Redefining education

Education appears to have assumed a larger place in our discourse on national issues and moved up on the priority list, judging by news stories concerning educational issues reported in the national press. According to a survey conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and released by the organisation Alif Ailaan in Pakistan, the average number of stories on education in 13 newspapers had grown from 29 per week before 2013 to 41 by the end of 2014. Seven English and six Urdu language newspapers were monitored.
To some degree, this drastic increase could be attributed, according to the researchers, to the coverage following the Peshawar school attack on December 16, 2014 and the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to education campaigner Malala Yousafzai. There was also a distinct difference between provinces in the kind of coverage given to education. While 33 percent of news stories covered national issues in the provinces, the focus in the Punjab was primarily on issues related to examinations and boards. It was telling that in Sindh a large number of stories zoned in on ghost schools, teaching standards and related issues. Unsurprisingly, the focus in both KP and Balochistan was on security related issues with the Peshawar attack and the closing of schools in Panjgur both forming the central point of most stories published in these provinces. As the researchers said, it is hard to say what impact the increase in coverage for education will have on its spread across the country. Linking media coverage to specific changes in policy or behaviour is not easy. However, it seems obvious that the greater coverage for education will have a positive impact in reminding us all that providing access to education could hold the key to our future. It is especially important for policymakers to realise this and adapt thinking and actions accordingly. The media could play a part in bringing about this change. Till now, social issues have traditionally been kept away from our newspapers. The alteration we see in this trend is then significant and could help bring about some of the outcomes we seek in the field of education.