Webinar: A comparative analysis of Pakistani education system with global Education system

 An exclusive webinar session in the context of Public sector reforms and social change supervised by Dr. Athar Rashid was organised by a group of students of Governance and Public Policy Department on the topic "A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PAKISTANI EDUCATION SYSTEM WITH GLOBAL EDUCATION" on 23 April 2022 in its endeavours to empower the students knowledge and learning about Educational sector issues.

The session was presided over by respected Mr. Arfat Jamil, Managing Director JnS Education. It was more of interactive session than a formal webinar.This crucial session was attended by fifty plus participants from different departments (IR, GPP, Economics, English, Maths).He gave a vivid out look and talked about the quality of education in Pakistan and compared with other countries.It is reality that overall Pakistan is far away from developed countries in this comparison. Pakistan has a lot of educational institutes. All are considered to provide quality education. But still, Pakistan stands no where in even top 500 universities in the world. While world and neighboring countries are moving forward in field of education, we Pakistani’s have taken the back gear. Foreign universities struggle with one ambition of quality education and take as much part as possible in the latest going on discoveries and inventions.

In Pakistan, our administration is not giving value to education. For them, Schools, Colleges, Universities are just easy business. They are selling very costly yet cheap quality education. On the other hand, Top universities in world provide the highest of scholarships to students, they even pay their living expenses because their goal is education not business.

Pakistan educational system is lacking to provide learning freedom for students where they can utilize their maximum capacity. It is the research that makes an educational institute compete with world’s top universities. You won’t see, "GPA”, you will see their quality research, innovations, inventions and discoveries. That is what they are proud of. While world is racing to prove themselves, here we are just acknowledging them. We need more research, we need to prove to world that we are made of sterling material. But since, research requires some funding, that is where we step back.We don’t need a lot of universities. We need few big awesome university, we can invest in and make university them one of the world’s top. A university of such scope that foreign students would apply to study there.It’s not that we don’t have qualified scholars. It’s that we don’t hire them. We don’t make use of them. All top universities claim they have the best of the Scholars from around the world. That is their proud. And we, we just see this university is more expensive this one must be better, no offense though.You don’t just need knowledge but exceptional communication and presentation skills to be a teacher. Most qualified Pakistani’s don’t even consider teaching as Career. Institutions are not willing to pay right, so all they get are unskilled degree holders who just destroy deserved students future. After all, how are they supposed to teach if they themselves don’t know what they are doing?

The curriculum of education in Pakistan does not meet the demands of the current times. It is an old and traditional curriculum which compels the learners to memorize certain facts and figures without taking into consideration the reality that education is the holistic development of an individual. These teachers and institutions get students’ all attention on grades. Students just put all their effort on memorizing books and keep fighting for grades. What exactly are you going to do with your grades? No one cares about grades. It’s the skills you require.

However, in Pakistan, the situation is worst. Rote learning, low enrollment rates at the primary level, a dearth of trained teachers, outdated syllabus, outdated assessment criteria, lack of knowledge in students, poor career planning are the order of the day.

 

The speaker elated with the innovative suggestions and ideas during the question answer session. The session went on to be more informative as he continued to talk about the need to transform the classrooms to a more teachnology based education and also incorporate ‘Art Education’ as a part of the curriculum. His focus was on an ‘Integrated Education’ that would not only facilitate academic progress of the students but help them build a happy, healthy and positive approach to life. Overall, it was great learning experience.

Organizers: 

Ayesha Abbasi(host), Arbaz Khan(co-host), Bilal Akram , Barkha Khan

GPP Department

Numl Islamabad