver better quality, and reward better quality appropriately as well. This can happen as we have seen it in certain segments of the education sector. Private education at the university level has achieved it. They deliver better quality, charge for it, and recruit better quality teaches and pay for them. It has also happened at the higher end in private primary and secondary education as well. But it has not happened in the bulk of the education sector as yet.
One of the constraining factors is the lack of resources of course. Public schools cannot pay very well, and neither can poor parents and students. This is where we are going to need money injections, from all or some of the sources mentioned above. If we are going to improve quality, it cannot happen without putting in resources in teacher training and teacher compensation. If parents cannot afford the cost of these improvements in the larger society interest, the state or the society has to do it. The real question is not the money, the real question is going to be whether the concerned ministries, the NGOs, and the people involved in education will have the ability and dedication to manage the process well. It is here that the entire effort will fail or succeed. For the country, and for the people, one hopes we have the collective will and sagacity to manage the process well. Short of a very well managed and motivated national effort bringing change, it is hard to see how any change can happen in the education sector at large.
Education flaws: The education system of Pakistan has been deprived and neglected ever since the creation of Pakistan. This terrible negligence by our past and present rulers has played a significant role in dividing the country into ‘masses’ and ‘classes’, resulting in the classic equation of latter be.ng ruled by the former.
Let’s start with root cause of the problem faced by our children today. Class 10 is undoubtedly the base from where every child starts his or her career. At this important stage, every Pakistani child has two options in front of him/her, either to go for matriculation or for ‘0’ levels. Unfortunately, it’s not his/her choice that matters, but the amount of money his/her parents have in their bank account.
Now, generally speaking, a simple matriculation means less career choices, which results in frustration among children, when they reach higher levels of study..with their minds clean as a slate. The syllabus is too old and has no standing whatsoever when compared with the international standard. The emergence of evening tuition centres and academies has made a mockery of the entire educational system in the country. Due to these so-called ‘gurus’ of education, matriculation has become a very calculated attempt today. Children know that passing the matriculation examination would be guaranteed if they join a particular academy just two or three months before the exams, and there is no point in studying hard for grades throughout the year. Instead of thorough preparation, ‘ratta’ of selective studies and last live-year questionnaires are enough to get through with flying colours. What’s painful to observe is that when most of these kids emerge in the higher level of study, their minds are pretty ordinary, their concepts are muddled and they possess virtually no intellectual aspirations.
On the other hand, ‘0’ levels study is designed in a certain way to produce intellectually sound individuals, or leaders. But at the same time, it has been kept out of the reach of the masses, because of huge fee. Children of only the privileged class can afford these studies. Probably the idea is to produce a certain number of leaders to rule the next generation of the masses. The large so-called ‘school systems’ are working efficiently towards producing these classy snobs. This terrible situation has started to affect, the innocents minds of our young. Children as young as four are conscious about whether they have enrolled in a socially superior (and more expensive) school. And there are academies cropping up that prepare four-year olds for interviews and entrance tests to so-called prestigious schools.
As far as education reform is concerned, all we need to do is to ‘standardise the syllabus’ and enforce a merit system in this country so that every child, no matter what social background he/she comes from, stands equal to peers and enjoys an equal number of career opportunities. That’s it!! It should be either a matriculation or ‘0’ level for every Pakistani.
Education for all women and men: Each year since 1967, UNESCO has celebrated “International Literacy Day” with the aim to sensitise and mobilize international public opinion and to elicit their interest and active support for literacy - one of UNESCO’s major tasks since the Organisation’s constitution was adopted in 1945. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, asserts access to basic education as a fundamental human right.
On this Jays the 8th of September, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koichiro Matsuura, addresses a message to the world, appealing to individuals, organisations and states to demonstrate their support and solidarity for literacy to ensure free and compulsory quality education to all girls and boys, and to promote non-formal education for all, particularly for those who have been excluded from the school system during childhood.
It is encouraging to Pakistan that it this year receives one of the UNESCO Prizes for Literacy, which goes to the Bunyad Literacy and Community Council (BLCC) for its work to help women and children working in carpet and football making factories, and other activities, to get education and become more independent and to increase their social protection. Although Pakistan does focus more on education than before, it has a long way to go to reach universal primary education and literacy for all. Except for Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan, no other Asian country has as low literacy rate as Pakistani. Many pourer African counties do much better in education and literacy than Pakistan. According to data published in July 2002 by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in Canada, over 50% of the adult Pakistani population is illiterate. There is a major gender imbalance, with over 70% of the women being illiterate as against close to 40% of the men. Illiteracy is higher in rural areas than in urban, and it is higher among older people than younger people. The latter gives us hope that we are on the right way and towards reduced literacy. But how long will it take before we reach education and literacy for all?
Pakistan was the first country to prepare a National Plan of Action for Education for All for 2000-20 15. In this plan, Pakistan intends to achieve universal primary education (UPE) by 2015, and it intends to receive close to universal literacy (86%) by the same year. Realization of these targets will depend on a number of factors. Availability of internal and external funding is basic requirement, but certainly not the only one. A few critical factors could be identified that any country working towards major improvements in education will face.
The first challenge is to undertake comprehensive sector studies and planning at national level and reallocate funds within a government’s budget, i.e. agree on reducing spending in “hard” sectors like defence, and transfer the savings to human development, notably the “soft” sector of education. Furthermore, improved internal efficiency and capacity building can also gain savings. Funds saved must be ploughed back into the sector and new and innovative approaches developed, improving the work atmosphere and learning environment. The private sector can also help in the implementation of the governments general plan.
Another important effort is to get the required mass support for education in the country. That would also include developing an understanding for why it is important to give girls the same educational opportunities as the boys. And why the rural children must have the same opportunities as the urban ones; the poor the same as the middle class and the rich; the handicapped, disabled and the refugees must also be included. Egalitarianism is a key word. As we know, talent and intelligence are equally distributed in a society. It is the task of leaders and educators to give opportunities and help unlock human potential and creativity - for the development of the country and the individuals.
Equally vital is to secure the required foreign support from multilateral and bilateral donors and financial credit institutions. Many developing countries plan for major external funding. Pakistan is no exception. How successful a country is in receiving external funding depends to a great extent on the donors’ confidence in the country’s plans, its general development prospects, and the sustainability of the progress and processes.
It is also imperative to mobilise and reorganise the administrative and implementation capacity to undertake massive expansion of the education system at federal, provincial and district levels. The local implementation capacity is critical. Training of administrators, teachers and school leaders is essential. Closer co-operation between schools and parents must be established. There is great need not only for the government, but also for NGOs, CBOs, and other private sector providers to take part in advocacy, mobilisation and empowerment. Functional literacy and practical training that also provide income-generating opportunities for adults are key to making the learning process relevant to daily life. Experience from other countries show that unless the government is an active leader, the private sector will not succeed in their roles.
The fifth and most important challenge is to ensure quality improvement and relevance in education. A set of factors contribute to making schools good schools. Most important are the head teachers and teachers: Without well trained, qualified and paid teachers, all the other important factors such as well designed curricula, relevant teaching materials and good school buildings, are not likely to bring about a conducive learning environment. The teachers, besides providing basic knowledge and life-skills, must also possibly familiarize themselves with important issues of vital interest to the future generation, such as human rights, non-violent conflict resolution and sustainable environment.
UNESCO co-ordinates internationally, the follow-up activities to the Dakar World Education Forum of April 2000 on EFA. In Pakistan, UNESCO has initiated the establishment of an International EFA Forum. with relevant UN organisations to support the Government in achieving their education goals. Currently, changes and improvements are being made, and assessment studies undertaken, in order to tie the plans to practical realities.
It is too early to say if Pakistan will be able to meet its, and the international community’s ambitious goals on time. The international community and the developing countries who do still not have UPE, seem more.4et.ermined than before to achieve the goals they have set - not only in words, but followed up by action. The next generation of youth will - in the year 2015 - take us to task and see how far we reached If we loose this opportunity, they have all the right to ask why we did not manage to eliminate illiteracy and give every child and youth basic education.
Education is an investment. But it, is also a means to achieving development goals. It costs money in the first place, but it yields social and individual benefits in the next. It is common knowledge today that a farmer who has gone to school becomes a better and more productive farmer. A girl who has gone to school will become a better mother, have fewer and healthier children, and she will ensure that her children get education, also her daughters. Therefore, in addition to the personal gain in quality of life, we can use economic arguments for justifying basic education and literacy for all.
Gender equality is high on the world’s development and education agendas. The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, developed a Platform of Action, where “education and training of women” was listed as the second most important area on a list of twelve critical areas of development concern. The “EFA Assessments” carried out over the last decade shows that we have to focus more on girls’ and women’s education in the future, as the results are quite unsatisfactory, in spite of all the good work that has been done. At the “Dakar Forum” in 2000, the” UN Secretary-General launched the Ten-Year UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), to address the gender disparities in educational opportunities. We must indeed ensure that this will be the last generation of illiterate youth in this country. The next generation of young Pakistani girls arid boys must all go to school so that they will be in a better position to live richer lives and contribute to the country’s and region’s development.
The real issue is that we want to educate our population irrespective of whether they want to be educated or not, understand its importance or not, have the ability to pay for it or not, and have inclination to pay or not.educationsight.blogspot.com This requires that the state and the people expend resources in the area sometimes even when individuals who have the money are unwilling to do so. Furthermore, we also have to ensure the product we deliver to the students is of a good enough quality. Otherwise the entire purpose of providing Education and spending state resources on it fails.
But this is exactly wF.ere we are facing severe bottlenecks. On the quantity side even today we find that we have not been able to establish, in the private or public sector, enough schools at the primary and secondary level enough to cater for the entire young population. The schools are too few, they are located at large distances from the students, and there are no transport facilities. The problems hit the girl-child much more severely.
On the quality side, the bottlenecks are even more constricting. The quality of infrastructure in the schools, if present at all is simply appalling. Schools lack building. If buildings are there, there is no furniti.re, no provision for washrooms, water, electricity and so on. M5t classes are badly lit (if at all), and the peeling paint, sagging furniture and the generally appalling conditions make it almost. impossible for a person to stay in the room for long. And children, the future of this nation, are supposed to get educated under these conditions. But the most binding constraint on the quality side comes from the quality of teachers. Tests conducted on teachers for primary and secondary levels, from curricula they are supposed to be teaching, show that many would not be able to pass the tests themselves. How can they teach others? What they can do is inculcate the method of rote learning in students so the students can learn the same ‘notes’ their teachers had done as students, and somehow just pass the examinations set by the respective boards.
When these students enter situations where rote learning is not possible or does not yield optimal results, they do every poorly. But this defeats the purpose of education completely. Education is supposed to open minds and inculcate an inquisitive attitude towards learning. If it deadens people and makes them blind and deaf, it is of no use to us, even though formally these students might have all the certificates and degrees. One problem is of the incentives given to teachers. How much do we pay them? Can a teacher have a decent middleclass standard of living in this society? We pay Rs 3000-4000 a month to teachers in primary and secondary schools, and sometimes even less than that. The salaries do not go up substantially for even the last few grades of secondary education, and they do not go up substantially with experience either. How can a person make a career ii teaching? The pattern is then clear. No one wants to be a teacher. Young people will explore all other avenues before thinking about going into teaching. So people try to be doctors, engineers, bureaucrats, policemen and so on. If they cannot be any of the above, teaching becomes one of the last ways a person can make a living. It is then not only the case that we get very disgruntled people in the profession, it is also the case that via self-selection we get the least talented and the least motivated people. Where this is not the case with every person who is a teacher, as a teacher I can say that the trend described above by-and-large holds.
But there are other significant problems with teachers too. Teacher training is of poor quality. The Certificate of Teaching (CT), B.E.D. and M.Ed. certifications and degrees are poorly designed and very poorly delivered. The general malaise in education hits teacher training as well. Furthermore, there is no incentive for any teacher to improve her skills as well. But this just perpetuates the poor quality and ensures that we do not break out of the vicious circle. We get less qualified people in the profession of teaching, we train them poorly, we compensate them poorly, and then they teach poorly and we get the same cycle in the next generation.
There was a time, one hears, when teachers at least had a certain respect in the society. They might not have been well compensated, at least they were looked upon as the beacons of enlightenment for the next generation. The psychic rewards from being in teaching were higher then. But that too has changed. As the society has become more monetized and ‘modem’, and as values have changed, the ‘respect’ for the teacher is gone as well. Now she is just a person doing her job and being paid very poorly for it. How many people write ‘teacher’ on their cars or motorcycles in a society where many write ‘Senator’, ‘MNA’, ‘MPA’, ‘Press’, and so on. Clearly it is a refection of the lack of signal-value that such an announcement would have that is dictating the non-revelation. If one looks at other countries one finds it is true teaching is not the profession to enter if you want to be Bill Gates or Sam Waldon, but teachers are in the middle class in most developed countries. They might not be paid well directly, but they have good health benefits, old-age support and job security. They are also given opportunities and incentives for self-improvement. This is missing in Pakistan.
The intervention in the education field has to now come in quality terms. We need to make more schools surely, but it will be futile to do so if the quality of education is going to be what it is. It is in quality, and especially the quality of teachers and teaching, and teacher training that we need major interventions.
Here we will not look at how these quality interventions are going to be financed. In some ways it is futile to discuss that. W4. have to finance these interventions, and whether we borrow internationally for it or look for grants, whether we borrow locally or tax the citizenry now, and whether we depend on philanthropy for it is somewhat immaterial. But the interventions have to come, and have to come very soon if we want to start impacting the system in the next five years or so. The interventions are somewhat clear as well. There has to be a concerted effort to improve teacher training and returns to being a teacher. Right now we have a self-reinforcing vicious cycle in which poor quality gets paid poorly and so only poor quality gets delivered. The society needs to intervene, demand and deliver better quality, and reward better quality appropriately as well. This can happen as we have seen it in certain segments of the education sector. Private education at the university level has achieved it. They deliver better quality, charge for it, and recruit better quality teaches and pay for them. It has also happened at the higher end in private primary and secondary education as well. But it has not happened in the bulk of the education sector as yet.
One of the constraining factors is the lack of resources of course. Public schools cannot pay very well, and neither can poor parents and students. This is where we are going to need money injections, from all or some of the sources mentioned above. If we are going to improve quality, it cannot happen without putting in resources in teacher training and teacher compensation. If parents cannot afford the cost of these improvements in the larger society interest, the state or the society has to do it. The real question is not the money, the real question is going to be whether the concerned ministries, the NGOs, and the people involved in education will have the ability and dedication to manage the process well. It is here that the entire effort will fail or succeed. For the country, and for the people, one hopes we have the collective will and sagacity to manage the process well. Short of a very well managed and motivated national effort bringing change, it is hard to see how any change can happen in the education sector at large.
Education flaws: The education system of Pakistan has been deprived and neglected ever since the creation of Pakistan. This terrible negligence by our past and present rulers has played a significant role in dividing the country into ‘masses’ and ‘classes’, resulting in the classic equation of latter be.ng ruled by the former.
Let’s start with root cause of the problem faced by our children today. Class 10 is undoubtedly the base from where every child starts his or her career. At this important stage, every Pakistani child has two options in front of him/her, either to go for matriculation or for ‘0’ levels. Unfortunately, it’s not his/her choice that matters, but the amount of money his/her parents have in their bank account.
Now, generally speaking, a simple matriculation means less career choices, which results in frustration among children, when they reach higher levels of study..with their minds clean as a slate. The syllabus is too old and has no standing whatsoever when compared with the international standard. The emergence of evening tuition centres and academies has made a mockery of the entire educational system in the country. Due to these so-called ‘gurus’ of education, matriculation has become a very calculated attempt today. Children know that passing the matriculation examination would be guaranteed if they join a particular academy just two or three months before the exams, and there is no point in studying hard for grades throughout the year. Instead of thorough preparation, ‘ratta’ of selective studies and last live-year questionnaires are enough to get through with flying colours. What’s painful to observe is that when most of these kids emerge in the higher level of study, their minds are pretty ordinary, their concepts are muddled and they possess virtually no intellectual aspirations.
On the other hand, ‘0’ levels study is designed in a certain way to produce intellectually sound individuals, or leaders. But at the same time, it has been kept out of the reach of the masses, because of huge fee. Children of only the privileged class can afford these studies. Probably the idea is to produce a certain number of leaders to rule the next generation of the masses. The large so-called ‘school systems’ are working efficiently towards producing these classy snobs. This terrible situation has started to affect, the innocents minds of our young. Children as young as four are conscious about whether they have enrolled in a socially superior (and more expensive) school. And there are academies cropping up that prepare four-year olds for interviews and entrance tests to so-called prestigious schools.
As far as education reform is concerned, all we need to do is to ‘standardise the syllabus’ and enforce a merit system in this country so that every child, no matter what social background he/she comes from, stands equal to peers and enjoys an equal number of career opportunities. That’s it!! It should be either a matriculation or ‘0’ level for every Pakistani.
Education for all women and men: Each year since 1967, UNESCO has celebrated “International Literacy Day” with the aim to sensitise and mobilize international public opinion and to elicit their interest and active support for literacy - one of UNESCO’s major tasks since the Organisation’s constitution was adopted in 1945. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, asserts access to basic education as a fundamental human right.
On this Jays the 8th of September, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koichiro Matsuura, addresses a message to the world, appealing to individuals, organisations and states to demonstrate their support and solidarity for literacy to ensure free and compulsory quality education to all girls and boys, and to promote non-formal education for all, particularly for those who have been excluded from the school system during childhood.
It is encouraging to Pakistan that it this year receives one of the UNESCO Prizes for Literacy, which goes to the Bunyad Literacy and Community Council (BLCC) for its work to help women and children working in carpet and football making factories, and other activities, to get education and become more independent and to increase their social protection. Although Pakistan does focus more on education than before, it has a long way to go to reach universal primary education and literacy for all. Except for Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan, no other Asian country has as low literacy rate as Pakistani. Many pourer African counties do much better in education and literacy than Pakistan. According to data published in July 2002 by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in Canada, over 50% of the adult Pakistani population is illiterate. There is a major gender imbalance, with over 70% of the women being illiterate as against close to 40% of the men. Illiteracy is higher in rural areas than in urban, and it is higher among older people than younger people. The latter gives us hope that we are on the right way and towards reduced literacy. But how long will it take before we reach education and literacy for all?
Pakistan was the first country to prepare a National Plan of Action for Education for All for 2000-20 15. In this plan, Pakistan intends to achieve universal primary education (UPE) by 2015, and it intends to receive close to universal literacy (86%) by the same year. Realization of these targets will depend on a number of factors. Availability of internal and external funding is basic requirement, but certainly not the only one. A few critical factors could be identified that any country working towards major improvements in education will face.
The first challenge is to undertake comprehensive sector studies and planning at national level and reallocate funds within a government’s budget, i.e. agree on reducing spending in “hard” sectors like defence, and transfer the savings to human development, notably the “soft” sector of education. Furthermore, improved internal efficiency and capacity building can also gain savings. Funds saved must be ploughed back into the sector and new and innovative approaches developed, improving the work atmosphere and learning environment. The private sector can also help in the implementation of the governments general plan.
Another important effort is to get the required mass support for education in the country. That would also include developing an understanding for why it is important to give girls the same educational opportunities as the boys. And why the rural children must have the same opportunities as the urban ones; the poor the same as the middle class and the rich; the handicapped, disabled and the refugees must also be included. Egalitarianism is a key word. As we know, talent and intelligence are equally distributed in a society. It is the task of leaders and educators to give opportunities and help unlock human potential and creativity - for the development of the country and the individuals.
Equally vital is to secure the required foreign support from multilateral and bilateral donors and financial credit institutions. Many developing countries plan for major external funding. Pakistan is no exception. How successful a country is in receiving external funding depends to a great extent on the donors’ confidence in the country’s plans, its general development prospects, and the sustainability of the progress and processes.
It is also imperative to mobilise and reorganise the administrative and implementation capacity to undertake massive expansion of the education system at federal, provincial and district levels. The local implementation capacity is critical. Training of administrators, teachers and school leaders is essential. Closer co-operation between schools and parents must be established. There is great need not only for the government, but also for NGOs, CBOs, and other private sector providers to take part in advocacy, mobilisation and empowerment. Functional literacy and practical training that also provide income-generating opportunities for adults are key to making the learning process relevant to daily life. Experience from other countries show that unless the government is an active leader, the private sector will not succeed in their roles.
The fifth and most important challenge is to ensure quality improvement and relevance in education. A set of factors contribute to making schools good schools. Most important are the head teachers and teachers: Without well trained, qualified and paid teachers, all the other important factors such as well designed curricula, relevant teaching materials and good school buildings, are not likely to bring about a conducive learning environment. The teachers, besides providing basic knowledge and life-skills, must also possibly familiarize themselves with important issues of vital interest to the future generation, such as human rights, non-violent conflict resolution and sustainable environment.
UNESCO co-ordinates internationally, the follow-up activities to the Dakar World Education Forum of April 2000 on EFA. In Pakistan, UNESCO has initiated the establishment of an International EFA Forum. with relevant UN organisations to support the Government in achieving their education goals. Currently, changes and improvements are being made, and assessment studies undertaken, in order to tie the plans to practical realities.
It is too early to say if Pakistan will be able to meet its, and the international community’s ambitious goals on time. The international community and the developing countries who do still not have UPE, seem more.4et.ermined than before to achieve the goals they have set - not only in words, but followed up by action. The next generation of youth will - in the year 2015 - take us to task and see how far we reached If we loose this opportunity, they have all the right to ask why we did not manage to eliminate illiteracy and give every child and youth basic education.
Education is an investment. But it, is also a means to achieving development goals. It costs money in the first place, but it yields social and individual benefits in the next. It is common knowledge today that a farmer who has gone to school becomes a better and more productive farmer. A girl who has gone to school will become a better mother, have fewer and healthier children, and she will ensure that her children get education, also her daughters. Therefore, in addition to the personal gain in quality of life, we can use economic arguments for justifying basic education and literacy for all.
Gender equality is high on the world’s development and education agendas. The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, developed a Platform of Action, where “education and training of women” was listed as the second most important area on a list of twelve critical areas of development concern. The “EFA Assessments” carried out over the last decade shows that we have to focus more on girls’ and women’s education in the future, as the results are quite unsatisfactory, in spite of all the good work that has been done. At the “Dakar Forum” in 2000, the” UN Secretary-General launched the Ten-Year UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), to address the gender disparities in educational opportunities. We must indeed ensure that this will be the last generation of illiterate youth in this country. The next generation of young Pakistani girls arid boys must all go to school so that they will be in a better position to live richer lives and contribute to the country’s and region’s development.
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