The educational system of Pakistan has been a topic of debate in the country since independence. There are different points of views regarding what type of education system would be in the best interest of the country and yet there has been no consensus on this matter.
The educational system of Pakistan could be divided into three categories:
Cambridge Education System:
This education system involves a curriculum based on the UK standard of education. Only the rich and elite of the country could afford having their children acquire UK based education. A majority of children who have acquired Cambridge level education go to foreign countries for higher education. This creates a disparity between the rich and the poor as the employers prefer candidates of the Cambridge education system over others.
Pakistan Secondary Education System:
This type of education system is basically provided by the private and governmental schools. The schools for the middle class students is one in which half of the instructions are in English and the other half in Urdu. If these children are lucky to have parents who could afford the fees of recognized colleges then they are able to go to colleges of their preference, provided they have good grades previously. For children belonging to the lower class, have to study in a full Urdu medium school with little know how about English which is now considered to be a standard medium for education internationally. These people generally occupy the low standard and low paid jobs of clerks, salesmen, factory workers and etc.
Madressah Education System:
It deals with educating children about Islam. Children are basically educated with religious teachings and have no knowledge or education about worldly subjects.
There are various problems associated with these types of systems. The Cambridge Education System in not accepted by many because it promotes inequality in the society as only a smaller proportion of the country's children are able to acquire it because of it being expensive. The secondary education system in which there are private and government schools is criticized for not providing quality education as their teachers have lesser qualifications and are not able to equip the students with the knowledge required to compete in the job market. Urdu being used as a medium of education is not welcomed both because in times of globalization it is important to know the language which is most commonly understood in the world or the language which meets international requirements and English is not being taught in many of these schools.
What could be done is that the government should form a research team immediately which would try to find out which type of education system is in the larger interest of the country. Professionals from different fields including doctors, businessmen, engineers, lawyers etc. should be made part of this team so a consensus could be formed on the type of education system for the children of Pakistan. There is no doubt that the solution lies in a single education system for all children across the country provided that the quality of education being provided is of international standard.