Countries like Brazil, India, France, Finland and America offer valuable lessons on how to reform the educational system. These countries are richer than Pakistan and propose a large sum of amount for their education system. These states have adopted different reforms and have provided valuable insights for Pakistan to improve their education system to flourish and make progress. However, in Pakistan, the state does not see education as development; instead it is reflected as a social problem. Here, a question is raised that does the current system in Pakistan give these students an opportunity to achieve their dreams?
Brazil, a much richer country than Pakistan spends about 6 per cent of Its GDP (Gross domestic product) on education system, America pays 5.59 pc, India proposes 6 pc, France allocates 5.4 pc and Finland offer 5.1pc of its GDP on education system. When it comes to Pakistan it spends less than 2pc of its GDP on its education. The figures illustrate our priorities - the Pakistani state allocates a large sum of budget for defense and only offers 2pc of its resources for education. In the recent Asia Cup 2022, Pakistan was sponsored by Real Estate Company, and India was sponsored by a Research educational institution, hence it's a reflection of our priorities.
To overcome the educational issues in Brazil, the government insisted on education up to lower secondary level. It was achieved with the help of local municipalities, while at the higher level things were controlled by the federal. The resources, teachers, schools, and management were controlled by the locals, which create a link with the community. It makes the accountability easier and facilities at a rapid level. As far Pakistan is concerned, the responsibility of education system was given to provinces by 18th Amendment, but it needs to be decentralised at local government level for better productivity.
On another hand, Pakistani should promote free education to all the citizens, by looking to the illiteracy figures about 40pc of school age children are out of the school. Furthermore, the students who are in the schools are not getting the education which is offered in the market. The equation which is offering are imparting is either not of quality or it is not of relevance. As for as public sector schools are concerned, the student are not getting standardize education which is provided by the private schools. The infrastructure, teachers, resources and proper training to the teacher is the need of the time.
Furthermore, Finland is the best educational system in the world; they did it due to certain reforms. They did not only rely on conventional education, instead they also promote un-conventional education. On the other hand, since two and a half century, American system teaches the code of life, liberty and happiness to the students. French are focused on the health of their student, because a healthy body promote healthy mind. Subsequently, India has evolved its education system from traditional learning to modern and innovative one. These are the things, which Pakistani state need to understand, and should put practical form to it.
Consequently, the biggest flaw in our education system is that the government is not facilitating the students of Pakistan. Further, the PIDE’s survey reveals that about 62% of adults in Pakistan want to go abroad where they get huge opportunities. Due to this brain drain, most of our student productivity and research is transported to foreign countries, all of which could have help Pakistan progress. In this regard, educational reforms should be brought into the mainstream especially in research culture, and the state should encourage students by giving facilities in respective fields which is vital for the development of human capital.
Teachers also need to promote critical thinking in their students. They should encourage their students to think out of the box. As teachers are the back bone of a country, they make generations. It is their duty to engage their students in new critical research activities for the prosperity of Pakistan, not just ordinary research which is later thrown to the dustbins. These teachers should encourage students for developing skills to perform the tasks for nation. As the world structure is going to be changed by new technologies, there is the need of time to prepare the youth for the coming competition and challenges.
At last, students also need to bring new ideas to the main stream. They also need to realise their duties instead of always complaining about the system. If a student is capable of generating new ideas to make the system progress, it enables opportunities to develop. If every young person explores his talent and comes out to do something with it, from where new ideas, innovations, and developments would generate, then we can develop a strong economy. Pakistani has huge youth force, they need to work in different areas, to highlight the missing gaps in our system and come up with good new ideas.
In a nutshell, the progress and prosperity of any nation is directly related to their education system. The difference between developed and under developed country is all about productivity and opportunity. The Pakistani state need to take the educational system under debates and should increase the budgets for education to compete with the modern way of learning. Participation in the global market demands certain kind of skills and knowledge which is difficult to meet without huge budget. Both students and teachers have to know their duties and should focus on the productivity of the learning system.