Education's purpose

 Today, I'm sharing the article about the Education. 

By altering the electoral laws and requiring candidates to have at least a bachelor's degree in order to hold a seat in the National Assembly, former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan broke democratic and moral rules.

Politicians with higher credentials made up the 2002 parliament. However, when an academic based in the United States compared the performance of legislators elected in 1997 (prior to the amendment of the electoral law) to those elected in 2002, the findings demonstrated that levels of education had no effect on representatives' performance on the ground. All Pakistanis, including the vast majority of those who have not completed graduate school, now have the right to run for office, despite Musharraf's insistence that education be required to hold an NA seat.

This brings us to a more significant issue. While Musharraf's decision was unjust and clearly biased in favor of a particular class, the question we should be asking ourselves is what our people get out of their education. Only a small percentage of students who attend prestigious schools do so, supported by parental influence and anxiety-inducing pressure. At these centers of excellence, many have performed admirably and made Pakistan proud. Some of them have chosen to work in this country, if only for a short time, to give something back to their country and share their expertise with others. One example is economist Asim Ijaz Khwaja, who frequently visits home. There are numerous others working in a variety of fields, including the sciences and medicine.

But we must inquire about the remaining individuals. The majority of our children gain little benefit from the education they receive at public or lower-priced private schools. The education is disconnected from their requirements and frequently designed to benefit the comparatively privileged. One example is making English a required subject for passing the basic matriculation exam in the country.

Because they cannot pass a subject that has no place in their lives and is poorly taught in schools, a large number of teenagers and young people are unable to excel in life. It would also be hard for their teachers to pass it. This is a crisis in education. Non-profit organizations like Alif Ailaan have conducted research and found that the majority of primary-aged children cannot read or write a simple sentence in either English or Urdu, nor can they perform the fundamental mathematical calculations that would be expected of an eight- or nine-year-old. As a result, we are severely failing our children by providing them with a low-quality education that hinders rather than empowers them.

The new emphasis on teaching certain disciplines in a particular way makes the situation even worse. Despite the fact that it is essential for children to learn as much as possible, many nations leave religious education to families due to the complexities and sensitivity of the subject as well as the issue of interpretation and how this is communicated to children. Even more significant is the fact that, with the possible exception of the most elite schools, almost all teaching relies solely on rote learning and places an emphasis solely on obtaining high grades. As a result, parents are forced to send their children to tuition centers or "academies," which are now located all over our nation.

This means that, as historian KK Aziz noted in his in-depth analysis of Pakistani textbooks, history had been deliberately distorted to fit a particular narrative, and children are then unable to escape the rote learning that is imposed on them. Students, for instance, have little understanding of the events of 1979, when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged in a verdict that, according to the confessions of two Supreme Court judges, was given under pressure. They also have little knowledge of other events, such as the 1971 civil war that divided Pakistan into two parts, that are extremely significant to Pakistan today. The war's actualities are never brought up.

Our classrooms rarely have critical discussions, which are arguably the most important aspect of education. Whether they are studying the arts or science, students are unable to critically examine issues or facts and are forced to follow the instructions in their textbooks. However, their textbooks frequently contain errors, even in straightforward subjects like mathematics; Experts have repeatedly pointed this out. Then, what are we teaching our children, and why are we teaching them this? The second question has a straightforward response. We want to instill a mindset that is rigid and limited, which will prevent people from thinking creatively or coming up with concepts that could help the stagnant society gain some momentum.

All of this is common knowledge. We also make insignificant efforts to assist young people in pursuing technical careers that could benefit the nation and them. The quality of vocational education is poor and limited. Numerous promises made in order to promote it have never been kept.

The next question we ought to ask is whether individuals in our society who have not been forced through the educational system are, in some ways, better able to think for themselves and propose solutions to the numerous issues we face. Naturally, expanding education benefits the nation because it creates a skilled workforce and encourages more investment in the nation. However, given our lax approach to providing high-quality education, we need to consider how our teaching methods benefit our people. Uneducated people are able to clearly and rationally express their opinions and are fully aware of the challenges they face. Many protests, many of which are led by people who don't have degrees, show how well-informed these people are despite not having any formal education or training. They have points of view that must be strongly defended and debated in order for us to come up with solutions.

We haven't found enough solutions to the problems we face every day over the past seven decades. The poor face significantly more challenges than the wealthy do. One illustration of this is the recent floods, and only a small number of those who were impacted are fully aware of how devastatingly global climate change is affecting their lives. To move our people forward and make real differences in society, we need to have a much better understanding of these issues.

Whether they are educated or not, the Pakistani people are currently unable to do so due to the flawed and deeply skewed education they receive. The quality of the textbooks provided to young children reveals the future. If education is to truly benefit the nation, this narrative must change.

Our new generation will not be able to move forward with more open minds or the ability to think with greater clarity and individuality because of the minor changes that have been brought about by the new Single National Curriculum (SNC) as well as the more retrogressive teaching that some parts of the new curriculum propose.