Positive innovations are always needed to uplift standards of elementary education as it is the first stage of learning for a child where qualified teachers are required to stimulate children’s mind to learning. In this way, the elementary education standards in country’s state-run schools can be brought at par with that of elite private institutes.
And committed efforts are needed when it comes to the state-run primary schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that tell a sorry tale of authorities’ apathy and neglect. The KP schools face a dearth of teachers and where they are available, the problems is their lack of qualification.
Equally lamentable are the methods these teachers employ to teach eager young minds.
The teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resort to canning when they mean to make students realise their mistakes. Hence instead of considering the teacher as a source of inspiration and learning, the students dread facing him or her. And this in turn makes children dread going to school.
This unbecoming attitude of the teachers is one of the main causes of student’s dropout at primary level.In order to make the primary education effective and result-oriented, the education departments are required to shun their outdated policies and replace them modern trends.
The departments can hire qualified people to work as teachers by providing them incentives and better salary packages.
According to the old rules, it is mandatory for one to get the Primary Teaching Certificate (PTC) in order to get the job as a teacher for which only the matric or intermediate level education is required.
Besides, the procedure for awarding the certificate is also highly unprofessional.
A candidate has to compete for total 100 marks. The marks are then divided into quotas;
30 marks for PTC, 30 for SSC, 20 for FA, 10 for BA and 5 marks for MA. And due to this formula the chances are rare that a candidate with a master’s or bachelor’s degree can find it encouraging applying for the job.
When approached, KP Minister for Elementary Education Sardar Hussain Babak told Pakistan Today that efforts were being made to overhaul the primary education in the province. He said that the vacant posts in the primary schools would be filled at the earliest and that too at the union council level.
