Primary importance

While unveiling his party manifesto for the next round of general elections, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq stated that if he came to power, he would appoint PhD graduates as teachers in primary schools. This is a highly impracticable statement considering the priority given to primary education and the JI’s approach to primary education in particular. Primary education has never been given its due importance in Pakistan. The budgetary spending on primary education is very low compared to secondary and tertiary education. As a result, the quality of education is also low and the drop-ratio is quite high.

Despite being in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for almost seven and half years, the JI has only concentrated on trivial issues, such as students’ uniforms and the contents of their textbooks. The provincial government needs to focus on improving the quality of primary education and eliminating the differences in education standards between private and public schools. Moreover, primary school teachers should be adequately trained not only in their particular field but also in child psychology. If our roots in primary education become strong, we will have little to worry about in the secondary and tertiary education sectors.

M Sayyad Alam Khan

Peshawar