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Foundations of Education refers to a broadly-conceived field of educational study that derives its
character and methods from a number of academic disciplines, combinations of disciplines, and
area studies, including: history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, religion, political science,
economics, psychology, cultural studies, gender studies, comparative and international education,
educational studies, and educational policy studies. As distinct from Psychological Foundations of
Education, which rely on the behavioral sciences, these Standards address the Social Foundations
of Education, which rely heavily on the disciplines and methodologies of the humanities,
particularly history and philosophy, and the social scienes, such as sociology and political science.
The purpose of foundations study is to bring these disciplinary resources to bear in developing
interpretive, normative, and critical perspectives on education, both inside and outside of schools.
The interpretive perspectives use concepts and theories developed within the humanities and the
social sciences to assist students in examining, understanding, and explaining education within
different contexts. Foundational studies promote analysis of the intent, meaning, and effects of
educational institutions, including schools. Such studies attend particularly to the diverse contexts
within which educational phenomena occur, and how interpretation can vary with different
historical, philosophical, and cultural perspectives. The normative perspectives assist students in
examining and explaining education in light of value orientations. Foundational studies promote
understanding of normative and ethical behavior in educational development and recognition of
the inevitable presence of normative influences in educational thought and practice. Foundational
studies probe the nature of assumptions about education and schooling. They examine the relation
of policy analysis to values and the extent to which educational policymaking reflects values.
Finally, they encourage students to develop their own value positions regarding education on the
basis of critical study and their own reflections. The critical perspectives employ normative
interpretations to assist students to develop inquiry skills, to question educational assumptions and
arrangements, and to identify contradictions and inconsistencies among social and educational
values, policies, and practices. In particular, the critical perspectives engage students in employing
democratic values to assess educational beliefs, policies, and practices in light of their origins,
influences, and consequences. Particular disciplinary studies in, e.g., the history, philosophy, or
sociology of education shall be considered as study in the Foundations of Education provided the
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above perspectives are addressed and promoted. The objective of such study is to sharpen students’
abilities to examine, understand, and explain educational proposals, arrangements, and practices
and to develop a disciplined sense of policy-oriented educational responsibility. Such study
develops an awareness of education and schooling in light of their complex relations to the
environing culture. Study in Foundations of Education shall NOT be equated with “Introduction
to Education” coursework unless such study clearly addresses the three perspectives indicated in
this Standard and is taught by individuals specifically trained in Foundations of Education.
The word Islam defined by the Quran itself means submission to the Supreme Being and
compliance with His laws, which constitutes Nature. Islam lays special emphasis on the acquisition
of knowledge. Concept of vicegerent of man: According to Quran, Allah has made man as a
vicegerent due to knowledge (IIm-ul-Asma), when angels argues about the vicegerent of man than
Allah (SWT) taught Adam the names of some things and then Adam told them and hence proved
his ability for vicegerent on earth. This shows the importance of acquiring knowledge from the
Quranic point of view (Surah AL-Baqra Foruth Ruku). It is obligatory alike for both Muslim male
and female. Knowledge is of two types, revealed knowledge and acquired knowledge. Revealed
knowledge has been given to human beings, through prophets by Allah. Acquired knowledge is
that which is being acquired by the human beings though the study of natural phenomena, attitude
of man and through the study of society. Quran says that for the prosperous life on earth both kinds
of knowledge, revealed and acquired is necessary. It shows the basis of the educational set-up in
Islam where the children are not only equipped with religious knowledge but also with acquired
that is scientific knowledge so that they can live a righteous and prosperous life. That is why the
knowledge in Islam is considered as the greatest gift of Allah to Man. It helps man to attain
righteous and prosperous life. Education is the process through which knowledge is transmitted
from a section of society to another section. It also reflects the philosophy on which it is based.
Islamic philosophy derives its origin from the spirit of teachings of the Quran and Hadith (the
saying of the Holy Prophet may peace be upon him). The Qayas and Fiqqah, are also the crucial
components.
Psychological Foundation of Education, Education and Psychology
Psychology is the “science of mind and behavior”, Silverman (1874) defines psychology as “the
science that seeks to describe and explain and on decision, to change the behaviour of man and
other animals.” Education also means change in the behaviour of an individual. So, education and
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psychology are as inseparable from one another as two sides of a coin. Without understanding the
psychology of a child the teacher cannot educate him in the true sense of the word.
Psychology is the most important of the foundations of education. It plays pivotal role in the
process of teaching and learning. The psychology used specifically in education is called
educational psychology. We can say that both psychology and education are interrelated.
Education is the shaping of behavior, whereas psychology is the study of how, when and Why to
shape these behaviors.
Thus Educational Psychology is an applied branch of psychology that deals with the application
of the principles of general psychology to the problems of education. We can, in more simple
words, say that ‘educational psychology’, applies knowledge to educational problems.
Educational psychology explains the changes that take place in individuals in their various stages
of development. It explains the effect of the environment on the child. It also studies the child’s
inborn emotions like anger and fear as they play pivotal role in learning and teaching.
The above definition of psychology shows that without the proper study of educational psychology
it is impossible to impart education to children correctly. Psychology forms the basis for education.
It is helpful in understanding the individual differences among children.
According to Pestalozzi the aim of education is the harmonious natural and progressive
development of the pupil. To fulfill this aim the teacher must have an insight into the working of
the child’s mind. He must have the knowledge of various stages of child’s life and their demands.
He must know how to make a maladjusted pupil well-adjusted.
From the above discussion it is clear that education must have psychological foundation, that is,
curriculum should be based on the sound principles of psychology. The curriculum of a level
(class) must be in accordance with the needs and demands of the age of that level.

Education provides the base for socio-economic development. An educational system which is of
poor quality should be considered one of the most important factors hindering poor and developing
countries from growing. In Pakistan, education is always considered of great importance as
documented by almost every regime but still quality of education lacks, in terms of better schools,
trained teachers, good infrastructure and needs improvement. This improvement is necessary in
spite of the fact that the government’s past policies have initiated drastic measures in uplifting the
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quality of education. It has been observed over the years that in spite of all the incentives that the
government is offering to the education sector, there’s an increase in overall enrollment rates but
the quality of teachers is still not very impressive and does not come upto a decent standard. While,
education for all is of great importance as mentioned by many reports and surveys, equality in
education for both male and female, for adults and primary education are also extremely important
and thus should be included as the main objectives of the education system. The government of
Pakistan has realized the importance of education for all (EFA) and priority to basic education to
children has been given since 1995. Many articles and reports encourage education since it
encourages higher returns. It provides better health, lower fertility and most importantly higher
productivity of the population.
In 1947, Pakistan faced two major challenges; first one was multiethnic groups and a large number
of Hindus migrated, who were working in the fields of economics, commerce and education. Many
school and universities were shut down, while the rest were under the possession of refuges.
Despite all efforts since that day, Pakistan’s population remains largely illiterate. There are many
issues and concerns pointed out by different authors regarding the initiatives and policies that the
government of Pakistan has adopted. One of the main features reported as a deficiency in the
education system is the poor quality of teachers. Quality of teachers especially in Pakistan is still
questionable. Teachers’ performance and their training is very important. Through training and
improving basic skills to teach, we can transform the whole teaching system which will eventually
lead to a better education system.
“It is evident that without teachers’ transformation we cannot transform the education system for
improving the quality of education.
In Pakistan, there is an increasing concern regarding education for all concerning both access to
basic education in all the provinces and the quality of education. Quality of education as mentioned
is highly dependant on the quality of instructors. Now the question is how to evaluate their quality?
For that purpose one should understand the concept and a general definition of quality. Quality of
education is related and linked with quality of teachers, for that many articles showed an attempt
to give a general description about what is quality education and how will it be affected by the
quality of teachers. To come up with a general definition of quality education many developed
nations, such as U.S.A and education donor agencies World Bank and International Monetary
Fund (IMF) is putting effort in this context. It has been observed and realized that to define quality
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education, one has to first set forth its standards and a bench mark. From this they realized the
importance of education history and international standards that can be used for setting up a target
for improving education quality..
The ministers and all participants in the decision making policy procedure were in agreement that
there is a need to set forth a target for education system and how can one achieve that goal. A gap
between the true effects of the policies and their actual goal is being observed. Some policies are
very general and are not specifically targeting the main goal which is to improve education quality.
As mentioned earlier in this paper, for that purpose one has to be precise about the definition of
quality education? How will it be measured? Can we generalize the definition of quality? Is there
any link between quality of education and quality of teachers? If yes, than how can we define the
quality of teachers. How will it be measured? Does the measurement standard apply to every
developing country and in every situation? Answer to all these questions is important in
understanding the concept of quality education and teachers. This literature review attempts to
show that education reforms have stimulated growing enrollment rates in Pakistan; however
deficiencies still exist in school quality due to various reasons and one of the most vital reasons is
poor teacher performance.
The World Bank (1997) report states:
“The best way to improve access is to improve quality which would make coming to school or
staying in school a more attractive option from the perspective of parents as well as children.
Moreover, effort to improve quality will tend to increase the efficiency of the public expenditure
and will encourage parents to contribute to children education.”
In an attempt to define the quality of education, World Bank (1997) raised the importance of setting
standards for a better education system. According to the World Bank, the quality of education can
be assessed through policies which make a difference in a society overall in form of high
productivity of labor and professionals, well trained teachers, better infrastructure, comparability
of programs, and accountability for meeting the targets. It has been observed over the years that it
is difficult to come up with a general definition of “quality education”. It is not possible due to the
socio-economic differences between countries, to apply or generalize the definition for a good
quality education system. Quality of education itself consists of a wide range of components which
may vary from country to country and from time to time. Some authors define quality of education
through a better schooling system. Some are in argue of teachers’ performance as the main
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component, some reports support that better infrastructure means better education. Due to a wide
range of variables that do affect the education quality it is difficult to generalize and point out only
one feature as the most important one, as the situation changes from time to time and from country
to country.
In the case of Pakistan, in an attempt to improve the education system it has been observed that
over the years policies that were targeting teachers’ quality and performance come out to be more
effective as compared to other policies. In Pakistan, to improve education quality it is critical to
focus on improving teachers’ performance. This notion is also supported. Teachers’ performance
includes various factors such as teaching skills, their professional attitude, attendance and
motivation towards learning and teaching. Teachers’ quality and performance needs to be
evaluated and invested in on a continuous basis. Now how should we evaluate teachers’ quality is
another issue. For evaluating teachers’ performance one has to come up with a precise definition
of teachers’ quality performance. It has been observed that it is difficult to come up with a specific
definition of teachers’ quality performance as it is consisted of many attributes and varies from
region to region. According to some authors quality of teachers can measured through their
efficiency in class, attendance and teaching skills like communication ability and paying individual
attention to each student. Some past literature viewed quality performance of teachers as the
learning outcomes of students and there achievement scores at the end of each term. Assessing
student’s scores at the end can be used as a tool for measuring how effective the teacher is and any
teacher targeting policy after its implementation. Different parents and schools set forth different
achievement goals for their children. The goals may be higher or lower depending on school type
and teachers characteristics. For example, private schools have higher objectives and try to
maintain their standards by hiring qualified, well experienced teachers. However, government
schools have a different approach and may go for less expensive and less qualified instructors.
As also pointed out by, the quality of teachers’ performance and its output all depends on how one
is evaluating, monitoring and assessing their performance. Monitoring and evaluation at each level,
from policy making to the implementation process is of great importance. This is explained in a
presentation which was presented to World Bank, in an attempt to highlight the importance of
assessment and monitoring at each level of policy making procedure. The following diagram was
presented in that forum, which contributed in understanding and realizing the importance of
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assessment and monitoring. This diagram aims to emphasize that assessment and monitoring is
important at every stage of the education process.
CHARACTERISTICS OF TECAHERS:
The first characteristic that is widely considered by parents is the gender of instructors that will
interact with their children. In Pakistan, as reported in literature, gender bias in schools lowers
female educational achievements and lowers their chances of completing education. For a low
income household it is important to save income than to send their children to school. Further, in
case of girls’ education, such low income households are more biased. Parents generally prefer
those schools where there is female staff in case of their girls’ education. Enrollment rates are
lower for girls as compared to boys in all parts of the country and their average drop out rate in
early stages is also very high. Many studies and policies have therefore started targeting female-
teachers and gender based education system schools to encourage parents to send their girls to
schools.
Many authors in this context are debating in order to answer the following questions. To what
extent do the preferences of parents reflect this issue? Do low enrollments reflect a lack of
availability of single-sex schools or teachers? Is there any obvious difference in parents’ choices
for girls than boys when it comes to schooling? Findings suggest that gender bias definitely exists
in rural areas of Pakistan and there is high demand for female teachers in these rural areas
consequently. Other studies on Pakistan reflected on this issue and discuss that parents choice for
girls education is highly dependant on teachers’ gender. Teacher shortages are very common in
rural areas and incentives are required to encourage female teachers to work in remote regions.
Females constitute roughly half of the Pakistan’s population, but are still given less priority,
because of socio-political, economic and cultural problems. In past literature it is proved that
investing in girl’s education is more beneficial than boys, as they become teachers that will
ultimately effects the gender-bias issue within the country.
Another important feature of teacher’s performance is their qualification, which is mentioned in
many studies. Basic skills and training for teaching is necessary to maintain quality education and
is sadly absent in many parts of Pakistan. A simple matric or 10th grade qualified teacher may be
beneficial at the primary level schooling but for higher education more experienced and qualified
teachers are required. Without proper training and diploma in teaching, one can not prove to be a
good teacher (Anne, 1995). Some government schools hire teachers on the basis of their experience
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in the field, while overlooking the required qualifications for that post. Moreover, there is a higher
salary cost attached with highly qualified teachers. To attract more qualified teachers, schools have
to pay higher salaries resulting in les qualified individuals being hired , hence the lack of qualified
instructors.
School type is another important characteristic in teachers’ performance. Some schools are private
and some are government owned schools. Generally, most Urdu medium schools are owned by
the government while private schools are mostly English medium. Parents may prefer to send their
children to an English medium school and teachers also prefer to teach in English medium schools
owned by the private sector because they will be paid more as compare to public schools. Teachers
in English medium schools are more efficient and have more learning on day-to-day basis as
compare to Urdu medium schools. A study by the World Bank (1996), showed that students
performance is also related with school type,. Mostly what has been seen in Pakistan is that private
schools are more motivated towards students achievement and scores. They provide better
education and highly qualified teachers. Government schools go for a low, medium qualified
teacher because of the higher cost attached with a better qualified teacher. Another study showed
that incentives in private schools are more as compared to government schools that will motivate
teachers to work hard, no matter what qualification they have at the time of their appointment.
That is the case found in Lahore, in a comparison study conducted by the World Bank in 1996 on
government and private schools in relation with teachers’ qualification.
School infrastructure is another feature of schools that may attract better teachers to come to
schools. In Pakistan, as the previous studies showed that government schools have a poor
infrastructure due to which the absenteeism rate of students and teachers is high. Distance from
schools is another important characteristic which is related with school infrastructure. Better
infrastructure of a school includes a good attractive building, better facilities and services, new
methods of teaching and equipment and reasonable access to school. Teachers’ preference to teach
in a school is highly affected by the distance to school. Even well qualified teachers avoid going
far away from home for teaching. They prefer to teach at schools nearby unless and until one is
offered an attractive salary and benefits package. School distance affects teachers’ decision for a
school as well as for students. One study showed that increased distance to school decreases
enrollments compared to the other schools. Many parents and teachers consider the time as an
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opportunity cost that they have to forgo in case of a further situated school. In that case then they
go for the nearby schools no matter what quality and standard of the school is.

Education brings a natural and lasting change in an individual’s reasoning and ability to achieve
the targeted goal. It facilitates us to investigate our own considerations and thoughts and makes it
ready to express it in various shapes.
Education is the main thing that encourages us to distinguish between right and wrong because in
the absence of education, we can’t do what we need or we can’t achieve our goal.
Straightforwardly, we can say, “education is the passage to progress”. It is additionally the way to
our fate as achievements can only be accomplished when individuals have information, aptitudes,
and frame of mind. In this way, education resembles a medium through which we can associate
with various individuals and offer our thoughts.
To tackle issues and do inventiveness we first need to gain proficiency with some essential
abilities. We require learning and abilities to wind up increasingly imaginative. So education is
fundamentally learning of abilities and ideas that can make us increasingly innovative and issue
solver. Education is to pick up the capacity to develop and take care of issues in order to achieve
their lawful motives.
Education goes beyond what takes places within the four walls of the classroom. A child gets
the education from his experiences outside the school as well as from those within on the basis of
these factors. There are three main types of education, namely, Formal, Informal and Non-
formal. Each of these types is discussed below.

Formal Education
Formal education or formal learning usually takes place in the premises of the school, where a
person may learn basic, academic, or trade skills. Small children often attend a nursery or
kindergarten but often formal education begins in elementary school and continues with secondary
school.
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Post-secondary education (or higher education) is usually at a college or university which may
grant an academic degree. It is associated with a specific or stage and is provided under a certain
set of rules and regulations.
The formal education is given by specially qualified teachers they are supposed to be efficient in
the art of instruction. It also observes strict discipline. The student and the teacher both are aware
of the facts and engage themselves in the process of education.
Examples of Formal Education
 Learning in a classroom
 School grading/certification, college, and university degrees
 Planned education of different subjects having a proper syllabus acquired by attending the
institution.
Characteristics of formal education
 Formal education is structured hierarchically.
 It is planned and deliberate.
 Scheduled fees are paid regularly.
 It has a chronological grading system.
 It has a syllabus and subject-oriented. The syllabus has to be covered within a specific time
period.
 The child is taught by the teachers
Advantages of Formal education:
 An organized educational model and up to date course contents.
 Students acquire knowledge from trained and professional teachers.
 Structured and systematic learning process.
 Intermediate and final assessments are ensured to advance students to the next learning phase.
 Institutions are managerially and physically organized.
 Leads to a formally recognized certificate.
 Easy access to jobs.
Disadvantages of Formal education:
 Sometimes, brilliant students are bored due to the long wait for the expiry of the academic
session to promote to the next stage
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 Chance of bad habits’ adoption may be alarming due to the presence of both good and bad
students in the classroom
 Wastage of time as some lazy students may fail to learn properly in spite of motivation by the
professional trainers.
 Some unprofessional and non-standard education system may cause the wastage of time and
money of the students which leads to the disappointment from formal education and argue
them to go for non-formal education.
 Costly and rigid education as compare to other forms of learning

Informal Education
Informal education may be a parent teaching a child how to prepare a meal or ride a bicycle.
People can also get an informal education by reading many books from a library or educational
websites.
Informal education is when you are not studying in a school and do not use any particular learning
method. In this type of education, conscious efforts are not involved. It is neither pre-planned nor
deliberate. It may be learned at some marketplace, hotel or at home.
Unlike formal education, informal education is not imparted by an institution such as school or
college. Informal education is not given according to any fixed timetable. There is no set
curriculum required. Informal education consists of experiences and actually living in the family
or community.
Examples of Informal Education
 Teaching the child some basics such as numeric characters.
 Someone learning his/her mother tongue
 A spontaneous type of learning, “if a person standing in a bank learns about opening and
maintaining the account at the bank from someone.”
Characteristics of Informal Education
 It is independent of boundary walls.
 It has no definite syllabus.
 It is not pre-planned and has no timetable.
 No fees are required as we get informal education through daily experience and by learning
new things.
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 It is a lifelong process in a natural way.
 The certificates/degrees are not involved and one has no stress for learning the new things.
 You can get from any source such as media, life experiences, friends, family etc.
Advantages of Informal Education
 More naturally learning process as you can learn at anywhere and at any time from your daily
experience.
 It involves activities like individual and personal research on a topic of interest for themselves
by utilizing books, libraries, social media, internet or getting assistance from informal trainers.
 Utilizes a variety of techniques.
 No specific time span.
 Less costly and time-efficient learning process.
 No need to hire experts as most of the professionals may be willing to share their precious
knowledge with students/public through social media and the internet.
 Learners can be picked up the requisite information from books, TV, radio or conversations
with their friends/family members.
Disadvantages of Informal Education
 Information acquired from the internet, social media, TV, radio or conversations with
friends/family members may lead to the disinformation.
 Utilized techniques may not be appropriate.
 No proper schedule/time span.
 Unpredictable results which simply the wastage of time.
 Lack of confidence in the learner.
 Absence of discipline, attitude and good habits
EFA Review Report October 2014 outlines that despite repeated policy commitments, primary
education in Pakistan is lagging behind in achieving its target of universal primary education.
Currently the primary gross enrolment rate stands at 85.9% while Pakistan requires increasing it
up to 100% by 2015-16 to fulfil EFA goals. Of the estimated total primary school going 21.4
million children of ages 5-9 years, 68.5% are enrolled in schools, of which 8.2 million or 56% are
boys and 6.5 million or 44% are girls. Economic Survey of Pakistan confirms that during the year
2013-14 literacy remained much higher in urban areas than in rural areas and higher among males.
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Lack of Proper Planning: Pakistan is a signatory to MDGs and EFA goals. However it seems
that it will not be able to achieve these international commitments because of financial
management issues and constraints to achieve the MDGs and EFA goals.
Social constraints: It is important to realize that the problems which hinder the provision of
education are not just due to issues of management by government but some of them are deeply
rooted in the social and cultural orientation of the people. Overcoming the latter is difficult and
would require a change in attitude of the people, until then universal primary education is difficult
to achieve.
Gender gap: Major factors that hinder enrolment rates of girls include poverty, cultural
constraints, illiteracy of parents and parental concerns about safety and mobility of their daughters.
Society’s emphasis on girl’s modesty, protection and early marriages may limit family’s
willingness to send them to school. Enrolment of rural girls is 45% lower than that of urban girls;
while for boys the difference is 10% only, showing that gender gap is an important factor.
Cost of education: The economic cost is higher in private schools, but these are located in richer
settlements only. The paradox is that private schools are better but not everywhere and government
schools ensure equitable access but do not provide quality education.
War on Terror: Pakistan’s engagement in war against terrorism also affected the promotion of
literacy campaign. The militants targeted schools and students; several educational institutions
were blown up, teachers and students were killed in Balochistan, KPK and FATA. This may have
to contribute not as much as other factors, but this remains an important factor.

Pakistan has expressed its commitment to promote education and literacy in the country by
education policies at domestic level and getting involved into international commitments on
education. In this regard national education policies are the visions which suggest strategies to
increase literacy rate, capacity building, and enhance facilities in the schools and educational
institutes. MDGs and EFA programmes are global commitments of Pakistan for the promotion of
literacy.
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A review of the education system of Pakistan suggests that there has been little change in
Pakistan’s schools since 2010, when the 18th Amendment enshrined education as a fundamental
human right in the constitution. Problems of access, quality, infrastructure and inequality of
opportunity, remain endemic.
Issues
A) MDGs and Pakistan
Due to the problems in education system of Pakistan, the country is lagging behind in achieving
its MDGs of education. The MDGs have laid down two goals for education sector:
Goal 2: The goal 2 of MDGs is to achieve Universal Primary Education (UPE) and by 2015,
children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary
schooling. By the year 2014 the enrolment statistics show an increase in the enrolment of students
of the age of 3-16 year while dropout rate decreased. But the need for increasing enrolment of
students remains high to achieve MDGs target. Punjab is leading province wise in net primary
enrolment rate with 62% enrolment. The enrolment rate in Sindh province is 52%, in Khyber
Pakhtunkhawa (KPK) 54% and primary enrolment rate in Balochistan is 45%.
Goal 3: The goal 3 of MDGs is Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment. It is aimed
at eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005 and in all levels of
education not later than 2015. There is a stark disparity between male and female literacy rates.
The national literacy rate of male was 71% while that of female was 48% in 2012-13. Provinces
reported the same gender disparity. Punjab literacy rate in male was 71% and for females it was
54%. In Sindh literacy rate in male was 72% and female 47%, in KPK male 70% and females 35%,
while in Balochistan male 62% and female 23%.
B) Education for All (EFA) Commitment
The EFA goals focus on early childhood care and education including pre-schooling, universal
primary education and secondary education to youth, adult literacy with gender parity and quality
of education as crosscutting thematic and programme priorities.
EFA Review Report October 2014 outlines that despite repeated policy commitments, primary
education in Pakistan is lagging behind in achieving its target of universal primary education.
Currently the primary gross enrolment rate stands at 85.9% while Pakistan requires increasing it
up to 100% by 2015-16 to fulfil EFA goals. Of the estimated total primary school going 21.4
million children of ages 5-9 years, 68.5% are enrolled in schools, of which 8.2 million or 56% are
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boys and 6.5 million or 44% are girls. Economic Survey of Pakistan confirms that during the year
2013-14 literacy remained much higher in urban areas than in rural areas and higher among males.
C) Vision 2030
Vision 2030 of Planning Commission of Pakistan looks for an academic environment which
promotes the thinking mind. The goal under Vision 2030 is one curriculum and one national
examination system under state responsibility. The strategies charted out to achieve the goal
included:
(i) Increasing public expenditure on education and skills generation from 2.7% of
GDP to 5% by 2010 and 7% by 2015.
(ii) Re-introduce the technical and vocational stream in the last two years of secondary
schools.
(iii) Gradually increase vocational and technical education numbers to 25-30% of all
secondary enrolment by 2015 and 50 per cent by 2030.
(iv) Enhance the scale and quality of education in general and the scale and quality of
scientific/technical education in Pakistan in particular.
Problems: The issues lead to the comprehension of the problems which are faced in the
development of education system and promotion of literacy. The study outlines seven major
problems such as:
1) Lack of Proper Planning: Pakistan is a signatory to MDGs and EFA goals. However it
seems that it will not be able to achieve these international commitments because of financial
management issues and constraints to achieve the MDGs and EFA goals.
2) Social constraints: It is important to realize that the problems which hinder the provision of
education are not just due to issues of management by government but some of them are deeply
rooted in the social and cultural orientation of the people. Overcoming the latter is difficult and
would require a change in attitude of the people, until then universal primary education is difficult
to achieve.

3) Gender gap: Major factors that hinder enrolment rates of girls include poverty, cultural
constraints, illiteracy of parents and parental concerns about safety and mobility of their daughters.
Society’s emphasis on girl’s modesty, protection and early marriages may limit family’s
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willingness to send them to school. Enrolment of rural girls is 45% lower than that of urban girls;
while for boys the difference is 10% only, showing that gender gap is an important factor.
4) Cost of education: The economic cost is higher in private schools, but these are located in
richer settlements only. The paradox is that private schools are better but not everywhere and
government schools ensure equitable access but do not provide quality education.
5) War on Terror: Pakistan’s engagement in war against terrorism also affected the promotion
of literacy campaign. The militants targeted schools and students; several educational institutions
were blown up, teachers and students were killed in Balochistan, KPK and FATA. This may have
to contribute not as much as other factors, but this remains an important factor.
6) Funds for Education: Pakistan spends 2.4% GDP on education. At national level, 89%
education expenditure comprises of current expenses such as teachers’ salaries, while only 11%
comprises of development expenditure which is not sufficient to raise quality of education.
7) Technical Education: Sufficient attention has not been paid to the technical and vocational
education in Pakistan. The number of technical and vocational training institutes is not sufficient
and many are deprived of infrastructure, teachers and tools for training. The population of a state
is one of the main elements of its national power. It can become an asset once it is skilled. Unskilled
population means more jobless people in the country, which affects the national development
negatively. Therefore, technical education needs priority handling by the government.
Poverty, law and order situation, natural disasters, budgetary constraints, lack of access, poor
quality, equity, and governance have also contributed in less enrolments.
An analysis of the issues and problems suggest that:
The official data shows the allocation of funds for educational projects but there is no mechanism
which ensures the proper expenditure of those funds on education.

 The existing infrastructure is not being properly utilized in several parts of the country.
 There are various challenges that include expertise, institutional and capacity issues, forging
national cohesion, uniform standards for textbook development, and quality assurance.
 The faculty hiring process is historically known to be politicized. It is because of this that the
quality of teaching suffers and even more so when low investments are made in teachers’
training. As a result teachers are not regular and their time at school is not as productive as it
would be with a well-trained teacher.
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 Inside schools there are challenges which include shortage of teachers, teacher absenteeism,
missing basic facilities and lack of friendly environment.
 Out of school challenges include shortage of schools, distance – especially for females,
insecurity, poverty, cultural norms, parents are reluctant or parents lack awareness.
Solutions
There is a need for implementation of national education policy and vision 2030 education goals.
An analysis of education policy suggests that at the policy level there are several admirable ideas,
but practically there are some shortcomings also.
It may not be possible for the government at the moment to implement uniform education system
in the country, but a uniform curriculum can be introduced in educational institutes of the country.
This will provide equal opportunity to the students of rural areas to compete with students of urban
areas in the job market.
Since majority of Pakistani population resides in rural areas and the access to education is a major
problem for them, it seems feasible that a balanced approach for formal and informal education be
adopted. Government as well as non-government sector should work together to promote
education in rural areas.
The government should take measures to get school buildings vacated which are occupied by
feudal lords of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. Efforts should be made to ensure that proper
education is provided in those schools.
The federal government is paying attention to the vocational and technical training, but it is
important to make the already existing vocational and technical training centres more efficient so
that skilled youth could be produced.
Since education is a provincial subject, the provincial education secretariats need to be
strengthened. Special policy planning units should be established in provinces’ education
departments for implementation of educational policies and formulation of new policies whenever
needed. The provincial education departments need to work out financial resources required for
realising the compliance of Article 25-A.
Federal Government should play a supportive role vis-à-vis the provinces for the early compliance
of the constitutional obligation laid down in Article 25-A. Special grants can be provided to the
provinces where the literacy rate is low.
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Pakistan is not the only country which is facing challenges regarding promotion of literacy and
meeting EFA and MDGs commitments. Education remains a subject which is paid least attention
in the whole South Asian region. UNDP report 2014 suggests that there has been an improvement
in other elements of human development such as life expectancy, per capita income and human
development index value (in past 3 years); but there has been no progress in the number of
schooling years. The expected average for years of schooling in 2010 was 10.6 years but the actual
average of schooling remained 4.7 for all South Asian countries. In the year 2013 the expected
average of number of years increased to 11.2 but the actual average of years of schooling of South
Asian countries remained 4.7. Regional cooperation mechanism can also be developed to promote
literacy in South Asian region. Sharing success stories, making country-specific modifications and
their implementation can generate positive results.

References:
1. http://www.unm.edu/~jka/csfe/standard_I.html
2. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/188181/1/pjcss220.pdf
3. https://www.tvetreform.org.pk/wp-
content/uploads/downloads/Study%20material/Foundations.pdf