RESEARCH PROPOSAL

THE DETERIORATING STANDARDS OF

EDUCATION IN P A K I S T A N

Submitted by
Jawad
Abba s

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 
 Abstrat

T A ! L E O F CO N T E N T S

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 At independence in 1947, Pakistan inherited an under-developed educational

infrastructure from the British. Education was unevenl distri!uted, with rural areas

almost deprived of access. Educational standards have ! een a ! i " source of discussion

amon" educationists and educational reformers since partition. Ever person of the

societ views this concern for the standards of educational product. #he educational

standard is a !urnin" issue amon" the educationists and the people at lar"e in

Pakistan. #he "overnment is trin" its ! e s t to raise the standards of education at all

levels. $n the !roadest sense a standard is anthin" used to measure% for e&ample a

standard of conduct, a standard of wei"ht or len"th etc. A standard is that which has

! een selected as a model to which o!'ects or actions ma ! e compared.

(tandards ma ! e devices or instruments. $nternational Encclopedia oE fducao

tin )19*+

defines educational standards in the followin" words

 ; I $ t * e eduati%$ %$te<t= t*e$= s ta$dards s*%u,d be re2arded a s %b/eti0es t% be

a*ie0ed %r e<+etati%$s %) desirab,e attitude %r ,e0e,s %) +er)%rma$e>> . #he

deterioratin" standard of education in Pakistan is cause enou"h to make an sensi!

le countrman sweat with worr. #he are deterioratin" da ! da at an e&treme level. #he

misplaced priorities of followin" "overnments have !adl suffocated the "rowth of

education. Admittedl, the present da structure that includes !oth primar and hi"her

education is in a mess.  nfortunatel , Pakistani education is not at that standard

currentl as it should ! e .

#o clarif the concept of the educational standards we have to answer man

/uestions. 0or e&ample what are the aims of education 2ow are "oals set #o
what

e&tent the aims are ! ei n " achieved $s there an relationship !etween educational

aims and societ #he answers of these /uestions descri!e the standards.

2ardl do we seem to reali3e the fact that providin" cheap education to all is one

of the primar o!li"ations of a state. $n the developed world, education is the preserve

of the state. $n  (A for e&ample, education till the 1th "rade is free. #hese nations

indeed are aware of the role a sound education sstem can pla in their overall

development and pro"ress. 5 h i l e no Pakistani universit is included in the +66 top

universities of the world, a parallel sstem of education at home has "reatl deepened

class divisions )E(8, 66*

#he educational sstem:s deterioratin" infrastructure, fallin" educational

standards and distorted educational content impact mostl, if not entirel, on

Pakistan:s poor, thus widenin" lin"uistic, social and economic divisions !etween the

privile"ed and underprivile"ed and increasin" ethnic and reli"ious alienation that

has led to violent

protests. 0ar from restrictin" fanaticism, the pu!lic school sstem risks provokin" a rise

in violence if its pro!lems are not /uickl and completel dealt with.

Pr%b,ems )aed by Eduati%$a, Set%r %) P a : i s t a $

#he Educational sector of Pakistan has ! e e n facin" pro!lems since the $ndependence.

$t has ! e e n failed et to provide ! a s i c education to the ma'orit of population of the

countr and the rate of illiterac is much "reater a s compared to that of developed

countries.

Education is important, a!ove all, !ecause it allows people to take control of their lives.

At a personal level, it provides people with self-confidence and assurance needed to

make their opinions heard. At a communit level, it presents people the skills throu"h

which people can protect their ri"hts to territor, to school, or to contri!ution in pu!lic

life. At a national level, it creates a demand to ! e heard. Education is the ! a s i c ri"ht

on
fi dvid
iual of the societ. But unfortunatel, educational standards in Pakistan are

deterioratin" da ! da. Pakistan has one of the hi"hest num!ers of illiterates in the

world and the current standards of education in Pakistan are reall shockin". Pakistan

has dropped far !ehind several other developin" countries in terms of education, and

immediate attention is re/uired in this important sector. Pakistan is even !ehind the

other developin" countries in education.

Pakistan is sufferin" from poor educational standards and also from illiterac, and

this poor state of this countr must ! e chan"ed, otherwise illiterate masses can !ecome

e/uipped recruits for all sorts of unhealth and dama"in" activities. ; a 3 i 

)667

stated that accordin" to the surve of an international firm, educational standards in

Pakistan
are lower than the are in Bhutan, and it is ver important to introduce chan"es to the

countr<s deterioratin" educational standards.

2 a ! i ! )199* descri!ed that the spacious campuses of Pun'a! niversit,

=overnment 8olle"e >ahore and ?arachi niversit are no lon"er perceived a s

institutions of hi"h academic standards an more. At the core of this deterioration is the

pu!lic e&amination sstem. @alpractices in this sstem have made the $ntermediate,

Bachelors and @aster e"ree unrelia!le measures of a student<s competence. ( o m e

people think that lack of phsical facilities in schools causes deterioration of educational

standards in Pakistan. @ost of the schools are in of ! a s i c facilities% especiall in rural

schools the situation is ver ! a d . $neffective teachin" methods also cause deterioration

of educational standards at primar and secondar level and educational

maladministration is also responsi!le for the deterioration of educational standards in

Pakistan.

ne stud o!serves

#he present education scenario is full of contradictions. n the one hand, there
are

dnamic, fast movin" educational institutions char"in" e&or!itant fees, while on the

other there are almost free or ver afforda!le "overnment schools as well as reli"ious

seminaries, which are entirel free. #he students of these institutions live in different

worlds and operate in different lan"ua"esC )Dahman, 66. @oreover, even at the

hi"her levels of education, there is no mechanism worth its name to help a student in

determinin" his or her potential or in decidin" on a suita!le academic career. @ultiplicit

of educational sstems is also a pro!lem in our countr. #herefore it is ver much

necessar to improve the deterioratin" sstem of education in our countr for the

!enefits of the students and pu!lic in "eneral )Dahman, 66.

(# Pr%b,em Stateme$t

#he pro!lem statement for the "iven research proposal will ! e 5hat are the

various causes of the deterioratin" standards of education in Pakistan

.# Ob/eti0e %) study

#he o!'ective of the stud is to find out the reasons for deterioratin" standards oe fducao
tin

in Pakistan, and providin" su""estions, various was and means for the

improvement of educational standards.

1# Hy+%t*esis

#he pro!lems that our education sector face are vast and of a serious kind. >ow literac

level, low standard of education and the curricula are usuall inappropriate or at least

inade/uate for the set "oals in man disciplines. 0urthermore, there is no included

sstem in which one step leads to the ne&t to facilitate a student to develop a trul

sound ! a s e for the discipline he or she is interested in.

'# Study desi2$

#his stud will re/uire !oth ;uantitative as well as ;ualitative methods of research and

analsis. 0or /ualitative research, interviews with the population will ! e done and for

/uantitative one, a surve will ! e held which will include planned /uestions and then

their results will ! e "enerated thorou"hl.

3# 4 e a s u r e m e $ t +r%edure

;uantitative research will ! e held with the help of /uestionnaires distri!uted amon" the

population set for samplin".

6# Et*ia, %$siderati%$

 All the sta"es of the research will ! e "iven due ethical considerations. #he stud would

! e conducted in an un!iased wa with full honest and inte"rit. Privac and

confidentialit would ! e applied whenever possi!le.

-# Resear* 7uesti%$s

#he followin" are the /uestions for this research

1. 2ow can we determine the deterioratin" standards of education in

Pakistan

. 5 h a t are the recommendations to reduce these low standards of education in our

countr

5# Resear* met*%d%,%2y

5#"# P%+u,ati%$

#he population under research !elon"s to educational institutions, comprisin" of

46 adults, in which 6 mem!ers of population are students and 6 are the facult

mem!ers of various educational institutions.

5#(# Sam+,i$2

#he population included as a sample for this stud !elon"s to adults with a " e s

ran"in" from 1* ears to +6 ears, all !elon"in" to the educational sector.

Data a $ a , y s i s

 All the data collected throu"h this research is "rouped to"ether and "enerated in

numerical and "raphical form.

9 % r : s*edu,e
#he research is ! e in " held over the time schedule of a month, i.e. 6 das, which

includes the data collection, its analsis and then puttin" it into a form to produce

results.

"8# Re%mme$dati%$s )%r Im+r%0i$2 Sta$dar ds %) Eduati%$ i$

Pa:ista$

 Accordin" to #he #ask 0orce on $mprovement of 2i"her Education in Pakistan )66he

present "overnment should declare a national educational emer"enc and involve the

whole nation, includin" the arm, in wa"in" a war a"ainst illiterac. ( o m e steps that the

"overnment mi"ht consider takin" in this re"ard are

• #he should declare education as the hi"hest priorit of the "overnment. E&plain

that unless the !arriers of illiterac and lack of education are removed, the road

to democrac will remain !urdened with the dan"er of e&ploitation of the masses

! the select few, and that in the a! sence of political will in the rulin" classes to

do somethin" tan"i!le in this arena, it seems that it is up to the arm to defend

the countr a"ainst illiterac and lack of education, for there is no factor more

important to the well-!ein" of a nation than human resource and no inattention

worse than i"norin" its development.

$t should ! e made a compulsor re/uirement for various de"ree pro"rams that

the candidates, after takin" their e&ams, shall spend a specified period of time in

teachin" at assi"ned institutions.

#he "overnment can ask for volunteers with specified /ualifications to contri!ute

their services in their areas of work or residence under or"ani3ed !odies that can

! e formed for this purpose ! the "overnment.

  Ask the pu!lic to contri!ute financiall for this purpose. @odern marketin" and

fund raisin" techni/ues can ! e adopted for this task.

@an "overnment school !uildin"s can ! e converted into commercial schools

of" ood level. #he "overnment can consider offerin" man of these schools to

private sector or"ani3ations in the field of education on the condition that a

specified percenta"e of !ri"ht students from the lower and middle classes will ! e

"ranted admission and scholarships.

ffer ta& !enefits and other such motivations to private sector "roups to invest in

education in rural and less developed areas.

@ake it compulsor for each industrial unitFa"ricultural estate of an area a !o ve a

specified limit to provide for a school within the area. Alternativel, the owner can

! e asked to share costs with the "overnment for settin" up such school. Another option

is "ivin" various financialFta& incentives.

$ntroduce standardi3ation of curricula and licensin" and certification of teachers

to improve standards of education.

$ntroduce hi"h /ualit selection procedure for hi"her level teachers and offer the

candidates !etter incentives.

se electronic media more e&tensivel for educational purposes. A channel could

! e devoted to 'ust education. $n this re"ard, teachers of hi"h cali!er can take

classes for different su!'ects at various levels, these lecturers can ! e telecast

as well as recorded and in this wa more students can ! e tau"ht.

•
Provide people with incentives to educate their children. #his can ! e done in

various was. 0or instance even lower level "overnment ' o ! s a s for clerks,
 peons, consta!les can ! e linked to a minimal level of education and entrance

tests and various loans )e ." . a"ricultural loans can ! e linked to whether an

applicant has educated or is educatin" his children.

•
 A uniform sstem of education should ! e introduced "raduall to eradicate the

pro!lems multiplicit of sstems creates ! introducin" one medium on

fi struco
tin.

•
#hou"h much of the pro!lem is due to poor teachin", et curricula, te&ts and

e&amination techni/ues also have a lot to do with the current situation. #hus the

"overnment should improve, update and form curricula, te&ts, and e&amination

and evaluation techni/ues in order to make !etter the deterioratin" sstem

oe fducao
tin in Pakistan.

""# C%$,usi%$

?eepin" in view the results of the research it is concluded that maladministration and

ineffective curriculum are the main causes of deterioration of educational standards.

$neffective evaluation and inappropriate methods of teachin" contri!ute to some

e&tent in the deterioration of educational standards. >ack of phsical facilities,

povert, political interference in educational institutions and illiterate parents are also

some of the factors which cause deterioration of educational standards. B o!

servin" the "iven su""estions and measurements to improve the /ualit oe fducao
tin in

Pakistan, the "overnment can help in makin" !etter the standards of education and

reduce the rate of illiterac in Pakistan.

"(# Re)ere$es

2 a ! i ! , @. )199*. Education in Pakistan, all demand and little supply. Detrieved April 1G,
667 from httpFFwww.chowk.com.htm
; a 3 i , HA. )667, @arch 1 * ht. Pakistan even !ehind Bhutan. Daily Times .
Dahman, #. )66. Education in Pakistan: A Survey . (tren"thenin" Participator
r"ani3ation, $slama!ad.
#he #ask 0orce on $mprovement of 2i"her Education in Pakistan 
)66. Hg
i her Educato
i n in
developing countries, peril and promise.  Detrieved @a +. 667 from httpFF
www.tfhe.net.

E(8. )66*.Back"round paper prepared for the Education for All lo!al "onitoring #eport