In a traditional address to the joint session
of the Parliament, President Asif Ali Zardari has highlighted government’s
achievements and upcoming challenges since coming to power after
elections in February last year.
With regards to education, he announced
that ’a new education policy
had been framed to ensure universal primary education by 2010 and increase
education budget to 4 percent of GDP by 2012.‘
With the universal primary education by 2010
Pakistan will continue to uphold its commitment with the UN Millennium Declaration (watchUniversal
Education Campaign Video below),
reaching the target well before. It’s one of the goals, universal primary
education will ‘ensure that by
2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike will be able to complete a full
course of primary schooling‘. In September 2000, leaders from around
the world ushered in the new millennium by adopting the Declaration, endorsed
by 189 countries, emerged as a road map setting out goals to be reached by
2015. Pakistan is also signatory to the Millennium declaration. These goals
form the basis for national development efforts.
Education is accepted as a basic right of
everyone both at national and international level. The Constitution
of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 clearly
lays down the provision in Article 37 (b) that:
“The state of Pakistan shall… remove illiteracy and provide
free and compulsory secondary education within minimum possible
period”.
In Article 26 (1), United Nations Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, 1948, it is clearly laid down that:
‘Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free,
at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education
shall be compulsory.”
In the light of the commitment of the
Government of Pakistan to the achievement of universal literacy and for
the provision of free and compulsory elementary primary education as
prescribed in the Constitution of Pakistan and as outlined under Article
26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ratified by the United
Nations, the country has introduced some twenty-two policies and action
plans since 1947. After 60 years and at the stage of electing political
leadership for the next 5 years, it is time to reflect on the progress
made, lessons learnt and critically examine the setbacks which we might
have suffered on the way, and chart a way forward with a new vigor.
The New National Education Policy, (NEP)
2009 comes in a series of education policies dating back to the very
inception of the country in 1947.
·
The first National Educational Conference (Karachi: Nov. 27,Dec
1, 1947) produced a strong philosophy of as well as a number of
ambitious recommendations indicating the future goals of education in Pakistan
Nevertheless, many of its recommendations remained in documentary form only for
the lack of institutional or economic resources to pursue them.
·
In 1959 Notational Commission on was established which
recommended that education should be made compulsory upto primary level by the
year 1969 and upto middle level by the year 1974.
·
In 1969, the New Education policy emphasized adult literacy.
·
The Education Policy, 1972 anticipated universal primary
education for boys and girls by the years 1979 and 1984 respectively, with its
extension upto middle level in the next three years.
·
The New Education, Policy 1970 recommended a shift to
scientific, technical and vocational education for middle level skilled worker.
It also emphasized a 50: 50 ratio between science and humanities subjects
enrollment.
·
National Education Policy 1979 emphasized the universal primary
education, by 1986-87 utilizing non-formal sources, open ‘Mosque Schools’ and,
‘Mohallah Schools’ for girls on a large scale.
·
Since 1979 no further expansion is seen in the field of
education planning in Pakistan except some new policy-decisions in certain
areas such as primary education, teacher training and higher education and
research. Nevertheless more emphasis is given to universalize the primary education
and quite a number of international projects have been launched in this
field.
·
The Educational Policy 1992 was announced by the Federal
Minister of Education in Islamabad in June, 1992. The following characteristics
were the most important features of this policy:
1. An
emphasis on Privatization.
2. Encouraging
the private sector in education.
·
The recommendations of the education policies were highlighted
in the next five year plans of the country and the targets were set
accordingly, however, meager resources were generally allocated to education
and the education sector could not get a lion’s share in any of the budget
proposal.
Recently, the review process for the
National Education Policy 1998-2010 was initiated in 2005 and the first
document, the White
Paperwas finalized in March 2007. The White Paper became
the basis for development of the Policy document.
Two main reasons prompted the Ministry of Education (MoE) to launch the review in 2005 well before the time horizon
of the existing policy framework (1998 - 2010) had approached.
Firstly, the policy framework has not served
as a satisfactory guide, as the policies pursued under that framework had
not produced the desired educational results. Performance of the education
sector has been deficient in several key aspects, most notably in access
rates, and in quality and equity of educational opportunities.
Secondly, new international challenges like
Millennium Development and Dakar Education for All (EFA) goals, have gained
greater momentum in the intervening years and demanded fresh consideration.
These challenges are triggered by globalization and nation’s quest for becoming
a “knowledge society”. Besides, some compelling domestic pressures such as
devolution of powers, economic development and demographic transformations have
necessitated a renewed commitment to proliferation of quality education for
all.
According to the White Paper, the purpose
of education is:
‘The education system should raise highly
knowledgeable, skillful, productive, creative and confident individuals
who have advanced reasoning and perception of problem solving skills;
are committed to democratic values and human rights; are open to new
ideas; have a sense of personal responsibility; are committed to moral
values; have assimilated the national cultures; are able to
tolerate differences in opinion, faith and culture; have
empathy towards all of humanity; and can participate in
the productive activities in society for the common good using Social
and Physical Sciences and Technology.’
Despite the constitutional guarantee of
free and compulsory secondary education as stipulated in 1973
Constitution, Pakistan has been unable to achieve targets of
universal primary enrollment objectives in over three decades. In Pakistan,
net enrollment rate at the primary level is indicated as 68% in
2005, as per the EFA
Global Monitoring Report, 2008, based on the data provided
by the Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan. As per findings of Pakistan
Social and Living Standards Measurement PSLM survey (2005-06), the
actual figure of Net Enrollment Rate (NER) for the same year is, however,
as much lower as 53%.
In 2005, of the 67% children enrolled in
primary schools nearly 30% dropped out before completing 5 years of
formal education. Net primary enrollment of Pakistan remains the lowest in
South Asia and the same is true for the annual primary completion rates.
The previous government undertook
several initiatives to increase the access to primary
education across the country including abolition of fees
and provision of free-of- cost textbooks. Pakistan prepared and
launched a National
Plan of Action for EFA (2001-2015) to
achieve goals of EFA. In accordance with targets given in the NPA of
Ministry of Education, Pakistan had planned to increase its
primary level Net Enrollment Rate (NER) up to 79% by the year 2005.
However, Pakistan has not been able to achieve the targeted net primary
enrollment rate set for 79%3 in 2005, and was only able to achieve an
NER value of 68% by this in the same year. Under the EFA and MDGs
frameworks, the government of Pakistan has committed to achieve 100% net
primary enrollment by the year 2015.
In 2005, Pakistan’s adult literacy rate (for
population aged 15 years and above) was 50% [64% for men and 36% for
women] which is among the lowest in the world and much below the South
Asian average of 65%.
According to 1998 Census, there
were are about over 50 million illiterates of age 15+ in Pakistan.
This number may have increased further, it is feared. The main cause of
this higher rate of illiteracy is the failure of formal education system
to enrol all the school aged children and retain them up to Grade 5.
Although few half baked programmes ofsome adult literacy programmes were
launched in the past, and some are still being implemented, their scope is
limited and quality is questionable. At the national level, the
question as it is not certain that to whether Pakistan will be able to
achieve the EFA targetsobjectives and the MDGs given the past trends, and
keeping in view the present state of the education system is highlighted
when the present status of key indicators of education in this country.
For example, Pakistan has not been able to achieve an adult literacy rate
of 60% by 2005, as the Government projected in its annual Millennium
Development Goals Report in 2004, and literacy target of 61% by 2005,
envisaged in the National Plan of Action (2001-15) for EFA, published by
the Ministry of Education.. The government of Pakistan has set itself set
the target of achieving 68% adult literacy rate by the year 2015 .
Pakistan can not eradicate illiteracy without
making primary education totally free and compulsory, and expanding
investment on adult literacy and Non-formal Basic Education programmes.
Country wide literacy programmes are urgently needed to promote peace
and tolerance in the society, to strengthen democratic practices, to raise
status of women in the society, and enhance productivity of the
labour force.
The responsibility for setting the priorities,
formulating policies and initiating measures to address various
issues relating to basic education lies primarily on the shoulders of
the political leadership of the country. Fortunately there appears to
be a broad consensus on the fundamental goals, including eradication
of illiteracy, increase in access to primary education and
improvement in the quality of education standards etc. among the
political leadership of the country. It is important that the key
issues facing the Education For All in Pakistan be clearly
identified, its implications fully understood, and status of progress made
so far by Pakistan, in comparison to other countries is evaluated. Based
on this assessment, policies and plans may then be formulated and
implemented by the present and future governments with firm political
resolve, maintaining consistency in broad objectives and strategies.
THE WAY
FORWARD
It is imperative to expand access to complete
free and compulsory primary (Up to Class 5) education, enhance budget for
education, improve early childhood education or Katchi class
in the country, enlarge scope of on-going adult literacy and Non-Formal Basic
Education (NFBE) programmes, give priority to girls education, and place
greater emphasis on capacity building and quality of educational services in
both public and private schools. Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and
Transparency (PILDAT) in a
paper published in January 2008 opined a few strategies to enable the country
to achieve EFA Goals and MDGs. In this regard, the key points of debate,
discussion and the basis of possible consensus for the political parties
of Pakistan are listed below:
1. Increasing
funding for education by allocating a minimum of 4% percent of the GDP
within next 3 years.
2. Allocation
of at least 10% of the education budget to Literacy and NFBE programmes
with an immediate effect.
3. Offering
free and compulsory primary education to all children in Pakistan,
and achieving 100% Primary Enrolment, 75% Primary Completion rate and
868% Adult Literacy by the year 2015.
4. Legislation
to declare free primary education a right, in accordance with Article 37
(b) of the Constitution of Pakistan
5. Achievement
of complete gender equality in Net Primary Enrolment by 2015.
6. Eradication
of political interference and favouritism in education department and
ensuring transparency in appointments, postings, and transfers of
teachers and other education officials.
7. Introduction
of a uniform curriculum and provision of equal facilities in all public
sector schools, and bridging the gap between various types of
publicprivate schools and Madrassass in the country.
8. Ratification
of UNESCO Convention against
Discrimination in Education (1960), by the Government of
Pakistan.
9. Addressing
disparity in progress towards ‘Education For All’among
various provinces, areas and districts in Pakistan Even if there are
differences on constitutional, legal and political questions
among political parties and their leadership, there is a critical need of
developing and maintaining a broad consensus among the parties on the
Education For All Goals and MDGs. Since policies and plans take time to
produce results, more so in the case of Literacy and Education, there is a
pressing need to have a continuity of policies and consistency of approach
in a broad sense. This Paper and the proposed All Parties Conference (APC)
on Education For All were intended to make a modest but much
needed contribution in that direction.
APC on ‘Education for All’ was organized on
February 05, 2008, by PIDLAT and UNESCO, where seventeen major political
parties of Pakistan (including parties now ruling the country) signed a Joint
Declaration on Education For All and pledged to bring positive changes in the
education sector by taking action on the above eight strategic points.
Few moths ago, another one, a consultation with
Parliamentarians on ‘Education For All in Pakistan’ was organized by PILDAT on January 29, 2009 at Serena Hotel
Islamabad in association with UNESCO, Islamabad.
This session was an effort to review the state
of education in Pakistan and the pledges made last year.
·
We must clearly focus on quality, gender equality, and
improvement in literacy, learning opportunities for the young and adults, free
and compulsory basic education and early childhood education. The early
childhood education provides an essential basis for whole of the education. It
is time to have transition from home to school.
·
We have to recognize that Pakistan needs to make significant
investment in education if it needs to address its issues related to EFA. There
are inter-regional variations across Pakistan. In some parts of Pakistan,
access to education, its quality and literacy are better and in some cases it
lags far behind. This disparity needs to be addressed.
·
There is also a need to increase accountability in the
educational system. Recruitment of teachers should be free from any political
influence. Pakistan needs to put in place mechanisms which encourage priority
budget allocations for free primary, and if possible, secondary education. The
budget allocation framework needs to be reviewed and linked to targets. Accountability,
to use the budget appropriately be strengthened and integrated with the
development of education.
·
Education is linked to other factors like health and we need to
develop linkages with the health sector, manpower, planning, etc. in the
success of vibrant and rigorous education system.
·
Provincial governments should take initiatives to improve the
quality of the basic education. To ensure the quality education we have to fix
the ratio between students per class. It’s nearly impossible to carry good results
from class of 200 students
·
We should encourage adult religious awareness programs. This
will eradicate extremism and terrorism from the society. We should encourage
religious education among adults so that they are not misled by miscreants in
the name of religion.
·
We should share good practices and have practical and real
approach to improve the quality of education. The funding is not major problem
in Pakistan but donors have apprehensions about the utilization of the money.
The leadership of the country should take the responsibility of proper
utilization of money. We would unite to ensure good governance. The
international donors should do more for the improvement in the educational
system in the country. The government schools lack in teachers and facilities.
·
There should be reappraisal of educational priorities and
resource allocation in keeping with the global development scenarios. The
public budget allocation has to be raised to 4-5 per cent of the GDP.
·
The parliamentarians should convince the political leadership of
their respective parties to focus on education. The procedure to release funds
needs to be simplified and decentralized. The private sector and NGOs should be
involved with incentive-oriented approach to generate funds for promotion of
education.
No comments:
Post a Comment