If we try to define the education system of Pakistan we can come across so many different types. Now that is not bad but you see you need to have some sort of a baseline or a standard that is universal throughout the country. There are so many schools, so many systems that it becomes difficult for parents to decide what is best for their children. Without a single standard we cannot compare student progress as every other school has its own way of evaluating it. Here is an analysis of the education system of Pakistan. Exploring the education system of Pakistan is like resolving the Kashmir issue! Despite that I shall shed light on this matter as it is of great importance for parents and students alike. Basically schools can be categorized as private and public schools. Private schools are English medium while public schools are Urdu medium.  Further classification can be done as follows:

Primary Education

This level includes grades 1 to 5. About 60% of children complete these grades.  It is believed that the primary level education is Pakistan is one of the most underdeveloped in the world.

Middle Education

This includes grades 6 to 8. Co-education at this level is a rising trend however in many rural areas single-sex education is still preferred.

Secondary Education

This level includes grades 9 to 12. On completing the secondary school certificate after completing grade 10, students can study towards earning a higher secondary certificate at the end of grade 12.

Tertiary Education

Only 8% of students acquire this level of education. A pass degree means 2 years of study while an honors degree is completed in a period of 4 years.

Higher Studies

Masters and PhD. degrees are offered in numerous universities in Pakistan. Again a very small number is able to reach this level. Education is expensive at this level while many girls leave education at this point due to their marriages.

Private Schools

Most private schools also follow this route. However, the concept of Montessori has become quite popular amongst them.  They take children as small as 2 year olds and provide them with “play and learn activities” in order to prepare them for primary level education. This again is a dilemma: “is this a waste of money or it actually helps your child learn something useful?”

It is quite evident that private schools make a great effort to provide adequate facilities to students to learn in a more practical environment, become more confident and well-prepared for college. However, the admission fee, annual charges and fee increase after every term are a matter of concern for parents. There are different functions like sports day, spring festival etc. where the school charges students directly or indirectly. For example, for the sports day every student needs to purchase a custom made sports uniform which can be quite expensive.

On the bright side many universities of Pakistan are ranked amongst top universities within Asia and even in the world e.g. IBA Karachi, LUMS Lahore, NUST Islamabad, Khyber Medical College, Peshawar. But has the government actually planned out how many of these graduates will be getting jobs? Our youth is growing at a fast pace while there aren’t enough jobs for them in the market.

Matters of Concern

At the primary level, about 41% in Lahore, 45% in Karachi, 50% in Islamabad and 30% in Rawalpindi cannot read and write simple sentences. We are spending merely 2% of our GDP on education! India is spending 7% while Afghanistan is also doing better than us i.e. 4% of its GDP. Memorization is the common means of testing children rather than testing them with respect to understanding, problem solving, decision making and analytical skills.

Literacy Rate of Pakistan population plus 15 1980 2015 by UNESCO Institute of Statistics

The security concerns in Pakistan, war against terrorism, Taliban targeting schools especially in KPK, poor quality of education for the poor and ignoring education needs of girls, are just a few issues that our country faces. If in the light of such issues, we are producing the likes of talented people such as Arfa Karim and Malala Yousafzai, then imagine how much better we can do if we overcome these problems! So let’s not lose hope and pray for a better tomorrow.