I HAVE 25 years of experience in classroom instruction at college level. This quarter century of my association with education has given me first-hand knowledge of many major flaws in our education system. Owing to these flaws our colleges haven’t produced a good number of scientists and intellectuals.
Tuition , academies and coaching centres, though anicient in their origin, have recently mushroomed and destroyed the importance of quality education.
When at college, these teachers have just one concern, a superficial coverage of the syllabus. They invest much of their energy in taking coaching classes, and when they reach their colleges, they are already exhausted.
Some college teachers are money-making machines. But no teacher accepts that the deteriorating standard of education is the result of his apathy towards the campus.
Therefore, teachers do not have time to study and learn anything new about their subjects. Their reading habit is almost dead. Some teachers have brought a bad name to their profession as they consider college a familiar recruiting ground for their out-of- the- campus teaching activity.
Our policy-makers should start a non-tuition allowance for teachers. This allowance should be sufficient enough to ease teachers’ economic difficulties. After this allowance, no teacher should be allowed to take coaching classes. Coaching classes give an edge to rich students who can pay hefty sums as fee. These students do not like to attend college regularly, the only place where they can be disciplined as future citizens.
Academies provide these students a chance to neglect college altogether. So, we should try to launch an education system based on equality and with opportunities for all.
M. Ashtar Chattha
Islamabad
Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2015
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