PAKISTAN’S contribution to rising poverty across the Middle East, North Africa and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region is troubling. According to the World Bank, the country accounts for nearly half of the region’s people living in extreme poverty. Ours is a story of repeated hardship. Millions of Pakistanis have endured
In my classroom, I encounter students who are more concerned with securing marks than acquiring knowledge. Some have learned to memorise answers, while others believe grades could be secured through influence or money. Parents, too, often measure educational success by examination scores and admission to prestigious university programmes.
PAKISTAN’S students do not need voluminous textbooks especially in the early stages; they need better learning. The Punjab government’s decision to revise the curriculum from pre-primary to Grade 5, reduce textbook volume by 25pc, and shift students away from rote learning is therefore a welcome step. The current
It is no secret that human life barely holds any value in Karachi, given the fact that every other day brings news of a murder or a death. It is, however, unconscionable even for Karachi that a school becomes a spot that could possibly endanger children’s lives –
IN mainstream schools in Pakistan, challenges abound. From resource constraints to technological barriers, from limited professional development opportunities to high teacher turnover, the teaching and learning landscape has been contending with several issues. Perhaps the most urgent concern is the large classes that preclude getting to know students
A child’s journey to school should never be a gamble. Yet in Pakistan, thousands of students travel every day in overcrowded vans, ageing Suzuki vehicles and rickshaws that are often poorly maintained and sometimes fitted with dangerously installed LPG cylinders. That this has been allowed to become routine
Pakistan’s education crisis is not simply a crisis of outdated textbooks. It is a crisis of an outdated educational philosophy. While the world is moving towards AI, automation and knowledge-based industries, too many of our classrooms remain organised around memorisation, rote learning and examination scores. We have modernised
THE floods are visiting us again. The death toll will be counted within days. The damage to roads, bridges and embankments will be tallied within weeks and translated into a dollar figure. Expect this assessment to dominate the coverage. It is legitimate but a wrong ledger regardless. The
All those who used to attend school before 2020 can relate to many things. Covid-19 was a major disruptor that entirely changed the routine and productivity of human life. When I was doing my matriculation in a government school, we used to attend a daily strict exercise and
When summer vacations begin, Sobia Nisar tries to let her six-year-old daughter enjoy the first few weeks without too much structure. There are visits to cousins, occasional trips to the park, time at home, and an effort to keep screen time as low as possible. But keeping a
Education, deemed as the most significant marker for progress in any nation, is kept at an unbelievably low rung of Pakistan’s priority ladder. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the country has a literacy rate of only 62.3%, and around 26.2 million out-of-school children aged 5-16. Late-stage
Pakistan is a signatory to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030. Unfortunately, the country remains far from achieving this target. According to media reports, the national literacy rate has reached 63%, with male literacy at