KARACHI: Speakers on Saturday blamed the state’s neo-liberal policies behind its disinterest in promoting the public sector education system, saying that the country’s future is linked to the improved academic learning especially of the non-elite children.
The second seminar titled “A Holistic Approach to Improve Pakistan’s Stagnated Education System”, which Pakistan Women’s Foundation for Peace organized at a local hotel drew the government’s attention to the poor state of the public sector education.
Renowned economist - Kaiser Bengali told the participants that the private sector schools run for business to make money, saying that it is the state responsibility to provide the public with improved education.
He also censured the country’s elite class for promoting the education systems such as A and O levels, at the cost of foreign exchange, which he said, creates a balance of payment problem for the nation. He said that the elites approach however cannot help the domestic education grow.
Even, use of bottled water by the rich, which the multinational companies produce through Pakistani resources, cost the country a huge flight of foreign exchange to their mother countries as a profit, he added
He also criticized the private sector education sector for certifying only degrees that help the professionals attain a higher salary posts and shunning investing in disciplines such as mathematics, which is normally seen a low-income job.
The economist said that the state has no interest to help develop the public education sector since it has abandoned it after adopting the neo-liberalism in 1980s to promote privatization, instead.
The private sector, he said, is receiving huge non-tuition fee from students and aims to make money in the absence of government’s quality education system. He pointed out that there is a private university in the country that is functional only to launder money abroad.
Showing profound concerns, Kaiser said that the country is striving to produce a scientist since the state education system has badly failed to impart mathematics as a discipline.
There are two Pakistanis, one for the elite and other for ordinary citizens, as he said that the latter has no housings, healthcare, education, transportation and jobs. He added that there is not single political party to contest elections on its education manifesto.
About budget 2024-25, he said that it is an exclusive attempt by the government to address the IMF, showing fears that the fiscal plan is likely to fail to collect revenues and ensure development spending. All figures are false, he added.
Dr Faisal Bari - Associate Professor at Economics School of Humanities and Social Sciences said that the country has funds to develop its education system but the governments lack priority. He said that changing the ailing education sector to growth will be “immense”.
He said that the country’s future and progress are associated with the state-owned schools to outclass the private sector with an improved and high quality of learning. This country cannot see any change in education without the state-run schools.
Pakistan’s economic sustainability and survival are only indebted to the high standards of learning at the public sector schools; he said that no growth can happen without this sector.
Dr Faisal said that the government has to cancel all tax relieves and subsidies to the elite class, besides agriculture, retail and real estate sectors to spare some funds for the education growth and other amenities for the public.
Sadiqa Salahuddin - Executive Director at Indus Resource Centre said that women are keen to be educated in the rural parts of Sindh, telling the seminar that there is huge desire amongst the girls for learning.
Threats to the girls’ education from the feudal lords in villages have dimmed over the years since the influential land owners’ only shows up in rural constituencies when they need votes in elections, residing in Karachi.
She appreciated the 18th Constitutional amendment, saying that it helped improve the education sector. She added that the social change and technical development have also encouraged girls to education.
She pointed out that the adopted government schools outperform the rest, saying that focus on the universal primary education left out the secondary schools development, which stand neglected to cater to the students advancing to higher grades.
Sadiqa said that some 78 percent girls cannot attend secondary education in rural Balochistan since there is shortage of premises. She urged that the non-formal education for girls should not be promoted since it is not a solution to the problem.
Baela Raza Jamil - CEO of Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi said that no nation can develop without education but called Pakistan an “exception”. She said that the country is out of education policy as the existing one is “de facto” as there is need for a grown plan.
After the 18th Constitutional amendment, she said that like other departments, education sector was devolved to the provinces, forcing the government to adhere the one announced in 2009, which still continues.
The urban slums lack water, healthcare, education and sanitation services by the government, where she said, mental health problems are ranging between 34 percent and 40 percent with an abject poverty.
Only two percent budget cannot help education sector grow, she said that there is a need of policy shift in the political economy, which may bring about a positive change in the state-run schools.
Nargis Rahman - Chairperson of Pakistan Women’s Foundation for Peace said that the seminar is focused on discussing a holistic improvement to Pakistan‘s stagnant education system.
She said that the country’s annual education budget stands at 1.7 percent whereas the UNESCO recommends 4 percent allocations to pull it out of a present mire since additional 2.8 million out of school children have to enrol.
Pakistan ranks the lowest in education in the region for 15 years, she said that the recruitment system for the teaching staff is based on nepotism and graft with a lower quality of learning leading to tuition culture and cheating in exams.
She advocated for inclusion of the basic curriculum, assessment system, modern technology, skills development, sports and extracurricular activities to promote critical thinking amongst the students.
Climate change poses a serious threat to the education of the most marginalized and poorest, especially for girls, Nargis said and cited the latest ASER figures that “18 percent of rural girls aged 5-16 remain out of school”.
Nawab Zafar Ali - Regional Head Hyderabad for Sindh Education Foundation highlighted the efforts to bring more children to schools with learning through technology. He told the participants that the foundation also offers scholarships to students from grade six.
He urged the public to trust and take ownership of the government schools to make them a better place of learning, saying that the integration of technology can change the entire system positively.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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