Our Education System

Knowledge is the hallmark of an advanced and civilized society. Nobody can deny the importance of knowledge in today’s world. The main reason behind the success and prosperity of the European countries is their advancements in many fields of knowledge, especially in Science and technology. The success of their business and trade and products all over the world is due to the continuous innovations they make and new discoveries.

The topic of importance of knowledge is well-known and a lot of material has been presented and written on it. So we leave this topic and try to know, what is the source of knowledge or how good scholars, scientists and specialists are made? In my point of view the universities and colleges in modern countries are a source for producing people to be supportive for their economy or business. But instead of being just economy-oriented, their quality of education, the assessment system and the research-oriented environment makes their knowledge work.

But in Pakistan the condition is completely different, most of the students consider the education only a tool to get job and have a source of income. I admit that earning a fair living is an obligation, but relating education just with materialistic pursuits is not good thinking. At this point, someone may question that students in developed countries also have similar objectives, then why they are successful? The answer is the difference in education systems and environments. Unfortunately a student with good memory in our educational system can pass the exams with good marks and grades even though he or she does not possess real knowledge or expertise in the field. The assessment or evaluation system can not differentiate the capable students and those who cram. Most of the students consider passing exams and promotion in higher classes sufficient without caring of what they have gained or what skills they possess. Most students do not have love or affection with their books or field, in fact some hate books and consider them useless after passing the exams. The marks or grades that are printed on a paper are considered more important than the skills, expertise, intellect, creativeness and personal character of a person.

The results of these trends are in the form of lacking practical skills, dependency upon foreigners, lack of creativeness and innovation, greediness and moral decline.

Some solutions

• Improvements in assessment and evaluation system.
• Education should not be associated with just job attainment but consider as an obligation and as a pride of humanity.
• More emphasis on skills, conceptual understanding and implication rather than grades.
• Research-based, practical-oriented educational environment that increases the student’s interest in the field.
• Proper counseling of students, our students are searching for a direction and goal.