Education in Pakistan

                   Education  in pakistan 1947 to 2017

Pakistan achieved independence from over a century of British colonial rule in August 1947. The colonialperiod did witness some progress in education. However, the progress was largely limited to whatemerged as India. The regions comprising Pakistan were relatively backward in all respects, including ineducation. 
At independence, 85 percent of the population was illiterate and in the more backward regionsof the country, e.g., Balochistan, the literacy rate was even lower, with the rate for rural women thereinbeing virtually zero.
Close to two-thirds of the population and over 80 percent of rural women are still illiterate.More than a quarter of children between the ages of five and nine do not attend school. And for those who do, the quality of education is seriously wanting. One 1994 study conducted arithmetic and Urdu language tests to grade-3 school children in Lahore and found that only 33 percent of students in government schools passed both the tests. 
The sametest conducted in 1996 to test grade-3 students in 5 districts in Punjab found that only 22 percent of thestudents in government schools passed both the tests. The same test adminsitered to the teachers did notelicit an encouraging result either.
 This paper outlines this process from the education conference in 1947to the education policy presented in 1998.  

Quaid message in National Education Conference: 
19472 One of the first attempts in the field of education and literacy was the National Education Conference in 1947. The Quaid-e-Azam, in his message to the Conferences said: "... the importance of education and the type of education cannot be over-emphasized ... there is no doubt that the future of our State will and must greatly depend upon the type of education we give to our children, and the way in which we bring them up as future citizens of Pakistan ... we should not forget that we have to compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction."

At the time of first census in 1950 the overall literacy in Pakistan is 14%.

In musharaf era
Although literacy in Pakistan has grown by about 13% during President Mushsarraf's rule to about 56%, it still remains woefully low when compared to its neighbors. 
However, Pakistanis now spend more time in schools and colleges and graduate at a higher rate than their Indian counterparts in 15+ age group, according to a report on education
Pakistan's primary schooling rate of 21.8% is slightly higher
Pakistan's combined graduation rate at all three levels is 45.7%

Education ranking in different regions:

Islamabad – 

The Federal Capital is atop both the provincial/regional rankings, as well as the district rankings for the first time with increased learning and enrollment scores.

Punjab – 

Punjab remains consistent in both the education and school infrastructure rankings. The survey found that over 93 percent of schools in the province had all four facilities available, rendering their schools more complete than other provinces.

AJK – 

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has consistently performed above the national average for the past four years in Education Score.

FATA –

 The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan round-up the bottom of the provincial rankings.

Gilgit-Baltistan – 

Districts from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) continuously appear in the top half of the rankings. With 50 percent of its school facilities not available, GB, like AJK, succeeds with relatively high Education Scores.

KPK –

 Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KPK), although remaining stagnant on fifth rank, is below the national average, with a slightly reduced Education Score. But 50 percent of its schools still do not have any of the four basic facilities available (electricity, drinking water, toilet and boundary wall).

Sindh – 

Sindh remained stagnant at the sixth rank in educational score. It only managed to get six districts in the top half of the rankings, with none in the top 40. School infrastructure is no better with a score below 50.

The quality of education remains the biggest challenge for Pakistan, as there are only moderate improvements in the score of learning outcomes – last year from 52.33 to 54.78 this year. The evidence from Islamabad, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa demonstrates that strong political commitment can translate into improved education outcomes.  The overall evidence from across the country however remains stark – and suggests that Pakistan will need dramatically more political commitment, in all parts of the country, to secure a decent future for its children.

Problems in Education

Following are the problems in education in Pakistan.

         1.    Education System is based on Unequal Lines

The educational system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education is different in both, public and private sector. This creates a sort of disparity among people, dividing them into two segments.

          2.    Regional Disparity

Regional disparity is also a major cause. The schools in Baluchistan (The Largest Province Of Pakistan By Area) are not that much groomed as that of Punjab (The Largest Province Of Pakistan By Population). In FATA, the literacy rate is deplorable constituting 29.5% in males and 3% in females.

          3.     Ratio of Gender Discrimination

The ratio of gender discrimination is a cause which is projecting the primary school ratio of boys & girls which is 10:4 respectively. For the last few years there has been an increase in the growth of private schools. That not only harms the quality of education but creates a gap among haves and has not.

4.    Lack of Technical Education

The lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the educational policy that has never been focused before. Therefore, less technical people mean less.

          5.    Funds

The allocation of funds for education is very low. It is only 1.5 to 2.0 percent of the total GDP. It should be around 7% of the total GDP.

          6.    Untrained Teachers

The teachers in government schools are not well trained. People who do not get job in any other sector, they try their luck in educational system. They are not professionally trained teachers so they are unable to train a nation.

          7.    Poverty

Poverty is also another factor that restricts the parents to send their children to public or private schools. So, they prefer to send their children to madrassas where education is totally free.

Recently, minister of education announced a new Education policy for that next 10 years. The interesting thing is that the previous educational policy from 1998 to 2010 is still not expired. Although it is projected to give new plans and to make more promises with the nation. It is said in this policy that all the public schools will be raised up to the level of private schools. No plan of action have been discussed, yet a notice is issued to private schools to induct government course in 5th and 8th class and these classes will bound to take board exams. This disturbed the students of private sector also.