Pakistan’s Illiteracy Problem
It is not just the lack of resources, but even the quality of available resources, the dearth of motivation and the absence of better job security that have left a enormous chunk of Pakistanis illiterate.
On 9 July 2012 the Senate passed a law on ‘The Right to Free and Compulsory Education’. However, this is only one of hundreds of statements passed by politicians, the federal and provincial governments, and of course the law-makers. While verbal dedication to this cause has been religiously delivered by all, unfortunately little has been done in practical terms to improve Pakistan’s education system. Now for the literacy rate: compared to Sri Lanka and India that stand on a literacy rates of 91.2% and 61% respectively, Pakistan is lumbering at a mere 54.9 percent. And with only less than 2% invested in the Education sector, out of which some is lost to the ever expanding black-hole we prefer to call corruption, it is no surprise that we are lagging far behind our neighbors and in the global setup.
Pakistan has also remained one of those few countries where education falls under the federal government. This is not a preferred model as certain sectors, especially the developmental, are better managed in smaller units. But as per state policy, education has always been treated as a tool to enforce national integrity. Today, despite intense state propaganda through the decades to proliferate an abstract ‘Pakistaniat’, we remain a nation of Punjabis, Sindhis, Pathans, Balochis, Muhajirs and more. Rather with newfound freedom in press and academia, the notions of ‘ethnic freedom’, unity in diversity, and of course the 18th amendment have allowed for the devolution of education. Let the provinces take charge, impose a curriculum closer to home, and enough with the pity parties claiming to have been suppressed via imposition of an alien, Punjabi or Sunni identity.
However this decision only opens the gateway to a new breed of issues flooding in. If only solutions could be that simple: while the relatively marginalized provinces and communities wish to escape the forced indoctrination or ‘Punjabization’/’Islamization’, they also at the same do not feel at par with the bigger provinces. So with freedom to develop their own curriculum, the right amount of resources too must be ensured to successfully execute education projects. In short, they feel their governments and systems are less capable of handling their provincial education sector compared to bigger provinces that already enjoy a higher literacy rate. These reservations are of course not baseless. UNICEF studies show that the number of children denied the right to education in Pakistan is 25 million: the second largest in the World. With the target of sending 25 million more children nationwide, and sudden shift of dysfunctional resources, Pakistan’s education system presently does not seem to be in any position to promise positive change too soon.
While those falling under the ‘higher education’ umbrella have their own qualms about devolution, for now we can focus on the primary and secondary sectors. Several models have been experimented with in order to make the education sector more efficient. One such project that has been funded by USAID under Punjab Education Foundation has been the private/public partnership model, in which local entrepreneurs open schools where instead of charging fee per student, the organization pays them per student. In return the student is charged no fee. The cost per student came down to 40% of that incurred by the government in a completely government setup. Not to mention the standard of education is also much higher due to regular teacher trainings, and strict checks on attendance.
With many NGOs and small organizations dedicated to improve the education sector sprouting, what provincial governments need to do is look for efficient ways to allocate their limited funds in the best possible way. With a relatively active civil society, and awareness via media, the government can use these models successfully and efficiently being implemented on a smaller scale on the provincial level. The need for a platform that can bring different stakeholders in the education sector seems vital for policy formation and implementation by professionals.
