Illiteracy In Pakistan Part 4

Poor follow –up of programmes (XII) Services of retired teachers and officials have not been mobilized for literacy work (XIII) In-service teachers do not such work seriously (XIV) Dependence on foreign aid (XV) Dependence upon foreign material (XVI) Lack of mother-tongue in he primary syllabus and frequent drop outs Effects of literacy are as under:-

Over-population (growth rate highest in the region)  Low-GDP  Poor Per Capita Income  Increased Unskilled labour.  Infant mortality and maternal mortality (highest in the region)  Malnutrition level of the children (highest in the region)  Political instability  Poor use of natural resources  Heavy foreign debts  Failure to achieve self reliance in it requirements defense and industrial goods  Child labour  Sub-standard livelihood  Poor International Image,  Low per acre agriculture yield  Halting industrial growth and less trade activities  Poor social set up Educational planning is a process of preparing a set of decisions about the educational enterprise in such a way that the goals the available resources. The major interests of Educational planning include:-

Preparation of alternative decisions (b) Goals and objectives setting (c) Programmes and Services operation d) Human Resources utilization (d) Physical Resources utilization (e) Finance provision (f) Governmental structure re-organization (g) The social context implementation Educational planner follows- .any of the approaches for planning. i.e. social demand approach, the manpower requirements. Approach, the rate of return approach and the synthetic (eclectic) approach.

The brief description of each of them is given below: (I) Social demand approach. is much. more based on the objectives formed by the society for the elucidation of the generation. It includes national- goals. tradition value system, community development activities, sequencing and integration of academic and action comportments.

Manpower approach, takes in. account the future requirements of the employers in the days. to come in the various disciplines of study. (iii) Rate of return approach is being stressed in the present era. It the educational, investment s no counter. Balanced through the product of the education system within ten years, then the system is said. to be deficient in terms ‘of regency of knowledge and ‘salable skills. (iv) Synthetic, approach to make the system really a system really a system of higher return, stale knowledge is to be discarded. The most recent and possible emerging trends in future along side keep the knowledge ,fresh. All . the time continuing education is planned. Rather than to be unidimensional, the system embracing multidimensions evolves in the name of eclectic approach.. This would be a rational approach. Following are the-steps which may be taken in reforming and over-hauling this system:- (i) Uniform education policy, throughout the country, should be maintained. Formation of this policy may be the first step taken by the authorities concerned in this respect. (ii) Motive should be quite Clear to us arid this Would obviously, enhance the ideology of Pakistan.

Ability and merit must be declared corner stone of our national life. (iv) Financial attention should be same and alike for all. (v) The criteria of admission , in all educational institutions, should only be the merit. (vi) Special attention should be given towards vocational and technical side, (vii)Free education uptil secondary level must be guaranteed. (viii) Number of scholarships should considerably be increased.

(it) Financial organization along with banks should lend a helping hand to the promotion of scientific and technological aspects of education. The. present educational system has failed completely. we need a progressive system of education, system which could capitalize on the strength of, Pakistan’s business environment and the available human and financial resources. A system which must be sustainable through the process of growth and development that our country may experience; a system by which our young generation could prepare itself to face, fight and win the struggles of life and increase the chances of success; a system that could produce well rounded and well-groomed personalities, a system that keeps up with the changing’ needs of the time and a system that is efficient, of high standard and responsive to the individual’s needs.) The present education system prepares the students for career in medicine and engineering by equipping them, through F. SC (Medical) and F’ SC. (Engineering) for specialized professional education in medical and engineering colleges.

But the intermediate stage fails to prepare the rest of the students for other careers, forgetting that not all can Or want to get into medical or engineering colleges and that there are half-way-houses to the top of each profession, tailored to the requirements of those ‘who for. domestic financial or intellectual reasons need a job immediately.

(xii)School education into two rival systems, one imparting instruction in Urdu as in state institutions and the other in English as in private English medium schools is worse and it splits the nation horizontally V into “haves and have-nots’’ ‘’elitists’’ and the ‘’pedestrians’’ but there should have been freedom of choice as between English and Urdu in schools, At the primary schools stage, the students could .receive instruction in their mother tongue i.e. Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Blochi ,Saraiki or Brohi etc along with Urdu. In the secondary school, they could learn Urdu and English, receiving instruction in both and writing their answer in either.

Education holds the key to removal of social, economic and political backwardness of people . The problem undoubtedly bristies with difficulties the government facing overwhelming odds. Literacy is the especially rapant in rural areas and among the country female population . The is need for sound planning an adequate infrastructure and huge financial resources.

A crusade needs to be lunched to tackle the problem which has become intractable with the passage of time.