Education Sector Reforms (2001 – 06) in Pakistan Causes & Consequences

Abstract

Reforms in education in any state is a continuous and life long process. There can be no education policy permanent and everlasting because as a result of evolutionary process, human beings are subjected to changes and challenges. In order to meet these challenges, the nation needs to reform its education system. Pakistan since its inception has been endeavoring to formulate educational policies which could enable it to energize its socio economic & politico developments. Right from 1947 till 1998, Pakistan has formulated about 8 educational policies. All these policies however did not demonstrate fully how to translate the ideology of Pakistan into national moral profile & the education system of the country. Successive governments since its inception have been interpreting and architecting their own brand of education system without disturbing their socio cultural foundations. Hence education could not yield the required results in the form of achieving their set targets. The Education Sector Reforms (2001-06) is an attempt from another direction. It should be borne in mind that any development or change to be brought about in the education system of any country or state should be in accordance with the main ideals of that state and that it can not be isolated from evolution of education in its historical perspective. Keeping the above two factors in consideration, all the educational policies and plans since 1947 till the introduction of ESR 2001-06 have been critically examined. Owing to the fact that almost all the past educational policies of Pakistan since 1947 till 1998, could not achieve the set targets and that they could not improve the socio-economic, politico-ideological conditions of Pakistan, new reforms titled Education Sector Reforms 2001-06 were introduced under special directives of General Pervez Musharraf the President of Pakistan. vii However the validity & relevance of the recent Education Sector Reforms was being questioned and under debate at various intellectual, political, social and academic levels. Few are projecting it as a need of the time, prerequisite for economic growth & maintain link with the west where as other critiques on the secularization of education are calling it as a betray to national foundations, delink Islamic ideology, subjugation to the western culture & saying good bye to Islamic moral values & code of life. They argue that ESR instead of secularizing the education system & depriving our youth from their ideological identity should aim at addressing the irritants, which are source of decay for the last five decades. Keeping the two schools of thought in consideration, an indepth and unbiased analysis of the arguments of the opposing factions about the reformation process in the education sector of Pakistan was conducted under the title “Education Sector Reforms in Pakistan 2001-06 Causes & Consequences.” The study is descriptive in nature. It deals with the causes & consequences of the Education Sector Reforms 2001-06. Inorder to know the real motives of these reforms and their after effects on Pakistan & its people, the opinion of the educationists, implementers & the teachers and students of secondary & higher secondary schools was asked through questionnaires & interviews. The data received as a result of these tools was tabulated, analyzed and interpreted accordingly in the form of findings & conclusion. The research has advanced certain recommendations for bringing improvement in the system of secondary education in Pakistan mostly related to S.Ed the main focus need for political stability, consistency in policies, relevance of the policies to national goals, abstaining from secularization of education, introducing culture of accountability, encouraging public private partnership, accessibility to basic education without any discrimination, mainstreaming Madaris, improving the quality of curricula offering attractive package to teachers, providing physical facilities .etc. The research study was conducted by the writer. The main tools adopted to culminate this work into fruitful manner, were questionnaires and interviews. Three separate questionnaires for Educationists, Implementers and Teachers and Students of Secondary and higher Secondary Schools were prepared. Prominent educationists, implementers & stakeholders were interviewed to know their view point on either sides of the issue. The study concluded in the form of summary, findings, conclusions & recommendations recorded in Chapter 5 of the study.