Pakistan's educational system and structure
have come under a lot of criticism lately. Virtually,
every conference, every seminar, every international moot
has condemned the poor standards of teaching, archaic
curricula and a horribly out of date degree structure
offered by local universities. Unfortunately, most of
the criticism is quite justified.
The present structure is briefly as follows.
We have a primary school education system that spans five
years, followed by five more years of secondary education.
Thus our students leave secondary school after 10 years
of schooling. Then come two years of intermediate (or
higher secondary) education and two years of first (bachelor's)
degree. Thus our graduates get their bachelor's degree
after 14 years of education.
In Britain, students take 11 years in
secondary school, two years for A-levels and three years
for the first degree. Thus a bachelor's degree comprises
of 16 years of education. In the US, schooling is for
12 years of education and a first degree programme invariably
takes four years - making it 16 years for bachelor's degree.
American and European universities require their admission
applicants to pass one or more of the internationally
recognized entrance examinations.
To a considerable extent, this takes care
of the academic standards. So if a student gets a B.A.
degree from a Pakistani university, regardless of the
standards of that university, he can work hard and get
a good grade at the GMAT or GRE test to prove himself
worthy of admission in an American or European university
for a master's programme. However, these universities
are unwilling to admit holders of a bachelor's degree
from Pakistan into masters' programmes even if they have
excellent standardized test results. The simple reason:
our first degree spans over only 14 years instead of the
standard 16 years everywhere else.
I would like a float some proposals for
discussion by the country's academics and educational
planners. The proposals have merit, are workable, and
will not impose undue financial or administrative burden
on our present educational set up. It might even help
improve the educational standards in the country.
1. Primary education in Pakistan should
be of six years. At the end of this period of schooling,
there should be an external examination. Subjects taught
at this level should be of general nature and preferably
should be not more than six in number.2. Secondary education
should comprise of a further six of years education. At
the end of 12 years of schooling, students should take
an external examination. The curriculum for secondary
schools should have two distinct parts: three or four
compulsory subjects along with three or four elective
subjects enabling a student to specialize in a particular
stream. No more than eight subjects should be taken at
this stage.
Adding a year each to primary and secondary
schools is not likely to cause any real hardship, or raise
unmanageable demand on school resources. Yet, it will
provide an excellent opportunity to systematically upgrade
the course contents for these levels of education, thereby
removing most, if not all, of the objections leveled against
the current curriculum.
3. Establishment of examining bodies in
the private sector (like the one established by the Aga
Khan University) to conduct school certificate level examinations
should be encouraged. Professional bodies like the Institute
of Chartered Accountants, the Institute of Engineers,
Pakistan Institute of Management, and so on should be
persuaded to establish their own examining bodies.
However, in the short term the bulk of
such examinations can conducted by government boards under
the watchful eye of a nationwide supervisory body, along
the lines of the Higher Education Commission. The fact
that education is a provincial subject should not be allowed
to come in the way of setting up a national body to monitor
school level examination boards in the country. After
all, the HEC is a national body while all university charters
are granted by provincial governments.
4. The intermediate (F.A., F.Sc., etc.)
level examinations should be abolished.
5. The bachelor's degree programme should
be of four years duration. This means a student should
get his first degree after 16 years of education. This
should apply to all degrees like B.A., B.Sc., B.Com.,
BBA, BCS, etc. Certain professional degrees like the MBBS
one may take more than four years. This will eliminate
the imbalance currently prevailing in the country. For
example, the HEC is currently grappling with the existence
of a two-year BA, three-year B.Sc. and four-year BBA programmes.
Currently, students need to have a first
bachelor's degree before they can enroll for certain other
bachelor's degree like an LL.B. or a B.Ed. With a four-year
degree programme, this requirement can be done away with.
Thus students will be able to read for an LL.B or a B.Ed.
right after high school, just like in the UK and elsewhere.
6. The master's degree programme should
continue to be of two years duration. Thus, a person holding
a master's degree will have spent six years in primary
school, six years in secondary school and six years at
a university-level institution.
While I realize that a four years bachelor's
degree programme will be a major departure for our system,
this should not pose any real problems to either colleges
or universities. By eliminating the need for intermediate
education, we can apply the resources currently being
used for this segment towards teaching of the first two
years of a new four-year degree programme. Hence, very
little will be required in terms of additional resources
to implement the proposed structure except perhaps re-training
of teachers.
With all first degrees being awarded after
16 years of education, universities offering professional
masters' programmes like an MBA will be saved the trouble
of keeping a distinction between those who have a B.A.,
B.Sc. or B.Com. degree and those who have BBA degrees
which require completion of coursework over a longer period.
At the same time, our bachelor's degrees
will stand at par with those being offered by the more
developed nations, at least in terms of duration and number
of years of education completed. Our students would then
be able to get admission into master's programmes if they
pass the requisite entrance examination, i.e. they will
not need to do a B.A. degree programme all over again.
I have restricted my concern only to the
structure of the bachelor's degree programmes, deliberately
avoiding discussion of the course contents and education
delivery systems, which constitute an entirely different
domain. Those can be addressed once the basic structure
is agreed upon.
This is only a thought at this stage and
can be discussed at appropriate forums with a view to
establish its workability and worth. Once, and if, it
is found to be suitable for our educational environs,
professional work on to give it formal shape can begin.
I will be only too happy to participate in all or any
stage of its evolution.
The writer is a professor at Mohammad
Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad.
Email: [email protected]
