There is a longstanding debate in the Pakistani education sector regarding whether private schools are better than public schools. It is no secret that for decades, the government has neglected the education sector, and as a result, students studying in public schools are suffering.
Due to this, private schools are often automatically assumed to be the “blue-eyed boy” of the education sector in Pakistan. It is assumed that privately run schools offer a much higher quality of education, while also providing facilities and opportunities to students.
However, is this really the case? Are privately run schools in Pakistan truly better than their government-run counterparts? Does the quality of education provided by private schools actually justify their extremely high tuition fees?
The unfortunate choice is that private schools in Pakistan are by no means providing students with an exceptional standard of education. There are many pitfalls and shortcomings of private educational institutes that must be addressed in order to truly provide students with a good quality education.
The first and foremost complaint about private sector schools is the extremely expensive tuition fees. The high fees associated with private educational institutes deem it unaffordable for the average Pakistani household. There is also the question of ethics involved in the principle of putting such a high price tag on education, as it unfairly restricts students from attaining knowledge.
Despite paying sky-high fees, many privately operated schools still fail to provide their students with a comfortable and spacious learning environment. There is a trend in Pakistan of opening privately operated schools within residential areas and homes, which means that the size of classrooms is considerably small. Since these schools will admit the maximum number of children for maximum profitability, it means that often times, a large number of students are squeezed into small and congested classrooms. This deprives students from receiving a comfortable learning experience. While there are some private schools that have large campuses, it is still a common trend in Pakistan to have classrooms the size of a bedroom, or even a closet.
Even outside the classrooms, many profit-making schools offer students limited space and facilities. It is common for private schools to have a small outside area. This means that students do not have enough space to play sports or roam around during their break times. As a result, students in private schools are often deprived of opportunities for physical activity. This negatively impacts their learning abilities, as physical exercise is necessary for optimal brain function and learning. While there are public schools that have large campuses and fields for students to use, several privately operated schools in Pakistan neglect this aspect of education.
Since there is no authoritative body that controls the standard of education in privately run schools, there is no guarantee of a set curriculum. Often times, there is no proper syllabus or curriculum being followed in privately run schools. This is a problem with public schools too, however, as the government has not paid attention to developing and ensuring the implementation of a set curriculum in the education sector. Privately run schools are free to choose which education board to follow, whether it is the local board, GCE, or American standard education. However, there are no sureties of effective implementation of the curriculum.
Clearly, there are several problems in the education sector, both with private and public schools. In order to truly achieve improvement in the Pakistani education sector, it is important and necessary to address the issues in both types of schools, and work towards overcoming these problems.
Cutting slack to privately run institutions on the basis that “at least they are better than public schools” will cause these schools to become complacent, and will hinder any chance of improvement in these schools. Thus, all schools within the Pakistani education sector must be held accountable for improving their standard and quality of education.
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