Research Proposal

Proposed by: Rabia Ahmed

Drawbacks in the Education System of

and duties in a civilian. It develops productivity and efficiency in an individual. It is the backbone of any society. When Pakistan got

independence in 1947 from British rule, it had 1 university, 20 professional colleges, 83 colleges of arts and science, and a total

enrolment of 37,102 students. As of 2021, Pakistan has 173 universities, public and private combined, 2900 colleges of different and

diversified faculties, and over 72,029,310 students are enrolled as scholars and learners in these institutions. So, between the timeline

of 1947 till 2021, a huge expansion in the educational sector of Pakistan took place. It is not a hidden fact that Pakistan has faced

denial in quality education, no matter how expanded the structure has become. Statistically, out of 100, 25% of the population is

literate. And this is where the question of this research proposal is rising. Despite all the progress and expansion, 75% of the

population is illiterate and only 10% of the female population is literate. The curricula are stagnant, old, and outdated, there is political

interference, there is lack of uniformity because of the different educational systems for example Deeni madaris, O levels, A levels,

Agha Khan board system, etc., there are less professionally trained teachers and more unprofessional and inadequate teachers in both

public and private educational institutions. The poor supervision and enabling of illegal practices during exams, political influences,

low budget, corruption, and qota system are the top most annihilators of the education in Pakistan. This is a big question mark on the

policymakers, bureaucrats, scholars, and the government.

With less than 2% of GDP applied to its education, the educational system of Pakistan is indeed floating on a melting iceberg. Another

problem is that the students coming from different educational backgrounds have a different state of mind. The pass outs of deeni

madaaris have a religious mindset and they oppose the modernist theories of education. They deny the significant role of women in

society. In contrast, the liberal society of Pakistan is perceived to be more enlightened and progressive. This contrast creates a clash

between religious scholars and liberals. They feel that the Islamization of education in Pakistan is being threatened. This ideology also

proliferated sectarian violence in the vulnerable regions of Pakistan.

The financially privileged and untalented students have greater opportunities and have to struggle for nothing whereas more talented

but underprivileged students have fewer opportunities and go through more turmoil. The average middle-class student is seen

struggling to make their life livable whereas a wealthy child is spending their monies without a care in the world. When it comes to

the teaching staff, the corporate sector is filled with disparity, complexity, and exploitation. Teachers with financially weak

backgrounds are compelled to do work on low salaries with no other job benefits. The qota system has been deteriorating the dreams

of many students. There is no value of merit and the political influence always takes the best seat in the best room.
It is therefore discerned that several hypotheses can be drawn out of the problems concerning the education that our country is facing.

A singular education system, inclusive in nature and in-reach to all individuals regardless of the class that they belong to, will create a

healthy, non-biased environment for all.

Also, political interference and regional political influences have played the most significant role in jeopardizing the educational

system in Pakistan.

In the next 20 years, the business of education will become the most profiting business in Pakistan, and the quality of education will

be deteriorated.

It is impossible and unfair to declare one body accountable, this research proposal will enable us to see a clearer image, so that it

becomes easier to decide who is or how many, are blameworthy, what are the steps that could be taken to eradicate the problems, and

what are the SOPs that can be taken to prevent future hindrances.

Literature review:
It can be observed from the existing literature that various scholars, journalists, authors, and political scientists have stressed the

different aspects of systematic educational problems in Pakistan. Khan (1997) presented a progressive and sequential report of the

significant events that took place in the history of the evolution of the educational policies of Pakistan. In his journal, the author

exhibited the metamorphose of Pakistan's education system from Islamization and technical education to character development and

science and technology. It was critically analyzed that Pakistan's People Party attempted to nationalize the private organization that

deteriorated the remarkable educational institutions. It was PPP's selfish and arrogant schemes that the private sector was befouled

with political interferences. In my opinion, that era was the root cause of the qota system running in Pakistan to date. Many dreams are

shattered and seats in the field of medicine and CSS are stolen by the political goons of our country. Kennedy (1990) suggests that in

Zia's era, the educational reforms were misled, spurious, anti-democratic, and discriminatory to women.

The sociological aspects of educational problems in Pakistan are thoroughly explained by Khan (1997). He highlighted the so-called

elites of Pakistan who are selfish, safarishi, and corrupt with no intentions to contribute to the primary education of Pakistan. They go

to E.M schools like Atchison, Burn Hall, etc. with no care in the world about their inferior group and whether they are receiving an

education and most importantly, quality education. Their educational goal is quite clear which is getting their children to complete A

and O levels and send them overseas. Afzal (2015) points out a crucial fatality which is the outdated and manipulated curricula of the

education system of Pakistan. The respected, internationally acclaimed scholars must update the textbooks which are read in the

primary section, negativity should be removed and history needs to be revised with complete facts, not simply a mention of selective

details. There should be more social sciences subjects such as conflict resolution and confidence-building measures, peace, and

tolerance, social change and development, globalization, etc.

Chaudhry (2007) gave an excellent analysis of gender inequality in Pakistan. He pondered over the less talked areas of Pakistan for

example FATA which happens to have the lowest participation by girls. He also explained that the gross and net enrolment and

dropout rates of girls often reveal gender differences, most importantly when represented by the income quartiles. Gender inequality

also becomes a great cause of poor economic growth. In his paper, he carefully constructed some coping strategies to overcome

gender inequality in the field of education. He suggested that efforts to promote self-employment among women should be made at a

regional level. Sustainable strategies should be taken up for improving the economic status of educated women in Pakistan. Khan

(1997) pointed out an important fact regarding female education in Pakistan that is: female education has the potential to bring a

revolutionary change in society. At the primary school level, the net enrolment of girls is only 35% and in Balochistan, only female
literacy is only 5%. If a larger fragment of girls had gone to school, a generation ago millions of infant deaths each year could have

been staved off and thus millions of families could have been healthier and happier.

In my opinion, women in South Asia, particularly in Pakistan have great potential to excel in science and technology, military,

corporate sector, business, sports, etc. Society and its norms are stagnant and old-fashioned, the people are less aware of a woman’s

capabilities and more aggressive towards the progress of women. A society that does not value its women, is most likely to face

downfall.

So far, the problems residing in the education system of Pakistan have been discussed but certain problems arise from these problems

as well. Sectarian violence is one of those problems. Zaman (1998) carefully highlighted the radicalization of Shia and Sunni

identities. In his research, he stated that deeni madaaris, mosques, and seminaries of traditional Islamic education are some of the

many influences on sectarian identities.

Siddiqui (2016) explains in his book the complexities of the education problems in Pakistan critically and holistically. The book

discusses the interrelation and integration of each problem with another problem. Also, he highlighted the process of planning and

implementation of educational policies in the country. In the way forward, he explained the crucial changes that must be made to

maintain the health of the vital organs of any educational system which are: policymaking and implementation, sustainable growth and

development programs, stable economy, sufficient financial backup for education, professional training of teachers, etc. The book

selects major themes, for example, vision and goals, universal primary education, special education, religious and madarsah education,

curricula and textbook, teachers and teacher’s education. Hence, he tracked each theme through policies from late 1947 till 2009. He

presented a meticulous and overarching account of calculational policies and the real world of the curriculum. He also directly

confronted contextual political forces and factors that affect policy implementation. But in the way forward, there are several

shortcomings in my opinion. For example, free education provided by the state for a certain underprivileged group of children could

have been one of the solutions to the educational problems residing in the poor masses of our country.

Pakistan is a region where many ethnic groups live. It has diversity, rich culture, and heritage. Just like Pakistan, its neighboring

countries like Afghanistan and Tajikistan, because of similarity and relatability in their culture and heritage, face the same problems in

the educational sector. Ashraf, et al (2017) in their book have elaborated how for decades, cultural and political entities have battled

over morals, modernity, development, gender, and the rule of law. He emphasized how in the twenty-first century there are still

conservative ideas and backwardness in the educational sector. Constantly, the cultural and political influences have been defying

education in their regions. The remote and challenging areas of the land where there are no such resources to provide quality education

are left at the mercy of feudal lords. The contributors of this book examine the computation, policy, processes, and structures in a very

broad socio-cultural, religious, and economic context of these three countries who share, in some measure, similar colonial and post-

colonial legacy and current uprising of extreme religious positions and a way to social cohesion. But, there was no mention of the

atrocities towards women and the hindrances faced by women in these regions. Little girls remain plundered and deprived of basic

primary education. One thing that should be applauded in this book is how the contributors gave a comparative analysis of each region

with another one, upon doing so, many similarities and dissimilarities in history, policymaking, economy, etc. came forward which

helped the ponderer understand the complexity of the problem and how each region dealt with the obstacles when those policies

failed.

Pakistan exists in a globalized world. Every passing second, millions are made and the labor class adds one penny to stacks of

pennies. Tarar (2006) in his research shed light on a very crucial topic which is the expansion of the education business and

exploitation of the middle-class masses. He critically analyzed the idea of the academic community slowly and gradually transforming

into a market-oriented institution where self-acclaimed academics and part-time professionals from the corporate sector are under in
charge of teaching staff in higher education or university education. They possess no professional training in the respective profession.

He also gave the reference to the World Bank and UNESCO and how they have a wide range of research and rethinking on higher

education. Their policy consisted of several crucial points such as Investments in basic education capitulate a more dependable rate of

return than those in higher education. As a result, public disbursement of higher education was considered a luxury for most

developing countries. But the bank affirms that they do not intend to shift the focus from primary and secondary to higher education

but to achieve “the right mix” among the three levels.

He emphasized that unless bold actions are undertaken to train and retain ‘the best brains’, the ability to develop countries to go in for

global business will continue to be undermined by a more fierce and competitive educational system. One unfilled blank space

in Tarar’s research, in my opinion, was, that he did not give any way forward for quality education and steps that can be taken to train

the teachers professionally. There can be programs initiated on regional and state levels to train the teachers professionally to create a

less business-oriented education system and more academic-oriented education system.

Methodology:
This research was aimed to target the cause-and-effect relationship of a systematic problem. Both qualitative and quantitative data will

be collected in this research. Primary data will be collected with the help of different questionnaires, survey forms, and interviews

related to the research question. Secondary data will also be collected with the help of books, articles, news media, research journals,

and research reports. This approach of research is effective and suitable because, through primary research, direct and authentic data

can be easily collected. It provides more space to explore different dimensions of the problem, different perspectives of different

professionals working in the field related to the research question. It gives the research its flow, rhythm, authenticity, and its sub-

questions too. The existing literature provides background knowledge and a deeper understanding of the root causes of the systematic

problem. It provides the quantitative data that is very much needed to statistically study and prove certain hypotheses of this research

right or wrong. Qualitative data will also be collected to give a broader perspective to the reader through the literature review.

Surveys and questionnaires are usually done in the traditional way that is, they are distributed on the campus and the participants are

told to fill them. Other than that, they are created on google forms as well. So, in this research report, both ways can be applied. Every

approach and resource used will be beneficial and leaving out any approach will deprive the report of its forte. The theoretical

framework will be a postmodernist theory of education.

Research Sub questions:

2. Discuss in detail the evolution and development of the policies of education in Pakistan till date.

3. The local influential political interference is a stumbling block in the education system of Pakistan. How is education in

Pakistan being jeopardized by the local influential political parties?

4. Why is there lack of inclusivity and oneness in the educational system of Pakistan? Highlight the role of elites in this problem.

5. Why is the postmodernist theory of education a threatening thing for the conservative group of people of Pakistan?

6. Can postmodernist ideas of education be viable for Pakistani educational system?

7. Critically analyze the newest (2020) educational policy of Pakistan in which “The State shall provide free and

compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as may be determined by law".

Bibliography
Ashraf, D., Tajik, M. and Niyozov, S., 2017. Educational Policies in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan: Contested Terrain in the Twenty-first
Century. Lexington Books, 2017.
Afzal, M. (2015). (Rep.). US Institute of Peace.
Chaudhry, I. (2007). Gender Inequality in Education and Economic Growth: Case Study of Pakistan. Pakistan Horizon, 60(4), 81-91.
Khan, A., & Mahmood, N. (1997). Education in Pakistan: Fifty Years of Neglect [with Comments]. The Pakistan Development Review, 36(4), 647-667.
Kennedy, C. (1990). Islamization and Legal Reform in Pakistan, 1979-1989. Pacific Affairs, 63(1), 62-77. doi:10.2307/2759814
Nadeem Omar Tarar. (2006). Globalisation and Higher Education in Pakistan. Economic and Political Weekly, 41(49), 5080-5085.
Siddiqui, S., 2017. Education policies in Pakistan. Karachi.
Zaman, M. (1998). Sectarianism in Pakistan: The Radicalization of Shi'i and Sunni Identities. Modern Asian Studies, 32(3), 689-716.