Monday, June 09, 2008
By Khalid Khattak
LAHORE: The general appreciation of quality and standard of education offered at government schools can be gauged well when one comes to know that officers at the helm send their own children to private schools.A strange situation developed during a meeting of Punjab Secretary Schools with the Executive District Officers (Education) of the province last week when the former asked whether anyone of them was sending his children to a government school. Interestingly, and yet unfortunately, silence was the only answer to the query. One wonders why people are drifting towards private schools in Punjab when education is free besides provision of free textbooks to students of the government schools. Understanding the difference between quality and standard of education offered by public and private schools requires no rocket science. The mushroom growth of private schools over the years is a clear evidence of the fact that people are losing their interest in the state-run-schools and switching to affordable private schools in order to provide opportunities of good schooling to their kith and kin. Those who can afford, send their children to elite private schools, especially those which are offering foreign courses like O and A levels. Those who have limited resources also prefer to send their children to private schools. A simple appraisal of our own surroundings can explain how people set priorities as far as education is concerned.Academic circles are very critical of the prevailing trend and believe that situation would have been different provided the government sector schools had emerged as competitors, which at the moment are not with a few exceptions. Some public sector schools do have demand among people who make every effort to get their children admission there but the truth is hundreds of other schools are not taking part in the competition owing to which people see them as a last option only.Educationists and academicians believe that the prevailing situation is certainly disappointing and needs serious attention of authorities concerned. They say it is unfortunate that despite presence of mechanism for teachers’ training and monitoring system, over which millions are being spent, the quality and standard can not be ensured at the government schools. They argue that besides providing missing facilities to government schools and hiring more teachers to overcome the shortage, the authorities should focus to motivate teachers to deliver the best. Academic circles also believe that only a sharp sense of realization among those at the helm can bring about revolutionary changes.
Source: The News International June 09, 2008
