The Crisis of Quality: Redoing Our School System

The Crisis of Quality: Redoing Our School System. By Zeenat Baloch  It is well-known that education is the determinant of the national progress. It also provides characterization, skills development, and economic development. However, despite the notable progress in the enrolment level and provision of access to schools, a severe crisis is looming over the horizon in Pakistan, the crisis of quality. Millions of children are attending school yet way too many of them are not learning what they should. It is not merely the matter of getting children into the classroom, but it is about making sure that what occurs in the classroom is the kind of preparation they are going to have in their future lives.

A Number centered System, Not Learning. Pakistan has boasted of increased education network in the last twenty years. The enrollment rates have increased due to government and non-government programs and more schools have been established in the rural regions. Nevertheless, there is a disturbing truth behind this success: the results of learning are still alarmingly low. The report by UNESCO and the Pakistan Education Statistics Report (2023) claim that over 22 million children are not enrolled in schools, and even those who are in school are not learning basic literacy and numeracy. According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023, Grade 5 rural Pakistani students are only able to read a Grade 2-level story written in Urdu, Sindhi or Pashto and less than half understand simple two-digit division problems. These statistics are indicative of a structural issue - a quantity-based education system and not a quality-based one. Obsolete Curriculum and Instructional Process. The old fashioned curriculum and the culture of rote learning is one of the key reasons of this quality crisis. In this case, memorization is still used, more so in the public sector schools, rather than critical thinking. Students are frequently evaluated in terms of their capability to reproduce lines in the textbooks instead of being familiar with the information and being able to utilize it. The teachers, who form the back bone of the education system are usually under-trained, underpaid and overworked. Pakistan Institute of Education revealed that over 30 percent of the teachers in the rural public schools have never obtained any formal refresher training within the past five years. Teachers are unable to foster creativity or critical thinking in students without using modern teaching methods or having sufficient professional development. Infrastructure and Resource gaps. Learning physical environment is also uninspiring. There are thousands of schools that do not have basic facilities like drinking water, toilets, electricity and proper classrooms. Most schools in Sindh and Balochistan have less than two or one teacher in schools (over 40 percent). There are many ghost schools in the countryside, which are being on paper and are not even working. Lack of infrastructure and high population in the classroom renders learning almost unattainable. Children are crowded in hot rooms with rotting furniture, old textbooks and not being able to access the digital resources. What is the way that quality learning can be achieved in such environment? Confusion of Languages and Policies. The other huge obstacle is the misunderstanding of the medium of instruction. The education system of Pakistan is characterized with the working in various languages such as Urdu, English, and the local language, which contributes to inconsistency and inequality. The students of high-end private schools learn in English and acquire confidence and access to superior opportunities whereas government schools learners face a hard time competing in the higher education and employment sectors. The introduction of national policies like the Single National Curriculum (SNC) was aimed at closing this gap however, the implementation of the policies is not even. Critics note that without effective teacher training and regional adaptation, such reforms will remain a mere figurative show of change besides being transformative. Disparity in Public and Private Education. Pakistan education is highly split between the private and the public education. Urban schools of the elite have the world facilities and curriculums whereas most of the rural and low-income schools can barely afford the basics. This has resulted in a two-level education system one that is based on the privileged and another on the poor. The World Bank (2024) indicates that Pakistan allocates relatively little to education (approximately 2.4% of its GDP) as compared to the suggested 4-6 percent by UNESCO. The achievement gap between poor and rich will only increase without great investment in teacher training, infrastructure and curriculum change. The Way Forward: Between Access and Excellence. In order to overcome the quality crisis, Pakistan must stop relying on the numbers of enrollments and pay attention to the learning outcomes. The following are some major steps forward: Training and Motivation of Teachers: Teachers should be motivated through constant professional growth and incentives that focus on performance to enhance the quality in classrooms. Curriculum Reform: Curriculum should focus on problem solving, communication and critical thinking and not rote learning. Investment in Public Schools: The governments should allocate more money to education and make sure it is distributed to rural and marginalized population. Technology Integration: Digital media can be used to overcome the urban-rural divide and make classrooms more updated. Community Engagement: Parents and communities within the area ought to be engaged in checking the performance and attendance in the schools. Assessment and Accountability: The policy development needs to be based on regular learning assessments rather than using enrollment statistics exclusively. Conclusions: Learning to a Better Future. It is not just an academic problem but it is a national crisis in Pakistan to save the crisis of quality in the education system. A country cannot develop when its young generation is not ready to compete with the current challenges. We have to re-conceive the meaning of education not only in the form of literacy but in the form of learning that develops confidence, creativity, and competency.  

Pakistan should invest in quality education to all people in case it wants to live a prosperous future. Classrooms ought to be a learning center rather than a viewing center. Pakistan will be able to turn the challenge it has witnessed into new opportunities by redefining the education system and focusing on the quality of its education.