Education – a business

Want to earn money? Establish a private school. This is now the main motive behind establishing a school. Pakistan’s education system has evolved beyond recognition over the past three decades. Aided by insufficient public-sector investment and demand of the expanding population, the share of the private sector in education has increased significantly.

The first thing that strikes in our minds when we think about education is gaining knowledge. Education enables people to know their rights and duties toward their family, society as well as the nation. It develops the capabilities to fight against injustice, violence, corruption, and other bad elements in society. In this competitive world, education has become an important aspect of life.

A struggling economy, poor education, poor health resources, Pakistan is under pressure in all sectors. Since its creation, Pakistan is facing the problems of low literacy rates. The literacy rate, as compared to the other countries, is extremely low and has accordingly reduced by 60 percent to 58 percent, as revealed by the economic survey of Pakistan.

The basic problem – we don’t have facilities in public schools. The majority of public schools lack basic facilities, including clean drinking water, proper furniture, etc. Many government schools exist on paper only. The present government is also spending a large chunk of the budget on defence. Rs 1,289 billion were allocated for defence in the fiscal year 2020-2021.

On the other hand, private schools have also become a mafia in the country. Schools which were originally established for the purpose of providing education, are sidetracked and shift their aims to make money as much as possible. Afterward, they also increased their tuition fees. Many schools in the metropolis city are unaffordable for maximum citizens. Even the quality of education is compromised by not employing better teachers because of higher salaries.

Even in the current coronavirus situation, several private schools and universities have forcibly increased the fees despite government so-called orders.

How middle class persons can think about better education for their children? They compromised. And we are still thinking about what to do. The education mafia is seriously jeopardising the fate of the students. Education has become a cruel business and yet we remain silent.