Education myths

The delivery of education services is a very important and much talked about topic in Pakistan. This article attempts to challenge the myths associated with this topic. The focus of this article is government schools in Peshawar.
The three main features of the delivery of educational services are: 1) to increase access of all schoolgoing age children to school; 2) to improve the quality of education delivered; and 3) equity – to provide educational services to all children without discrimination.
In Pakistan, approximately 75 percent children attend government schools, while 25 percent attend private schools. The quality of education provided in government school is generally rated as poor. Equity in government schools is a non-issue because government schools are generally meant for the economically less advantaged class of society.
Myth 1: Financial allocations for the education sector are low and increased allocation will automatically improve the standard of education. Each province of Pakistan allocates around 40 percent of its annual budget on the standard of education; in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa it reached around Rs70 billion in 2014-15. Moreover 50 percent of employees in each province belong to the education department.
Despite this huge investment in education, the required educational results are not achieved. One indicator is examination results. An analysis of the results of the matriculation examinations of the Peshawar Board of Secondary and Intermediate examination in the year 2008 reveals that among 20 top position holders, not even one was from a government school, although 80 percent students in the province attend government schools. Students from private schools got higher grades (97 percent A1, 78 percent A, 47 percent B), Government school students got a higher numbers of low grades (89 percent D, 78 percent C and 53 percent B).
Although private schools receive no government funds and also pay taxes, their examination results are far better than government schools. Increases in allocations don’t automatically improve the delivery of educational services unless mismanagement of funds is controlled. Singapore developed a world class education system by the most productive use of four percent of its GDP allocations.
Another indicator is dropout rate. According to 2011-12 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa statistics, the dropout rate from Prep (Kacchi) to Grade 5 is 46 percent and Grade 6-10 is 41 percent. The number of female dropout is higher. The third indicator is corruption. According to the 2011 Transparency International Report, the education department is the fourth most corrupt department, out of 10 corrupt departments in Pakistan.
Myth 2: Students are young and their opinions don’t matter. Students are important education stakeholders and the education system is meant to develop the younger generation into useful citizens. Therefore, their opinion needs to be considered while bringing about education reforms.
A survey was conducted in 2008 in Peshawar to gauge the satisfaction level of stakeholders (teachers, students, parents, education officers, and politicians) in government schools. Stakeholders showed only 28 percent satisfaction level towards the delivery of education services. Students showed the highest level of dissatisfaction among all the stakeholders.
Students were interviewed in their classrooms at the primary, middle, and high school levels. They complained that teachers don’t teach in classrooms and spend more time chatting with other teachers. Education officers on monitoring visits to schools spend time in the principal’s office.
The students also complained of physical punishment, undue fines. Students from minority communities complained of derogatory terms used against them. It is high time we became sensitive to students’ opinion, encouraged them to openly express themselves, and addressed their grievances.
Myth 3: A uniform education system will improve the delivery of education services. In Pakistan, three parallel educational systems run parallel to each other. The very underprivileged class attends madressahs, the underprivileged attend government schools, and the middle and richer classes attend private schools. There can’t be a uniform system unless class difference is removed.
There is no uniform education system in the US and Europe, where both government and private sectors are involved in the delivery of education services. Even Japan and Singapore have moved from uniform to diversified systems. Singapore has a world class education system based on diversity, innovation, and quality. It has established autonomous schools, independent schools, and privately funded schools. These schools can develop their own curriculum and hire teachers. Their slogan is ‘Thinking schools, learning nations’.
The main features of Singapore’s educational system are decentralisation of power, autonomy, and devolution of responsibility to schools. The five global education policy trends are: 1) privatisation; 2) decentralisation; (governance by developing a system of targets); 3) vocalisation (skill-based education); 4) standardisation (measurement of outcomes by well-defined indicators); and 5) continuation (continue to upgrade skills).
Reforms in the education system should be made in the light of new education policy trends.
The writer has a PhD in ‘Delivery of educational services’ from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad)
Email: Alishahzadpk4@yahoo.com