Need to reform education system

Common people discuss on various occasions current system of education -- its cost and quality. They argue no economic planning, social progress, or spiritual enlightenment can make headway without sound, solid and realistic base of good education.
“A fresh vigorous endeavour is needed to reform the educational system to meet our national interests and realities of the 21st century in the backdrop of internal and external challenges to the security, integrity and defence of the country,” senior citizens plainly say.
They emphasise that the emphasis should be on quality of education so that products of our schools and colleges and universities are comparable with those similarly educated in other countries. Improvement in the quality of courses of studies and teachers is imperative to achieve this purpose. Fee hike every now and then is not a good practice, schoolchildren’s parents protest.
One has to agree that our homeland in the present scenario needs men of great integrity, patriotism and dedication to the ideals of service -- such as peace, progress, prosperity and defence.
Sometime ago, a commission on national education rightly pointed out that economic development would require a generally literate population able to understand and apply the new discoveries of science and improved technical and agricultural practices. Moreover, proper functioning of any democratic system should be based upon a citizenry which keeps itself informed on local and national issues and choose wisely from among alternative candidates and courses of action.
Teachers say primary education has to go much further than the achievement of functional literacy as one of its principal aims. If it is to fulfil its proper function it must be concerned with all the aspects of the child’s personality -- moral, physical and spiritual.
Spiritual means education in accordance with the individual’s abilities and aptitudes must provide him/her with the basic knowledge and skills he/she will require as an individual and as a citizen; inculcate desirable attitudes, including habits of industry, personal integrity and curiosity; develop a sense of citizenship and civic responsibility; and awaken in him/her a liking of physical activity and an awareness of the importance of physical well-being from the country’s defence point of view.
A sound progressive programme for the primary and secondary schools will help devise syllabi which should become corner-stones of our entire education system compatible with the requirements of today.
Retired college and university professors, when provoked, say the quality of education, in general, has declined. Middle and lower-middle parents find it hard to bear heavy expenses of their children’s education.
How much sincere we’ve been to the advice of the father of the nation can be judged in the light of his message to the national education conference soon after the achievement of Pakistan.
He said the future would depend upon the type of education to children and the way they’re brought up as future citizens of the country.
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