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Education in Pakistan
Education in Pakistan is divided into five levels: primary (grades one
through five); middle (grades six through eight); high (grades nine and ten,
leading to the Secondary School Certificate); intermediate (grades eleven and
twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary School Certificate); and university
programs leading to graduate and advanced degrees.
All academic education institutions are the responsibility of the provincial
governments. The federal government mostly assists in curriculum development,
accreditation and some financing of research.
When Pakistan was founded in 1947 as a result of the partition with India,
the country had only some institution of higher education, like University of
the Punjab and some institutes in Sindh . Over the next 20 years, many private
and public schools and higher education institutions were established to help
fuel the country’s socio-economic development.
In the early 1970s, all of Pakistan’s educational institutions were
nationalized under the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was committed to
the idea of Islamic Socialism.
For the next decade, Pakistan’s entire system of education was state-run.
However, the growing demand for higher education fast outpaced the establishment
of new public universities. During that period, the system could accommodate
only 25 percent of the high school graduates who applied to higher education
institutions. The overcrowding prompted many wealthy Pakistanis to seek
university degrees abroad in the United States, Great Britain and Australia,
while others sought out private tutors at home or entered the job market without
a degree.
In 1979 a government commission reviewed the consequences of nationalization
and concluded that in view of the poor participation rates at all levels of
education, the public sector could no longer be the country’s sole provider of
education. By the mid-1980s, private educational institutions were allowed to
operate on the condition that they comply with government-recognized standards.
Until 1991, there were only two recognized private universities in Pakistan:
Aga Khan University established in 1983; and Lahore University of Management
Sciences established in 1985. By 1997, however, there were 10 private
universities and in 2001-2002, this number had doubled to 20. In 2003-2004
Pakistan had a total of 53 private degree granting institutions.
The rapid expansion of private higher education is even more remarkable if we
look at the number of institutions established on a year-by-year basis. In 1997,
for instance, three private institutions were established; in 2001 eleven new
private institutions were opened; and in 2002 a total of 29 private sector
institutions sprung up.
The Government has decided to introduce 'English Medium Education' on a
phased basis and to substantially end the right to 'Mother Tongue Education'.
This new policy which is termed 'Education Sector Reforms (Policy decisions)',
states that "English language has been made compulsory from Class-1 onwards."
and the "Introduction of English as medium of instruction for Science,
Mathematics, Computer Science and other selected subjects like Economics and
Geography in all schools in a graduated manner."
Caretaker Minister for Education Mr. Shujaat Ali Beg declared Jan 25, 2008
that eighteen colleges of the city of Karachi would be made "Model English
Medium Colleges,"
A child may begin his/her schooling at a pre-school at the age of 3 to 5.
Over the last few years, many new kindergarten (sometimes called Montessori)
schools have also sprung up in Pakistan.
Formal education in Pakistan starts from around age 5. The first 5 years of
school are referred to as Primary. Thereafter, the next 3 are referred to as
Middle and the 2 after as High school.
At the completion of High school or 10 years of schooling, students are
required to sit for board examinations referred to as Secondary School
Certificate examinations or matriculation examinations or more commonly as
"Matric". These are administered by area boards. Those that receive passing
marks (normally 33%) on this examination are awarded a Secondary School
Certificate or SSC. Students may then choose to undergo 2 years of additional
schooling (offered both a schools and some colleges) after which they sit for
the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC), more commonly referred to as
'Intermediate' exams. There is a wide choice of subjects that students can
choose from during their 'intermediate' years many of which are technical
subjects. Students normally read about 5 subjects in a chosen stream such as
pre-medical, science, humanities, pre-engineering etc. and then sit for the
Higher Secondary School Certificate exam in those subjects which are also
administered by area boards. Those that receive passing marks (normally 33% of
all subjects cumulative) are awarded a Higher Secondary School Certificate or
HSSC.
Students can enter a plethora of technical institutes for technical
certificates and degrees. The entrance requirements for these courses varies
greatly with some such as carpentry requiring the applicant to be literate
whereas others such as DAE in automation requires HSSC and B.Tech requires
DAE. Also one year diploma courses in different fields are running.
Students can then proceed to a College or University for Bachelor of Arts
(BA) or Science (B.Sc) or Commerce/Business Administration (B.Com / BBA) or
Compute science B.S or BIT degree courses. There are two types of Bachelor
courses in Pakistan namely Pass or Honours. Pass constitutes two years of study
and students normally read three optional subjects (such as Chemistry,
Mathematics, Economics, Statistics) in addition to almost equal number of
compulsory subjects (such as English, Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies)
whereas Honours are three or four years and students normally specialize in a
chosen field of study such as Biochemistry (BSc Hons. Biochemistry). It is
important to note that Pass Bachelors is now slowly being phased out for Honours
throughout the country. Students may also after earning their HSSC may study for
professional Bachelor degree courses such as engineering (B Engg), medicine (MBBS),
vetrinary medicine(DVM) law (LLB), agriculture (B Agri), architecture (B Arch),
nursing (B Nurs) etc. which are of four or five years duration depending on the
degree
Some Masters Degrees also consist of 1.5 years. Then there are PhD Education
as well in selected areas. One has to choose specific field and the suitable
university doing research work in that field. PhD in Pakistan consists of
minimum 3-5 years.
Pakistani universities churn out almost 1.2 million skilled graduates
annually. The government has announced a $1 billion spending plan over the next
decade to build 6 state-of-the-art science and engineering universities. The
scheme would be overseen by the Higher Education Commission.
The increasing prevalence of private schooling
Before the 1990s, private schools were seen as a luxury only the rich could
afford. From the 1990s to the present, there has been a phenomenal rise in
private education.
The private sector of education is increasing day by day. Because private
institutes providing good education then govt. institutes therefore parents like
to get admission of their children in private institutes.
Now private institutes starts from Montessori to Universities.
There is a parallel education system in place in some private schools, i.e.
the 'O' level and 'A' level system. The curricula are set by the University of
Cambridge of the UK. Students studying in this system do not follow the syllabi
set by the Pakistan government, but subjects such as Islamiyat and Pakistan
studies are still compulsory for most high school students. The Ministry of
Education also keeps an eye on what is being taught in these private schools. In
recent years, the number of students enrolled in these schools has increased
considerably. Many of these Cambridge-system schools charge high fees, catering
to the children of elite professionals and those who can afford them. However,
during recent years, the phenomenon of appearing for the Cambridge exams
"privately" has been rising. Students attend private tutoring sessions, register
for the British exams via the British Council, and do not attend any school to
prepare for their exams.
To get admission in madarssa is not a new trend in Pakistan but all the
Muslims of world are getting admissions of their children in Madarssas regarding
to get basic education of Islam. even before the modern education system
Madarssas were providing education to all the people. Madarssas were not
providing only the Islamic education but also social education, Mathematical
education, Science education etc.
Ever since the start of the War on Terror, the attention of the world's media
has been focused on the madrassas operating in Pakistan which are mainly
attended by children living in rural areas. Popular worldwide beliefs are that a
significant number of students in Pakistan are a part of these religious
schools. This myth was debunked by a Harvard/World Bank study that examined
statistical data to more precisely determine madarssa enrollment in Pakistan.
The findings were that enrollment in Pakistani madrassas is relatively low, with
less than 1 percent of all students enrolled in a school attending madrassas.
There are as much as 100 times as many children in public schools as there are
in madrassas and almost 40 times as many children in private schools as there
are in madrassas. For the average Pakistani household, the choice of going
to a madarssa is simply not a statistically significant option. Even in areas
which surround Afghanistan, which are considered to be hotbeds of madarssa
activity, madarssa enrollment is actually less than 7.5 percent.
Outside this region madarssa enrollment is thinly, but evenly, spread across
the rest of the country. There was no evidence of a dramatic increase in
madarssa enrollment in recent years. Examining time trends it was found
that madarssa enrollment actually declined in Pakistan from its creation until
the 1980s. It increased somewhat during the religion-based resistance to
the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets in 1979 and the subsequent rise of
the Taliban. However, in the last few years, the data does not suggest that
there is any dramatic increase in madarssa enrollment.
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