Education is becoming one of the defining enterprises of the 21st century with the emergence of globalisation and increasing global competition. Aslam describes that in the fast changing and competitive world, education and technology are the master keys for respectable survival and progress of Pakistan. Pakistan is determined to respond positively to emerging needs, opportunities and challenges of globalisation. Education is being considered a key to change and progress. Progress and prosperity of the country depends on the kind of education that is provided to the people. This study was designed to explain and highlight the standards of education at secondary level in Karachi. JavaScript evaluated that academic standards describe what students should know and be able to do in the core academic subjects at each grade level. Content standards describe basic agreement about the body of education knowledge that all students should know. Performance standards describe what level of performance is good enough for students to be described as advanced, proficient, below basic, or by some other performance level.
Educational standards of Pakistan have been a burning issue among the educationalists since independence. Although every government tried its best to raise the standard of education but their efforts were mainly limited to preparing only educational policies in papers. We could not find practical implementation of their recommendations regarding standard of education in Pakistan. In the more vast sense a standard is anything used to measure, for example, a standard of conduct, a standard of weight or length. Actually a standard is a thing which has been used as a model to which objects or actions may be compared. For defining the standard of education, we actually have to provide the answers to some questions, like which types of aims regarding education are considered in the current educational system? How these aims are set? To what extent these aims are achieved?
How much these aims are related with the society? Which principles are considered while planning the curriculum? Which teaching method can be suitable according to the age and psychological need of the child? By providing the answers to these questions we can describe the standards of education easily. The present education system of Pakistan has failed to disclose before the new generation the founding reasons of Pakistan. Musa stated that the disastrous results of this negligence are now evident in every walk of life. The responsibility for this deterioration lies with influential factions and those in power.
The most alarming aspect besides ideological confusion and moral degradation is the falling standard of education. Due to constant decay Pakistan’s educational documents are now no more acceptable abroad. Muhammad stated that currently, the government claims that Pakistan has a literacy rate of 47 percent. However, independent analysts and educational organisations put the actual figure at about 20 percent at secondary level. Most of the private schools serve as tuition centres to prepare students for board exams, rarely providing quality education and opportunities for intellectual growth. It is noteworthy to mention here that the GDP for education was 2.4 percent in 1988, while despite claiming the sky high efforts by the government in the education zone, it just succeeded to touch 2.9 percent of the GDP in the budget of 2007-08. This decreased attention of the government also declines the educational standards at secondary level.
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study were to define the actual meaning of educational standards; to analyse the views and opinions of students and teachers about the main reasons of declining educational standards at secondary level in Karachi; and to give suggestions and recommendations for improving the educational standards at secondary level.
RESULTS: Seventy percent male and 90 percent female students viewed that declining educational standard is due to the defective administration system of schools. About 80 percent male and 80 percent female students opined that the decline is just because of inflexible curriculum.
Up to 65 percent male and 60 percent female students had the opinion that its cause is ineffective evaluation system. About 70 percent male and 55 percent female students defined that there is imperfect inspection system at secondary level. As high as 45 percent male and 55 percent female students stated that improper health facilities cause the deterioration of standard of education at secondary level. As many as 55 percent male and 45 percent female students were of the view that lack of co-curricular activities in schools is responsible for this decline. Up to 95 percent male and 90 percent female students had the opinion that outdated teaching methods are the main reasons of low standard of education. And 45 percent male and 30 percent female students had the idea that unavailability of scholarships to needy and deserving students in schools actually cause decline in educational standard at secondary level in Karachi.
Up to 60 percent male and 70 percent female students had the view that because of defective administration, educational standard declines day by day. As many as 65 percent male and 85 percent female students were of view that curricula are not according to modern needs. About 75 percent male and 70 percent female students said ineffective evaluation system is responsible for that. As high as 65 percent male and 90 percent female students had the opinion that imperfect inspection system causes decline in educational standard. About 40 percent male and 50 percent female students said improper health facilities destroy the standards.
Up to 30 percent male and 45 percent female students stated lack of co-curricular activities cause deterioration in educational standard. As high as 95 percent male and 95 percent female students had the idea that inappropriate teaching methods are responsible, whereas 45 percent male and 35 percent female students said lack of scholarships at secondary level is the main reason of decline in educational standard at the secondary level. About 60 percent male and 40 percent female teachers were of the view that the male administration is the main cause of low standard of education. Up to 80 percent male and 80 percent female teachers had the idea that the curriculum is not flexible. About 60 percent male and 40 percent female teachers said the evaluation system is improper, which is why the standard of education has been declining. As high as 80 percent male and 60 percent female teachers had the view that imperfect inspection system is declining the standard of education.
As many as 40 percent male and 60 percent female teachers said schools are providing improper health facilities. About 40 percent male and 40 percent female teachers had the idea that lack of co-curricular activities is responsible for the low standard. Up to 60 percent male and 60 percent female teachers stated non-psychological teaching methods are destroying the standard of education, whereas 40 percent male and 20 percent female teachers had the idea that unavailability of scholarships is the reason for decline in educational standards at secondary level in Karachi. Sixty percent male and 60 percent female teachers were of view that defective administration is one of the major causes of low standard of education. About 80 percent male and 80 percent female teachers said non-modernisation of the curriculum is responsible for the declining standard.
Up to 60 percent male and 60 percent female teachers had the idea that evaluation is not properly conducted. As high as 60 percent male and 70 percent female teachers stated inspection of schools are not held effectively. Up to 60 percent male and 60 percent female teachers opined that lack of health facilities is the main reason of declining educational standards. As many as 80 percent male and 60 percent female teachers had the idea that lack of co-curricular activities in schools is the cause of low educational standards. About 60 percent male and 60 percent female teachers were of the view that teachers are not adopting modern teaching methods, whereas 20 percent male and 40 percent female teachers said unavailability of scholarships actually cause decline in educational standards at secondary level in the city.
RECOMMENDATIONS: The curriculum of secondary level should be improved according to the needs of time and wishes of the society; introduce high quality selection procedure for secondary level teachers and offer the candidates better incentives; the administration of schools should be effective and efficient, and keep a democratic approach; the evaluation system at secondary level should be organised and modern techniques must be used to evaluate the abilities of a child; there should not be political interference in educational institutions; all secondary government and private schools should be allocated with proper health facilities (neat and clean, and according to the health principles, food and availability of doctor or a nurse in the schools); only trained teachers should be appointed in schools; secondary school teachers should use modern teaching methods according to the age and psychological requirements of students; opportunities should be provided to students for participating in different co-curricular activities; the process of inspection should be done in a proper and democratic way and the concept of favours should be out of this process; scholarships should be provided to deserving and intelligent students at secondary level in schools; and various teams of experts should be involved in performing the above-mentioned task of improvement and formation.
CONCLUSION: After analysing the results, it can be easily concluded that ineffective administration, non flexible curriculum and outdated teaching methods used by teachers are the main reasons of declining educational standards at secondary level. We may say that to some extent imperfect evaluation system and bad inspection is the cause of this deterioration. Improper health facilities, political interference, lack of co-curricular activities, non-availability of scholarships are also some of the factors that destroy the standard of education at secondary level in Karachi.
Extracted from Waqarun Nisa Faizi, Anila Fatima Shakil and Farida Azim Lodhi’s research paper titled ‘The main reasons of declining educational standards at secondary level in Karachi, Pakistan’ published in Educational Research and Reviews Vol 6(2), pp 152-160.
