True path of success is education

Government has a big role in providing its citizens proper education. Pakistan has undergone a number of changes since 1980s. Recent policy changes is slowly shaping the nation, making it look more and more like Western nations that embrace "Americanization." Pakistan is rapidly losing its  social democratic status. Unfortunately, the so-called economic restructuring that is currently taking place is having adverse effects on the Pakistani school system and its students also. By analyzing the changes made to Pakistan's education system we can track neoliberalism's level of growth in the country. Privatization of education means transferring taxpayers' money designated for public education to luxuries of the Government, corporations, and/or individuals instead of to public schools, colleges, and universities. For the poor and middle class people, to have access in proper education, government's educational free facilities are most vital; should be available 

The state of the Pakistani educational system began to change and ultimately crumble after the 1980s. So called reforms have dramatically changed Pakistan's educational system, both from an economic and pedagogical perspective. There are clear signs that an affordable quality education in Pakistan is under threat. Pakistan's education system has fallen victim to neo-liberal globalization. Neo-liberalism has regarded the educational institutes more as a commodity exchange and commercial body than as a sacrosanct academic institution or means of social and national integration.

Educational system is today being formulated only to meet the demands of government to meet neo-liberal agenda. Political leaders have been able to get away with these changes. The quality of education is going down, students are feeling the pressure to get the grades and teachers are left to deal with the ambiguity and the uncertainty of how to achieve the objectives and standards set by the state. This has had negative consequences on the educational system in Pakistan, which are impacting students, teachers and communities. Our educationists and the Government have done nothing to upgrade the quality of Pakistan's education system.

Every educational process should be able to assist students to develop their latent potential. Any educational process that does not fulfill this objective is useless. When the mind is developed, it is able to identify and solve problems for humanity and, consequently, be compensated with reward. Money is merely the reward for solving problems. Any graduate who cannot solve problems in the society lacks the capacity for wealth creation. This is a fact most graduates are ignorant of.

Education will assist graduates to become happy and fulfilled in life if it is structured to facilitate the optimum development of their minds. If this is done, education will equip graduates with the requisite skills to survive the economic battles and challenges of real life. It is very painful to remark that education has remained unable to serve practical purpose because most of the things the school system teach students are things they do not need to survive in the real life. In other words, most students spend years in school learning things that will not be useful to them when school days are over. The crux of this deficiency in the educational system is that the people who are most concerned in the educational sector are ignorant of its existence.

One of the sectors which fosters national development is education by ensuring the development of a functional human resource. The institution of strong educational structures leads to a society populated by enlightened people, who can cause positive economic progress and social transformation. A Positive social transformation and its associated economic growth are achieved as the people apply the skills they learned while they were in school. The acquisition of these skills is facilitated by one individual we all 'teacher'. For this reason, nations seeking economic and social developments need not ignore teachers and their role in national development

Bitter truth is our corrupt political elite don't want common people getting world-class education. PPP Government is out to systematically wipe out the HEC's achievements and destroy it in absolute terms. The poor are more marginalized after education is commercialized. Our children want education but they fail to cope in universities because everything is out of reach for middle and lower middle class students. Pakistan needs highly educated people to deal with the growing political dynamics that prevail - we should not be looking at the possibilities of outsourcing decision-making to external forces simply because we do not have people educated enough to strategize Pakistan's policies. To achieve this goal there must be affordable higher education in place. The government should also direct its efforts towards villages. It should open more schools and employ more teachers.

Opening of schools does not mean erecting costly buildings and employing an army of unwilling teachers who are not fit to do what they are required to do, as had been the case during last five years. Only merit based dedicated staff can make the dream of education for all a reality. The government should provide scholarships to brilliant students. The Government should be committed to placing a good education within reach of all who are willing to work for it helps build a strong Pakistani middle class. Equal opportunities of development to all the children during the period of growth should be the aim of the Government. Healthy and educated citizens are the driving force of a nation's productivity; the government should invest on this for the people to achieve their optimum well-being. We believe the government has an obligation to ensure that ample funding is made available to education sector. By investing in education, the government will be investing in its own success story of human resource development.