Enrollment up but learning level down in Chitral, says report
The year 2014 dawned with the annual status of education report (ASER) of our performance in education sector in 2013.
Unfortunately, we stand at the point where we started in 2012. Enrolment of children, learning level of different subjects descended to lower degree than 2012. Our government launched campaigns and implemented many projects to increase enrollment and gave many incentives to the teachers to promote quality education but at the end the average enrollment at national level decreased to 78.9pc and learning level remained as worse as ever.
To some extent, the enrollment of children in Chitral is higher than most of the districts of KPK but 7pc of children from age 6 to 16 are still out of schools.
The ratio of girls’ enrollment is very low. Most importantly, 63.2pc children from age 3 to 5 had no access to any pre-school. Learning level of Urdu, English and Arithmetic deteriorated as compared to the previous year. Only 77.2pc of class 5 children could read Urdu sentences, 58.4pc could read English sentences and 76.6pc children were able to do division and subtraction. The concept of paid tuition is rare in Chitral. Only 1.8pc of class 8 students attended paid tuition in 2013.
Shortly, in 2013 we did no improvement in education sector. Our enrollment decreased, learning level of different subjects worsened as compared to 2012. Private schools credibly out-did government schools. In comparison to other districts of KPK, our enrollment is at the top but our learning level is at the bottom which shows the so-called quality education our teachers provide. The enrollment of Chitral is 93pc but only 77.2pc of class 5 students can read Urdu sentences, while enrollment of Mohmand Agency is 63.5 and 79.2pc can read Urdu sentences. Similarly, 80.9pc of Battagram, 84.9pc of Mardan and 77.7pc of Torghar can read Urdu sentences although their enrollment is lower than Chitral. The same situation is in learning level of English and Asthmatics. Pre-schooling in these districts is also higher than Chitral.
In the light of the ASER report, I have some suggestions to overcome the shortcomings in different aspects of our children’s schooling:
- First and foremost we should admit our children to schools at the age of 3 or 4 because pre-schooling is the backbone of children’s schooling and it makes their base strong.
- Teachers should be made accountable to the authorities for the bad performances of students as they get handsome salaries to educate the children. If the teachers of private schools can prepare and motivate their students then why not the government teachers who get 10 times more salaries than private teachers?
- Teachers and students should be given appreciation for their extraordinary performances.
- Training of teachers plays a vital role in children’s schooling. Teachers should be trained to teach according to the psychology of children. I do not mean the training which is attended only for TADA but the training which helps teachers to diagnose student’s aptitude.
- Last and not the least we should follow the triangle of children’s schooling i.e student, teacher and parents cooperation. All of these parts of triangle are essential for the schooling of a student. If we miss only one part of the triangle it will affect the student. Parents should be in contact with the teacher and ask about their children’s performance. Similarly teachers should inform parents about their children’s performance and about the subjects where the student is weak.