EDUCATION is the foundation of any society. It unlocks individuals’ full potential and enables them to become contributing members of society. Without it, a nation is just a country. Nations that lead are nations that read.

The present system of education in Pakistan, however, does not produce citizens of substance and merit — this in part has to do with lack of access. It is time to break the economic stranglehold on education and make it as universally accessible as the air we breathe. In this day and age of modern communications technologies, we have the tools to do so.

To aid learning, we should introduce a national educational TV channel dedicated to teacher training as well as educating children. Teacher training would include child development, classroom management strategies, teaching strategies, curriculum development, lesson planning, etc — qualities sorely needed in a profession where the quality, and monitoring and evaluation, of teaching varies tremendously.

This way we might improve our teachers across the board, by evening out the allocation of resources for professional development. In turn, students nationwide would benefit from programming which supplemented and reinforced their classroom learning by engaging them in multiple forms of learning – visual, written, auditory, sensory, tactile, etc.

By using television and the internet, the material investments that parents would have to make for their child’s education can be dramatically reduced — no need for expensive and heavy textbooks when it can be accessed on a computer. Children who might be out of school, or adults who might lack education, would also benefit from having access to these resources. Character development and community building can also be addressed by teaching life skills and introducing the audience to volunteers, social workers and community leaders from diverse backgrounds.

Such an extensive programme would no doubt require a lot of thought, insight from multiple stakeholders, and planning. It is, however, very much a possibility — and one that Pakistan desperately needs in order to grow, heal, unite together and uphold values of civic responsibility.

Mrs K. Pervez

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2016