The business of education-II
(This is the SECOND and concluding article on this subject)
The basis of education is that it should profit the individual and in extension, society as we know it, i.e the nation. In essence, by spending billions of rupees for the purpose of education, the nation expects to get a fair return in the form of contribution that an individual can make towards the nation eventually in any of the many diverse fields. It becomes important, therefore, to make education cost-effective, with pragmatic syllabi oriented towards national gain and an education organisation so crafted that national objectives are attained. Great care must be taken to ensure that only essential knowledge is given priority in the syllabi and though mostly it will be theoretical detailed knowledge in the first few years of the educational life of our average student, attention has to be given to subjects that will be of assistance in the practical aspects that an individual is likely to encounter as he or she takes his or her place in society. While we should draw material from the existing syllabi, one should not become strait-jacketed by existing practice.Considering the theoretical frontiers that we try and attain, we lag behind western standards and due to the advent of computers, this gap is widening to an extent that it will ultimately become an unbridgeable chasm, leaving us relatively speaking as good as in the Stone Age.
We must resolve a number of variables, the most important premise being the planning of the syllabi and the principle that while teaching must remain in the hands of educationists, administration is a separate discipline and we must create a particular cadre that will professionally look after this aspect. It is necessary not to segregate the two, on the other hand the closest possible coordination is necessary to ensure that each complements the other. This process must necessary support education without draining expertise away from the actual imparting of knowledge. We have studiedly ignored this aspect in the planning of our educational policies, to great detriment to the national product evaluated negatively in the results achieved.
The first task is to bring education upto par with western standards, at the same time striving to close the widening gap in real life between us and a developed society. Nations cannot exist on emergency programmes throughout their existence and, therefore, one can only plan on one single school/college life span i.e 10-12 years to implement any extraordinary measures to catch up with the rest of the world. Luckily, advances in technology can act as a force-multiplier to this process, telescoping man-hours required i.e. if imaginative use of computers, etc are made in educational institutions. Great care has to be taken when drawing up the syllabus to leave out the non-essentials. One suggestion could be that for each school/college and/or technical discipline there are three committees in each of the provinces to draw up the subjects at each level. These committees then meet together to draw up a common syllabus at each level, i.e. kindergarten, middle school, high school, etc. The committees in each province then must reconcile their differences among themselves and proceed to elect a Provincial Committee from their own midst to represent re-conciliation on a national basis. An agreed text of the syllabus is thus formulated at each level which then becomes a coherent basis for text books in each subject. Plenty of work, but it has to be done and fast, at this time there is quite a lot of confusion. By this method one involves the teaching brains of the whole nation in arriving at an accepted syllabus; an educated solution to the process of democracy. Consideration must also be given to Special Committees to integrate special pragmatic aspects necessary for different disciplines, such as for the Military, Engineering, Medical, Computers, etc.
There is no denying the fact that we must emphasize the learning of our national language, Urdu, but at the same time we cannot consign our children to darkness in this scientific age for lack of communication. English has to function as the language of education, otherwise gradually we are being consigned into a Black Hole in contrast to understanding the tremendous progress being made internationally. We must make our reasoning cold-bloodedly in the harsh light of reality and not on the basis of emotions, as it is we shall have our work cut out for us playing “catch up”. English also happens to be the international language for computers as well as for commerce and industry. Emphasis on the learning of Urdu has to made throughout the student life of a citizen but it has to be recognized as a limiting factor and we cannot afford to go into self-imposed exile in the field of knowledge, we must keep our horizon broad and limitless. By the same token, we have to instil religious teaching to our children which must go on through and continue into adult life. Great pressure is already being put on our children by having to learn three languages in their school lives and maybe a fourth, which may be the provincial lingua-franca. There is no circumventing the issues, however, and the fact of English language has to be faced with mature thought. It is a fact of life and the sooner we learn to live with it, the better for our future.
The organisation of education must concern us at the Federal and Provincial levels. Our suggestion is to have a Federal Board of Education Management under the Federal Ministry of Education to handle all schools, colleges and universities in the Federal territory of Islamabad and such territories as are Federally administered. These should be Provincial Boards of Education Management in the same manner under the Provincial Ministries of Education, functioning as Corporate Authorities for subsidiaries in each major city and/or district. Whether the educational institutions are managed by these Corporate entities directly, leased out to private parties or owned outright by private sources, a mechanism for control or monitoring as the case may be has to be devised that encourages free enterprise while stamping out malfeasance (such as arbitrary raising of fees and collection of funds for various purposes). New schools and colleges should only be constructed in less developed and rural areas, we must actively work for a second shift to double the present capacity of our existing educational structures. As suggested in the previous article, imaginative planning can ensure that the poor get the same quality of education as the rich at little or no cost.
It is extremely necessary to have a National Service Bill for all children who finish high school. All the children who do National Service whether it be in the Defence Services, Medical Profession, Engineering Profession, etc must get a National Credit Voucher which allows them (1) free education in colleges and universities and (2) gives them bonus points to their high school marks for entrance into colleges and universities. In this manner National Service will become an incentive for all our youth, whether rich or poor, providing for a natural basis for national integration. Those who so desire can go into the Military Academies and/or to the Medical and/or Engineering Colleges, etc depending upon the aptitude displayed. National Service is a great equalizer and for a country like ours where Islam emphasizes Musawat (Equality) above all, it has to be inculcated as a part of our education system forthwith. For those who consider that the brightest student may be wasted in such a system we can evolve a method for them to do their National Service as Interns in Schools or to go forth without National Service into colleges/universities if they obtain Outstanding Grades. Seats in colleges and universities may be reserved on a basis of 20% on merit and 80% for those who have done National Services and based on their Credit Vouchers qualify for admission.
If one were to take the city of Karachi as an example, we could conceivably have a Karachi Board of Education Management having four subsidiaries, divided on district basis. Each district unit e.g. South Karachi Board of Education Management, (SKBEM) would have a Chairman who must be a retired elder citizen with excellent reputation and no known political activism. Very much like PIA, he can have his Governing Board and then a Managing Body, the Management Board will be headed by a full-time professional educationist as Managing Director and so on. All schools, colleges, universities (whether private or government run) in the area then would come directly under the purview of the Board of Directors which also must have at least three retired elder citizens with requisite background and also members of the elected local bodies. The Board of Directors would monitor the working of private educational institutions in the area as well as either leasing out government owned structures or running it themselves through unit administrations, each having elder retired citizens as Trustees and functioning as Corporate entities. Similarly Boards of Technical Education Management must function to look after all such institutions in each area, constituted as per the requirement. The Boards of Education Management would cater for integration of National Service beneficiaries into colleges and/or universities and also coordinate employment for Community Education Service (CES) volunteers and Interns.
Corporate working must be brought into education very much like it is functioning in industry and commerce. Free enterprise has to be encouraged, otherwise we are limiting our objectives in education. If we can have Cooperatives in agriculture why not have Cooperatives in education, particularly in rural and less-developed areas? A lively national debate on education is necessary, the aforementioned is no syndicate solution but at best simply an imperfect food for thought. It is no use pumping in billions of rupees without due care and imaginative thought into the process. Education ensures responsible citizenry, that fulfils the objectives for nationhood. There can be no politics in education and anyone who encourages student unions to affiliate itself with political parties is doing so for short-term political gain, the acquisition and maintenance of power, but is doing a great disservice to the future of this country. When young minds have acquired knowledge and become mature to an extent let them make a reasonable choice of their political preferences. Ms Benazir Bhutto has the backing of the masses and the power to translate concepts into objective reality. By keeping politics out of education while giving education imaginative free rein she will be building the edifice of democracy with concrete foundations. Sometimes it is necessary to rise above self, for the sake of our children education is as good a place to start as any.
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