![Custom Text](https://bolojawan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/New-top-banner-add-04.jpg")
Whenever a new crisis disrupts Pakistan, the first victim is the education system, and the first doors to close are those of a school. For the past two years, no matter if it is unprecedented rainfall, smog, or a political crisis, reduced learning days have become a issue. The new element this year was the fuel crisis leading to weeks of closure, and the introduction of a four-day school week. This, due the sheer volume of the curriculum, puts learners and particularly teachers in a race to finish the textbook instead of building foundational life skills.
In a recent episode of Let’s Talk Education, host Areebah Shahid puts teachers’ frustration before Senator Bushra Anjum, who chairs the Senate’s Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training.
“In a 40-minute period, 20 minutes go to attendance and another 10 to getting 80 children to settle down. What’s left is barely a lesson”, said Areebah Shahid
Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, responded with the question that matters the most: who protects the children carrying the cost?
Does curriculum define a learner’s IQ?
The Senator’s message was to fix the issue at the root. A child learns so much beyond the curriculum; that proves that diverging a little from the textbooks does not lower a child’s IQ. The straightforward solution to this crisis is to rethink the curriculum and reduce the overload to what matters most.
Reducing the curriculum is a fair idea. However, the issue is much more complex. Areebah pointed out how equity and access determine who learns.
An average child in a government school may not have access to digital tools and internet facilities at home or at school. On top of that, they do not have the awareness or guidance on how to effectively leverage these facilities.
“That child isn’t learning from YouTube on a closure day. Punjab’s students got only 127 school days last year. IQ was never the question. Whether a ten-year-old can read a simple story is.”, remarked Areebah Shahid
Poor planning or honest research?
School closures create additional learning losses, and this is where the planning must evolve to fill the gap. Senator Bushra pointed out that, “we are a hypocritical society that tries to bury our head in the sand, rather than addressing issues honestly.”
Parliamentary oversight can play a critical role in improving education service delivery and ensuring the most marginalised learners are catered to. However, effective planning and oversight cannot function in the dark. The Parliamentarians currently function with very limited research support in the absence of a dedicated policy research institute. Without its own evidence, Parliament plans around donor agendas and monitors by deadlines, not by what children actually learn.
Planning for Pakistan’s actual learning days
The shrinking school calendar is not a one-off occurrence. Hence, education planning must be built around it. The goal shouldn’t be finishing pages in a textbook. It must be ensuring that every child develops the foundational skills for their grade. This means prioritising core reading, writing and numeracy skills; an education issue Pakistan already struggles with.
Education departments should stop assuming that the academic calendar will be followed accurately. This requires innovative solutions,that can be reverted to immediately rather than improvising when a crisis has already happened. Lastly but most importantly, closing schools should be the last resort.
Pakistan cannot control every crisis. However, what can be controlled is how we can safeguard students’ learning loss in times of crisis.
Watch the full episode now!
