Background and Rationales of Arising Problems Education in Pakistan

Background:

More than half a century after independence, Pakistan still remains a largely illiterate country. Close to two-thirds of the population and particularly over 80 percent of rural women are still illiterate. More than a quarter of children between the ages of five and nine do not attend school. And for those who do, the quality of education is seriously needed.

We, recognized two kinds of education systems, the modern education system and the religious education system is given side by side, which provides Islamic education. 'Madrasah' Institutions (muktabas: primary schools, durul ulooms: secondary schools and jamias: universities) have their own management system without interference from provincial or federal governments.

We, working for Education development sector found that education is not considered compulsory in Pakistan. To some extent, efforts has been made previously to raise the ratio of literacy, otherwise than, the target result is never achieved due to community conflicts in the region as well as  lack of government interest, political condition, Marshal Laws and other unforeseen reasons that played major role to increase the literacy rate in all over Pakistan.

Rationale:

A total of 48,646 households were surveyed in 2,502 villages across 84 rural districts at national level. Children aged 5-16 were tested for language competencies from government and private schools. The report bring the statistics of  41.8 percent children could read at least a sentence in Urdu or in their own language, while 20.4 percent were unable to read even the letters. Enrolment decreases as the class level increases. In government schools, only 37.5 %f class 3 students were able to read a story and 53.3 % students of the same class in private schools could read sentences. About 65 percent out-of-school children couldn't even recognize letters in any languages.

Only a negligible percentage of schools under government control have a library in school, lack of children literature is the major constraint in the development of school libraries.

According to UNESCO analysis based on flood in the year 2010, education in Pakistan will experience a drop in net and gross enrolment ratios of 3.0 and 4.0 points respectively. It is also feared that the 2010 floods will affect the survival rate (the proportion of children who start Grade 1 and who reach the final grade of primary school) of almost 629,000 children.

“An assessment of damage to schools is now on so needs can be established," said UNICEF's emergency officer Fawad Shah.    

Majority of schools and colleges in the Khyber PakhtunKhwa particularly in FATA, have been closed for several years. Security forces for establishing check posts and bases in the school buildings in various agencies, depriving children of their rights. We see absentee of teaching staff is another substantial hurdle in the way of education and quality of learning in both reading and writing.

Pakistan’s role in War on Terror in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has witnessed a stiff resistance by the militants who keep their own socio-political agenda in the region on their priority list. Education is one of the main targets on their plan. Militants’ intentions have been clearly expressed by destruction of hundreds of schools in the tribal belt, most of the rest being either closed or non-functional owing to a frail security situation in the region. Wana was the first place where the military operation was launched by the Pakistan Army against militants, and the strategy was followed in South Waziristan. Afterwards, a series of different operations were carried out against militants in all the seven agencies of FATA. Large numbers of people have been forced to leave their homes and livelihoods and considerable damage has been caused to physical and social infrastructure, particularly educational institutions.

The following data shows that out of 458 destroyed educational institutions (primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools and colleges) 317 were for boys and 141 were for girls.

Agency/Region	Boys	Girls	Total
Bajaur	68	27	95
Mohmand	66	22	88
Khyber	31	27	58
Kurram	45	16	61
Orakzai	23	11	34
South Waziristan	29	6	35
FR Peshawar	11	4	15
FR Kohat	17	15	32
FR Tank	2	2	4
FR Lakki	2	2	4
Total	317	141	458

In Mohmand Agency, the educational institutions affected by blasts include 7 high schools for boys, 12 middle schools for boys, 46 primary schools for boys, 1 high school for girls, 3 middle schools for girls, 17 primary schools for girls, and 1 girls’ hostel. 88 educational institutions were completely destroyed which is the highest figure in the list of fully damaged institutions in the region. Constant targeting and the threat of targeting the educational institutions is major factor behind increase in drop out rate in FATA educational institutions. Different studies found different reasons behind this high drop out rate. Some of them include the issues of security, non-availability of school, financial constraints of the families and many other reasons. In case of female drop out, which is much higher than the boys’ drop out rate as shown in the above figure, the reason is social constraints particularly from religious clergy and also the fear of Taliban.