ESSAY AND PRECIS WITH CSP WAQAR HASSAN

03159009887

STUDY MATERIAL FOR ESSAY

SOURCE: NEWSPAPER ARTICLES.
1- UNIFORM SYSTEM OF EDUCATION
2- CHALLENGES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIFORM SYSTEM OF EDUCATION.

THE role of education is cardinal in fostering a national ideological consensus.

However, education has mostly remained neglected in our country and is in need of reforms
to address the issues of intolerance, radicalisation and division along ethnic and sectarian
lines.

These issues have surfaced owing to differences in the nation’s thought process because of
an incoherent education system. A uniform education system will guarantee that the
country is moving in the same direction as a nation.

Uniform ideological development should start in the early years of schooling so as to ensure
greater levels of tolerance and patience in our youth. This will foster a same set of beliefs to
get the people into a single entity.

The government has taken a step in this direction by announcing that it was thinking of a
uniform syllabus throughout the country. However, a few points require introspection.

First, how will the new curriculum help the unprivileged students of the backward areas
studying in Urdu-medium schools keep pace with the new syllabus? Second, will it not be
unfair to those with weak English skills to study a curriculum which is entirely in English?

Third, are teachers in the rural areas of Sindh and Balochistan competent to teach the new
curriculum? Fourth, how will the new syllabus be implemented to bring about the much-
needed transformation in the madressah system?

Unless these queries are addressed, the proposed education system is unlikely to achieve
the desired results.

My article that was published in DAWN.

Waqar Hassan
Meanwhile the world uses literacy as a bridge to move from misery to hope, our education
system is disheveled to its core followed by the latest episode of banning hundreds of
textbooks. One of the reasons, somewhat horrible, is reported that “instead of including
sayings of Quaid-e-Azam – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and Allama Muhammad Iqbal, one of the
books carried sayings of Mahatma Ghandi and some unknown people”. It is highly
unfortunate that this episode of naïve behaviour was a brainchild of the MD of Punjab
Curriculum and Textbook board, Rai Manzoor Hussain, who along with many others proved
to be the biggest deterrent to the curriculum reforms in Pakistan. Among the banned books,
there is “Know your world – Social studies” for grade 4, published by Oxford University
Press, which is merely used to stimulate the thinking skills of students ranging from
economics, civics, culture. Why would we not want them to ‘know their world’?

Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan requires the state to provide free and quality
education to children from 5 to 16 years of age. “The State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as
may be determined by law”. Pakistan came into being on 14 August, 1947 and since that
day, our successive governments focused on defence needs of the country as their first
priority because our eastern border was quite vulnerable to Indian aggression. So, it was the
need of the hour to raise a strong defence force to counter the nefarious designs of the
enemy against our dear motherland. Therefore, every government allocated huge funds
from the budget to meet the defence requirements of the country. As a result, from day
one, the government was compelled to shift its focus on the defence of the country
neglecting the foremost need of the country to adequately educate the people of the
country.

In Pakistan, there are three education systems that run parallel to one another. The first one
is a government-run education system where children from the middle or lower middle class
are educated. Second is the private education system also known as English medium
institutions where children from upper-middle and elite class are educated. The third one is
the madrassa education system where children from marginalized poor classes are
educated. These three distinct education systems are producing students with different
thinking and ideologies which are to a great extent in clash with one another. For example,
those who are educated from elite or English medium institutions are characterised as
liberals and agents of the west while those who are educated from madrassas are dubbed
as fundamentalists and extremists. A country which has not a uniformed education policies
and system will take the consequences in the shape of rising tides of anarchy, chaos,
fanaticism, sectarianism and extremism as is witnessed in Pakistan on a daily basis.
The families rejoice on festivals and greet each other with presents, spend immense amount
of wealth over material possessions but seem unbothered about a gift that they can open
again and again – books

Despite idolising western models and its growth, rapid economic and human development
in neighbouring Bangladesh and Srilanka, our successive governments have failed to realise
the importance and power of an educated society which would automatically progress
towards the pinnacle of success and glory. On one hand, our state education is miserable –
lack of experience and seriousness in the teaching staff, outdated curriculum and poor
infrastructure. On the other hand, lack of uniformity in the education system has proved to
be a catalyst in promoting feelings of ethnicity, racism and provincialism. Sadly speaking, our
nation stands wandering in a dreadful direction. We are victimised by vested interests. Our
precious national resources are plundered by foreign powers while we have turned a blind
eye towards them due to prevailing Illiteracy and ignorance.

The families rejoice on festivals and greet each other with presents, spend immense amount
of wealth over material possessions but seem unbothered about a gift that they can open
again and again – books. Lack of literacy is an never-ending blow to a perennially struggling
third world country. The government should declare education emergency and allocate
maximum resources for educating the nation. Once we achieve a greater percentage of
literacy rate, our economy and defence will automatically be strengthened.
THE prime minister has said that having a uniform education system, across the country, is a
priority. And this has been added as a key point, one of four, in the terms of reference of the
task force that has been set up under Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood. Within a
month or less it seems the task force will give recommendations on the issue to the prime
minister.

It is not hard to see what the prime minister is hinting at when he talks of uniform
education. He is actually hinting at some notion of equality of opportunity. All children,
irrespective of all other things, should have access to quality education that facilitates their
development to their fullest potential. Rich or poor, boy or girl, rural or urban, from
madressah, public or private school, every child should have access to quality education.
This is their right and it is also, instrumentally, good for Pakistan. This is most definitely a
laudable and important policy and outcome goal, and it is wonderful to see the prime
minister giving it due importance.

But we have to be careful. Equality of opportunity does not mean uniformity. Uniformity is
seen more in terms of ‘levelling’. We can always level by pulling down those who are ahead.
But this kind of uniformity and levelling would be against the idea of allowing children to
develop their potential to the fullest. Surely the meaning of ‘uniformity’ has to be seen in
terms of giving a boost to those who are being left behind.

Take the example the prime minister has used a few times: children going to madressahs
should have more opportunities for access to mainstream higher education and jobs. Why
would anyone dispute this or object to it? But this implies major reforms in madressah
education. It does not mean mainstream education has to be made more like madressah
education. It is the other way round. The success or failure in achieving this objective is
going to depend on making changes in madressah education and not in mainstream
education.

The meaning of ‘uniformity’ has to be seen in terms of giving a boost to those being left
behind.

Is uniformity about one curriculum, one set of books, one examination, and/or one language
as the medium of instruction? Though these are the issues that are usually talked about
when uniformity or lack of uniformity comes under discussion, none of these actually get to
the problem of equality of opportunity.

What is wrong with having multiple examination boards in a country? Most countries have
multiple examination boards at school level. At a higher level, all universities have their own
mechanisms for examinations. Schools and parents can usually choose which boards they
want to prepare their students/children for. The people and the state have an interest in
ensuring that those who study for 10 or 12 years emerge with a certain set of competencies
that are needed. But this can be set as minimum standards that are expected from all school
graduates. But the boards can be free to go beyond the minimum.

Will forcing all schools to use the same medium of instruction (local language, Urdu or
English) create uniformity? We have done this multiple times and we have not been able to
achieve anything through this dictation. Punjab turned all its public schools into English
medium at one point. This had no impact, as far as we can tell from the data, in the
acquisition of English as a language. Some schools still teach languages better than others.
And that is what drives the difference. If we want to ensure all children learn Urdu and/or
English, we have to improve the standard of teaching of these languages. Changing the
medium of instruction for some or even all schools is not going to achieve anything.

Insisting on the same books has the same problems. Some schools do not teach well; others
do a much better job. Even if you hold the books constant, these differentials will persist.
Again, how does forcing schools to use the same books achieve the purpose of ‘uniformity’
and equality of opportunity on the outcome side? It does not.

The state and society do have legitimate concerns. We do want all children to have access to
quality education. We do want children who spend a certain number of years in school to
have, at minimum, certain knowledge and skills. We do want to ensure that our children are
brought up with certain values. And we do want to ensure equality of opportunity.

The right way to go about it does not seem to be through restrictions on curricula, books,
examinations or language. Instead, we should be thinking in terms of setting minimum
standards that have to be achieved at various levels of schooling (usually called learning
objectives). The key here will be to ensure that all schools, especially government and the
low-fee private schools, achieve these minimum standards. Changes in how we examine
children are needed to ensure we test basic competencies well, but having the same
examination for all is neither needed nor is it the way to ensure uniformity.

The bottom line here seems to be simple. If we want to ensure equality of opportunity for
all children, we have to set minimum standards that all schools have to achieve. Practically
speaking, this means that the state has to raise the standard of public schools and public
education. If public schools can ensure a minimum standard, private schools will have to at
least match this quality or do better to attract students. Till the public schools provide the
minimum acceptable standard guarantee, how can we have any notion of equality of
opportunity? But the raising of public school standards is not going to happen by forcing
schools to teach the same books, appear for the same examinations or use the same
medium of instruction.

The stress laid upon the acquisition of education, in all noble societies, cannot be
exaggerated . It has been the fundamental ingredient in the success and progress of all the
civilizations of the world. Islam made the procurement of education and knowledge
compulsory for everyone.

Sadly, the education system of Pakistan has its cons and these flaws are hindering its reach
and deliverance. There is no standard board and educational system in Pakistan that is
disseminated in the whole country.

This basic and vital requirement of the society should be same for everyone but contrary to
it more than 30 different education boards are working in different regions of Pakistan and
are playing an injurious role to the educational development of our country. These different
boards are functioning on separate terms and ideals. They are based on unequal and
asymmetrical lines, which is promoting a sense of disparity in the country.

The literacy rate of this country is already disheartening and the presence of different types
of educational systems is making matters worse.

Financial and social status of a family decides the nature of education they will acquire,
rendering them unable to perform at an equal platform . The fact that poor people aren’t
able to let their children attain standard education as a result of financial constrains is tragic
and these divergent systems aren’t providing equal opportunities to all the classes of
Pakistan. While the rich class is getting education of international reputation, the education
provided to the poor is unproductive and is not of quality.

Time has come that the government should reconsider its educational policies and take the
necessary measures that are required to establish uniform and effective educational system
in the whole country so that all the citizens can attain similar education and thrive
productively in a more competitive and egalitarian atmosphere.

It is believed that a uniform education system will help bridge the disparities that exist
among children belonging to different provinces and coming from socio-economic
backgrounds by not only using the same curriculum across the country but also by making
sure that all students are tested and examined under the same parameters. It is also
assumed that doing so will help provide equal employment opportunities to all, irrespective
of their class.
The idea, however, blatantly ignores certain ground realities. Children born in different
living conditions have different life exposures such as early education opportunities, home
environment, and language skills, therefore simply introducing a unified curriculum would in
no way solve the issues of equality. Even if a uniform curriculum is implemented, children
with quality early education and exposure will have an edge over those born in families with
limited resources. Children who have achieved their primary education from government
schools will struggle to cope with an advanced level of curriculum. Besides, considering that
there is already a shortage of trained teachers and professional educationists, it would be
nearly impossible to ensure that the same quality of classes and lectures are delivered
across the country.
If the government intends to bring a real reform in the education sector, then it must focus
on improving the quality of education, and ensuring access to education for all. It is time to
integrate real-life skills in the curriculum. All stakeholders must collectively work in a
strategic direction to develop and implement proper education policies. Using resources and
time on integrating uniformity in the curriculum will divert our focus from the real issues of
education.
The country’s education experts are widely divided on the incumbent government’s plan to
introduce a ‘uniform education system’ throughout Pakistan as some called the move as a
magic potion to the ills in the education system while others dubbed it an exercise of futility
which is not even practicable.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) education policy aims to provide an equal opportunity of
quality education in a system which caters to every citizen and removes poverty as a barrier
for children to realize their potential.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has repeatedly called for new modifications in the
education system and stressed that there should be a uniform curriculum throughout the
country while criticising the functioning of various educational systems in the nation that
are the basis of discrimination in Pakistan.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Higher Education Commission (HEC) former chairman Dr Attaur
Rehman said that the proposed system is the sole answer to all problems in the education
system. He said that all the federating units should cooperate with the government in order
to make the dream a reality because it is vital for the country’s future.
However, he also said that it is a daunting task and might not be possible because the
education system is divided into five ministries that include one federal and four provincial
ministries.
Dr Atta recommended the government to form a ‘Primary and Secondary Education
Commission’ at the national level as per the line of HEC to be tasked on making a uniform
syllabus for educational institutes all across the country.
He said that efforts should be made for the execution of a uniform education system or else
the standard of education could not be improved because it is widely fragmented. He said
that the issue is of both the syllabus and examination system, a difference between private
and public schools as well as schools for the poor and rich.
He said that technical education could be introduced in maddaris along with teaching other
modern courses; however, the government should provide them funding and take steps for
their registration because merely introducing a syllabus will not serve the intended purpose.
On the same note, Faisal Bari, an associate professor of economics at Lahore University of
Management Sciences (LUMS) said that the government should remove the confusion
regarding the proposed system.
He said that it is not clear that what the government means by a uniform education system.
“Due to the prevailing ambiguity, the private sector is also in state of confusion,” he said
while adding that the prime minister seems to be hinting at some notion of equality of
opportunity as all children should have access to quality education that facilitates their
development to their fullest potential.
“This is most definitely a laudable and important policy. It is wonderful to see the prime
minister giving it due importance,” he added.
However, he said that uniformity is seen more in terms of ‘leveling’ and this kind of
uniformity and leveling would be against the idea of allowing children to develop their
potential to the fullest. He said that forcing all schools to use the same medium of
instruction such as using the language would not achieve anything in fact, it is not even
practicable.
Pervez Hoodbhoy, a nuclear physicist who taught physics at Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU),
said that such a thing has never happened in Pakistan’s history and wouldn’t happen in the
future either since Pakistan has a diversified and fragmented society divided on the basis of
religion, linguistics and wealth; hence the acceptance of one curriculum seems next to
impossible.
Hoodbhoy wondered how it is possible to teach subjects being taught in schools located in
posh areas of Karachi to children in schools of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) until the gap between economic and social levels are
bridged.
He said that around 70 per cent of educational institutes in major cities are private. The fees
in these schools are 5 to 10 per cent higher than government schools which is why a
uniform system seems unbelievable.
Despite repeated attempts and text messages, Federal Education and Professional Training
Spokesperson Tahir Refiq could not be reached for his comments in this regard.
The varied system of education existing in Pakistan is inherited from our colonial past.
Classified into profit-making elite private schools, non-profit making low fee paid private
schools, state-run public schools and madrasa school system, they cater to the educational
needs of different classes across the social spectrum. The profit-making schools provide
quality education to a handful of elite charging high fees. Most of the non-profit-making
private schools have also managed to provide quality education to the low-income group.
The public sector provides comparatively low-quality education to the majority of the
students belonging to economically disadvantaged families. The madrasa school system
provides religious education. Consequently, the poor of the country is getting poor day by
day and the elite continues to enjoy dominance over the resources as well as the political
landscape of the country. Therefore, any slogan for leveling the existing education
disparities in the country would undoubtedly attract huge appreciation especially by the
academician, intellectuals as well as from the general public. However, when such mantra of
eliminating educational apartheid is manifested in the form of a new version of the existing
curriculum in the name of Single National Curriculum (SNC) then acerbic criticism is obvious
as currently seen in Pakistan. Critics believe that it is the same proverbial old wine served in
new bottles.
The current government initiative of the unification of varied education system in the
country through developing SNC raises many questions. The most important one is; why
have we not been able to improve the quality of education in our country after
implementing the National Curriculum 2006? Then, how it would be possible to improve the
quality of education to the level of elite private schools through SNC, as most of its contents
are copied from the national curriculum 2006. The curriculum, as commonly
(mis)understood, is not limited to only written documents. That is a very narrow and
shallow understanding. On the contrary, curriculum is much more than that; it is the overall
learning experiences of students materialized by schools irrespective of whether that takes
place inside or beyond the walls of a school. Students not only learn from what is there in
the curriculum documents but most of the learning can take place from interaction with the
teachers, peers, school environment, culture, structure, norms, values and textbook.
Hypothetically speaking if the same written curriculum is implemented at the University of
Oxford and in any public sector University in Pakistan the learning outcomes are not likely to
be the same as the other factors like teachers, learning resources, school infrastructure,
environment etc. being different play a very fundamental role in students’ learning.
Similarly, the elite private school in Pakistan purportedly provide better education as not
only they have upgraded curriculum (document) but also trained teachers, upgraded
learning resources, improved school infrastructure, conducive and encouraging learning
environment. Therefore, for uniform education it is extremely imperative to prioritize these
variables to achieve sustainable reforms in public sector education to bring them to the
level of elite private school.
On top, this would require out of the box solution for teachers’ continuous professional
development within the limited resources as the other variables like school environment,
culture, structure, norms, values are influenced by teachers. If the teachers are properly
trained then they will not only be able to implement the curriculum in its true spirit but also
enrich it further. Otherwise, teachers may not be able to decipher the difference between
curriculum and textbooks and expect students to memorize content rather than achieving
learning outcomes. Besides, in most of our primary schools, there are two or three teachers
for six classes. The issue of the inadequate number of teachers in our primary schools and
interventions aimed at teachers’ development is neither in sight in the government plan for
implementation of SNC nor in the subsequent debate that has it followed. In response to
criticism, even the government withdrew its tall claim of levelling education in the country.
The federal minister for education, Shafqat Mehmood, in Nadim Malik’s live program on
Sama TV on August 24, 2020 commented as “the system (of education) and curriculum are
two different things. The unification of the system (education) may take 50 years….what we
are initiating is equalizing curriculum (learning outcome) for the students public, elite private
with low fee private and madras”. It means that the ambition of the current government to
level the education system in the country may end with an attempted inclusion
of madrasa students in mainstream education.
In order to make the inclusion of madrasa students possible the expansion of religious
content in the Islamiat subject resulted in harsh criticism. It is feared that such an expansion
of the theological content may result in further exacerbate the existing intolerance,
radicalism, sectarianism and discrimination towards minorities in the country. The
nervousness of religious extremism among those who are concerned with the future peace
of this country worsened with the speculation of hiring madrasa trained graduates in
government-run schools. Given the past experience of violence in the name of religion, this
seems a seemingly plausible concern. However, it is not necessary that teaching including
more religious content would yield unwanted outcomes and promote hatred towards the
fellow human being. It solely depends on the approaches applied to the interpretation of
religious scripture. For instance, if the aim of religious teaching is refuting other
interpretations based on the theological ground then for sure worse divisiveness result. On
the contrary, the contemporary circumstances demand a humanistic approach towards the
interpretation of religious scripture to promote ethical principles which are common among
faith-based communities like generosity, compassion, pluralism, tolerance, respect for
diversity, integrity, honesty, etc. Therefore, it is of prime importance to have a serious
consideration and critical deliberation while selecting religious content and its
interpretations for primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary levels.
In sum, the claim of uniform education for all through SNC could be misleading unless other
factors most importantly teachers’ development followed by quality learning resources
(textbooks), school infrastructure, etc. are not taken into account. Similarly, if the space for
accommodating the diversity of religious interpretation and promotion of values shared by
humankind is shrunk in the SNC than the inclusion of one may result in exclusion for others.

While Pakistan’s schools and universities remained aloof and untouched by any education-
reform policy, their teaching to a great extent became purely traditional and formal, and
they were rapidly losing touch with real life. It has been a long-standing vision of the current
prime minister, Imran Khan, to provide a strong theoretical framework for how to introduce
a uniform national curriculum. Thus for the first time in Pakistan, a uniform national
curriculum has begun to take a modern shape, with the addition of education on values and
character-building.

The new uniform national curriculum will overhaul the country’s education system, and will
put special emphasis on teaching values and character-building of the society. The major
components of this emphasis will be critical thinking, citizenship, innovation and use of
technology. Once the uniform curriculum is introduced, it will allow madrassa students to
get the same education as offered by the private and public educational institutes.

There has been a demise in the quantity and quality of education in Pakistan, and of social
accessibility to it, for many years. The division of Pakistani society into privileged and
underprivileged makes the implementation of a uniform national curriculum an event of
obvious importance.

Previous governments also gave thought to implementing changes in educational policies

but they bowed down against the pressure from the elite class and they have been blamed
for extinguishing the prospects of reforms even though such reforms were discussed in
parliament.

The government plans to implement this reform next month, and provided it is launched as
promised, this will end the decades-old disparities among different educational systems in
the country. Children in every province, in cities as well as rural areas, across gender and
across socioeconomic status will study the same things at more or less the same time and
will be tested in the same way.

Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood says the key targets of the comprehensive plan is to
end the inconsistencies among the public and private schools and madrassas.

Arguably, education as a whole has suffered. What is remarkable is that the current
government has considered reforming educational uniformity when the Pakistani elite are
already reacting against the idea. Resistance and opposition sentiments seen among the
elite class against the educational reforms merely expose their conviction that uniform
learning is a dangerous thing in the hands of the lower social class, seminaries and
madrassas.

The government sees uniformity as a way to address issues of equity. The problem is that a
uniform curriculum, however it is implemented, may not reduce disparities.

Children have different socio-economic backgrounds, and they come from different
households where parents have different levels of education. They have different
endowments, they have different language skills, they come from different cultural and
religious backgrounds, and they live in very different geographical environments. The same
curriculum, the same books and even the same examinations will not reduce disparities. In
fact, it could even increase disparities.

Since education began, there has always been much debate about what children need to
learn and how they should be taught. It is quite clear that the current government of
Pakistan is looking more at conformity/uniformity rather than creativity and diversity. The
new national curriculum and assessment initiatives are an example of this, as is the constant
push toward trying to improve equity.

Equity issues have to be addressed while remaining within the framework of the diversity of
circumstances, needs, abilities and ambitions of children. A uniform curriculum may not do
anything here. In fact, to the contrary, it may exacerbate some of these equity issues.

Countries need creative, entrepreneurial talents, able to create value for others. A country’s
education system is an effective machine that could instill what the government wants
students to learn, and it seems the proposed revolutionary plan is not nurturing creativity.
This may result in Pakistan having a population with similar skills on a narrow spectrum.

Revolutionary educational reform is about to change the face of Pakistan. It will finally force
the state to take seriously the provision of education, because industry will require much
more than limited reading skills acquired through a moral catechism. However, progress in
establishing a new education system in Pakistan could prove to be a perilous pursuit.