Death Rattle
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Pakistans woeful education.
October 26, 2012 12:04 pm by Farhan Bokhari
The plight of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for publicly demanding the right of women to be educated, has shone a global spotlight on the failings in the countrys social development.
As As Yousafzai, just 14, struggles to recover from her head injury in a UK hospital, Pakistanis are asking why successive governments have failed to ensure not only adequate female education, but education for poor children in general.
In the past decade, Pakistans population has jumped about 35 per cent to approximately 190m. But according to official figures, government spending on education has remained static at roughly 2 per cent of gross national product. This contrasts with economic performance for the decade to 2011, when Pakistans GDP grew at nearly 5 per cent a year on average.
Anecdotal evidence is alarming. For example, there is no credible system in place across government-run schools to ensure that teachers regularly turn up for work. The term ghost schools is frequently used to describe government-run schools in parts of Pakistan. They are often built with elaborate funding including western aid money, but stand practically unused because the teachers seldom turn up.
Surprise visits by our aid staff have found many examples of schools which should have been empowered through money we spent on aid programmes. But there are no results on the ground, one western aid official lamented to beyondbrics.
Its hardly surprising that privately-owned schools such as the one where Yousafzai was studying have mushroomed across Pakistan while government provided ones are clearly failing.
The aid official said: Some of us assume that in some of Pakistans larger cities, half the school going children now go to private schools, up from just a third in the mid 1990s. But the statistics are not certain.
Given the dismal levels of schooling, there is a general sense of disbelief at a government claim that the overall literacy rate stands at about 58 per cent of the population, up from 50.5 per cent in 2002. According to government statistics, the gains in womens literacy are especially striking, rising from 40 per cent in 2004 to 46 per cent in 2011. This contrasts with male literacy, rising from 65 per cent in 2004 to 69 per cent in 2011.
If literacy was as high as the government claims, that should have shown itself across the cities, where literacy should have been higher than in remote villages, says the official. It is often a nightmare to find a half-educated driver or a barely-educated cook. Pakistan doesnt have a feel of having as many literate people as the government claims.
With poor education, sustaining periods of economic recovery remains an uphill battle. Experience of countries across east Asia has amply demonstrated a close link between educational progress and economic success. And economic success usually leads to rapid improvements in the lives of women.
It would take years of consistent effort to create the kind of country that would allow Malala Yousafzai and other girls of her generation to fulfil their potential. China has shown it can be done even in a large and impoverished country. India is making progress. What about Pakistan?
Pakistan’s woeful education | beyondbrics
October 26, 2012 12:04 pm by Farhan Bokhari
The plight of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for publicly demanding the right of women to be educated, has shone a global spotlight on the failings in the countrys social development.
As As Yousafzai, just 14, struggles to recover from her head injury in a UK hospital, Pakistanis are asking why successive governments have failed to ensure not only adequate female education, but education for poor children in general.
In the past decade, Pakistans population has jumped about 35 per cent to approximately 190m. But according to official figures, government spending on education has remained static at roughly 2 per cent of gross national product. This contrasts with economic performance for the decade to 2011, when Pakistans GDP grew at nearly 5 per cent a year on average.
Anecdotal evidence is alarming. For example, there is no credible system in place across government-run schools to ensure that teachers regularly turn up for work. The term ghost schools is frequently used to describe government-run schools in parts of Pakistan. They are often built with elaborate funding including western aid money, but stand practically unused because the teachers seldom turn up.
Surprise visits by our aid staff have found many examples of schools which should have been empowered through money we spent on aid programmes. But there are no results on the ground, one western aid official lamented to beyondbrics.
Its hardly surprising that privately-owned schools such as the one where Yousafzai was studying have mushroomed across Pakistan while government provided ones are clearly failing.
The aid official said: Some of us assume that in some of Pakistans larger cities, half the school going children now go to private schools, up from just a third in the mid 1990s. But the statistics are not certain.
Given the dismal levels of schooling, there is a general sense of disbelief at a government claim that the overall literacy rate stands at about 58 per cent of the population, up from 50.5 per cent in 2002. According to government statistics, the gains in womens literacy are especially striking, rising from 40 per cent in 2004 to 46 per cent in 2011. This contrasts with male literacy, rising from 65 per cent in 2004 to 69 per cent in 2011.
If literacy was as high as the government claims, that should have shown itself across the cities, where literacy should have been higher than in remote villages, says the official. It is often a nightmare to find a half-educated driver or a barely-educated cook. Pakistan doesnt have a feel of having as many literate people as the government claims.
With poor education, sustaining periods of economic recovery remains an uphill battle. Experience of countries across east Asia has amply demonstrated a close link between educational progress and economic success. And economic success usually leads to rapid improvements in the lives of women.
It would take years of consistent effort to create the kind of country that would allow Malala Yousafzai and other girls of her generation to fulfil their potential. China has shown it can be done even in a large and impoverished country. India is making progress. What about Pakistan?
Pakistan’s woeful education | beyondbrics
