Assignment No.1

Q.1 what are the expectations from teachers and students at secondary level of education in Pakistan?

“Academics are important, but so are the wider values and skills that my children are learning at school. I look for their school to support growth in social skills and to promote values of respect and tolerance”.

So, there seems to be a lot of agreement about what parents want from their child’s school/teachers:

• Committed, happy and effective teaching staff
• A safe school environment
• Intellectual and emotional growth fostered by the school
• Strong home/school communication
• A fun and supportive school environment
• To be involved and ‘kept in the loop’

As a teacher and for the school as a whole, how do you meet these expectations? Clearly communication is key and it needs to be a two way street.  Letting parents know what is happening in the classroom on an academic and pastoral level, as well as asking for their input, not only helps teachers to be more effective but has the added bonus of ensuring the parent feels involved and valued.

Alongside strong communication, the parents we spoke to really value a sense of positivity, support and enjoyment within the learning environment. So, make sure that you are celebrating success, let parents know about the amazing things you’re doing as a school and also about the fantastic achievements of their child, rather than just getting in touch about problems.

It’s not always easy to let parents know what they can be doing to help at home or to give them a snap shot of school life, but we’ve designed Parent Hub to do exactly that. It’s a FREE communications platform for teachers and other school staff to send regular updates to parents, giving them the information they require in an accessible format. “As a parent I need to feel connected to the goings on at school. Communication is key to my child’s wellbeing and education. I want my child to have fond memories of these early school years and it is his teacher, not me, that will be shaping these”.  “I want a teacher to spot my child’s potential in different areas and lead them to achieve the best of their abilities”. “I want their teacher to be the one they still remember as an adult. We all have memories of those teachers who really caught our imagination and taught us to think for ourselves. I want my son’s school to facilitate creativity and independence within a supportive and nurturing environment”. “For me it is great when I can really see that my child’s teacher is excited and passionate about their job. When the teacher is enjoying what they’re doing I think it shows in the excitement and learning of their students. I love going to collect the girls and seeing them happy and excited to tell me about their day”. “Home – school communication is so important in helping me to support my child effectively. I can’t always get a full picture of what is going on in the classroom and in the playground from my child alone, I need to hear from the teachers and staff to fully understand. If there is a problem I want to know that the school make me aware and include me in a discussion about how we can move forward”. “As my son starts school I think it is important that as parents we know feel that the school is able to create and safe environment, in more ways than one. I need to feel confident that not only is the environment safe but that issues like bullying are dealt with effectively”  “For me the best teachers make learning fun. When I hear my daughter spontaneously sing the math’s song to the tune of ice baby it really makes me smile and I know good things are happening in the classroom. I want our daughter’s teacher to keep us informed about her progress and where we can support and continue learning at home”. “I want my children to enjoy school and to hopefully see that enjoyment when they come home. I like to be kept in the loop so that I can follow up at home”.

Teachers are expected to

• be competent and effective
• be proficient in the use if instructional strategies, curriculum materials, advanced educational technologies, and classroom management techniques.
• have a thorough understanding of the developmental levels of their students
• have a solid grasp of the content they teach
• be informed of exemplary practices and to demonstrate a desire for professional development
• help all learners succeed
• hold strong beliefs about the potential for all children, regardless of students’ ethnicity, language, gender, socioeconomic status, family backgrounds and living conditions, abilities, or disabilities.
• ensure that all students develop to their fullest potential.
• have a repertoire of instructional strategies and resources to create meaningful learning experiences that promote students’ growth and development.

Q.2 Elaborate how formal operation differs from concrete operations?

The main difference between the two is that in the concrete operational stage a child is able to think rationaly about objects if they can work with or see the objects.  In the formal operations stage they are able to think rationally and do not need the objects being thought about to be present.

The formal operational stage begins at approximately age twelve and lasts into adulthood. As adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in an abstract manner by manipulating ideas in their head, without any dependence on concrete manipulation.

He/she can do mathematical calculations, think creatively, use abstract reasoning, and imagine the outcome of particular actions.

An example of the distinction between concrete and formal operational stages is the answer to the question “If Kelly is taller than Ali and Ali is taller than Jo, who is tallest?”  This is an example of inferential reasoning, which is the ability to think about things which the child has not actually experienced and to draw conclusions from its thinking. Concrete operations are carried out on things whereas formal operations are carried out on ideas. The individual can think about hypothetical and abstract concepts they have yet to experience. Abstract thought is important for planning regarding the future.

Piaget (1970) devised several tests of formal operational thought. One of the simplest was the ‘third eye problem’.  Children were asked where they would put an extra eye, if they were able to have a third one, and why.

Schaffer (1988) reported that when asked this question, 9-year-olds all suggested that the third eye should be on the forehead.  However, 11-year-olds were more inventive, for example suggesting that a third eye placed on the hand would be useful for seeing round corners.

Formal operational thinking has also been tested experimentally using the pendulum task (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958). The method involved a length of string and a set of weights. Participants had to consider three factors (variables) the length of the string, the heaviness of the weight and the strength of push.

The task was to work out which factor was most important in determining the speed of swing of the pendulum.

Participants can vary the length of the pendulum string, and vary the weight. They can measure the pendulum speed by counting the number of swings per minute.

To find the correct answer the participant has to grasp the idea of the experimental method -that is to vary one variable at a time (e.g. trying different lengths with the same weight). A participant who tries different lengths with different weights is likely to end up with the wrong answer.

Children in the formal operational stage approached the task systematically, testing one variable (such as varying the length of the string) at a time to see its effect. However, younger children typically tried out these variations randomly or changed two things at the same time.

Piaget concluded that the systematic approach indicated the children were thinking logically, in the abstract, and could see the relationships between things. These are the characteristics of the formal operational stage.

Psychologists who have replicated this research, or used a similar problem, have generally found that children cannot complete the task successfully until they are older.

Robert Siegler (1979) gave children a balance beam task in which some discs were placed either side of the center of balance. The researcher changed the number of discs or moved them along the beam, each time asking the child to predict which way the balance would go.

He studied the answers given by children from five years upwards, concluding that they apply rules which develop in the same sequence as, and thus reflect, Piaget’s findings.

Like Piaget, he found that eventually the children were able to take into account the interaction between the weight of the discs and the distance from the center, and so successfully predict balance. However, this did not happen until participants were between 13 and 17 years of age.

He concluded that children’s cognitive development is based on acquiring and using rules in increasingly more complex situations, rather than in stages.

Q.3 what are the principles on which secondary education commission has constructed the curriculum?

Importance of Curriculum — Curriculum plays very important role in the field of education. For every course curriculum is a backbone which reflects the structure of the course and clears all the dimensions, aims and objectives instructional strategies and so on.

Role of Curriculum — Curriculum should be relevant to the changing time, if there is a lag between the requirements and components in the curriculum then all task of teaching-learning becomes futile.

Up to Date Curriculum — Curriculum should be update. In the modern scenario many changes are taken every day. — Not only information but building of knowledge is equally important .

Effective Implementation —In this regard all these changes should be reflected in the curriculum then and then only application of earning is possible.

Modern trends in Curriculum Development: — 1) Digital Diversity — Present age is an age of ICT technology has touched to all the wakes of human life. Technology has made various tasks easy, convenient and of quality. — To survive in the concern field, it is necessary for everyone to have a knowledge and skill of technology. — Education makes man enable to contribute, it strengthens the capabilities.

2) Need based Curriculums — Researches in all the fields resulted in to specialization. — Need based curriculum is the foremost need of the present education system. Many universities are developing need based short term programs for this purpose. — Mumbai University has introduced courses like – certificate course in Power Point, certificate course in tally, certificate courses

3) Modular Curriculum with credit base system — Modular curriculum gives real freedom of learning especially in the open learning system his approach has been adopted at first — But now majority of traditional universities also accepting his system; this is a real emerging trend in the modern curriculum.

4) Online Courses — Need based and choice based curriculums are available online also. E.g. course era .com has introduced many useful need based courses for free of cost. — Government also takes initiative for this e.g. Right to Information certificate course has been introduced by Government of India to the Indian people. This course is free and online.

5) 21st century skills — All the curriculums of various courses should focus on 21st century skills. Skills like — Collaboration, critical thinking, effective communication, multitasking stress management, empathy are must for all the personals.

 6) International Understanding — Globalization has made converted the world in to global village. — We should consider world as a one family and for this international understanding must be inculcate through curriculum.

7) Constructivism — Constructivist approach believes that learner should be given freedom to construct his/her knowledge. Spoon feeding must be avoided. — If a learner is fully active in construction of knowledge then learning process will be highly effective. — In all the curriculums constructivist strategies must be given important place.

Curriculum Reforms in Pakistan — Curriculum Reforms have been underway since 2001 in Pakistan after a long period of neglect and stagnation. — From 2001-2003 curriculum ‘revision’ was undertaken in measured and tempered phases to keep the influential religious lobby in government at bay.

Continue…. — In 2005 -06, curriculum of all grades and subjects (grades I-XII ) underwent a comprehensive reform in response to critiques — The persistent charges against the curriculum in use have been that it is: exclusionary, ideologically driven, bigoted, generating negative stereotypes with outmoded content and resistance to change; — All of which, leads to irrelevance and poor learning levels as corroborated by the latest National Education Assessment System reports (NEAS 2006 and 2008)

Continue….. — The comprehensive national curriculum reforms began in 2005 embedded in three mega concurrent initiatives of the Ministry of Education — i) The National Education Policy Reform Process (NEPR) — ii) the National Curriculum Reforms, and the undertaking of the first ever National Education Census (NEC) of all service delivery units in Education (www.moe.gov.pk)

How the information age, workplace, media and greater democracy impact curriculum development four main challenges face the education system

Challenges Impacting Curriculum Changing Workplace Greater Democracy Mass Media Information Age

Information Age — More information has been produced — Information are made available to anybody, anywhere and anytime. — Has the present curriculum in educational institutions taken into consideration these developments?

Changing Workplace — Automation and computerization is another development that is rapidly changing the workplace and type of job performed. — The workforce of the future will need to acquire skills in shorter periods of time and at faster rate to keep pace with knowledge that is fast competitive and relevant.

Influence of The Media — The onslaught of the media 24 hours a day and 7 days a week have brought with it both positive and negative content. — A plethora of forces are competing for the attention of children, adolescents and adults. — Are schools adequately preparing children with the skills and knowledge to make wise decision?

Modern Trends —Constructivism, modular curriculum, credit system, Information technology these all are the emerging trends in curriculum development.

Conclusion — Constructivism, modular curriculum, credit system, Information technology these all are the emerging trends in curriculum development. — These trends should be given proper justice while developing curriculum. — Educators should learn to work together with their students, and with other experts in creating content, and are able to tailor it to exactly what they need.

Q.4 Write a comprehensive note on Quaid-i-Azam’s message to the Pakistan Educational conference.

Youth and Nojawan are the most fascinating words to be heard. That is the reason, in political processions, rallies and protests, the most repeatedly heard slogan of political parties is, ‘Mairy Nojawano’ or ‘’Pakistan kay Jawano’’. These phrases of calling out youth and addressing them has its deep roots in Pakistan movement and its political history. During Pakistan Movement, major contribution of different student federations cannot be overlooked. Young students of different provinces played their vital role in spreading the message of an independent land with their demonstrated faith, unity, discipline, determination, sacrifice and relentless work.

From the struggle of Pakistan Movement to the recent PTI’s government youth had a major contribution. It would not be an overstatement to claim that youth is viewed as the key factor behind majority of the social and political changes and revolutions not only in Pakistan but around the world.

Youth comprises 60% of Pakistan, as 60% of Pakistan’s total population is below 35 years and we are world’s second country with highest number of youth population. Considering them an asset means taking complete benefit of their energies and potentials. When it comes to utilization of youth power, it requires great efforts to plan strategically. If we train and equip them to make place in national and international job markets, they will be able to contribute in development and productivity of the country. However, if we did not set goals and leave them unskilled and economically disengaged, they are likely to prove disastrous for nation’s future. A directionless and disintegrated youth can become an easy prey in the hands of enemies.

Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had high hopes from Pakistani youth and in all his important addresses to students, he stressed upon youth’s vision in life. While addressing students in Lahore on October 31 he said:

‘’Pakistan is proud of her youth, particularly the students who have always been in the forefront in the hour of trial and need. You are the nation’s leaders of tomorrow and you must fully equip yourself by discipline, education and training for the arduous task lying ahead of you. You should realise the magnitude of your responsibility and be ready to bear it’’ (Jinnah, 1947).

The father of the nation seemed thoroughly inspired and hopeful with their role in different fields of life. He did not view them as bookworms but as the leaders and makers of the nations. In short, he regarded them the backbone of the nation having an important role in the development of the society. But at the same time he forbade them from getting involved in politics and becoming puppets in the hands of political parties. If we view Pakistani youth, neither we find visionary leaders nor the committed patriots. They are good to go in political rallies to hoot and burn cars yet do not know the destruction they are causing to their own land and assets.

The worst is viewed during Covid, when they felt honoured and partying at the closure of educational institutes yet seemed fearful to modify themselves as per the challenges of the present times. Keeping in mind all the aspects, Pakistani state must not be ashamed that we did establish schools with books and curriculum yet failed to produce enlightened learners.

The confession doesn’t make the issue complicated yet it provides clues for its resolutions. Our political parties, majority with feudal backgrounds never seemed serious towards educating minds, fearing decline of their political careers. Political parties in power focused more on hoarding and piling wealth in their Swiss accounts or working on noticeable projects such as metro buses or motorway but never tried to work on youth’s education and development. The major issue we need to address is to set directions for the youth. That can only be attained through education and awareness of youth.

Quaid also believed in training the youth through educational reforms. In order to show relevancy of Quaid’s vision to education system we need to view his message to the first Education Conference in November 1947, when he said: “the future of our state will and must accordingly depend upon the type of education we give to our children, and the way in which we bring them up as future citizens of Pakistan”.

It is unfortunate that our education system is nonetheless creating robots and rote learners, incapable of understanding true meaning of Quaid’s vision. Even after seven decades of independence, we have failed to discard Gora’s curriculum primarily designed to produce clerks or baboos in the subcontinents. We did not put in effort to review our curriculum for the betterment of our nation.

However, we cannot wholly depend upon education system to bring betterment in our youth. In order to meet the challenges of the present times, we need other factors such as parental counseling, media’s role and envisioned leadership. Home is the basic institution in laying the foundation of an individual and the home environment leaves deeper impression on building the personality of future’s citizens. Usually parents seem ignorant of their crucial responsibility and hold schools responsible for children’s grooming and skill development. While educational institutions primarily focus on transferring theoretical knowledge rather than grooming the minds or developing the critical thinking of their students. Print, social and electronic media have become the biggest influencer but sadly the relentless race of rating put them in competition of money making and not a tool of learning and teaching for the youth. Our leadership is more into their personal interest rather than focusing on youth’s development and training for better Pakistan. This is how our youth has lost its track and got completely aimless, disillusioned and even destructive in some cases.

To conclude, we need to own this broken, shattered, lost and visionless youth. It’s never too late to amend things and we as a nation, need to realise before it gets completely devastated. If we will not value our youth, they might be used as an explosive against us or become puppets in the hands of anti-state elements. It is the duty of every citizen to realise this mistake and try to correct it before it really gets too late.

Q.5 Discuss the issues related to secondary education Pakistan.

Pakistan is located in the South and West Asia region neighboring borders India, Iran, Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea. Total population of Pakistan in 2010 is 173 million. About 64% people live in rural areas whereas 36% people live in urban areas.

The education is now become one of the most defining enterprises of the 21st century with the emergence of globalization and increasing competition. In this fast world, education and technology are the basic keys for survival and progress of Pakistan respectively. Pakistan is determined to respond positively to emerging needs, opportunities and challenges of globalization. Education is one of the golden key that is considered as a big change and progress. Progress and prosperity of the country depends on the kind of education that is provided to the people.

In Pakistan, the rate of women’s literacy remains low as compared to men’s. Women have a low percentage of participation in society. The status of women in Pakistan especially in rural areas is low which is due to social and cultural obstacles. One of the strangest aspects in Pakistan is that some place especially in northern tribal areas the family is against of educating girls. The situation in NWFP and Baluchistan is most critical. The rate of women literacy is 3-8%. Many organizations have opened such schools in these areas that provide education. Unfortunately, the government has not taken any steps or measurements to promote literacy to girls’ education in these areas. “In 1981 only 7% of women in rural areas were literate, compared with 35% in urban areas. Among men, these rates were 27 and 57 percent, respectively”.

This backwardness of the women is due to the non-equal treatment with them.In developed countries male female are considered equally. This unequal treatment with women takes the country to backward. In Pakistan a system of education with equal opportunities of education to male and female must be provided.

In 2005, the Government of Pakistan has decided to review the National Education Policy to achievable in the field of education to overcome the problem regarding conflicts and achieve a knowledge that permits every person to realize his duty.

This policy review will result in a policy which is applicable to all providers of education in Pakistan in which formal and non-formal states are included.

In Pakistan context the essential part is ideological bases and historically provided by Islam as an ideology derived from Islamic religion. Islam is the fundamental source of providing values for our daily life. It also provides an ethical conduct which is an essential precondition for social development.

/////Policy & Planning

Pakistani education sector is the most neglected sector. The literacy rate in Pakistan is 49.9% as of 2008. Education Policy has to be nationally developed and owned. It is simplistic and unprofitable to prepare it at the federal level and thrust upon the provinces. In Pakistan till now at least nine documents have issued that have the status of a policy. Each policy was prepared with varying degree and involvement of the federating units.

Main development Challenges

Following are the main issues and challenges in adult literacy and non-formal education:

• There is no separate budget allocation for adult literacy from total expenditures on education; the 10% is spent on other, which includes adult literacy, NFBE, teachers training, madrassahs reform, etc.
• There is a lack of a coordination b/w organizational structure and institutional mechanism for literacy.
• Due to lack of training of teachers and of formalized curriculum and non-existence of effective research in the field of literacy and continuing education the professional base of adult literacy initiatives remained under developed.
• ..Local language is being ignored or not even taught to learn basic literacy.
• ..The link between basic and post literacy is missing in existing literacy programs’, which resulted in bad situation on the part of learners and teachers.
• The basic literacy need to be properly equipped with skill based post literacy programs, that support learners/teachers to go beyond reading, writing and numerous generating skills and sustainable improvement in their lives.
• In the past years due to political instability and insecurity in the country creates a big challenge for all nation.
• Public private partnership is also a not properly linked in literacy programs; it needs to be streamlined through proper facilitation and coordination.

Private sector in Education

Pakistan has highlighted some facts recently in new publications regarding primary level education sector.

1. In Pakistan children rate going to private schools has rapidly growths to about 1/3rd of total
2. Private schools are largely present in both urban and in rural areas.

These publications have also argued that

1. In private schools the Quality of education is better than public (gauged through testing) even when one controls for income and such factors, and
2. Cost of provision of this education, per child, is lower than in the public sector.

In education private investment is encouraging. At national and provincial levels there shall be regulatory bodies to regulate activities and smooth functioning of privately-managed schools and institutions of higher education through proper rules and regulations.

For setting-up of educational facilities by the private sector a reasonable tax rebate shall be granted on the expenditure. Through Education Foundations matching grants shall be provided for establishing educational institutions by the private sector in the rural areas or poor urban areas. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education existing institutions of higher learning shall be allowed to negotiate for financial assistance with donor agencies. Schools which are running on non-profit basis shall be exempted from all taxes. According to the principles laid down in the Federal Supervision of curricula, Textbooks and Maintenance of Standards of Education Act, 1976 the Curricula of private institutions must conform. In consultation with the government the fee structure of the privately managed educational institutions shall be developed.

Causes of Downfall:

There are numerous causes for the downfall of education in Pakistan which are below.

Economical Negligence:

Pakistan has remained a weak economy of the world as it got nothing in its just assets that were snatched by India. The conflict between these two countries on Kashmir issue has hardly allowed the government to allocate funds in budget for other sectors while the education is not an exception in this regard. Till now just 2% of GDP is allocated for the betterment of education which is quite inappropriate to meet education demand. All the funds are not given through a proper channel and a fake audit report is generated that the funds utilization has been spent on education purposes.

Rapid growth in poverty:

According to 2002 Economic Survey Report, “Most of the inhabitants of Pakistan are poor and 40% of them live under poverty line, about 70% of its population dwells in villages. About 300,000, young ones are jobless. They have no access to good education”.

This report shows that how much difficulties and troubles have been faced by this poor and suppressed class of the country. The main occupation of people is agriculture which is yearly generated which cannot fulfill their daily and basic needs of life. It is also noted that only 1% landlords hold almost 95% of lands in Pakistan which is totally unfair. This unjust division of land creates a huge economical problem which not only for the poor but also the government.

Political Negligence:

“If you want to destroy the future of any nation, no need to wage war with them; defunct their education, they will remain no more live on the map of the world.”

still now no politician has paid attention in improving the standard of education so far, as far as the question of history of development of education in Pakistan is concerned. In case of Sindh, in early 1970s, lingual riots took place and a new cancer of copy culture was introduced and boosted up by politicians to prevail among the people. No official steps were taken in curbing this fatal disease. Now, the result is that throughout the country Sindhi students are understood the out come of copy culture and basic rights in every walk of life are denied to them, because however, they may be genius and creators but the fact remained that they lack in management and unable move the economy of the country just because they bear a title of COPY CULTURE. It was a political conspiracy based on totally bias. Being a Sindhi, I do not favour Sindhis that they are not given a proper share in different walks of life, whatever is happening to them is the only out come of wrong and misled policies which have been blindly followed up by them. Patriotism is the very hinge for all virtues, living in the same country everyone at first is Pakistani then Sindhi, Punjabee, Balochee and or Pathan, respectively. So, now it is our turn to turn a new leaf and pace with our other provincial brothers to improve the management of our beloved country Pakistan, believing in “united we stand, divided we fall”. Education has become a question of survival for us; less developed man cannot bring the change in improving the skills that are vital for the uplift of the education.

2011 is Pakistan’s Year of Education.

It’s time to think again about Pakistan’s most pressing long-term challenge.

The economic cost of not educating Pakistan is the equivalent of one flood every year. The only difference is that this is a self-inflicted disaster.

The announcement made by the prime minister that 2011 will be the ‘Pakistan Year of Education’ high lightens the future goals. The Pakistan Education Task Force has argued ever that Pakistan needs to give the highest possible to priority to education for good reasons.

Due to unavailability of education there is a no single chance that the government will reach the development goals by 2015 on education. While on the other hand, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are all on their way to achieving the same goals. As compared with India it improving education rate is ten times that of Pakistan, whereas Bangladesh’s is twice that of Pakistan.

Pakistanis have a constitutional right to universal education. In the 18th Amendment it has discussed that education has become now a right and no longer a privilege as it was in past times. Article 25A give a scenario where a citizen can take the government to court for not providing them access, or even be the grounds for a suo moto action.

At current rates of progress, no person alive today will see a Pakistan with universal education as defined in our constitution. Balochistan would see it in 2100 or later.

Just one year of education for women in Pakistan can help reduce fertility by 10 per cent, controlling the other resource emergency this country faces.

There are 26 countries poorer than Pakistan but send more of their children to school, demonstrating the issue is not about finances, but will and articulating demand effectively. It is too easy, and incorrect, to believe that Pakistan is too poor to provide this basic right.

Pakistan spent 2.5 per cent of its budget on schooling in 2005/2006. It now spends just 1.5 per cent in the areas that need it most. That is less than the subsidies given to PIA, PEPCO and Pakistan Steel. Provinces are allocated funds for education but fail to spend the money.

We presume the public school system is doing poorly because teachers are poorly paid, this is untrue. Public school teachers get paid 2/3rds more than their equivalent private low cost school counterparts; they earn four times that of the average parent of a child in their school. Despite this, on any given day 10-15 per cent of teachers will be absent from their duties teaching.

There is demand for education that is partly being addressed by low cost private schools, even one third of all rural children go to these schools (public schools can cost Rs.150 per month, low cost private schools the same or up to Rs.250). Despite the large presumption of the media, both domestic and international, this gap is not actually being addressed by Madrassahs. Only six per cent of students go to Madrassahs.