Challenges in the Education Sector

8/11/2019 Challenges in the Education Sector

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BY: Salman Shah

Challenges in the Education Sectorin Pakistan


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The Woodrow Wilson International Center forScholars, established by Congress in 1968 andheadquartered in Washington, D.C., is a

The Centers mission is to

Providing a link between the worlds of ideas andpolicy, while fostering

Research, study, discussion, and collaboration

among a broad spectrum of individuals


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robust education sector in Pakistan is needed tomeet its human resource requirements.

Pakistan needs to produce more workers,technicians, supervisors,

managers, and researchers. It needs to expandits education base by

improving the retention rate of students atprimary, secondary and tertiary levels

and by establishing more educational institutionsacross the country.

.


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Further, the quality of education needsconsiderable improvement

by inducting better qualified teachers, adoptingbetter education

techniques and implementing effectiveexamination mechanisms


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ECONOMIC STRATEGY

Human resource is a key input to any economy,and a major driving factor for its growth.

The growing need for a larger competent laborforce is indispensable.

value addition in the agriculture, manufacturingand industry, services

and natural resources sectors.


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The orientation of the economy will be

export-led, which will be strongly supported bydomestic demand for

goods and services. Macroeconomic stability,

international competitiveness of Pakistansproducts, and

technology up-gradation through value chainspecific micro strategies


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PAKISTAN

high dropout rates during primary school, a

shortage in capacity of both middle and higher-level schools and technical and vocationaltraining centers,

and insufficient access for female education.

a labor participation rate of only 30 percent.

This low rate is a result of poor female

participation rates, lingering at about 19 percent. The low female literacy rate of 39.2 percent,

The male literacy rate is 63.7


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PAKISTAN

Secondary Educat ion in Pakistan

This segment is highly underfunded.

The private sector is expanding

Which , provides education at a range of priceswith varying quality.

primarily in the urban areas.


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There are major difficulties in this segment related toweak curriculum,

lack of facilities and incompetent teachers. There is also an issue of having a two-tiered the O

and A levels curriculum instead of Pakistansdomestic low quality curriculum.

To address this issue, there is a need to bringPakistansdomestic curriculum up to international standards.Better teachers will of course be needed for improvededucation and the price of better quality education willbe higher.


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Techn ical and Vocational Training

The capacity of this segment is inadequate The infrastructure in this segment is so minimal that it

would need investments of over $1 billion to createfacilities for vocational training, a small dent in the

overall development needed in this segment. This segment can be improved by more active

partnerships with the industry of various sectors.

A comprehensive strategy is being prepared for this,

which includes the creation of a Human ResourceDevelopment fund and a National Technical andVocational Training Authority to spearhead the effort.


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Higher Education

Good higher education in Pakistan is limited to aprivileged few, with enrollment of less than half amillion students in university or professionalprograms. In contrast, South Korea with a fraction

of our population has an enormous highereducation enrollment base of 2.7 million students.


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The example of LUMS shows that quality highereducation is very important for access to the jobmarket.

Further, there is a high demand in the domestic

market for primary and secondary education ofinternational standards, which would enableadmissions to top tier higher educationinstitutions.

The entire chain has to be upgraded.


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Regarding development of universities andprofessional colleges, the choices for thegovernment of Pakistan are whether to fund newpublic universities to meet the demand of

university education, or to support the establishment of private

universities through public/private partnerships,

or a combination of both.

The key question is whether public universities would be able to reach the standards set by

LUMS-type private institutions


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Conclusion

Review and strengthen current programs such as theEducation Sector Reform (ESR) and the Education For

All (EFA) programs. Rely on market-based solutions as much as possible. Further strengthen implementation capacities. Further augment resource mobilizations through

budget and non budget means. Improve quality of education, provide technical and

vocational training for dropouts, and allow greater

access to higher education.


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REFORM IN HIGHER EDUCATION INPAKISTAN

By: GRACE CLARK


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In any country, universities need to be able tocarry out two critical roles.

The first is knowledge-building, usually throughresearch, analysis, and theory building.

The second is imparting knowledge to the nextgeneration through teaching.


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A country that cannot develop the new knowledgeunique to its own needs or that cannot impartwhat it is needed to the next generation willremain forever stuck in a pattern of intellectual

colonialism, dependent on other countries forknowledge building and the development of newteaching staff.

A country that cannot conduct its own research

on education and learning in its own environmentwill be stuck trying to fit models from othercountries into its own system.


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Currently, Pakistan has two broad priorities related toeducation.

On the one hand, primary education is an essentialpriority to give Pakistan a literate workforce so it can

participate in the global economy. Pakistan cannotreally develop as a modern nation while a largeproportion of its peoplenearly half, according to theMinistry of Educationare illiterate.

On the other hand, Pakistan is trying to strengthen itsuniversities to educate the educators and to producethe knowledge that will drive a modern economy.


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FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS OF

HIGHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN 1. AccessCurrently, only 2.9 percent of thepopulation has access to higher education. 2. QualityThe HEC report states, The present

quality of higher education is very low. Not a single

university of Pakistan is ranked among the top 500 inthe world. The main cause of this deplorable state of higher

education is seen as insufficient education andtraining of faculty. Of 7000 faculty members, only

about 25 percent, or 1700 in all of Pakistan, havePhDs. This is very low for a country of 153 millionpeople.


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3. InfrastructureMost universities in Pakistanare ill-equipped to teach, functional laboratoriesare almost non-existent, and libraries areextremely limited, and, because they are a scarce

resource, are often kept locked. 4. Education and research are not linked to

critical development issues facing Pakistan or toopportunities for economic and social

development.


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HEC STATEGIC VISION AND PLAN

1. Faculty development 2. Improving Access

3. Promoting Excellence in Learning andResearch

4. Relevance to the Economy and evelopment


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Three other goals support these four core aims1. the development of leadership, governance and

management;

2. enhanced quality assessment and accreditation;

3. and physical and technological infrastructuredevelopment.


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TRAINING FACULTY

The number one goal of the HEC is facultydevelopment. HEC plans to increase the numberor faculty with PhDs at Pakistans 60 publicuniversities from 1700 to 15,000

within five years.

To implement this goal, the HEC has severalprograms.

First, as a short-term fix, the HEC is importingforeign faculty from other countries for up to threeyears.


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HEC would like to increase the number ofteaching and research PhDs from the currentlevel of 1700 to 15,00020,000

To accomplish this, the HEC has agreements with

several countries, including Austria, China,Sweden, Germany, and France, to send about200 students a year for PhD training over aperiod of a few years.


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Program to train masters levelpersonnel in the United States

.This program will send about 80 to 100 Fulbrightstudents a year for masters or PhD degreeprograms in the United States.

Many of the persons in this program are junior

A key priority of this Fulbright/USAID program aremasters degrees for those who train primary andsecondary school teachers and those studyingeducational administration..


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HEC has also announced an indigenous programto train 1,000 PhDs a year in Pakistan.

These students will work with PhD scholars inPakistani universities whom the HEC has

recognized and registered

based on their own teaching and record ofpublications in international journals.


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Recognizing the problem of an explosiveproliferation of degrees,

some of questionable quality, on July 6, 2005, theHEC issued a warning

to degree granting institutions that they mustfollow the established

criteria or risk having their charters withdrawn and

having the HEC not recognize the degrees they have awarded.


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SUPPORTING RESEARCH BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE

INCREASING ACCESS TO HIGHER

EDUCATION

TYING RESEARCH TO DEVELOPMENT


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performance indicators:

Percentage of faculty with PhDs Percentage of faculty who have had teacher

training courses

Number of postgraduate courses per department

Number of PhD students per faculty member

Total funding obtained from competitive grants

Number of international publications

Number of faculty presentations at internationalconferences6


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SECONDARY EDUCATION

HEC has also become involved in the training ofprimary and secondary school teachers throughthe establishment of the National EducationUniversity.

It also provides a base of operation that allows

for increased research on education in Pakistan.


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LIMITS OF THE RELATIONSHIP

Probably the biggest limitation in the relationshipbetween reforming higher education andimproving primary and secondary education isthat there is so little interface between these two

plans. The Ministry of Education oversees primary and

secondary education, while the Higher EducationCommission oversees the reform

of that sector.

Documents

Challenges in the Education Sector