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Mazher Wednesday, March 14, 2007 02:00 PM

All members must read this article .....
 
[B][I][COLOR=navy][/COLOR][/I][/B]
[B][U][SIZE=5][FONT=Times New Roman][I][COLOR=darkred]Educating the Pakistani Masses: The world needs to help[/COLOR][/I][/FONT][/SIZE][/U][/B]

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[B][U][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=red][I]Introduction[/I][/COLOR][/FONT][/U][/B]

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[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Let me start this brief presentation with the main conclusions that I have to offer with[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]respect to the deteriorating state of education in Pakistan and how this could affect the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]rest of the world. I would like to underscore the following six conclusions. One, it is right[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]for the world to worry about the larger impact of Pakistan’s dysfunctional educational[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]system especially when it has been demonstrated that poorly educated young men in a[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]country as large as Pakistan pose a serious security threat to the rest of the world. Two, it[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]is timely for the world’s donor agencies to offer help to Pakistan to reform its system of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]education so that it can produce people who have the right kinds of skills to operate in the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]modern economy. Three, it is correct to focus on the reform of the madrassa system but it[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]would be imprudent to give too much attention to this part of the educational system in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the country. Four, the part of the system that really needs attention is the one managed by[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the public sector. This is the system that looks after the education of some 90 percent of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the school going age. Reforming it is of critical importance. Five, the problem of public[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]education will not be solved by throwing more money into the system. What is required[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]is systemic reform. Six, and finally, the private sector has an important role to play in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]reforming the educational system. This is an area in which the large and well-endowed[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]communities of Pakistanis resident in the United States could also participate.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]I will develop these conclusions in five parts. In the first, I will provide a quick overview[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]of Pakistan’s demographic situation and how it has affected the system of education. In[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the second part, I will give a brief description of the structure of the educational system in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the country from the time of independence in 1947 to the early 1970s when it began to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]deteriorate. The third part will provide a quick overview of the reasons that led to slow[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]collapse of the educational system. In the fourth part I will indicate the lessons Pakistan[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]can learn from attempted reforms in other parts of the world to improve its own system.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]In the fifth and final part I will suggest some approaches to the reform of the Pakistani[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]system.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[U][FONT=TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=red]Pakistan’s demographic situation and how it has impacted on the system of education.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/U]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Pakistanis, both policymakers based in Islamabad and the public at large, were slow to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]recognize that the country’s large and increasingly young population was mostly illiterate[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]and was singularly ill-equipped to participate in the economic life of the country.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]1 [/FONT][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]Prepared text of the testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the theme of[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]“Combating Terrorism through Education: The Near East and South Asian Experience” on April 19, 2005.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]2 [/FONT][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]Shahid Javed Burki is former Vice President of the World Bank and former Finance Minister of Pakistan.[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]2[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Pakistan’s young did not even have the wherewithal to participate in the process of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]“outsourcing” that had brought economic modernization and social improvement to many[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]parts of India. The economic and social revolution that India is witnessing today could[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]have also occurred in Pakistan but for a number of unfortunate developments discussed[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]below. For the moment we will reflect on the problem Pakistanis faces today – in 2005.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]In 2005, Pakistan is the world’s sixth largest country, after China, India, the United[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]States, Indonesia, and Brazil. Its population is estimated at 155 million; of this, one half,[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]or 77 million, is below the age of 18 years. Pakistan, in other words, has one of the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]youngest populations in the world. In 2005, the number of people below the age of 18 in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the United States was less than those in Pakistan and yet the American population is[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]almost twice as large as that of Pakistan. What is more, with each passing year the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]population is getting younger.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]In spite of a significant decline in the level of fertility in recent years, Pakistan’s[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]population is still growing at a rate well above 2 percent a year. Even with some further[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]reduction in birth rate, by 2030 Pakistan could – a quarter century from now – overtake[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Brazil and become the world’s fifth most populous country, with a population of 255[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]million. Or, put in another way, Pakistan is set to add another 100 million people to its[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]already large population over the next 25 years.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]A significant number of this additional population will end up in the already crowded[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]cities of the country, in particular Karachi, in Lahore, and in the urban centers on the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]periphery of Lahore. Karachi already has more than 10 million people; by 2030 it could[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]have a population of 25 million. By the same time, Greater Lahore may have a population[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]of 15 million. Will such large urban populations live in peace and become active[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]contributors to Pakistan’s economic growth and development? Or will they become[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]increasingly restive and disturb peace not only within the country but also outside the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]country’s borders? The answers to these two questions lay in the way the authorities and[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]people of Pakistan approach the subject of education and what kind of assistance they can[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]receive from the world outside.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There are four characteristics of Pakistan’s demographic situation that have attracted[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]attention in the western world, particularly in the United States. One, that in two to three[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]decades Pakistan will have the largest concentration of Muslims in the world, more than[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]in Indonesia and in India. Two, the population of Muslims will be very young. Out of a[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]population of some 255 million projected for 2030, about 170 million will be below the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]age of 18. Three, unless an ambitious program is launched soon and implemented with[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the government’s full attention and energy, a significant proportion of the young will be[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]poorly educated and will have skills that will not be of much use as a factor of production[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]in a modern economy. Four, an indifferently educated workforce made up of millions of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]young people, living in a few crowded mega cities, will become attractive recruits for[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]groups and organizations that are alienated from the global economic, political and social[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]system. In a Muslim country such as Pakistan, the groups that will be able to attract the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]young espouse various radical Islamic causes.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]3[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There are two questions that need to be answered in order to explain the situation in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Pakistan. One, why did the education system in Pakistan deteriorate to the point where it[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]now threatens economic, political and social stability not only within the country but also[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]poses a real danger for the world at large? Two, what can be done to redress this[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]situation?[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[B][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=red][I]The Structure of the System after the creation of the state of Pakistan[/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/B]

[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]In the late 1940s and up to the early 1970s, Pakistan had a reasonably efficient system of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]education, not much different from other countries of the South Asian subcontinent. It[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]was dominated by the public sector; educational departments in the provinces[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]administered schools and colleges while a small number of public sector universities[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]provided post graduate instruction. The private sector was active at the two extreme ends[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]of the educational spectrum. On the one end were missionary schools and colleges[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]specializing in western-style liberal education. At the opposite end were religious[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]schools, called dini madrassas [FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]that imparted religious instruction. Some of the better[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]institutions belonging to this genre were either imports from India or were patterned after[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the old madrassas [FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]in what was now the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The best known of[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]these was the Darul Uloom at Deoband that had developed its own curriculum and taught[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]a highly orthodox or fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. Following the partition of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]India and the birth of Pakistan, a number of ulema [FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT](Islamic scholars) from Deoband[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]migrated to Pakistan and established seminaries in the new country. Two of these, a[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]madrassa at Akora Khattak near Islamabad called Darul Uloom Haqqania [FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]and the other[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]in Banori township of Karachi played prominent role in brin ging an austere form of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Islam to Pakistan. We will return to the subject of these madrassas a little later.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The private schools catered mostly to the elite while the religious schools produced[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]imams (preachers) for the mosques or teachers for the madrassa system of education.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]These two systems are producing two different social classes with very different world[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]views and views about the way Pakistan should be managed. The two groups are now[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]clashing in the political and social arena. One recent example of this is the controversy[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]over the deletion of a box in the newly designed and machine readable passport that[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]initially did not have a column indicating the religious affiliation of the passport holder.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]This step was taken by the government headed by General Musharraf as one small move[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]towards what he has called “enlightened moderation”. He was, however, beaten back by[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the religious parties and the “religion column” was reinserted in the passport.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]In between these two social classes is a large inert group, the product of the public[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]educational system. The large public school system includes all aspects of the system of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]education. It starts with kindergarten and primary schools at the bottom, includes[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]secondary and higher schools, and has at its apex semi-autonomous but publicly funded[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]universities. For several decades the standard of instruction provided by this system was[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]adequate; the system’s graduates were able to provide workforce for the large public[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]sector and also for the rapidly growing private sector of the economy. Those graduates of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the system who went abroad for further education either at their own expenditure or[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]relying on the funds provided by various donor supported scholarship schemes did not[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]4[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]experience much difficulty in getting adjusted to the foreign systems. Some of Pakistan’s[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]better known scholars and professionals such as the Noble Prize winning Physicist[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Professor Abdul Salaam and the well known economist Mahbubul Haq were the products[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]of this system.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]However, the system has deteriorated over time to the extent that it has become common[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]to describe Pakistan as the country that has done the least for the social development of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]its large population. It is also common to fear that without major investment in education,[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Pakistan may well become a large exporter of manpower to the stateless Islamic[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]organizations – al-Qaeda being the most prominent among them – that will continue their[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]crusade against the West, western values, and anything else they see from their narrow[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]prism as anti-Islamic.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]How did Pakistan travel the distance from a moderate Muslim country with a reasonably[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]efficient educational system to a country in which the public system of education is[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]virtually broken down and in which a large number of educational institutions are[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]providing instruction that teaches hate for those who hold different points of view and[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]encourages jihad [FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]against them? Pakistan’s gradual transformation from one state to the[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]other occurred slowly under many different impulses. As such the country offers a good[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]case study of how a society can get derailed.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[B][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=red][I]Systems progressive collapse over time[/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/B]

[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The Pakistani educational system collapsed slowly, at times its progressive deterioration[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]was not even noticed by the people who later were to be most affected by it. The collapse[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]occurred for basically four reasons. The first jolt was given in the early 1970s by[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]government headed by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto decided to nationalize[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]private schools, in particular those run by various Christian missionary orders. His motive[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]was simple. He was of the view that private schools encouraged elitism in the society[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]whereas he wanted equality and equal opportunity for all.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Bhutto was also responsible for delivering the system the second shock and this time[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]around the motive was political expediency. His rise to political power was viewed with[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]great apprehension by the religious forces in the country. They considered the socialism[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Bhutto espoused as “godless” and were determined to prevent him and the Pakistan[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]People’s Party founded by him from gaining ground. The two sides – Bhutto and the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Islamists – chose to use the college and university campuses to fight the battle for the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]control of the political mind in the country. Both sought to mobilize the student body by[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]establishing student organizations representatives of their different points of view.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]For a number of years campuses of the publicly run institutions became the battle ground[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]for gaining political influence at the expense of providing education. It was in this battle,[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]waged in educational institutions, that Pakistan witnessed the birth of another[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]organization – the Muhajir Qaumi Mahaz – that was to use violence in order to spread its[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]word and make its presence felt.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]5[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The third development to turn the system of education dysfunctional occurred in the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]1980s when a coalition led by the United States and included Pakistan and Saudi Arabia[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]decided to use the seminaries as training grounds for the mujahideen [FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]who were being[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]instructed to battle the Soviet Union’s troops occupying Afghanistan. There was an[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]unspoken understanding about their respective roles among these three partners. The[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]United States was to provide equipment and training for the foot soldiers of the jihad.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Pakistan was to set up madrassas in the Afghan refugee camps and along the country’s[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]long border with Afghanistan. Its military with better knowledge of the Afghan terrain[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]was to be actively involved in training the mujahideen. The government of Islamabad[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]also reserved the right to choose among the various groups that were prepared to do battle[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]in Afghanistan. The Saudis were happy to aid the effort with money as long as they were[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]allowed to teach Wahabism, their brand of Islam, in the seminaries that were to be used[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]for training the jihadis. This proved to be a potent mix of motives: the United States was[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]able to recruit highly motivated fighters to go after the occupying forces of the Soviet[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Union in Afghanistan, Pakistan was able to further its influence in Afghanistan and Saudi[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Arabia was able to introduce its extremely conservative interpretation of Islam into a[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]large Muslim country that had hitherto subscribed to a relatively liberal, accommodating[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]assimilative form of religion.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The fourth unhappy development to affect the sector of education was the political[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]confusion that prevailed in the country for more than a decade, from the death of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]President Zia ul-Haq in August 1988 to the return of the military under General Pervez[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Musharraf in October 1999. In this period four elected governments and three interim[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]administrations government the country. Preoccupied with prolonging their stay, the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]elected governments paid little attention to economic development in general and social[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]development in particular. Under the watch of these administrations, public sector[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]education deteriorated significantly.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The failure of Pakistan to educate its young was the result of the failure of the state to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]provide basic services to the people. As already noted, the collapse of the public sector[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]began in the mid seventies when the socialist-leaning administration of Prime Minister[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalized some parts of the educational system while denying an[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]expanded public sector the resources it needed. In the thirty-year period since then,[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]various governments, both military and civilian, continued to neglect public education[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]while allowing it to be politicized. Politicization took the form of increased political[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]activity on the part of student organizations representing various political parties. It was[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the Islamic parties that gained the most in the battle to influence the campuses.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The progressive failure of the public sector to provide reasonable education to the masses[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]brought in two very different types of educational entrepreneurs into the sector. On one[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]end of the spectrum were groups of entrepreneurs who filled the space for western-style[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]liberal education. Since there was enough demand for this type of education on the part[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]of the relatively well-to-do segments of the society, a number of for-profit institutions[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]were established. They have flourished over time, providing high quality education to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the upper-end of the society.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]6[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]At the other end of the social spectrum were the poor who needed institutions that could[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]provide basic education to their children without placing an unbearable economic burden[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]on the families. This is when the madrassas [FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]stepped in with the financial wherewithal to[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]take in male students, provide them with board and lodging, and give them instruction in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]religion. Most of these institutions did not have qualified teachers who could give[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]instruction in mathematics, sciences, and languages other than Urdu to their students.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The result of all this is that the Pakistani society today is split three ways when viewed[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]from the perspective of education. At the top are the students who have received[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]reasonably good education from western-style institutions that operate mostly for profit.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]They count for perhaps 5 percent of the student body in the five to 18 year age group of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]some 70 million people. At the bottom are the religious schools that provide education to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]an equal number of students. In between is 90 percent of the student population[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]dependent on a public system that is inefficient and corrupt. It is, in other words,[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]dysfunctional. Before addressing the important subject of the remedies that are available[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]to improve the educational system, we should take a look at the situation as it is today.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[B][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=red][I]Reforming an educational system[/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/B]

[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There are several ways of assessing the status of an educational system in the developing[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]world. Among the more frequently used indicators are adult literacy rates for both men[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]and women in various parts of the country; enrolment rates for both girls and boys at[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]different levels of education and in different areas of the country; the drop out rates at[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]different levels of education; the number of years boys and girls spend in schools; the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]amount of resources committed to education as a proportion of the gross domestic[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]product, particularly by the public sector; the amount of money spent on items other than[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]paying for teachers’ salaries; and, finally, some measure of the quality of education[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]provided. To these indicators, one should also add the quality of data and information[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]available about education. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s record is relatively poor on all these[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]counts, including the quality and reliability of the data which makes it difficult to provide[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]a reasonably accurate description of the state of affairs in the sector.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The latest information available for Pakistan suggests an adult literacy rate of only 43.5[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]percent for the entire population above the age of 15 years. The rates for Sri Lanka and[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]India are considerably higher than for Pakistan; 92.1 percent and 61.3 percent[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]respectively. Of the South Asian countries, only Bangladesh has a slightly lower rate,[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]41.1 percent. Since the level of literacy has a profound impact on the quality of human[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]development, Pakistan ranks 142 in terms of the UNDP’s Human Development Index. Sri[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Lanka ranks at 96, India at 127, and Bangladesh at 138.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There are noticeable differences in gender literacy and in the level of literacy in different[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]parts of the country. Some 58 percent of the male population qualifies as literate while[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]female literacy rate is estimated at only 32 per cent. In other words, two-thirds of the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]country’s women can’t read or write. There is not a significant amount of difference in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the rates of literacy among different provinces. Sindh, on account of Karachi, has the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]highest rate at 60 percent while Balochistan at 53 percent has the lowest rate. However, it[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]7[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]is among women living in different parts of the country that literacy rates vary a great[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]deal: in Balochistan the rate is as low as 15 percent while it is 36 percent for Punjab’s[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]women. It is clear that the women of Balochistan must be targeted in any drive to educate[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the masses in the country.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There are wide discrepancies in the various estimates of enrolment provided by various[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]sources of information. My own estimates are for the year 2003 when the number of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]children in the primary school age was 22 million of which 11.5 million were boys and[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]10.5 million girls. According to the Ministry of Education in Islamabad 9.6 million boys[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]were in school, giving an enrollment rate of 83.4 percent. The number of girls attending[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]primary school was estimated at 6.6 million, giving an enrollment rate of nearly 63[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]percent. There was in other words a gender gap of almost 20 percentage points. Once[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]again the policy implication of this information is the need to focus on the provision of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]education for girls. Another conclusion suggested by these numbers is that we should[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]expect a fairly significant increase in the rate of literacy as the cohorts presently in school[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]reach adulthood.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There is considerable disparity in the rates of enrollment among the richest 20 percent of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the population compared to the poorest 20 percent. The gap is two and half times as large[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]in the urban areas and even larger in the rural areas. Applying these number to overall[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]literacy rates, it appears that while universal primary education has been achieved for the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]richest one-fifth of the population for both boys and girls, the enrollment rate for the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]poorest 20 one-fifth is only a shade above 45 percent. Public policy aimed at increasing[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the level of education must, therefore, focus on the poor in both urban and rural areas.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There is demand among the poor for education; if it is not satisfied by the public sector, it[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]will be met by the dini madrassas[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT].[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]As is to be expected, the well-to-do families tend to enroll their children in high[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]performing privately managed schools while the poor are forced into the public sector[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]system. According to a recent survey while only 27 percent of the children from the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]richest 20 percent of the households were enrolled in government schools; these schools[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]catered to as much as 75 per cent of the children from the poorest 20 percent of the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]families. This means that the rich have been able to bypass the part of the educational[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]sector managed by the government while the poor have no recourse but to send their[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]children to public schools. This process of selection according to income levels is[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]reducing the quality of the student body in government schools.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There is a high level drop out rate in the public system with the rate increasing as we go[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]higher up in the system. Barely 10 percent of the school going age children complete 12[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]years of schooling; around 25 percent leave after eight years of schooling and another 15[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]percent by grade-10. Such a high level of drop out has serious budgetary implications. At[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]least 50 percent of the educational budget is spent on the children who drop out early.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]This is a tremendous waste for a sector that is already short of resources.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]A high drop out rate has one other adverse consequence. Even if the level of literacy[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]increases in the country, the level of skill acquisition will not improve. For many years a[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]8[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]number of development institutions emphasized the provision of primary instruction[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]without focusing attention on higher level education. It is only recently that there is[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]recognition that human development means more than primary education. Some[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]researchers maintain that universal education should mean more than five years of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]schooling; it take a much longer stay in schools to be able to become functional in a[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]modern economy.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]In light of this, what are the options available to policymakers and to the donor[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]community that is eager to help the country reform its educational system? The donor[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]interest in the country’s educational system reflects the understandable fear that, unless[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the educational system is fundamentally reformed, it would create a large body of young[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]alienated people who would be prepared to lend a helping hand to the forces of radical[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Islamic not just in Pakistan but in all corners of the world.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[U][FONT=TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][/U]
[B][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=red][I]Educating the Pakistani masses: A new approach[/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/B]

[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The conventional approach for addressing the problem posed by the underdevelopment of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the educational sector involves is based on five assumptions. One problem – by far the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]most important one according to most experts – many societies face is that the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]opportunity cost of sending children to school is greater than the benefit education is[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]likely to bring. Parents bear costs even when education is free. Perceived cost of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]education is likely to be more of an inhibiting factor for the attendance of girls in schools[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]than for boys. In poor households girls help their mothers handle a variety of chores[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]including the care of their siblings. One way of approaching this problem is to provide[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]monetary incentives to parents to send their children to school. School feeding programs[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]fall into this category of assistance; they lower the cost of education for parents.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Two, the state may not be spending enough on education. The remedy is to increase the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]proportion of public resources going into education. The donor community has been[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]prepared to help with funds if there was the fear that the domestic resources were too[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]constrained to allow for an increase in public sector expenditure on education. This was[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]one reason why development institutions such as the World Bank significantly increased[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]their lending for education.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Three, typically a state spends more on secondary, tertiary and university education than[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]on primary education. The cure is to divert more funds into primary schooling.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Four, the quality of instruction is poor. The obvious solution is to invest in teacher[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]training, reforming the curriculum and improving the quality of text books. Sometimes[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the quality may suffer because schools may lack proper physical facilities. They may be[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]poorly constructed or the buildings may be poorly maintained. The students may not even[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]chairs and desks on which they can sit and work. This problem can be handled, once[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]again, by committing more resources for public sector education.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Five, the educational bureaucracy is too remote from the parents who wish to see an[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]improvement in the quality of education given to their children. This gap between the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]9[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]provider and the receiver can be bridged by organizing parents to oversee the working of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the educational system. Teachers can be made responsible to the parent’s association in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]addition to being responsible to the educational departments in some distant place.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Six, in highly traditional societies, parents will be prepared to send their girls to school[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]only if they don’t have to travel long distances, if they are taught by female teachers, and[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]if the schools have appropriate toile facilities. In some situations parents would educate[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]girls if there are single-sex schools. The solution for this problem is to build more schools[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]for girls and to employ more female teachers.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]All this was learned from a great of experience by the donor agencies from their work[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]around the world. Most of these lessons were incorporated in a high profile program of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]assistance for educational improvement launched by the World Bank in Pakistan in the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]late 1980s. Called the Social Action Program, the plan developed by the bank was[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]supported by a number of donor agencies and billions of dollars were spent on it for over[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]a decade. The result was disheartening. The program was inconsequential in achieving[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]even the most fundamental objectives: increasing the rate of enrollment in primary[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]schools for both boys and girls and bring education even to the more remote areas of the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]country. The bank made several attempts to correct the course during the implementation[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]phase but the program did not succeed. There was one simple reason for the program’s[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]failure. It did not take full cognizance of the fact that the educational bureaucracy was so[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]corrupt, inefficient and dysfunctional that it could not possibly deliver a program of this[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]size. Ultimately the donors decided to abandon the program.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Given this experience and given the magnitude of the problem the country faces what[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]options are available to the policymakers in the country and the donor community[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]interested in providing help to Pakistan?[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]A variety of donors have already committed large amounts of finance for helping[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Pakistan educate its large population. According to a recent count by the Ministry of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Education in Islamabad, foreign commitment for education is currently estimated at[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]$1.44 billion spread over a period of seven years, from 2002 to 2009. Of this $450[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]million is being provided as grants with the United States at $100 million the largest[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]donor. The remaining one billion dollars is being given in the form of soft loans by the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]World Bank ($650 million) and the Asian Development Bank ($339 million). These[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]commitments amount to some $370 million a year.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The government has also announced its intention to significantly increase the amount of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]public funds for education. In 2000-2001, funding for education amounted to only 1.96[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]per cent of the gross domestic product. This increased to 2.7 percent by 2003-2004 when[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the government spent about $2 billion on education, of which about one-quarter was[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]provided by donors. It is the government’s intention to increase the amount of public[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]resources committed to education to about 4 percent of GDP which would bring the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]expenditure in par with that of most other developing countries.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]10[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]However, the experience with the World Bank funded and supervised Social Action[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Program tells us that a mere increase in the availability of resources will not address the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]problem. What is required a multi-pronged approach in which resource increase plays[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]only a small part. For Pakistan to succeed this time around, it will have to be imaginative[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]and comprehensive in the strategy it adopts. There are at least six elements of this[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]approach.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]First, the government must develop a core curriculum that must be taught in all schools[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]up to the twelfth grade. Along with the prescription of such a core syllabus, the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]government should also create a body to oversee the text books used for instruction.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]There should be no restriction on the submission of books that can be used as authorized[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]text and there should be a fair amount of choice available to schools. They should be able[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]to pick from an approved list. The selected books must carry the “good-housekeeping[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]seal of approval” of the authority created for this purpose. The members of the authority[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]should be selected by an autonomous Education Commission which can be nominated by[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the government and approved by the national assembly.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Second, no institution should be allowed to take in students unless it registers with the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Education Commission. The Commission should issue certificates of registration to the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]institutions which should indicate what kind of curriculum is being taught in addition to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the core syllabus. Overtime the Commission should develop the expertise to grade[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]schools according to their quality. A scale of the type used by credit rating agencies could[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]be used by the Commission as a way of informing the parents about the type and quality[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]of education on offer.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Third, either the Education Commission or a similar body should issue certificates to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]qualified teachers. No school, no matter what kind of curriculum it teaches, should be[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]allowed to hire teachers unless they have been appropriately certified by the authority.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]The certificate should indicate which subject(s) the teacher has the competence to teach.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Fourth, in order to further encourage the participation of the private sector while[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]lessening the burden of the public sector, the state should encourage the establishment of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Private Education Foundations that will be run on non–profit basis and will raise funds[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]that will qualify for tax exemption. These foundations should also be encouraged to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]register abroad so that they can receive contributions from the members of the Pakistani[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]diasporas in the United States, Britain and the Middle East. The government should offer[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]for sale to the Foundations the institutions it manages at all levels. This will be a form of[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]privatization with the intent to encourage not only educational entrepreneurs to enter the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]field but to involve the people who are interested in improving the quality of education in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]the country.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Fifth, the government must reform the management of the educational system. One way[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]of doing this is to decentralize the system’s running to the local level. The recent[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]devolution of authority permitted by the reform of the local government structure has[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]created an opportunity for the involvement of local communities in educational[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]management. The development of the local government system as envisaged by the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Testimony[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]11[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]administration of President Pervez Musharraf is being challenged by some vested[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]interests including the members of the National and Provincial legislatures who fear[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]erosion of power as more authority flows to the local level. The old bureaucracy that had[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]exercised enormous power under the old structure is also reluctant to loosen its grip. This[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]resistance will need to be overcome.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Sixth, parent-teacher-administrator associations should be created that manage funds and[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]allocate them to the areas in which serious deficiencies exist. These associations should[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]also have the authority to assess the performance of the teachers and administrators based[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]on the quality of education given. Parental involvement in education, even when the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]parents themselves were not literate or poorly educated yielded very positive results in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]several countries of Central America.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Seventh, the government should attempt to level the playing field by making it possible[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]for children of less well-to-do households to gain admission into the privately managed[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]schools. The government could initiate a program of grants and loans that should be[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]administered by the commercial banks. Such an approach was tried successfully in[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Mexico. Letting the bank’s manage these programs will save them from being corrupted.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Eighth, to address the serious problem of youth unemployment in a population growing[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]rapidly and in a society that is becoming increasingly susceptible to accepting destructive[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]ideologies, it is important to focus a great deal of attention on skill development. This[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]will require investment in vocational schools or adding technical skills to the school[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]curriculum.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Ninth, in undertaking a school construction program to improve physical facilities,[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]special attention should be given to the needs of girls. Only then will the parents have the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]assurance that the schools to which they are sending their daughters can handle their[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]special needs.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Tenth, and finally, a serious review of current expenditure on public sector education[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]should be undertaken. It is well known that the state pays to a large number of “ghost[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]teachers” who don’t teach but turn up to collect their monthly pay checks. It is also well[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]known that the annual recurrent cost in well managed private schools that are able to[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]provide high quality education is one-half the recurrent cost of public schools.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Rationalization of these expenditures will increase the productivity of resource use.[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPS-BoldItalicMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[B][U][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=red][I]Conclusion[/I][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/U][/B]

[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]Pakistan’s educational system requires an almost total overhaul. It will not be reformed[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]simply by the deployment of additional resources. This was tried once before by the[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]donor community under the auspices of the World Bank’s Social Action Program. That[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy]as we noted above did not succeed. What is required now is a well thought out and[/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]comprehensive approach that deals with all facets of the system.[/FONT][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][/FONT][/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][B][I][COLOR=navy] [/COLOR][/I][/B][/FONT][/SIZE]
[B][I][COLOR=navy][/COLOR][/I][/B]

Mazher Wednesday, March 14, 2007 02:08 PM

[B]waiting 4 ur precious comments

Regards

[/B]

stalwart fighter Thursday, March 15, 2007 10:50 AM

Really a nice job dear.
i think the ideas are quite impressive it could be the essay topic and education system in our country is not according to the level of other developing countries as in Srilanka and India....
Moreover ur intellectual manner with the topic is great..
thanks for reading

Najabat Thursday, March 15, 2007 02:15 PM

@Mazhar.
Really excellent contribution on Pakistan's Educational system.Well done bro.
Well one thing i notice in ur comment in conclusion, Educational system requires a total overhaul.But what u think about Political and Economincal structure of Pakistan;-)Nwayz thanx for sharing bro.The subject will be more catchy if u wrote Plz don't read it:-).Bravo brother.

shafiqueahmed Saturday, March 17, 2007 11:42 PM

nice job mazher but plz minimize u r text next time.
keep sharing

Master mind Monday, March 19, 2007 06:57 PM

Keep it up
 
Well done bro,
Knowledge of words is the gateway to scholarship, n u posses this ability
Indeed!

nice effort........

u deserve 10 /10 marks

Thanx for sharing.........................................

Mazher Wednesday, March 21, 2007 10:08 AM

[B][I]"Pad-na hay to insan ko pad-nay ka hunar seekhh
Har chehray pay likhha hay kitabo-n say ziyada"


:) :) :)[/I][/B]


02:20 PM (GMT +5)

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