COVER STORY
running schools , it planned to transfer control of primary and secondary schools to NGOs . The government also intended to gradually make all high schools , colleges , and universities autonomous , although no schedule was specified for achieving this ambitious goal .
Three initiatives characterized reform efforts in education in the late 1980s and early 1990s : privatization of schools that had been nationalized in the 1970s ; a return to English as the medium of instruction in the more elite of these privatized schools , reversing the imposition of Urdu in the 1970s ; and continuing emphasis on Pakistan studies and Islamic studies in the curriculum . One of the education reforms of the 1980s was an increase in the number of technical schools throughout the country . The system aimed to increase the share of students going to technical and vocational institutions to over 33 percent by increasing the number of polytechnics , commercial colleges , and vocational training centers . Although the numbers of such institutions did increase , a compelling need to expand vocational training further persisted in early 1994 .
In contemporary era , the education system of Pakistan is roughly comprised of 260,903 institutions and is facilitating 41,018,384 students with the help of 1,535,461 teachers . The system includes 180,846 public institutions and 80,057 private institutions . Hence 31 % educational institutes are run by private sector while 69 % are public institutes .
The year 2015 is important in the context that it marks the deadline for the participants of Dakar declaration ( Education for All [ EFA ] commitment ) including Pakistan . Education related statistics coupled with Pakistan ’ s progress regarding education targets set in Vision 2030 and Pakistan ’ s lagging behind in achieving EFA targets and its Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs ) for education call for an analysis of the education system of Pakistan and to look into the issues and problems it is facing so that workable solutions could be recommended .
Since then , Pakistan has expressed its commitment to promote education and literacy in the country by education policies at domestic level and getting involved into international commitments on education . In this regard national education policies are the visions which suggest strategies to increase literacy rate , capacity building , and enhance facilities in the schools and educational institutes . MDGs and EFA programmes are global commitments of Pakistan for the promotion of literacy and that is the reason that today we have so much variety in our education courses at every level .
Previously there was no concept of O ’ levels and
A ’ levels , but now the situation is different . Now , every student wants to get education in a whole new different way which includes the pathway of innovation and interest . This journey of Pakistan ’ s education system from early time till now had been a journey with many ups and downs , but the thing which is positive in these ups and downs is – at least the education system of Pakistan has renovated itself from the scratch which has led to increase in educational standards and opportunities for students .
12 www . informal . pk