The South Asia Forum for Education Development has put out its Annual Status of Education Report for the year just ended, which shows that the quality of primary level education has fallen by the wayside. The report, based on a learning assessment of school-going children between the ages of five to 16 years in a survey of 84 rural and three urban areas, notes that although more and more people are sending their children to school, the quality of instruction is so poor that a majority of those who have nearly completed their primary education cannot read grade 2 texts in Urdu, English or their mother tongue, nor can they perform basic arithmetic calculations. 52.6 percent of the grade 5 children assessed could not read grade 2 level stories either in Urdu or their mother tongue. 59.4 percent could not read grade 2 level sentences in English, while 62.7 percent failed to do a three-digit division in mathematics. These schools include both government and privately-run (low-end) schools. The problem in the private schools is well-known. Acting on a policy of minimal costs and high profits, the owners usually hire teachers who are grossly deficient in both educational qualifications and teaching training, and hence are willing to work for a small salary. This goes on due to lack of any checks on them. So far as government schools are concerned, as per rules, they can hire only duly qualified teachers. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect a better teaching standard from them. What seems to account for their poor performance is that there are not enough schools to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population. The classes, especially in the urban areas, are too large, with the result that the teachers cannot pay proper attention to each pupil. Also, basic facilities such as fans, drinking water, and toilets are missing from most rural schools, which is a significant reason behind both teacher and pupil absenteeism that in turn affects the learning outcomes. The report says these facilities have improved mostly in Punjab where 80 percent of government schools have usable water and 70 percent functional toilets. KP boasts the second-best conditions in the entire country, with only 59 percent schools having usable water and 52 percent toilets. If this is to be seen as improvement, the situation in the other two provinces would be simply subhuman. These of course are not the only reasons. It needs to be said that until the pre-Zia era government schools provided a decent education. Some of the brightest minds who made a name for themselves and the country went to such schools. Something, somewhere, went wrong. Those in charge need to figure out the reasons behind this appalling regression. Hopefully, the present report will serve as a wake-up call for the provincial governments to address the situation. They must also put proper mechanisms in place to monitor and regulate the affairs of private schools. Copyright Business Recorder, 2012
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