hen the Punjab chief minister recently announced free education till the first university degree for all students, no one believed him. He made this announcement at a flag hoisting ceremony at the Lahore Fort to mark the 75th Independence Day of Pakistan.

Most of us in Pakistan have gotten used to hearing such promises and, over the years, have internalised these as just that. This could be because we have seen successive governments sleepwalking on the promises of providing quality school education. Over the years, performance on these promises and even on constitutional guarantees like the Article 25-A has been dismal.

In 2021, Pakistan spent merely 1.7 percent of its GDP on education. The government’s own data shows that literacy rate has dropped from 68.4 percent in 2018-19 to 62.8 percent in 2020-21. The literacy rate for men is 73 percent, and for women, 52 percent. However, the section on education in the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2021-22 notes that “male-female disparity seems to be narrowing down with time”. It rejoices in marginal increases in rural and urban literacy levels from 53.7 percent to 54 percent and from 76.1 percent to 77.3 percent, respectively. It states that the literacy rate for the Punjab (66 percent) is higher than Sindh (62 percent), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (55 percent) and Balochistan (55 percent).

The section further emphasises that “Pakistan is committed to transforming its education system into a high-quality global market demand-driven system in accordance with the Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which pertains to the quality of education”. However, looking at the statistics, one can safely say that our progress on Goal 4 of the SDGs is certainly not something to be proud of as we celebrate our 75th Independence Day this year. According to the government’s own statistics for primary, lower, and upper secondary education, education completion rates are at 67 percent, 47 percent and 23 percent. Pre-primary education is still not a priority of the governments at any level. There are neither facilities nor the requisite expertise to provide early child education (ECE). There is a vast amount of literature to establish that the provision of quality ECE plays a crucial role in reducing the achievement gaps for socio-economic disadvantages. Done right, it helps children develop cognitive and socio-emotional skills that set a foundation for young learners. However, this is still not the focus of our education policymakers. In Pakistan, the majority do not receive any form of formal pre-primary education.

In official documents, the governments often list various initiatives undertaken as a “commitment to accomplish Goal 4 of SDGs”. Among these initiatives, the achievements made in undertaking “major” reforms in education is stressed. The initiatives are certainly important, but why aren’t they yielding any palpable difference and improving the quality of education? Why isn’t school education a fun-filled, fulfilling and inclusive learning experience for a majority of our children? Why are we still far away from achieving SDG4?

Historically government-sanctioned curricula have promoted veneration for warlords instead of workmen, innovators and scientists. The divisive curriculum developed in a bid to develop ideological unity resulted in undermining the democratic spirit and diversity in Pakistan’s educational content.

Could it be because of our misplaced and misinformed priorities? The much-publicised recent education reforms have focused more on altering and unifying “mindsets” than healing the fractured psyche of the nation.

Historically, government-sanctioned curricula have promoted veneration of warlords instead of workmen, innovators and scientists. The divisive curriculum developed in a bid to develop ideological unity resulted in undermining the democratic spirit and diversity in Pakistan’s educational content.

One wonders if curricula alone can provide “equal learning opportunities to all segments of society”? The “key consideration” listed by the controversial Single National Curriculum (SNC) mainly falls on the conservative bandwidth of the ideological spectrum aimed at primarily creating techno-religio-nationalist beings. The SNC claims to develop “21^st Century skills including analytical, critical and creative thinking” while creating a “separate curriculum with the title of religious education” for the religious minorities i.e., Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Baha’i, Kalasha, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. Even the best curriculum cannot by itself solve the myriad of problems being faced by our public education system.

We are living in uncertain times, which will be increasingly marked by disrupted schooling on account of health concerns and climate emergencies etc. Are we prepared to provide education while ensuring the well-being of our children in emergencies?

The pre-pandemic estimates show that 22 million children are “out of educational reach”. For the majority of students enrolled in public schools, these have become “reproduction sites of educational inequalities”. I have been a beneficiary of the public education system, and it is worrisome to see the receding trust of all and sundry in our public education system. Undoubtedly, public schools in Pakistan face a paucity of resources. Our teachers are not adequately trained and face financial constraints. Many of the schools still lack the basic infrastructure like functioning libraries and computer labs needed to have 21st-century education.

But most of all, we lack the political will and pluralistic vision to build a viable public education system that prioritises the well-being of our children. If we really want to improve the lot of our public schools and improve the well-being and learning outcomes of children in Pakistan, we need to deliberate on a new social contract that places the interest of the most marginalised and neglected children at the centre of our discussions. We must treat public education, at least at the school level, as a right and not a luxury if we want to avoid repeating the pre-pandemic failures in our public sector education system.

The writer is a   teaching fellow at the Department of    Governance and   Global Studies at the ITU. She can be   contacted at @malyhaz