Education in Pakistan

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Education in Pakistan starts from around age 5. The first 5 years of school are referred to as Primary. Thereafter, the next 3 are referred to as Middle and the next 2 as High School.

At the completion of High School or 10 years of schooling, students are required to sit for board examinations referred to as Secondary School Certificate examinations or more commonly as 'Matric'. These are administered by area boards. Those that receive passing marks (normally 33%) on this examination are awarded a Secondary School Certificate or SSC.

Students may then enter a college to complete two more years of schooling after which they sit for the Higher Secondary School Certificate or more commonly called 'Intermediate' exams. There is a wide choice of subjects that students can choose from during their 'intermediate' college years many of which are technical subjects. Students normally read about 5 subjects in a chosen stream such as pre-medical, pre-dental, science, humanities, pre-engineering etc. and then sit for the Higher Secondary School Certificate exam in those subjects which are also administered by area boards. Those that receive passing marks (normally 33%) of all subjects cummulative are awarded a Higher Secondary School Certificate or HSSC.

Students can than proceed to a College or University for Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Science (BSc) or Commerce/Business Administration (BComm/BBA) degree courses. There are two types of Bachelor courses in Pakistan namely Pass or Honours. Pass constitutes two years of study and students normally read three subjects (such as Chemistry, Mathematics, English) whereas Honours are three or four years and students normally specialize in a chosen field of study such as Biochemistry (BSc Hons. Biochemistry). It is important to note that Pass Bachelors is now slowly being phased out for Honours throughout the country. Students may also after earning their HSSC may study for professional Bachelor degree courses such as engineering (B Engg), medicine (MBBS), vetrinary medicine(DVM) law (LLB), agriculture (B Agri), architecture (B Arch), nursing (B Nurs) etc. which are of four or five years duration depending on the degree.

The quality of education is generally very poor throughout Pakistan with nepotism, corruption and poorly trained/paid teachers constituting major problems. However government has taken many steps for improvement and gradually the standards are improving. Teacher training and PhD sponsorships are bieng offered by the government.

Some Masters Degrees also consist of 1.5 years. Then there are PhD Education as well in selected areas. One has to choose specific field and the suitable university doing research work in that field. PhD in Pakistan consists of minimum 3-5 years.

One notable aspect of education in Pakistan is the system of Madrassahs. Madrassahs, Islamic schools which operate out of the control of the state, generally have a two course system. The first course, the hifz, focuses on the memorization of the Qur'an, while the second course, the alim, which focuses on training potential candidates for scholars and imams. A regular curriculum also usually includes courses in Arabic, Qur'anic interpretation, Islamic law, Hadith, logic, and Islamic history. Many Madrassahs also have expanded their educational system to include the sciences, Arabic literature, foreign languages, and world history. Madrassahs are particularly prevalent in the mountainous north west, where the government is less established, exist throughout Pakistan. Demographically, they generally draw attendance from the poor, who generally hold more traditionalist views of Islam, and who might lack the opportunities to partake in the state run system.

Despite their prominence in the media, little is known about just how much influence madrassahs have in Pakistan. The Pakistani government has released censuses which suggest that in 1998, only about 150,000 students actually attended madrassahs. These figures are open to criticism, though, with the governments presence weakest where madrassah attendance is strongest, and the possibility that the statistic were distorted to cover up short falls in the state educational system always remaining plausible. None the less, few have suggested that attendance exceeds 1.5 million students, a definite minority of all Pakistani children. However, with many world newspapers like "The independent" noting that many of the first responders to the earth quakes of the fall of 2005 were attendants of traditionalist madrassahs, it may be that students at these madarsahs are normally taught selflessness and they learn means to resolve the problems of society.

In the late Eighties, Pakistani economists successfully developed the theory of Human Development Index in line with Islamic principles of a just society.

Pakistani universities churn out almost 1.2 million skilled graduates annually. The government has announced a $1 billion spending plan over the next decade to build 6 state-of-the-art science and engineering universities. The scheme would be overseen by the Higher Education Commission. [1]

Over 1,081 patent applications were filed by non-resident Pakistanis in 2004 revealing a new found confidence.[2]

1 See also
2 Further reading
3 External links
4 Educational Resources

[edit] See also

Pakistani propaganda

[edit] Further reading

K.K. Aziz. (2004) The Murder of History : A Critique of History Textbooks used in Pakistan. Vanguard. ISBN 969-402-126-X
Nayyar, A.H. & Salim, Ahmad. (2003) The Subtle Subversion: The State of Curricula and Text-books in Pakistan - Urdu, English, Social Studies and Civics. Sustainable Development Policy Institute.
Pervez Hoodbhoy and A. H. Nayyar. Rewriting the history of Pakistan, in Islam, Politics and the state: The Pakistan Experience, Ed. Mohammad Asghar Khan, Zed Books, London, 1985.
Mubarak Ali. In the Shadow of history, Nigarshat, Lahore; History on Trial, Fiction House, Lahore, 1999; Tareekh Aur Nisabi Kutub, Fiction House, Lahore, 2003.
Rubina Saigol. Knowledge and Identity - Articulation of Gender in Educational Discourse in Pakistan, ASR, Lahore 1995
Tariq Rahman, Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Study of Education, Inequality and Polarization in Pakistan Karachi, Oxford University Press, 2004. Reprint. 2006.
Tariq Rahman, Language, Ideology and Power: Language learning among the Muslims of Pakistan and North India Karachi, Oxford UP, 2002.
Tariq Rahman, Language and Politics in Pakistan Karachi: Oxford UP, 1996. Rept. several times. see 2006 edition.