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Posts Tagged ‘Education’

Women constitute an important segment of the society and shapes the entire            future of the humanity and nation. It has been rightly said that behind every successful man there is a woman. This clearly indicates that women as an integral part of our society have a vital role not only for rearing and bearing the children, but also for the personality development of our future generation and development of the Nation as whole.1 Role and status of a woman by any standard  is related to various variable factors which among others include the upbringing of the women, personality development, education of the women, family environment, social outlook, surrounding circumstances, political scenario, religious commands and their interpretation. Nevertheless, the biological and social status of a women along with her distinct roles as a mother or sister or daughter on one hand and wife or mother-in-law, sister-in-law or daughter-in-law on the other hand can not be ignored.

Women with good health and positive leadership qualities are very important in every family and society. Role of women in the traditional societies no doubt was confined to the household management based on the traditional values, attitudes and customs, but the family culture in the context of which early socialization takes place is very important factor which later on encourages or discourages her participation in the socio-economic activities of the family and subsequently in the organizational, social and political matters of the society.

Women almost in every social set-up plays an important role in the economic welfare of the family. She as a mother cares, bothers, loves, showers affection and takes all the pains for the entire family and thereby plays an important role not only as a home maker, home manager but also in maintaining social ties with the relations, friends and neighbours.

After more than a half century of independence, nearly half of Pakistan’s population is still illiterate. According toHathaway (2005), Pakistan’s education system is regularly cited as one of the most serious impediments preventing the country from achieving its potential.

Poorly produced and inadequately implemented educational policies and plans have been major hurdles in the development of the education sector in Pakistan. Throughout our history, new policies and plans have often been prepared without giving due consideration to the causes of failure of previous policies and plans.

In order to address these problems, there is a need for the formulation of rational policies and plans as well as an adequate system for their implementation. The objective of this paper is to scrutinize the problems being faced by the education sector in Pakistan. It also seeks to highlight the reasons for the failure of the national education policy.

Background of Pakistan’s Education System

According to several international assessments, Pakistan is far from achieving the goal of Education for All (henceforth, EFA). The EFA was set to be attained by all developing countries under the Dakar Framework decided at a meeting held in Senegal in 2000. UNESCO attributes Pakistan’s placement at a lower EFA development Index (EDI) category to low primary school participation, adult illiteracy, gender disparities, inequalities in education and poor quality of education. The adult literacy rate in Pakistan is under 50 percent, while less than one-third of adult women have a functional reading ability. Pakistan is unlikely to achieve the adult literacy target by 2015. Progress is slow, while gender parity goal is at risk of not being achieved in 2015. Moreover, more than 6 million children are out of school. (UNESCO 2007)

Education papers are written to discuss suitable topics in education. Education papers can take the form of an education essay, education term paper, education research paper or education thesis and dissertation. An essay on education is usually a brief composition that discusses an education topic and is usually written in the author’s point of view. This type of education papers follows a simple writing structure that includes an introduction, main body, conclusion and a list of reference.

Education term papers are education papers that are written over a period of one academic term. They follow complex structures and are more detailed than the education essay. Writing education research papers requires a student to use books, journals, news paper articles, internet and other research materials and use them to come up with a comprehensive analysis of a given issue or topic. On the other hand education thesis and education dissertation are education papers written in support of a student candidature for a degree. Writing education papers require a student to present relevant information and support his ideas or claims with substantial evidence.

Therefore excellent researching skills are necessary when writing education paper to enable you gather adequate information to support an argument. Best education papers should also present ideas in an organized manner and thus possession of excellent organizational skills is also a necessity in writing. Like any other academic documents, education papers can not be complete without proper citing and referencing of materials. The style of referencing may differ from one institution to another and from one field of study to the next. Conversance in the style of writing recommended for your education papers is therefore another critical requirement for you to write good education papers.

Standards refer to the systems and procedures developed by professional development practitioners to enhance the effectiveness of the system (CICA, 2007). Professional standards describe the important skills, knowledge, and attitudes that the professional is expected to demonstrate. Standards constitute the ‘critical knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to perform a specific role effectively’. They explain the primary components of performance rather than providing a comprehensive list of responsibilities. Furthermore, they serve to specify as to what performance or behaviours an institution is particularly looking for. The extent to which professional standards have been met can be assessed via performance indicators set by the authorities (MOE, 2009).  They describe what teachers need to know and do to provide relevant and valuable learning experiences for learners and groups of individuals.

Standards are not only useful for the teachers in their profession but also for other relevant practitioners to enhance the credibility of the system (Khan 2004).

Mostly it is observed that teachers have invariably lagged behind in developing core competencies and knowledge, fundamental to their profession. These core competencies and knowledge are the pillars on which subsequent knowledge and skills are built upon. (UNESCO & USAID 2005). Though we are spending a lot of amount on teacher education system, according to a study conducted by the Academy of Educational Development (AED).Producing low-grade trained teachers at such a high cost should be a matter of concern. The National Education Census data and a number of studies indicate that professional preparation of teachers in Pakistan is neither standardized nor based on acceptable professional standards (Butt, 2008). We have introduced many new concepts but have failed to achieve the desired outcomes due to non-implementation of proper professional standards (AED 2006).007

Quality assurance requires professional development standards of teacher education and an effective mechanism and procedure of accreditation of teacher education programs and institutions. Various countries have developed standards according to their teacher education needs.

Western history of teacher training, education history, teaching theories, education of teachers, modern history od education, began in early 18th century Germany: teaching seminaries educating teachers were the first formal teacher training in Western history of education and teaching.

(History of education had 2nd century-BC Greek Spartan free public education, Athenian Academy until age 18 and higher Academy and Lyceum; Roman private formal schooling in tiers; China’s 1st century-BC administrator examinations; 1st century Jewish informal Cul’ Tura general education; Islam’s 9th century universities [madrasahs]; 16th century Aztec mandatory teen education; 18th century Russian nation-wide education, Poland’s Education Ministry, Chez ‘teacher of nations’ Comenius’s ‘Didactica Magna’ on universal education [compulsory, certified teachers, tests]; leading later Western history of education –17th century Scotland’s free education, 18th’s Norway’s mandatory literacy and  New Zealand’s standard education, 21st’s Europe’s Bologna process equalising educational qualifications.)

Teacher education and training, first teacher training college in French  history of education and history of teaching, Jean Babtiste de la Salle’s 18th century Brothers of the Christian schools, had non-clerical male teachers teaching poor and middle class children. Based on Greek philosophers’ philosophy of education and teaching, re-introduced by Islam, spirituality was not its only reason, basis of education. Teacher education and training had been clerical –this was Western history of education’s first secular teacher training college.