Amid the global pandemic that has troubled the world from east to west, the credibility of education in Pakistan has been exposed. The governments around the globe have taken steps that are either non-binding or unreachable to most of the students, primarily in under developed and resourceless areas. In Pakistan, the education system has faced many controversies ever since the pandemic has arrived in its borders. Significantly on the reach of internet in rural areas. Most of the Pakistan’s population lives in rural areas where the internet facility is not present. This has provoked students and teachers to hold protests in Balochistan and other rural areas. Isn’t it necessary to question what the government has done to ensure the continuation of education?
Education is one of the most neglected sectors in Pakistan proven by the report of UNICEF that the current literacy rate is below 60 percent. Even before the pandemic, about 24 million children were reported to be out of schools, HEC funds were minimized and education was given little space in the annual budget. This ignorance negates the Pakistan law on education, mainly Article 25A and Article 38(d), which states that the state shall provide education to every citizen.
If the government has already failed to give effect to the law and its constitutional duty before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the question that arises is, how will it give effect to the law and constitution while coping with the troubles for access to education caused by the virus and once the pandemic has ended?
In a world where a communicable virus has proved itself fatal and is responsible for more than half a million deaths, therefore realizing the gravity of the situation Pakistan government announced to close schools. Government took some steps, as the end of the pandemic is still not in sight, the motive is to save the education cycle from any disruption and this transition is worth struggling. Recently, a tele-education channel was launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan to keep the students associated with their education through dedicated lectures for class I to XII. The measures are clearly not enough given the ongoing protests concerning the reach of the education in rural areas.
To analyze the challenges for online learning in Pakistan, particularly during this pandemic, the first step is to factor in all the stakeholders of education. Initially students criticized the move of education ministry in the wake of the issues stemming from quality and connectivity issues but just like any other transformation, developing the capacity of the institutions was going to take time. The drawbacks have been observed that most of the students either do not have a laptop, and internet connection or they have no idea how to use online platforms.
Besides, the idea of equitable education has become dubious with this selection because financially all students are not equal. Most of the challenges are related to our behaviors: the lack of acceptance for online education by students. Similarly, lack of individual space at homes in joint family systems i.e. for families where parents and children both need to work and study from home respectively.
The lack of awareness about digital learning ethics has worsened the situation. First issue is the unavailability of the internet in remote areas which makes the students living in those areas unable to get benefit from online education. The bandwidth limitations across the country, with only a few exceptions, when combined with the increased usage burden on feeble internet infrastructure, add to the misery of most of the students. Another challenge is the expensive high-speed internet. As there is always a silver lining in the clouds, it is high time to see opportunities in these challenging times. For a paradigm shift from traditional teaching towards inclusively effective and equitable e-learning, some of the recommendations include the development of a standard and comprehensive policy for e-learning with the consensus of all the stakeholders alike.
The issues of educational institutes shouldn’t be ignored as well as in Pakistan, tuition fees are the principal source of revenue for the majority of private sector universities and they solely depend on it because the government hardly issues grants to them. But, since many people have lost their jobs and students have applied for waiver in tuition fee and writing off other charges such as clubs, sports and hostel rents, it has become a challenge for universities as well. The government has also forced the universities to give relief to students in payments and to opt for half payments. It has also instructed to pay salaries to the faculty and staff by managing their resources. Likewise, no any employee would be fired from the job as long as there is lockdown imposed in the country. This is quite difficult for universities to survive.
There is a famous proverb, “In every crisis, there is an opportunity”. This is the right time when whole world is in the race to invent the vaccine of COVID-19 we need to think that being a nation where we are standing. Along with the enactment of the recommendations of the health department, we need to paint the situation in a positive manner to our youth in a way that human and viruses are born to live together. Until humanity triumphs with the good vaccine of COVID-19, we must set a plan for students to learn how to work in this weird situation. The new paradigm in the world emphasizes on online education and work from home scenarios that can save time and resources, and is more practical. Hence, we must move with the time or wait for the time to move past us while we are busy in addressing less important issues.