Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Edcation in Pakistan
Edcation in Pakistan
Blackwell
Oxford,
The
MUWO
0027-4909
ORIGINAL
2
96
2006
Muslim
Hartford
UK
Publishing
ARTICLE
World
Seminary
Ltd
The Muslim
Pakistan:
theWorld
State of Education
M. Fayyaz Khan*
Institute of Policy Studies
Islamabad, Pakistan
he quality of human resource plays a critical role in the rise and fall of
nations, and human resource can be channeled and developed in the
right direction with the help of proper education. A nations overall
position and its standing in the comity of nations are, to a large extent,
determined by the standards of its educational system. Since education is a
means for the development of personality and character, it is not merely about
gaining knowledge and mastering science and technology and control of
information; it is also concerned with the nations belief system, culture and
civilization, and values. Education represents, simultaneously, a nations past,
present, and future.
Comprehensive education ensures the development of the individuals
character and national values, as well as their continuity. With regard to the
objectives of education, rightly set priorities and a focus on long-term goals
instead of quick results directs personal development of individual and
collective growth to the desirable, required path. Gradual but lasting
development, evenhanded growth of both the individual and the society,
balanced and good international relations, universal human welfare, and
continuous progress toward self-reliance without adverse effects for the
environment are not possible without quality education.
Today, even developed countries are worried with respect to the situation
of education. In addition to their students poor performances in the subjects of
science and mathematics, they are facing a situation of ever-increasing rates of
crime, waywardness, and the widespread neglect of moral values among their
youth. This article attempts to shed light on vital aspects of Pakistans
educational scenario so as to enable readers to appreciate the enormity of the
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Historical Background
The spread of education always has been one of the hallmarks of Muslim
civilization in the sub-continent. Before them, Aryans, especially Hindus, had
a quite different view with respect to education. To maintain Brahmin
dominance and the religious sanctity of the class system, a large population
was deprived of the benefits of education.1 Muslims changed the class-based
Hindu system, with the result that overall social behavior, interaction,
relationships, and marriages, as well as education and training, were improved.
From the time of Muhammad bin Qasim (695715) to the Mogul Emperor
Humayun (15401556), educational institutions were completely free in their
internal affairs and administration. Teachers were free to teach their students,
employing whatever methods they deemed fit and use whatever syllabus they
considered appropriate. Both the state and the public had so much trust in
these institutions that they used to donate large tracts of land as endowments
to them. Education was not restricted to the transfer of revealed and
acquired knowledge, but included among others things the fine arts, drawing,
the arts of defense and tactical warfare, architecture, calligraphy, sculpture,
medicine, pharmacy and surgery.2
Sultan Sikandar Lodhi (14891517) contributed to the tradition of
education through two measures: firstly, by making the acquisition of
education compulsory to a certain level for government officials and armed
forces; secondly, by declaring Persian as the official language. Both these steps
proved crucial. Hindus in government jobs started taking an interest in
learning the Persian language, and were admitted to Muslim institutions that
were not affiliated with mosques. This also attracted scholars from around the
Muslim world to the sub-continent.3 Afterwards, during the rule of Mogul
Emperor Akbar (15561605), education started moving away from its religious
base because of his flexible policies and ultra-liberal measures. Madaris started
to be built outside or adjacent to mosques, and Persian became the medium
of instruction at the secondary and higher levels of education.4
For the spread of education among Hindus, attempts by the Mogul rulers
to devise a common syllabus for both Hindus and Muslims, in addition to the
one in vogue in madaris, are worth noting. This resulted in destroying the
Brahmin monopoly on education and learning Sanskrit, since common Hindu
people started getting educated and learning the Sanskrit language that was
part of their syllabus.5 Education was so widespread by the time of Mogul
Emperor Aurangzeb (16581707) that even small towns and villages were
producing scholars and learned people in all fields.6
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With the decline of the Mogul Empire, European nations started removing the
guise of trade expeditions and assumed the role of traditional imperial powers.
When the East India Company was granted civil powers in 1765, it decided to
employ the instrument of education to consolidate its rule. To achieve this end,
it focused attention on opening schools run by Christian missionaries. Though
Muslims were hesitant about their children being educated in schools run by
Christian missionaries, Hindus were happily admitted to these institutions.8
Many Western-influenced intellectuals hold that the spread of education in
the sub-continent owes a debt to the British Crown. The fact is, however, that
education during the British rule became confined to a certain class. During
colonial rule, it was the acquaintance with the English language that was
synonymous with knowledge; the lack of it was considered ignorance. British
rulers did everything to strangulate the existing system of education; Lord
Macaulays advice of 1835 in regards to the Indian Education later found in
his Minutes played the central role in their strategy:
We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters
between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons,
Indian in blood and color, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals,
and in intellect.9
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The Challenges
In 1947, with the emergence of the state of Pakistan, education faced two
major challenges. The first was ideological. Multiethnic groups that supported
the idea of Pakistan and made tremendous sacrifices for it were keen to reap
the fruits of their endeavors. The second was demographic. The exodus of
Hindus, soon after the creation of Pakistan, left a huge void in the fields of
economy, commerce and education. Many schools and colleges were shut
down; others, along with libraries and laboratories, were burnt, while
remaining classrooms, hostels and grounds were converted into refugee
camps.12 Pakistans educational system, thus, had to start from ruins.
It is important to note that while Pakistans population was 34 million in
1951 in 2005 the number rose to about 154 million. This makes Pakistan the
worlds sixth most populous country. Because of the population growth and
the rise in the number of children of school-going age, even the great increase
in the number of educational institutions is still not adequate. Consequently,
Pakistans education sector appears to be in dire straits. Despite some serious
efforts toward improving the situation, Pakistan still has many illiterates and
out-of-school children. Since 1947 the number of primary and high schools has
increased 18 and 39 times respectively, but because of the significant population
growth and poor governance, over 10 million children are still not enrolled in
school. Literacy trends show that about two thirds of the countrys population
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system requires drastic change. The proposed changes failed miserably because
they were proposed too hastily, without sufficient research being done, and
because they were incompatible. Most were the products of wishful thinking.
The commissions ignored realities such as a suitable teaching and learning
environment, and the need for adequate research and development. The ad
hoc approaches badly taxed the nation through the loss of already scarce
resources and precious time.
The challenge of continuously increasing the defense budget (because of
tense relations with India, the Kashmir issue, three wars, and East Pakistans
transformation into Bangladesh) overwhelmed the education sector. Lack of
political will and foresight resulted in worsening the situation further. The civil
and military bureaucracy (which has had a real say in policy making)
demonstrated a mindset that was detrimental to national aspirations in the
sphere of education. These two classes have always been wary of faculty,
students and campuses. Their strained relations left little room for cooperation,
understanding and realistic planning.
The political leadership, by and large, could not rise to the occasion and
did little to rescue the victim: education. The Muslim League, which mostly
remained empowered, although with different names, shades and faces, failed
to align education with Pakistans ideology. The religious parties performance
with regard to education and its development can best be described as
dismal.18 Nationalist and ethnic organizations failed to play any significant role
in policy matters related to education, its administration or content.19
Many want to blame landlordism for the failure of the education sector.
It is true that widespread education does not serve the vested interests of
landlords, since it has the potential to liberate the subjects from their longstanding exploitation. While it is true that not all landlords are anti-education
or overly cruel, they remain a class that stands in the way of the education and
socio-economic development of the poor masses.
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private institutions are to be uprooted, but that they must retrace their steps
toward the right path through proper regulation mechanisms, national
solidarity and better administration of government-run schools.
2) Medium of Instruction: The issue of the medium of instruction is another
divisive cause of concern for education and society at large in Pakistan, since
it contributes toward inconsistent policies and de-prioritization. The debate on
the question of the medium of instruction had in fact started during the very
first year of Pakistans existence. Pakistans founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah
wanted Urdu to be the national language of the country, but the Bengali
nationalists of the then East Pakistan province (now Bangladesh) demanded
that Bangla too should be the national language along with Urdu. In this
infighting on the issue of national language, it was English that secured the
place that it has enjoyed ever since. English was declared as the official
language. In spite of repeated pledges in the Constitution of Pakistan to make
Urdu the official language, English has not only been the official language but
the virtual medium of instruction as well.22
A review of student performance at secondary, higher secondary and
graduate levels during the past 25 years (19812005) reveals striking data.
Those who got through other subjects but failed in English were 54 percent at
secondary, 60 percent at higher secondary and 70 percent at graduate levels.
They either lost heart to further their education,23 or could not attain a good
command of English even if they did manage to pass. The question that arises
here is: What is the proper way of teaching English, bearing in mind its
international recognition and the fact that it is the language of science and
technology?
Those who call for adopting Urdu as the national language are not
oblivious to the importance of English. Proper education in English is, in fact,
necessary for national development. Yet, making it compulsory for the
common person to learn English and arranging for its effective teaching at
higher levels, for the study of science and technology, and for communication
with the outside world are two different things.24
Adopting the mother tongue of a society as the medium of instruction
increases the prospects of both literacy and the quality of education. The first
language enables the students to comprehend what they are taught. The issue
of the medium of instruction may appear trivial to some, but the absence of
proper attention to it has inflicted great harm to most Pakistani students in
terms of suppressing their abilities in creative and critical thinking. This has
had negative effects on social, cultural, civilizational, and even economic
fronts. In this regard, the findings of the UNESCO report are worth mentioning:
If a foreign language belongs to a culture that resembles its own (for example,
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French language for an English child), then the only problem is to develop
an understanding of the language. But if a foreign language belongs to an
entirely different culture (for example, English language for a Nigerian
child), then the difficulty of learning that language increases considerably and
quite possibly the child may not be able to properly and sensibly express him
or herself.25 This latter situation can be seen in the width and breadth of
Pakistan!
The Education Policy of 1969 declared English to be the official language;
it had nevertheless called for introducing Urdu in universities and colleges. The
Education Policy of 1979 also said that the permanent existence of Englishmedium schools as a legacy of the colonial era negates the notion of a single
and united nations own system of education. It has, therefore, been decided
that English-medium schools in the country must necessarily adopt Urdu or a
provincial language as the medium of instruction. From April 1979, all students
of the first grade in English-medium schools would be educated either in Urdu
or in a provincial language. But on November 27, 1984, the Zia regime
announced that those schools that prepare students for foreign countries could
adopt English as the medium of instruction.26 This decision, along with an
unruly private sector, tangled the entire educational setup and intensified the
medium of instruction issue by highlighting the duality.
3) Problems Facing Higher Education, Science and Research: The
university is a vital institution in society that plays an important role in
development as well as in preserving and promoting social norms and national
interests. In addition to contributing to the enhancement of civilization, the
university is expected to set teaching and learning standards of excellence. It
is the university that creates the taste and longing for research and expands
ones faculties of critical thinking. The university can produce and deliver the
desired goods only if it is afforded the resources, and employs practicable
planning and long-term policies. There has been a substantial increase in
numbers but Pakistan has been constantly faced with political instability, a
fragile economy and heavy reliance on Western powers that has left little room
for its universities to live up to national expectations.
There were only two engineering colleges (in Karachi and Lahore) at the
time of Pakistans creation, now there are nine public and two private
engineering universities in addition to two colleges that are either part of the
university or affiliated with it. According to the figures of 2004, there are 27,215
students in engineering universities accounting for 15% of all students.
Similarly, there was only one agriculture college in 1947; now there are four
universities and five colleges. In 2004, there were 15,671 students in agriculture
universities making up 9% of the total number of students.
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2.
3.
4.
5.
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inquiry. Besides the recent hasty and abrupt efforts initiated by a mix of
vested interests, Pakistans education system and its syllabi have a tradition of
remaining either static and frozen or changing very slowly. Now the problem
is that the private sector is adopting all kinds of syllabi from the open market,
while the public sectors syllabi lack integration and innovation. The
abundance of the various means of knowledge and information available has
made the task of syllabus designing (and its continuous updating) even more
necessary. The process of globalization and its attending requirements have
left no room for a static syllabus that is based on obsolete and impractical
notions. The situation in Pakistan demands taking comprehensive and
effective steps after thoroughly reviewing relevance, usefulness and
possibility to meet the global challenges and national needs of syllabi in use
at all levels in all institutions of the country.
Quality: At present, the educational system has many standards for the
assessment of quality. Some base their opinions on the marks obtained while
others give importance to skills, and some regard preparation of good human
beings as the sign of quality education. Then there are the problems of the
lack of transparency and corruption resulting in a number of bad practices.
The prevalent inconsistencies are reflected by universities and educational
boards when they refuse even to admit their own students in higher grades
without reevaluating them. Good marks and high grades are generally not
accepted at face value. In practical life, the student is considered lacking in
the skills of the diploma he brandishes. This reflects the flawed and unreliable
examination system. Corruption, unfair means, copying, plagiarism, nepotism
and blatant inefficiency mar the whole examination system. This demands
prudent and immediate action. A formidable challenge is to assess the
worth of the human being with respect to character, approach, and human
and moral values of the individual that this system prepares. If education
makes individuals civilized, polite, law-abiding, tolerant, just and honest, then
the system of education is something to cherish, or else its change is
inevitable.
Loss of Authority: Absence of the rule of law has rendered the national
administrative structure ineffective, weak and unreliable. Public servants
become its rulers, and consider people their hapless subjects. This virus has
not spared even the education sector. The head of an institution has
practically no authority over the teaching staff. The same is the case with the
administration, because it has no control over the head of the institution.
Similarly, provincial departments of education and home have no authority
over institutions administrations and federal officials have no authority over
provinces, nor do they have any authority to exercise because of the
international clout both on political and financial levels. Even if a measure is
somehow taken, political interests, internal bickering in government circles,
and the meddling of influential officials nullifies any good that might have
accrued. Then education becomes an abject commercial market, one where
the real motive is money making. The result is little competence and
disappointment to the expectations of youth, their parents, and nations.
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be realized that conditional foreign aid, which may have no relevance to facts
on the ground at home, becomes a source of corruption. In other words, it is
through better management, the realistic determination of priorities, careful
spending and an effective system to keep a watch on it that Pakistans
education scenario can present a far better picture.
Endnotes
*
Salim Mansur Khalid is Assistant Professor, Government College, Township,
Lahore; Fayyaz Khan is Joint Director at Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad.
1.
Moeen-ud-Din Aqeel, Educational Background of Pakistan Movement, Lahore,
1992, 11.
2.
N. N. Law, Promotion of learning in India During Muhammadan Rule by
Muhammadans, London, 1915, 117.
3.
Abul Qasim Farishta (tr. John Briggs), History of the Rise of Mahomedans, vol. 1,
Calcutta, 1910, 4645, vide Moeen-ud-Din Aqeel, ibid., 1415.
4.
Farishta, ibid., 16062.
5.
Abedhanand, Sawami, India and Her People, Calcutta, 1940, 188.
6.
Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi, Administration of the Mogul Empire, Karachi, 1996, 217.
7.
William Sleeman, Rambles and Recollection of an Indian Officials, vol. 2, chapter
68, London, 1844, E-Book #15483, released on 27 March 2005, www.gutenberg.net.
8.
Aqeel, ibid., 17.
9.
Thomas Babington Macaulay, Minutes of 2 February 1835 on Indian Education.
Prose and Poetry, selected by G. M. Young, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1957.
10. Macaulay writes: I have no knowledge of either Sanskrit or Arabic. But I have
done what I could to form a correct estimate of their value. I have read translations of the
most celebrated Arabic and Sanskrit works. I have conversed both here and at home with
men distinguished by their proficiency in the eastern tongues. I am quite ready to take the
Oriental learning at the valuation of the Orientalists themselves. I have never found one
among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the
whole native literature of India and Arabia. The intrinsic superiority of the Western literature
is, indeed, fully admitted by those members of the Committee who support the Oriental plan
of education. Macaulay, Prose and Poetry, selected by G. M. Young (Cambridge MA:
Harvard University Press, 1957).
11. Abul Ala Maududi, Lesson from the History, Lahore, 2003.
12. Only 20 of the 150 teachers of Punjab University, Pakistans biggest, stayed here
while the rest left for India. The situation of the Dhaka University was even worse, while
Sindh University was only in its formative phase. Ref. Hameed Ahmed Khan, Education and
Civilization, Lahore, 1975, 281. Similarly, Dr. Abdus Salam Khurshid alludes: during the
partition, a very few Muslim teachers were left in higher education institutions. In order to
address teachers shortage, relatively young and untrained Muslim teachers were inducted
everywhere, which resulted into deterioration of educations overall quality. Consequently,
graduates produced later on, by and large, could not develop their full potential and
abilities. See. Decadence of Higher Education in Pakistan, Karachi. 1969, 30.
13. Khurshid Ahmad, Ideology of Pakistan and Islamic Ideology, Karachi, 1969, 30.
14. Ibid., 80.
15. Muhammad Said, Hakim, Ideology and Philosophy of Islamic Education, Karachi,
1985; Abdur Rashid Arshad, Evolution of Education in Pakistan, Lahore, 1995.
16. See: Changing Minds Winning Peace: A New Strategic Direction for US Public
Diplomacy in Arab and Muslim World (ed: Edward Djerejian) Washington DC 2003. In the
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western world, there is a strong urge to change the curricula and education system
drastically. The 9/11 Commission Report. New York 2004.
Please see Appendix A for the chronology of all such efforts.
17. Please see Appendix A for the chronology of all such efforts.
18. In this regard, two parties emerge with their concern for problems and issues of
education in Pakistan: Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Peoples Party. JI prepared massive
literature, campaigned for general awareness, formed students and teachers organizations.
PPP took measures during its first tenure in power (19711977), though there are reservations
can be expressed about them, as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto intended to bring about revolutionary
changes in the system of education. But his daughter Benazir Bhutto did not show any of
his resolve and determination.
19. Tahir Amin, Ethno National Movements of Pakistan, Islamabad, 1988.
20. The English rulers, as per their dispatch in 1824, decided that in order to disrupt
locals relationship with their culture and history, they must be disconnected with their
conventional education. They used English and introduced European disciplines for this
purpose. This step proved to be far reaching in terms of its ramifications and soon the
colonial rulers started reaping the fruits.
21. Muhammad Salah Uddin, Class War in Education. Karachi, 1986, 3.
22. In November 1947, the first Education Conference declared Urdu as a mandatory
language for all schools but this declaration was never materialized. Hamid Ahmad Khan.
Education and Civilization, Lahore. 1975, 79.
23. Gazzettes of Pakistan Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education, and Gazzettes
of Universities BA/Bsc results, From 1981 to 2005, analyzed by Salim Mansoor Khalid.
24. Former Chairman National Language Authority, Dr. Waheed Qureshi, organized a
survey, which produced interesting results: a) the popular support among masses for opting
local languages as a medium of instruction was almost non-existent. The high officials who
were incapable of speaking and writing the local languages, strongly advocated in favor of
provincial languages. b) None of the sons and daughters of the officers of grade twenty and
above attend Urdu-Medium Schools. c) 90 percent people from all ethnicities insisted on the
declaration of Urdu as the medium of instruction. d) None of the members of Senate,
national assembly and provincial assemblies opposed Urdu and 95 percent of them stated
that Urdu should be Pakistans official language yet they are not taking any concrete steps
for translating their words into deeds. Dr. Waheed Qureshi: Basic Debates on Education,
Islamabad, 1988, 183.
25. Renowned scholar and educationist Jamil Jalibi, Medium of Instruction and
National Education Policy, Islamabad 1994. 4.
26. Salim Mansur Khalid, Private Sector in Education, Islamabad, 1988, 183.
27. University Grants Commission of Pakistan: Draft Policy on Higher Education
19982010, Islamabad, 1998.
28. 28 Mujahid Kamran, Pakistan and Science Education: The Basic Crisis. Lahore, 1994, 6.
29. Ataur Rahman, Higher Education: Science and Technology in Pakistan, Lahore,
1999, 92.
30. Abdul Qadir Khan: Preface on Higher Education Science and Technology in
Pakistan, Lahore 1999, 19.
31. Momsen, Janet (1991) Women and Development in the Third World , Routledge:
London, 12.
32. Salim Mansur Khalid: Students Movements, 1,2 vol., Lahore, 1989.
33. Supreme Court Monthly Review (SCMR) 1993, 1781.
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