No nation can think of attaining prosperity without having an inclusive education system. Those that realised the significance of education have achieved unprecedented success while those that continue to undermine its importance have been handicapped by wicked problems such as corruption and nepotism.
Like many other postcolonial societies, the crisis of education in Pakistan is acute and chronic. In this regard, the abysmally low passing ratio in the JEST test — a test conducted for recruiting junior elementary school teacher — should come as no surprise to the policy-makers of Sindh. Pervasive poverty, rising rate of early dropouts, existence of ghost schools and teachers, and sheer negligence are just some of the factors that lie at the heart of the education crisis in Sindh. Moreover, the latest Annual Status of Education report has put the education system of Sindh at the very bottom due to underlying structural flaws. To begin with, it illustrates that 56.2% of children in grade 5 cannot read a story in any national language while 69.5% cannot solve basic mathematics problems. However, what is most worrisome is the fact that a staggering 6.5 million children are currently out of school in the province. Owing to corruption, the biometric mechanism introduced by Sindh government proved to be a counterproductive and failed to compel ghost teachers to be punctual in schools. Without an efficient, vibrant and impartial system of accountability, educational anomalies cannot be solved and good results cannot be achieved. The government must take prudent measures to improve the overall system. It is true that the crisis of education has further been exacerbated by the pandemic, but the province can overcome the crisis by taking serious efforts and introducing meaningful reforms.
The world has reached at its peak level in educational field, but the students of Sindh are suffering under decades old teaching practices and rote learning. Inexperienced or low qualified teachers are appointed both in private and government institutions. Because of this, students’ rising abilities are destroyed, and their future is at stake. As they do not achieve education, instead they learn bad manners and cheating strategies.
In addition, there are more students in a class than chairs, especially in government schools, and students have no alternative but to sit on the floor. The government has failed to refine the standard of education.
Although every now and again we hear the amount of budget allocated for the improvement of education sector, I wonder why we still have to go through an old curriculum, why are we destined to be studying under the old teaching methods; why are we not provided with desks or chairs?
This is ironical condition of schools in all parts of rural Sindh and of Karachi’s government schools. Furthermore, I am a student and as far as my knowledge is concerned, it is all hogwash to invest in metro trains, flyovers, motorways and buildings, and instead, investing in human development and strengthening institutions to encourage meritocracy and to encourage talent is the only way for a nation to progress.
So, it is my humble request to the education departments and the government of Sindh to have a pity on the youth and improve the standard of education because it is the youth who can bring about a new revolution in society.
Abdul Wahab Magsi
Kashmore
