Ahsan Abbas Shaikh MC- 8

Collision of Different Syllabi

Article:

Ahsan Abbas Shaikh, 

BS Part iii, 2k17/MC/ 8.

----Education Lies In the Heart of the Pakistan’s Multiple Challenges----

                “To interchange your thoughts, experiences and ideologies by coming generations is called education. Education actually is, ‘to bring something out from one’s mind in the manner of the visions and abilities”.

Currently, there are three parallel and unconnected systems of education operating simultaneously in Pakistan. These are the public and non-elite private schools, the elite private schools, and the religious seminaries---the madrasahs. These have their own systems, which follow their own curricula, teaching methods, and examination processes. Approximately, 67 per cent of the school-going children enroll in public schools, close to 29 per cent are in private schools and 4 per cent attend madrasahs. Consequently, quality of education and the type of the student body in each vary greatly.

As far as the quality concerned, the three education systems are broadly stratified along three dimensions: socio-economic, qualitative and ideological which is each quite cut-off from the others, which should not be so…!

In terms of quality, the madrasahs system largely provides to children from poorest part of society. Madrasahs have the greatest mismatch with the requirement of the modern economies. They are essentially mechanism towards producing bodies suitable only for the clerical spheres; this makes misfits them for normal employment opportunities.

The majority of the public and non-elite private school students belong to the lower middle-to-middle socio-economic groups. The public and the non-elite private schools majority of Pakistani students also suffer from extreme qualitative deficiency. This has manifested in the learning outcomes, curricula, textbooks and other learning materials, assessments, and the learning environment. The medium of the public schools are predominantly Urdu; they even lack the capacity to develop a minimum level of proficiency in English language, which is necessary for the white-collar jobs. Although they teach all subjects expected of modern school systems, they follow fixed syllabi, which encourage the rote learning---memorization.

The elite private schools apply stringent socio-economic screening and are reserved exclusively for the rich. The private schooling in Pakistan is often the first choice for many parents despite the steep increase in tuition fee every year. Although private education is a profit making ventures that offers better quality for finest prices, and not a charitable endeavor, most schools are becoming too expensive for even middle class working families to send their children to. But that the relatively small number of the elite-private-schools are the only ones that provide decent quality of education. They used English language as a medium of learning and are ahead of the others in terms of quality wise teaching and learning outcomes. Most of them encourage objectivity and creative thinking among students. Moreover, among them the students who have elite private schools background show it on a distinguished status.

This irregularity seems the serious cause to send the Pakistan’s students in the dark, not lead them to true way. This has not been only created the difference between the students, but also divided them into parts based on the unlike mentality, due to divergent syllabi. This is the concrete reason that wherever all candidates---whatever backgrounds they belong to---come on a particular platform for higher studies. They expose them very differently from each one of the others, just because of their backgrounds, studies, accents and languages (as a medium). These unusual acts seem like mushroom growing into coming generation. Due to mental disparity, students occasionally feel inferiority of complex and sometimes turn into jealousy by means of unmatched classes and so much so.

“The solution lies in maintaining standard while ensuring affordability, but the reality is that there is little competition from public schools, private schools and madrasahs that are inadequate to offer the same learning experiences”.

At the end, the different standards of education system running in Pakistan have become an authentic obstacle that is facing by gigantic figure of our population to demonstrate their eligibilities before world. We will have to get rid of this multi-syllabi practice from our society. This is very essential to be reckoned yourself in the most educated and developed societies in the world. Otherwise, we will be calculated in the index of countries having lowest-ebb economies’, and our vision to be successful would only be dream---god forbidden!