Education is fundamental to socio-economic development, political stability and healthy living environment. Goal 4 of the Sustainable Devilment Goals 2030 recognises and stresses quality and inclusive education for all. Pakistan affirmed its commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as its own national development agenda through a unanimous National Assembly Resolution in 2016. The status of education in Pakistan, despite our national commitment to SDGs 2030 and several other national and international treaties, is deplorable. An estimated 22.8 million children are out of school in the country. The country’s literacy rate is ranked 113 in a total of 120 countries. Illiteracy (inability of children and adult to read and write) and functional illiteracy (situation when formally certified literate or educated persons lack reading, writing, comprehension and calculation skills required for personal and community development) are among the most serious issues facing the country. Functional illiteracy is more dangerous than illiteracy. The quality of our certified educated persons or graduates has declined over time.
Examining some of the recent results of job and entry tests in the country may help us understand and critically evaluate the quality of our education and graduates. Hundred (100) per cent candidates failed PhD admission test conducted by the Institute of Communication Studies in Punjab University. None of the 132 applicants who appeared for PhD entrance cleared the test. Majority of them were A-graders. This is not new as the same happened in two other larger public sector universities where 100 per cent candidates failed PhD entry tests. A more depressing fact is the massive failures of candidates in teachers recruitment test conducted by Institution of Business Management (IBA) Testing Service in partnership with the provincial government to recruit 46,500 teachers in government schools. Out of 162,000 candidates who appeared in the teachers’ recruitment test conducted in Sindh in September 2021, only 1,250 (0.78) managed to pass the test. Thousands of these candidates are, I believe, either teaching in private or even in government schools on contract basis. There is no doubt that thousands of them hold graduation (MA, MSc) or M. Phil degrees. Similarly, the result of the written part of CSS examination 2021 announced by Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) for the recruitment against BS-17 posts under the federal government is very dismaying. According to FPSC, a total of 39,650 candidates applied for the CSS 2021 exam. Out of these, only 17,240 candidates appeared in the written exam in February 2021. Out of the 17240 applicants only 364 (2.11 %) candidates have passed the written exam. Out of 200,000 candidates who appeared in the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT), 125,000 (65 per cent) candidates failed to get the passing marks. Should we understand the prevailing deplorable status of these candidates as their personal (private) trouble and blame them for it. Or we should boldly accept this situation as a national public issue and social problem that is threatening the nation’s future. In the conceptual framework of C. Wright Mill’s Sociological Imagination (vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experiences and wider society), the failure of these graduates in admission and jobs tests has roots in society as a whole and is faced by many not few candidates. There are hundreds or thousands, if not millions of others, unreported, who are experiencing the same failures. A critical examination of the connection between these results and our government, family and individual approach to the purpose of education, shows that this deplorable state of our education and graduates have been institutionalised formally through federal and provincial education policies, laws as well as informally through family and social cultural practices. When we (parents, students, teachers and society as a whole) are so obsessed with grades and marks and not substance and knowledge, we should not be shocked by this massive failure and dismaying performance of our graduates.
In September this year, BISE’s Mardan results shocked the whole nation when Qandil Sohail - a student of Mardan Board bagged 1100 out of 1100 marks. The result was highlighted in the newspapers, TV news and talk-shows. The result was censured and dispraised by some and praised by others. The credibility of our examination and assessment, in fact education system, was further threatened by the results of BISE Lahore and BISE Multan. Fifty three (53) students scored 1100/1100 marks in BISE Lahore and 48 students bagged 1100/1100 marks in BISE Multan. The BISE Lahore has awarded 1100 out of 1100 marks to 707 students in its matriculation result 2021. This is the first time in the history of the country that candidates in such a large number have scored full marks. Enough is enough and we must ask ourselves: are we doing the right things? Is it possible to get 100% marks in English, Urdu, Islamic Studies, Civic, Biology, Chemistry? Is our method of examination and assessment right? Are the people involved in the whole process aware of what are they doing with the nation’s future? We should not fight on the issue anymore and must accept that all is not well with the quality of our education, examination and assessment system. We must embrace this reality that we have crossed the dangerous line and have compromised the quality and credibility of our education. In Mills’ view, we must consider and declare ‘the massive failure of our graduates’ and these lenient, inflated grades as threatening national public issues which call for serious public debate and urgent attention from the federal and provincial governments. On these issues, we must reach national consensus and declare a national level education audit and research based education reforms with the help of indigenous scholars and educationists. The best beginning is awareness and acceptance of the issues. Further delay will threaten the nation’s future. School authorities and teachers need to be advised to immediately stop promoting students to the next grade without ensuring whether they have commanded the contents and substance of the existing class or not. This, in fact, will minimise the prevailing functional illiteracy in the country. We need a counter national discourse against the greed for grades. We should enable them to consistently and interactively use critical, analytical, creative, and practical thinking in their everyday life.
–The writer is Associate Professor
Sociology and Director ORIC
Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad