EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF PAKISTAN AND THE

IMPACT ON ECONOMY

INTRODUCTION:
It is mandated in the Constitution of Pakistan to provide free and compulsory
education to all children between the ages of 5-16 years and enhance adult literacy. With
the 18th constitutional amendment the concurrent list which comprised of 47 subjects was
abolished and these subjects, including education, were transferred to federating units as a
move towards provincial autonomy.

The year 2015 is important in the context that it marks the deadline for the
participants of Dakar declaration (Education For All [EFA] commitment) including Pakistan.
Education related statistics coupled with Pakistan’s progress regarding education targets set
in Vision 2030 and Pakistan’s lagging behind in achieving EFA targets and its Millennium
Development Goals(MDGs) for education call for an analysis of the education system of
Pakistan and to look into the issues and problems it is facing so that workable solutions
could be recommended.

EDUCATION SYSTEM:
The system of education includes all institutions that are involved in
delivering formal education (public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, onsite
or virtual instruction) and their faculties, students, physical infrastructure,
resources and rules. In a broader definition the system also includes the
institutions that are directly involved in financing, managing, operating or
regulating such institutions (like government ministries and regulatory bodies,
central testing organizations, textbook boards and accreditation boards). The
rules and regulations that guide the individual and institutional interactions
within the set up are also part of the education system.
ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION SYSTEM IN PAKISTAN:

The education system of Pakistan is comprised of 260,903 institutions

and is facilitating 41,018,384 students with the help of 1,535,461 teachers. The
system includes 180,846 public institutions and 80,057 private institutions.
Hence 31% educational institutes are run by private sector while 69% are
public institutes.

Pakistan has expressed its commitment to promote education and

literacy in the country by education policies at domestic level and getting
involved into international commitments on education. In this regard national
education policies are the visions which suggest strategies to increase literacy
rate, capacity building, and enhance facilities in the schools and educational
institutes. MDGs and EFA programmes are global commitments of Pakistan for
the promotion of literacy.

A review of the education system of Pakistan suggests that there has

been little change in Pakistan’s schools since 2010, when the 18th Amendment
enshrined education as a fundamental human right in the constitution.
Problems of access, quality, infrastructure and inequality of opportunity,
remain endemic.

PROBLEMS FACED BY THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM:

   Lack of Planning: Pakistan is a signatory to MDGs and EFA goals. However it

seems that it will not be able to achieve these international commitments
because of financial management issues and constraints to achieve the MDGs
and EFA goals.
  

 Social Issues: It is important to realize that the problems which hinder the
provision of education are not just due to issues of management by
government but some of them are deeply rooted in the social and cultural
orientation of the people. Overcoming the latter is difficult and would require a
change in attitude of the people, until then universal primary education is
difficult to achieve.

  Gender gap: Major factors that hinder enrolment rates of girls include

poverty, cultural constraints, illiteracy of parents and parental concerns about
safety and mobility of their daughters. Society’s emphasis on girl’s modesty,
protection and early marriages may limit family’s willingness to send them to
school. Enrolment of rural girls is 45% lower than that of urban girls; while for
boys the difference is 10% only, showing that gender gap is an important
factor.

  High cost and fees: The economic cost is higher in private schools, but these
are located in richer settlements only. The paradox is that private schools are
better but not everywhere and government schools ensure equitable access
but do not provide quality education.

Outdated curriculum:

Curriculum is the tool through which the goals of education are achieved. The
curriculum of education in Pakistan does not meet the demands of the current
times. It is an old and traditional which compels the learners to memorize
certain facts and figures without taking into consideration the reality that
education is the holistic development of an individual. It places much emphasis
on the psychology of the learner as well which cannot be negated in the
process of teaching and learning. The objectives of education must be
developed the psychological, philosophical and sociological foundations of
education. The present educational curriculum of Pakistan does not meet
these modern standards of education and research. Hence this curriculum is
not promoting the interest of the learner for practical work, research, scientific
knowledge and reflective observation, rather, it emphasizes on memory and
theory.

Incidents of terrorism: Pakistan’s engagement in war against terrorism also

affected the promotion of literacy campaign. The militants targeted schools
and students; several educational institutions were blown up, teachers and
students were killed in Balochistan, KPK and FATA. This may have to contribute
not as much as other factors, but this remains an important factor.

Funds: Pakistan spends 2.4% GDP on education. At national level, 89%

education expenditure comprises of current expenses such as teachers’
salaries, while only 11% comprises of development expenditure which is not
sufficient to raise quality of education.

   Technical Education: Sufficient attention has not been paid to the technical

and vocational education in Pakistan. The number of technical and vocational
training institutes is not sufficient and many are deprived of infrastructure,
teachers and tools for training. The population of a state is one of the main
elements of its national power. It can become an asset once it is skilled.
Unskilled population means more jobless people in the country, which affects
the national development negatively. Therefore, technical education needs
priority handling by the government.

LACK OF QUALITY TEACHERS:

Poverty, law and order situation, natural disasters, budgetary

constraints, lack of access, poor quality, eq Lack of quality teachers Teacher is
the backbone of education system. The quality of teachers in Pakistani schools
is deplorable. According to a UNESCO report, the quality of the teachers and
instruction in schools is of low quality [5]. This situation is grimmer in remote
parts of Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan where even there are no teachers
available in schools. Research has found that teachers do not use new methods
and strategies of teaching and learning [3]. Majority of the teachers do not
know about lesson planning which renders them incapable of dealing with
various problems in the process of teaching and learning. Teachers encourage
cramming of the materials by students. Students do not know the use of
libraries in educational institutions. Thus the reading habits are decreasing
among the students. Teachers are highly responsible for all this mess. It is their
professional responsibility to guide the students towards book reading.
Teachers rely on lecture methods which do provide an opportunity to students
to participate in the process of education as active member. They only note
does the information and memorize this just to pass the examination. Thus
students are evaluated on the basis of memorization of facts and information
rather than performance [uity, and governance have also contributed in less
enrolments.
System OF examination:

Examination is the evaluation of student’s learning. It should be based on

qualitative and quantitative techniques to comprehensively evaluate the
performance of students. The standards must ensure validity and reliability of
the procedures used in the assessment process. The basic aim of assessment is
to evaluate the performance of students. The examination system of Pakistan
is not only outdated but it also does not have the quality to evaluate the
performance of learners comprehensively. The examination system of Pakistan
tests only the memory of students. It does not evaluate them in all aspects of
learning [3]. Moreover, the examinations are influenced by external and
internal forces which have encouraged the trend of illegal practices such as
unfair means. As a result of this the examination system promotes rote
learning and cramming which negates the role of high intellectual power of
learners in the education process such as critical thinking, reflection, analytical
skills and so on. It does not measure the actual achievements and performance
of students

 ANALYSIS OF ISSUES:

An analysis of the issues and problems suggest that:

The official data shows the allocation of funds for educational projects
but there is no mechanism which ensures the proper expenditure of those
funds on education.

 The existing infrastructure is not being properly utilized in several parts

of the country.
  There are various challenges that include expertise, institutional and
capacity issues, forging national cohesion, uniform standards for
textbook development, and quality assurance.

 The faculty hiring process is historically known to be politicized. It is

because of this that the quality of teaching suffers and even more so
when low investments are made in teachers’ training. As a result
teachers are not regular and their time at school is not as productive as
it would be with a well-trained teacher.

 Inside schools there are challenges which include shortage of teachers,

teacher absenteeism, missing basic facilities and lack of friendly
environment.

 Out of school challenges include shortage of schools, distance –

especially for females, insecurity, poverty, cultural norms, parents are
reluctant or parents lack awareness.

IMPACT OF ECONOMY:

Education is a key for economic growth all over the world whereas, in
developing countries in particular. The relationship between education and
economic growth is positive and this relation is consistent in most parts of the
universe. The developments in the economic theory, the role that education
can play in generating economic growth and implications likely to be proposed
for education will be discussed in other chapter of thesis. If we shed light on
the previous Pakistan economic performance we may say that the
performance was not satisfactory due to some inevitable factors such as
droughts, unsustainable debt, and the macroeconomic instability and
unsatisfactory situation of law and order. Primarily, the linkage between
economic growth and education, distribution of income and reduced poverty
are well-recognized. Knowledgeable and skilled people through better
education expect more from the society and need to have high income and
better employment opportunities. This applies to all the households at national
level. Globally, economic inter-dependence is rising and knowledge-based
education for economic growth has also increased the quality on education
and the cost allied with deficits of education. Economic growth and education
entangle each other. More and more access to education has definitely led to
high economic growth rates. How much education contributes to economic
growth depends not only on skilled labor but on the application of their
knowledge. There is much evidence shown in literature that development
models and rigidity in labor markets do not errand fast economic growth, even
when the state offers broad access to schooling and high quality education
(under socialist rules in Eastern European countries). Hannum and Buchmann
(2006) stated that “education is organized as a basic human right, and better
education improves people’s welfare”. Education is an instrument of
development, and it enhances skills of work and life like confidence and
friendliness. These skills in entity uphold economic growth in an economy. In
conclusion, it is observed the countries that invested more in education
achieved sustained economic development than those who invested less.
Education by itself does not warranty thriving development, as the Indian
states of Kerala and West Bengal, former Soviet Bloc, the Philippines, Sri Lanka
have shown. Also not equal access to and standards of education tend to have
a negative impact on per capita income in most of the developed and
developing countries. Two-way causality occurs between education and
economic growth. If better education leads towards faster economic growth,
then investing in education pays for them in the long run, which indirectly
leads to reduce poverty. Some prominent economists have analyzed the
relationship between education and economic growth and viewed that
education is strong interpreter of economic growth. In this context, we have
also analyzed the relationship between education and economic growth for
Pakistan during last thirty years (1980 -2010).

RESEARCHS ON HOW EDUCATION IMPACTS ECONOMY OF A COUNTRY:

The study of “Entrepreneurship Selection and Performance: A Meta-

analysis of the Impact of Education in Less Developed Countries” conducted in
2004 by Van Der Sluis, Mirjam Van Praag and Wim Vijverber provides an
analytical view of the impact of schooling on the selection on entrepreneurship
and the impact on less developed countries. It also proves that a marginal year
of schooling raises the enterprise income by 5.5%. These returns vary by
urban/rural residence, gender and the amount of agriculture in the economy.
Also more educated worker end up in wage employment and also prefer to do
non-farm business rather than farming. Educated women are more inclined
towards wage employment rather than self employment.

The results of additional years of education are higher for women in

developed countries and the ones living in urban areas. The findings also
suggest that uneducated women mostly work in low income sectors like food
or textile. This means that education leads women to work in a higher income
opportunity.

Also in 2004 the work of Mamoon Dawood from the `institute of social
studies` is of special consideration. The study raises a very important point
about the education policy of Pakistan. It studies the effects on the growth of
Pakistan’s economy of increased government spending in the higher education
sector of Pakistan while ignoring the primary education sector.

Our education policy like any other developing countries is to invest

more and more on higher education on the expense of primary education.
Higher education produces skilled labor which reaps greater rewards
compared to investing in the primary education sector. These rewards are
gained through international trade which is very important for any developing
country. What this does is create a greater gap between the skilled and the
unskilled labor leaving the economy in a very unbalanced state like the one
faced by India today.

The article suggests that this policy will benefit the growth in the short
run but will create a gap that would have long lasting and adverse effects on
the growth of Pakistan. The study concludes that in order to solve the problem
of inequality the government should have a very balanced approach towards
spending in both the primary and the higher education in Pakistan.

The topic of “Human capital and economic growth in Pakistan” was

studied by Mohsin S. Khan in 2005. The paper evaluates the factors that
explain Pakistan’s relative growth. Pakistan’s economy has grown faster than
other low or middle income country but there are some others in South Asia
that have done far better, the paper emphasizes on the what Pakistan has
done in order to achieve that fast growth and what it has neglected that has
left it behind other more excelled countries. In addition to the other obvious
factors this paper focuses on the role of differences in quality of human capital
and its effects on the economic growth factor.
 CONCLUSION:

The reforms required in the education system of Pakistan cannot be

done by the government alone, public-private participation and a mix of formal
as well as non-formal education can pull out majority of country’s population
from illiteracy. Similarly, to make the youth of the country an asset, attention
should also be paid to vocational and technical training. In order to generate
balance between economic growth and education, motivation to the students
to enroll in schools at different levels is mandatory. The whole system of
education should create and develop people’s potential for innovations and
their achievement in order to make available valuable support to the processes
of economic development. The investment in education is not only necessary
to increase human capital stock but also a mandatory to achieve higher living
standard. In recent years, Pakistan’s economic growth has remained
unsustainable to startling level which caused serious apprehension to policy-
makers, professionals, and foreign donor agencies. The main purpose of this
study was to examine the effects of some of the key macroeconomic variables
on Pakistan’s economic growth. The results estimated have led us to the
following major conclusions. Primary education played a significant role in
enhancing GDP growth rate of Pakistan during 1980-2010. It implies that
primary education is an important prerequisite for accelerating growth.
Therefore, primary education must be considered as the foundationstone
upon which the economic development in Pakistan can be erected. The
Government must provide primary education to all school-age children to
improve the literacy rate within a minimum time-span. It is noted that the
average annual share of primary school enrolment in total enrolment has been
about 90 percent during the period under consideration. Higher and other
school enrollments –labour force ratio have shown a greater contribution in
the economic growth. Similarly, our study shows that labour force participation
variable is a significant predictor of economic growth and it would help to
contribute to real GDP growth of the economy. Thus, the Government must
ensure the provision of labour force participation through giving the
employment opportunities, better health condition etc, in order to sustain
economic growth. In addition, our health indicator reveals an insignificant
result, which might be due to a poorly administered basic health units in
Pakistan. Moreover, literacy showed very strong impact on economic growth
which shows the positive sign for sustainable economic growth and
strengthens the education return of economy to some extent.

 The policy makers suggested that the measures should be adopted to

improve the primary education system in Pakistan, so that a universal
enrolment rate in primary education may be achieved in near future. In
addition, it measures may also be taken to enhance the literacy rate in the
country to boost the economic growth in Pakistan.
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