Sindh’s education dilemma

The Planning Commission’s District Education Performance Index Report 2023 highlights serious shortcomings in the delivery of the public education system in Pakistan, which has now largely been reduced to serving the children of poor parents who cannot afford private schools nor can force the concerned authorities to behave well.

Like all previous education surveys and research studies, this report also confirms that the ship of education is sinking, despite various ongoing reforms and legislations declaring education as a fundamental right. The report notes some progress in expanding educational opportunities, but they appear insufficient given that the number of out-of-school children has gone up from approximately 22 million to 25.6 million over the past decade.

Of these, 79 per cent have never attended school. Even more alarming is the performance of those enrolled kids, as the report indicates that 77 per cent of children aged 10 cannot read age-appropriate text. Isn’t this a clear indication of a collapsed education system? Shouldn’t some heads roll?

Will the report compel the country’s rulers to take public education seriously beyond rhetoric and cosmetic efforts such as education emergencies or reforms? I doubt it – because they have received similar wake-up calls repeatedly, but their commitment has been limited to lip service. Otherwise, instead of being placed in the ‘low’ category, we would have been ranked as a ‘high’ performer in education. This is indeed an indictment of the rulers’ continuous lack of seriousness about education.

Unfortunately, my home province Sindh continues to make headlines in the ongoing saga of education failures; the report in question reveals that the province lags behind the national average score (Sindh 51.5 vs national 53.4); Moreover, not a single district from Sindh could make it into the top ten districts in Pakistan – not even one from Karachi. Isn’t that deeply concerning? If this is the state of education in a metropolitan city, then what can be expected in more remote and far-flung areas?

Another intriguing thing is that, despite Sindh being ahead of all other provinces in the domain of public financing, this hasn’t translated into better results. Ideally, beyond prognosis, the report should have probed the possible causes in detail as to why increased funding hasn’t led to improvements.

The seriousness – or lack of – of Sindh’s leaders is evident from the state of education in their home districts. Let’s take a closer look at the situation in Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, Jamshoro and Umerkot. These districts are particularly significant because much of the PPP’s leadership and key figures in provincial government hail from these districts.

Larkana, the headquarters of the party, disappointingly scores low at 52.7 (out of 100). Shaheed Benazirabad, the home district of the president of Pakistan, fares even worse with a score of 50.2. Jamshoro, the home district of Sindh’s three-time chief minister, scores 53.9, and Umerkot, the home district of the current provincial education minister, also demonstrates poor performance with a score of 49.

If this is the situation in the districts of the party and government leaders, then it is not surprising to witness the poor status of education in other districts where the heads of district administration are often posted on recommendations from local MNAs and MPAs. Due to the prevailing governance style, only local political leaders are served at the cost of public service. This poor performance is not limited to the education sector; it pervades other departments as well.

A similar situation prevails in other provinces, with only slight variations. The impact of such a poorly performing education system on a country’s politics, economics and society is grave and needs to be discussed at length.

First, the quality of democracy will further deteriorate, as the ability of uneducated or semi-literate voters to choose the right leaders based on an understanding of performance and competence will remain limited, as we currently witness all around us. Additionally, with a large proportion of the population uneducated, the promotion of diversity, tolerance of differences and the ability to express and understand arguments will continue to be at the lowest level.

Second, this will have a serious impact on the economic productivity of people since they will lack the knowledge, skills and behaviour needed to participate in the domestic and global economy. As a result, social problems like poverty, unemployment and inequality will worsen.

Therefore, our rulers must look beyond their short-term interests and consider the long-term interests of the country.

The writer is an education expert and can be reached at: asgharsoomro@gmail.com