One of the hurdles in Pakistan's development is its education system

We live in a country where people educate their children not for wisdom but for making them a source of income

How can a country advance if its people don’t value education as it should be? How can it prosper when people get the degrees but still remain uncivilized? The problem is actually the education system which offers the education but not its worth.

There are a number of problems Pakistan is facing nowadays in its education system including syllabus, multiple education systems, no uniformity in programs of study, religious issues, poverty, gender inequality and many more. Due to the unnoticed complications, our education method is getting more and more rotten, yet the rising issues are still unsolved. Here are some of the serious setbacks in Pakistani education system.

Focus of syllabus is quantity not quality

One of the major drawbacks of our education system is its bulky syllabus which is shifted to students’ shoulders without any reduction. No matter how irrelevant the books are and how inappropriate is the way of teaching, but they want students to memorize all the stuff and expect them to give the exam as soon as they complete the syllabus. Students are now being transformed into memorizing machines rather than learners.

Lack of career planning in students

Career planning is one of the issues that are given least importance yet they should have the highest. Majority of the students in our country don’t know their interest and choose their field of study as per their parents’ wish or how their friends do. Many people fail to discover their talent throughout the life by choosing wrong field of education and they just have to regret when they have made their career in the wrong direction which does not give them any sort of happiness.

Increased demand of tuition

After spending half of the day in school, the child is sent to the tuition where he has to study further thus gets no time for activities like playing, fun, entertainment and amusement. The students are getting very busy in their studies that their childhood and adult age is full of books more than anything else.

If the schooling is such that the student does not need tuition, it will ease students as well as parents because the burden of school and tuition gets very difficult for parents to pay for.

Inexpert teachers

The teachers nowadays are not professional, they teach not to convey information but just to get paid. Regardless of the fact that they are appointed to teach and make the students gain knowledge, they just try to complete the syllabus anyhow, whether a student understands anything or not. Many of the teachers are not even capable at the subject they are teaching, it’s just like they are teaching because they fail to get employed anywhere else.

Conduction of exams is no less than a joke

Conduction of exams is yet another issue! Board exams from class 9th to second year are not organized sincerely. Many of the examination centers are arranged in such a way that students can cheat very easily, not only this but in some cases the invigilators are also indulged in this exploitation. One can guess that how inferior is the sector of education in our country where the most important years of students’ life are wasted by helping them getting grades through illegal means.

Corrupt educational organizations

The problem is not only limited to examinations but also to the execution of results. Due to the corruption in examination systems, even students’ marks have got a cost. The grades and marks and even positions are being sold just for the sake of a few thousands or lacs. A hardworking students’ career has no value in front of a rich student’s money or source.

No maintenance of government educational institutes

This is something of guilt that the government schools and colleges are so useless that even people of lower classes try to admit their children in private schools. Huge buildings but poor quality of education and insincere staff is the fate of most of the government institutions. They fail to provide the facilities to students that are available in private institutes.

Unaffordable fee structure

Inflation in the sector of education is the most important issue that needs to be considered. There is a high fluctuation in the fee of good and average quality schools. People belonging to middle class cannot afford to send their children to a school that offers quality education due to its high fee. Moreover, the schools are now taking the fees of June and July in advance which adds to the problems of parents. This is also due to non-uniformity in the education system, charging the fees according to requirements and setups.

Zoha Masood is a student based in Karachi. Her writings place an emphasis on social and cultural aspects.

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