Importance of education in Pakistan

 IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION MALE AND FEMALE IN PAKISTAN :


Education is defined as the process of giving and receiving some systemic instructions, especially at schools and universities. Education is always considered as important in the world. From the beginning of the universe to the day of judgment. The first Human on the earth Hazrat Adam a.s was also educated by Allah. In the quran, Allah explained that we have given some knowledge and information to Adam about different things of the universe. 


We have taught him some names of the things present in the universe. This shows that how important education is from the very first day of this universe. The process of education continues from Hazrat Adam to his successors and so on. Allah sent many prophets at different times in the world. All Prophets have the same motto which was to seek education and enlighten the world.The importance of education is also shown when we talk about our beloved Prophet PBUH. He doesn’t know how to read and write. But when Allah sent His first revelation to the Prophet that first was about education. Allah in first revelation saud that man do not know how to read and write. He has taught men about education 

This first revelation is showing that Allah also emphasized So our beloved Prophet gets education and spreads it into the world. Our Prophet said that * Knowledge is power * Seek the education from the lap of Your mother to the grave. 

  Hazrat Ali says in favor of education 

             ” Education is that type of  treasure which increases by using” 


Every prophet has to get an education and also emphasis his followers to get an education. The process of getting an education is the oldest. Greeks had a lot of progress in science just because of education. Muslims had ruled on the world just because of this education. Muslims in their time of progress had built many universities all over the world. Then came the era of Europeans they are also focusing on education. Now we will discuss our own country Pakistan. 

This country came into being only because of education. After the war of Independence in 1857, the Muslims of the subcontinent were treated brutally. Some Muslims started thinking that we can only get rid of this brutality if we started getting modern education. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was one of them. For this purpose he built schools. One of the popular was in Aligarh. Later on, this school was raised to the status of MAO college and then Aligarh University. It was the finest institution for Indian Muslims. 


This education helped Muslims to demand their separate state. All great leaders help their youth to get an education which ultimately results in a separate state named Pakistan for Muslims. So from day, one Quaid-e-Azam started focusing on the education department. Education was the priority of Pakistan from day one. It is needed for Pakistan’s prosperity. No country in the world has to get progress without education. No doubt Pakistanis have gained many achievements but still, we need to raise our educational reforms. It is the basic need of our population. If we want our status equal to other developed countries then we should educate increase our literacy rate. 

This also helps in solving our socio-economic problems. Pakistan has its geographical importance in the world. Its location is good. It is the main way of goods transportation for landlocked Asian countries. China also uses its seaport for transportation in the Middle east.All this can be done if we have a quality education.


INTRODUCTION

In this article, we are going to discuss Pakistan education and its importance for the country’s progress. We will discuss different topics and challenges which were faced and which are required for the improvements of the education system in Pakistan. This advanced 21st century has made education the first and the basic need of any country. As the competition in the world is increasing so education needs to be improved. 

If Pakistan wants to survive in this century then we should focus on our educational policies. We have seen Pakistani people as determined and focused on becoming advanced. They are responding in a good manner towards the global level of opportunities and needs. The building of progress of any country lies on the foundation of education. If the foundation is strong building remains strong and steady. It means that good education is the key to the best progress of Pakistan. 


EDUCATION AND THE WOMEN.

As men and women both are needed for any family progress. The same is the case for the whole country. Islam has allowed women to get an education. Women have always been given equal rights in getting an education. Women excel themselves in a very good way in some professions like teaching, doctor, cooking, arts, etc. Allah also had made education obligatory for both men and women 

So as Allah We have seen many brave and legendary women in history who have made their name in the world by getting higher education. The best example is of our ancestors in the pakistan movement. Ladies were standing side by side with the men in the pakistan movement. They had participated actively. Some of those brave ladies were Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah who was a dentist by profession. Begum Liaquat Ali Khan and many more have served their lives.All this because they were educated, women. Pakistan had also born many educated women like Benazir Bhutto, Arfa Karim, and many more. But still, our society has so much low ratio of women’s literacy rate. They still have low involvement in the country’s progress. 


This is because our most population settles in rural areas about 64% however only 36% lives in urban areas. Due to settlement in rural areas, women’s education is facing many problems and hindrances. All this is due to social and cultural issues. Many of us have still thought that women do not need education. They have nothing to do with the country’s progress. But alas they are wrong. Mostly these thoughts prevail in Northern areas of Pakistan where they don’t allow their women to go to school. NWFP and Balochistan also have some tribes and areas where they are against modern education. The women’s literacy rate is only 3 to 8%.The government of Pakistan is lazy to solve this issue. But many societies and organizations are working upon these issues.

They are providing rural areas girls with quality education. UNICEF is helping international organization .The report has shown that survey was conducted in 1985 in which they showed that in rural areas girls have only a 7% literacy rate compared to 35% of urban area girls. However, this ratio was 27% for rural areas men and 57 percent for urban areas men. Developed countries are progressing by leaps and bounds just because of equality between men and women. However, Pakistanis are not giving equal rights to women in many areas of Pakistan. This un equality is the basis of low developmental progress in Pakistan .We have to remove the backwardness and conservative thinking’s of many people who are against women’s education.


BACKGROUND OF EDUCATION POLICIES IN PAKISTAN :

Pakistan’s government in some years has done some good jobs. The government of 2005 had decided to review Pakistan’s education policy. This step was taken to improve quality education and for increasing the literacy rate. By improving we can remove the conflicts regarding the education present in Pakistan the step was also taken so that people become aware of their duties. The new policy applied to everyone in Pakistan. This reviewed policy was for both formal and nonformal states. Pakistan has its bases lies on ideology. This ideology is based on an Islamic point of view. 

Islam has provided us every kind of independence.I slam has provided us the moral values and ethics which are required for any state’s development. It seems that Pakistan is working on education but it is wrong. This sector is always on top of negligence done by the government. Pakistan’s literacy rate is not good it was 49% in 2010.We want a national education policy. This policy does not require any money or demand. It just needs to be prepared by the federal government and then allows all provincial governments to follow it. Different departments have published different documents regarding the educational policy of Pakistan. Every time each federating unit and degree were involved in preparing Pakistan’s educational policy. 


MAIN DEVELOPMENTAL CHALLENGES:

We will discuss some issues and challenges in the education of adults here one by one.* Government has not set separate budget from total budget for the literacy of adults education.10% is used by other reforms like madrasahs, teachers’ workshops, etc.* The mechanism of our institutions and structures of education are not matching due to lack of interaction and coordination.* As teachers are also not well educated due to low training and non-formalized syllabus.

There is also no research in this field. Good quality education development is not achieving because of no development in the education field.* our schools are focusing on implementing English medium courses. And have no concern about the local language. Urdu is not taught for even basic education needs. Post literacy programs are done which are the need of basic literacy. Teachers should be skilled so that they can impart quality education not just limited to reading and writing. Due to political havocs and many issues in the country the education sector was continuously ignored.* Private and public sector problems also hindered their partnership in the last few years. Coordination is required for good working.


PRIVATE SECTOR AND EDUCATION:

The private sector is continuously dominating the public sector in Pakistan. Many new reports have shown some facts and figures regarding education at primary levels.* Due to good quality in Private sectors the students in private schools are increasing rapidly in last few years. About one-third children of total are enrolled in private schools.* Due to the increasing demand of the private sector, private schools have increased their number in both urban and rural areas.* The reports have shown that private schools are much better at providing education than in government institutions.


This is checked by taking tests of students of private sectors. They have shown the best and amazing results. Students are increasing even though the Private sector is charging a high fee.* This good education is provided in high fee per child than the public sector. The educational department of Pakistan should focus on the private sector because they are good at providing quality education. Proper rules and policies should be made at national and provincial levels for regulating private sectors. For proper maintenance of private-sector education different regulatory authorities should be made for the smooth functioning of these schools. Tax should be implemented in the private sector so those good facilities can be provided by the private sector. Different educational organizations and foundations should help to develop different private schools in rural areas. 


Different grants should be given to them. The ministry of education should work together with the private sector and should get financial help from many donors. Tax should not apply to schools that are non-profit and are of some organization. The education Act of 1976, syllabus, and textbook maintenance should be according to the principles laid in the act. They must conform to institutions. Fee structures should be maintained by the government of Pakistan.


EDUCATIONAL DOWNFALL :

In this para, we will discuss the causes of educational downfalls in Pakistan.1: Financial and economic negligence :

Pakistan was like the newly born baby who has nothing because everything was snatched by the Indians at the time of independence. They didn’t give any assets to Pakistanis .Due to the Kashmir issue, both countries fight with each other and have rarely funds were distributed for any sector however education was neglected. Our education is not improving just because we are focusing on wealth.


We have set our GDP of about 2% for the education department. This is the worst thing and is insufficient for fulfilling educational demands. The higher authorities which are sitting on higher posts always use the educational fund for their purposes and show fake audit reports to the people. They say that we are receiving less amount for education purposes which are immediately used by the education departments.2: Increase in poverty :


Poverty is also one of the causes of the downfall of education in Pakistan. Some surveys have shown that most residents of Pakistan are living a poor life. About 75% lives in villages and rural areas and 40% are under the poverty line. Our many youngsters are jobless and few have no access to education. These surveys are depicting the bitter reality of our country in which the poor are facing many problems. 


They have a lot of issues and troubles. Pakistan has Agriculture as its backbone. its come income annually. So this is not enough for fulfilling their daily and necessities of life. The landlords which are about 1%, have about a property of 95% of Pakistan land which is injustice with poor farmers. Whole year farmers do hard work and in the end, landlords get all rewards. Unequal distribution of land property in Pakistan has created problems for the poor as well as for the government of Pakistan.3 


Political Negligence :


Pakistan has always been ruled by brutal politicians. They came in government not to solve public issues but to fill their bank balances and accounts. We have not seen even a single politician who has discussed the improvements of educational reforms in his time of government. Non have paid attention to this sector. In the 1970s the politicians encouraged people to copy culture. At that time lingual fights occur in Sindh. This copying culture spread like cancer in our country. Non-official has taken steps against this problem .Due to this trouble, Sindhi students were continuously ignored. 

They are considered as the consequence of this deadly disease known as copy culture. Due to this tag, they were ignored in many fields of life. They may be intelligent, hardworking, and genius but the Copy culture has made them copiers or cheater. They have no sense of management and are not capable of running the country’s economy just because of this bad tag given only because of their so-called politicians. 


All this was done to create differences among different provinces. Sindhi students always faced injustice in every aspect of life. All this is occurring to them is due to the blind following of the wrong policies made by the brutal politicians. Politicians are always trying to mislead the public so that they can easily get their interests. Pakistan is unity of all five provinces .So we should make this bond stronger. All the four provinces should be united. As responsible citizens, we should cooperate with all other provinces. So for seeing Pakistan as a well-developed state we should get the education and improved skills. An uneducated person cannot become the change of Pakistan.



2011 IS CONSIDERED AS THE GOLDEN YEAR FOR EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN :

As a writer, I always try to show the negativity prevailing in society. So the topic of education I will always focus on is Pakistan’s biggest problem which is the educational reforms of Pakistan. As we know that when a flood came into a country it results in huge destruction in the country which leads to great economic loss. The same is the case of education, not focusing on education is like floods in Pakistan.

The only difference between the flood and no education is that the latter one is created by our inefficiency and laziness. The government announced that we are trying to make the education department best rather better .For this purpose, we have created a team known as the pakistan education task force.This force will solve the educational problems of Pakistan. 


Leading to this the prime Minister of Pakistan of that time said that 2011 will be Pakistan’s golden year in the educational sector. This task force has the priority of solving educational issues and works for its development. only speeches can fill their needs.

We have seen that it was impossible to achieve the educational goals set by the Government in 2011.These goals were to be completed in 2015 and now it’s 2021.We haven’t seen a single change regarding educational reforms. No doubt the current government is somehow working in the education department up to an improving condition but we still need great work and effort to achieve the goals to become a  great country . We have seen India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh all these nations came into existence with Pakistan however Bangladesh got its identity in the world in 1971.


The education department of India is 10 times greater than Pakistan. We are glad to know that Bangladesh which was once a part of Pakistan is now much more progressed in the educational sector than Pakistan. Getting universal and modern education is the basic right of each Pakistani. Education has been made the top right of a citizen in the 18th amendment of the constitution of Pakistan. All the old concepts and privileges regarding education have been denied in this amendment. Citizen has the right to take action if he or she has no access to education or are hindered by someone. 


This is written in Article 25A.The right of Suo motto action is also written in this article. You know the underdeveloped countries’ progress is limited only to the writings of the constitutions. The same is the case of the Pakistan constitution, it has defined everything for the education, best structure, the best plan, best reforms but all these can be fulfilled completely .


 To work upon these rules and regulations is not present in our blood. As a Pakistani, I am seeing this ideal education to be achieved in 2100 or even further in the case of Balochistan. As we already have discussed that women play important role in the growing up of any nation. If a mother is educated then her children will be educated and well mannered. Also, she knows that how to run a family with her husband’s payments using the best plans. So if the women of the whole nation are educated then that whole nation will be progressed. As napoleon had said ” Give me educated mothers I will give you an educated nation”

So this shows the importance of women’s education. Educated women can reduce the rate of fertility in the country. Which will help in emergencies. In 2005 the budget utilized by the government in the education sector was about 2.5 percent of the total budget. This decreased to 1.5 percent in these current years for education in rural areas. The government is giving more budget to the PIA, PEPCO, and steel industry of Pakistan than the educational sector which needs more budget. 


Unfortunately, which budget the provincial government receives for education is all utilized by the politicians and goes to their bank accounts . We think that public schools are giving fewer payments to the teachers but that is not a true statement. The teachers receive about twice or thrice of the amount they received from the opposite private sector. They have more pay than the ordinary parent of an ordinary child. Despite getting more than the required payment some teachers still do not come to their duties. On daily basis, about 20 to 30 percent of teachers are absent from the schools. This happens mostly in backward and rural areas.

We want our children to give them quality education. We aren’t saying that the private sector is better than the public but they are providing partly quality education in low fee schools. Rural areas people prefer low cost private schools over government schools . The public sector has a  fee of 100 rupees while that of low-level private school is 250 rupees per month in rural areas so people prefer these schools so that their children can gey somehow better education than imparting in government schools. Media is also not capable of reducing the gap present in madrassahs education. The approximate average strength of the whole Pakistan madrasahs students is about 6 percent only.


CONCLUSION :

No doubt our ancestors had given great sacrifices to achieve this Ideological state. But the luck of Pakistan was always bad that it went into those hands who are interested in filling their bank balances and have no concerns about the country’s progress. To achieve Pakistan as an ideological state education is a basic and primary need for its development and progress. Education plays a role in maintaining economic and social development. The only reason for our country as a failing state is the lack of good quality education and the prevailing low-quality education system in the country. The quality of education is not improving because the politicians do not want this. They thought that if they will provide a good education system to the country then how we uneducated politicians will rule upon Pakistan.


They are afraid of educators who will protest against them and eventually through them out of the national assembly. Secondly, if we want to improve our educational sector then we have to provide well-educated teachers. If teachers are groomed in a good environment then the nation can be transformed into a well-educated nation. Somehow, educational reforms and policies were made in the public sector but these were also limited to only books. These reforms do not apply anywhere. The progress in producing good teachers and a good system was low because of the failure of these educational policies and reforms. At last, this lack of policies further put bad impacts on this sector. New challenges are always ahead on the way to achieving good education in Pakistan. If we want to improve our system equal to other developed nations then we have to cover a very long distance.


So hoping for the best, the current government is performing a better job in this sector. Let see how much time does it get to improve our educational sector. So government should improve the educational reforms in its literacy and structural changes by increasing the budget. For improving the quality of the so-called education system of Pakistan everyone should play his due role in it. The higher authorities should bring reforms in which every student can get a free better education for the improvement of the educational sector. As we all are aware of our villages and rural areas education system. It is the worst and in a pathetic state in these rural areas. 


Teachers are usually absent .They just enjoy free payments without performing their duties. Some schools have been turned into cricket grounds and public spots for the people. No one pays attention to these issues due to which many children are deprived of getting an education. This all can be brought to normal by having good plans for this sector. These children about a million in numbers can be brought back to their institutions only by the implementation of the laws and rules made for these schools. These laws should be strictly followed by teachers. Government should ensure to provide a free and best quality education to every child living in villages. At least the education should be free for the students between having ages of 6 to 18 years.

The other method of improving education is that we should improve our teaching methodology. Government should conduct workshops for teachers as a training hub. Teachers should be provided with advanced technology like tablets etc. They should know the modern techniques of education so that they can impart an advanced and modern education to the students. Our schools also have lack many facilities so government should also focus on these facilities. Online and computer-based education should be introduced in our schools.

The syllabus should be made uniform throughout the country. If we revive the syllabus of our educational system we will be able to bring change in the education sector. The syllabus should be updated and reviewed every year. If all these requirements are fulfilled by the Government soon our nation will bring our educational sector at the par of other developed countries. This article is not about criticizing any government or politicians. The only purpose of this article is to put the student’s problems and troubles in front of higher authorities so that they can take immediate action. At the end please share this informative article with others on different social media platforms for awareness.

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