Matrix Report
Education is a fundamental right enshrined in the article 25 (A) of the constitution of Pakistan as well as in the UN charter. UN’s fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) also suggests provision of uniform education to the citizens globally. It is therefore clearly established that education should be a top priority for the under-developed and developing countries.
Ever since the Covid 19 pandemic hit the world, education has been one area which got most affected world over. In many countries, a majority of the students had to study remotely and hence lost the opportunity of onsite learning.
In order to gauge the extent to which the Pakistani education sector got affected by Covid-19, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi (ITA), with support from UNICEF, compiled the Covid-19 Learning Losses Report.
The Federal Education Minister, Shafqat Mehmood launched the report virtually on October 21, 2021, stating that this study has drawn our attention towards serious educational issues faced during the Covid 19 pandemic and the findings of the report will help us review the education policy to try to cover the educational losses.
According to the report,UN charter as well as in
However, the teleschool initiative taken by the federal government yielded positive results. Around 32pc reported that they took some learning support from Pakistan Television (PTV) teleschool program and 40pc of children who had smartphones available in their households reported that they used them for continuing learning.
Speaking about this, M Ali Kemal, the economic policy adviser at the SDG support unit, ministry of planning and development and reform, added that 63pc of the children were getting support from their families and over 22 million children were not going to school.
Unfortunately, the learning losses for children in grade three were most significant. Class three children who can read an Urdu story dropped from 19pc in 2019 to 15pc in 2021, while those who can read English sentences dropped from 21pc in 2019 to 8 per cent in 2021. It was also highlighted in the report that those who can solve two-digit division sum, their percentage declined from 17pc to 10pc. This shows that children in their early years were affected the most, as they could not grasp the foundational concepts of different subjects.
Overall, the study reveals a gloomy picture of learning losses faced by the Pakistani students who are already getting educated in a frail system. Though the government has taken some excellent initiatives for the promotion of education under the EHSAAS waseela-e-taleem program and various teachers training programs, it is high time for the government to devise programs to support the learning of all children. A special focus needs to be placed on young children and girls, especially those in grade three for foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN). Moreover, improving the quality and access of internet across the country can help in facilitating the connections and collaborations of students from the whole country on digital platforms to enhance the learning journey for the weaker ones. Though the schools have reopened across the country, the teleschool initiative should stay in place to act as an additional resource/ tuition facility for the students.
The report signifies the role education can play in the society, as only those students with educated parents were able to continue their academic journey in the time of a global crisis. Hence, the government should make wholesome efforts to provide uniform education to all citizens, as the society cannot prosper unless all the members of the society are formally and vocationally educated.
