Pakistan: Three parallel education systems, a gulf of ideas and ideologies

I have been teaching in many private educational institutions for many years.  I often though  that why is there gap among three parallel education systems, government educational institutions, madrassas and private schools in Pakistan at the same time.

Government educational institutions

When we look at  their buildings, teachers and students, we often wonder whether our educational institutions are responsible for the class and consciousness difference. Ignoring the answer, examined the reasons why the system has become like this. In government schools, from the beginning of the school year, teachers are told by a calendar how many subjects to complete by what date. Teachers are not responsible for compiling syllabi. For some seven or eight years now, there has been a positive change in the recruitment of teachers in government institutions. Now even those who have studied up to MSc, M.Phil do not consider teaching in primary schools as bad, they continue their education and training is also arranged by the government every two years or so. The benefit of this is possible only if the teacher himself is interested in it, otherwise only the attendance ritual is completed.

Laboratories, computer labs or any technical support is hardly to be found in primary schools. That is why Ratta culture thrives in government schools more than experimental education. It depends entirely on the mental capacity of a child whether he learns from such creative activities himself or not as these facilities are not currently available as per the requirements of the modern age in the education system created by the government.

 Similarly, competitions in various sports are also organized. Most of the families from which the students belong do not have good economic conditions and some of the children even work as laborers themselves. The spirit of reading in such situations is admirable. Now, when it comes to teachers, along with their studies, they have to bring children from home to study on their own, so that the attendance rate remains the same and the hope of funds remains. In addition,  being on duty with polio workers, teachers sometimes have to take care of everything from cleaning the bathrooms to cutting down trees.

 The main reason for low student attendance or lack of interest in education is that the same decades-old curriculum and teaching method is still in place, which is unable to get the attention of students. Also, technology and experimental and theoretical education may help to improve this system. Despite all these difficulties and shortcomings, the fact that some names appear in the board examinations every year gives a pleasant impression that hard work brings its own color.

The system of madrassas

Coming to the second level and taking a look at the system of madrassas, it was found that hundreds of madrassas in urban and rural areas of Pakistan have lightened the burden of the state by providing free education to thousands of students. There are three types of education in religious schools. A memorization of the Qur'an, which begins with Qaeda and Nazra. Second, Tajweed has its own special books, which help in reciting and reciting difficult lessons. Syntax, logic, jurisprudence, principles of jurisprudence, hadith, principles of hadith and commentaries are taught in the third world course.

 Even in madrassas, the same syllabus has been taught for decades. Teachers are either trained in the category of preachers or they become attached to Sufism. Also, madrassas give priority to teach their talented students as teachers. The success of students in madrassas is guaranteed by their memory, and there is a little mention of creative activities or experimental observation. Madrassas that have better funds have started teaching computer as well as regular schooling.

Madrassas bear the full cost of accommodation, food and tuition for the students. Because of this, parents become more reckless and we often hear of physical abuse of students. These incidents are often reported from rural areas, where there are no interruptions to the management of madrassas (often single individuals). Now the madrassas have made strict regulations on these matters. Emerging from the madrassas with creative, ideological and intellectual thinking can be the result of a student's constant effort.

Most of the madrassa graduates return to this source of livelihood. Knowing this now, I felt that if the madrassas are carrying such a heavy burden on the state, then the state has a duty to help the madrassas for curriculum and technical assistance as per the requirements of modern times so that the gap between these parallel educational institutions is reduced. And the child of one institution should not feel inferior  while entering another institution. Just a few days ago, news came that a madrassa student was preparing for CSS, which is a positive change.

Private educational institutions

The doors of good private educational institutions are opened to school teachers exactly fifteen days or months before the start of the school year. Initial trainings and workshops are conducted. The curriculum changes every year, but not more than two or three topics per book. Private teachers are trained to design their own scheme of work and syllabus. If every child cannot teach in the same way, then not every teacher can teach the same lesson in the same way.

Therefore, the teacher is responsible for the syllabus itself, the views of the students and the quality of the syllabus guarantee a teacher's job or salary increase. The franchises, however, have built-in syllabi that require them to teach the same lessons on the same day in all their units spread across the country. Teachers are constantly undergoing training.

 The monthly fees of private institutions can range from Rs 2,500 per month to Rs 30,000 per child depending on where your child is studying. Sports, music, drama and co-curricular activities also reveal this essence of students. The best thing about modern private schools is that they keep adapting to the requirements of modern times and are doing their part to change the outdated system.

I think parents' financial problems affect their children's future. The government is failing miserably to provide equal education opportunities to all children. Three different education systems are producing people with three different thoughts and ideas. The gap in employment opportunities, ideas and perspectives is widening. I often wonder if a system can be created to bridge the gap between these parallel education systems.