Future of Education in Pakistan

Education plays a vital role in developing any nation in the world. Without quality education and addressing all the issues, no nation can hope to solve the more significant problems they have. Pakistan is a country that has a literacy rate of 58%. But what is the quality of this education? This number indicates that there are many issues that Pakistan has to address. In this article, we will talk about different issues that Pakistan can solve to increase its literacy rate and make the future of education in the country brighter.

This means that the future of a country depends on the quality and standards of education. Hence, it will not be wrong to say that the future of education decides what will be the future of Pakistan. Theeducator.Pk cover latest Education Updates in Pakistan.Source of this article is  https://theeducator.pk/. So without any further delay, let’s get right into it. Further in the article, you will notice many problems with our education system that must be focused on. Let’s get to the first one: education in rural areas.

What is happening right now?

Right now, there are many problems Pakistan is facing when it comes to education and its infrastructure. Some of these problems are as follows.

  • Socioeconomic status
  • Low income
  • Poor infrastructure
  • High drop-out rates
  • Low quality of education
  • Low enrollment rates
  • Gender disparities.

Due to these issues, the current situation of the education sector in Pakistan needs to be more satisfactory. The first point explicitly targets students from lower socioeconomic status. Most low-income households need help to afford quality education for their children. Hence, the product cannot compete with the global market. The government is also doing reforms in policy-making to ensure that the quality of education gets better in Pakistan. But is this truly enough?

Education in rural areas

  • All the problems we discussed in the section above are prevalent in rural areas, most probably because there is a disparity regarding the distribution of resources.
  • The governments spend more and more resources in the cities, and rural areas get ignored. That is one of the main reasons why rural areas get ignored by Pakistan’s policymakers.
  • Also, due to social constructs in the rural areas of Pakistan, girls do not get the education they need.
  • Another issue that Education in Rural areas faces is the need for more qualified teachers and trainers. The number of experienced and talented educators willing to work in rural areas is low. If this problem is solved, it will automatically shift the situation.
  • But this problem can be easily solved with online education, no? Not really. The problem with this solution is the need for more internet connection in the rural areas. Cell phone connectivity is relatively weaker in rural areas than in urban areas.
  • If this problem is fixed, a considerable population will be able to get quality education from some of the best educators in the country.

Education for women

Education for women stands as one of the top challenges in Pakistan. Women’s literacy rate is 48 per cent compared to the 70% literacy rate in men. This may be due to various reasons such as social construct, lack of women-only universities in Pakistan, and so on.

Undoubtedly, if we want to take Pakistan to a brighter side of the future, we have to educate more women. But what are the challenges that women face in this sector?

We discussed some of them shortly, but what are the things that matter?

If we look at the core of this matter, our society’s structure and mindset stop many young females from pursuing education.

The Pakistani culture and society have seen women through a different lens. A woman is a daughter, a mother, a wife, or a sister. But society has failed to see a woman as a valuable member who can contribute to its development and progress.

Most low-income households would also not send their daughters to schools because of expensive education. The policymakers have tried to solve these issues by incentivising parents who would send their daughters to schools for education.

Some also didn’t want to send their daughters because they needed more security. This can be solved by providing transport services for teachers and students, as done by the KP government. The government can also improve the security measures of the educational institutions to make the parents feel that their daughters are safe and sound.

If these things are done, we will be bringing more women towards education in the future, and Pakistani society will have enabled a considerable workforce that will be able to contribute to the economy.

Education for disabled students

While each government has to allocate a certain amount of budget to this department, Pakistan is one of those countries which doesn’t invest in special education the way it should.

There are many challenges that students with disabilities face in our education system. While there are quotas for disabled students in top universities and institutions, it is not enough to accommodate a huge population of talented children with special needs.

But you do have to understand that disability is not the thing that is keeping these special children away from education. It can be due to the following reasons.

  • Poverty
  • Social stigma
  • Lack of inclusive environment in educational institutions
  • Lack of awareness regarding the needs and wants of disabled students
  • Low budget by the governments.
  • Lack of activism regarding children with special needs

While most of these problems may look discreet, they are interlinked. If you want to achieve the vision of a progressive Pakistan, you have to solve these problems that disabled students face.

Education for Refugees

The refugee problem may look smaller at first glance, but the case is otherwise. Post 1971 issues in Afghanistan, Pakistan witnessed an influx of refugees. More than 4 million refugees came to Pakistan, and about 3 million went back to Afghanistan as well.

The problem is that of the remaining 1 million refugees living in Pakistan, 80 per cent of their children are out of school. This means that Pakistan is housing a considerable number of students who are out of school. But what are the challenges we face when educating refugee children?

Following are some problems that we have identified

  • No proof of identification
  • Poverty
  • Lack of motivation from the families
  • Pressure to feed the family
  • Language barrier

While the government ignores most of these students, some programs enable these young Afghans for a better future for the country and, if they are to return to Afghanistan, a better future for the neighbours.

UNHCR is an organization working in Pakistan to educate these young refugees. The impact that they have created? They have taught more than 57 thousand refugee students in Pakistan.

But is it enough? It may be a baby step, but it’s a step towards a better future for Education in Pakistan.

Education for the poor

There is no doubt that it is poverty that is one of the biggest hurdles Pakistan is facing towards a higher literacy rate and a brighter future. While countries spend a significant amount of their budget on education, Pakistan still needs to contribute more.

It has a lot to do with the economic condition of Pakistan as well, but we have faced some other problems regarding alleviating this problem. For example, even if education is free in government institutions, there is always pressure to provide for the family, which keeps children out of school.

Incentivizing the families that will send their children to school is a solution, as with parents sending their daughters for education. But is it enough?

About 70 per cent of public institutions operate in Pakistan, while 30 per cent belong to the private sector. Of course, not all of these private schools are alike. Parents who are willing to spend more will get a better education.

This disparity causes unequal quality of education in the final product. To solve this issue, the Imran Khan regime launched the National Curriculum Policy that would ensure uniformity. This policy has its pros and cons as well. Yet, it was a step in the right direction.

STEM Education

Did you notice a pattern in our discussion? One thing was expected, and that was the lack of quality of education in Pakistan. For Pakistan to develop, the policymakers have to focus on STEM fields. The only way we can see a brighter future for the education sector in Pakistan is if we invest more in this sector.

Not only will Pakistan produce graduates who can compete in a global market, but they are also a valuable addition to Pakistan’s system.

STEM education has already brought good results to other countries; it will solve Pakistan’s plight in the education sector.

Final words – Solution

These were all the problems that we discussed in this article. While we tried to provide solutions to each problem, curiosity got the better of us, and we kept searching for a solution on the internet.

The answer is that we are satisfied. There are some great minds in Pakistan, and one article suggested some measures for the future. These are listed below:

  1. Humanistic education
  2. Producing leaders
  3. Training teachers to be better at their job.

We encourage you to read the article for further details, but the ideas are interesting. They are most of Pakistan’s generic problems in the education sector.

Ending on a positive note, only by focusing on our future, our children, can we hope for a stronger Pakistan. And we hope that we can achieve that in the end.

faisal khan

Faisal Khan with M.Com Degree have vast exposure and Knowledge about Education and Students Problems. He also Provide Many Career Counseling Tips and Guiding Articles to Studysols for Students ease.

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