Author Detail: Bashir Ahmad MScN scholar at Aga Khan University, School of Nursing and Midwifery. He is also a Gold medalist in BScN Post RN. He has over 10 years of clinical and teaching experience.
Education plays a crucial role in the development of a nation. It creates awareness, enhances critical thinking, and enables individuals to lead others better. Every child deserves a quality education regardless of background, status, gender, or capabilities. However, children are facing barriers in receiving quality education across the globe, especially in Pakistan. According to a report by UNESCO, Pakistan ranks second globally in terms of the number of children not enrolled in school (Sain & Ii, 2023). Quality education is the fourth important goal in sustainable developmental goals (SDGs) to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Therefore, meeting SDG-4, highlighting the challenges and hurdles in providing education, and formulating possible solutions is imperative.
Pakistan is facing many challenges in delivering standard education to its citizens. The primary barrier to quality education is the lack of trained and qualified teachers in the teaching institutes, leading to poor student performance (Amir et al., 2020). Another factor is poverty, as most children in rural areas need help paying school fees and buying books, uniforms, and transportation charges, resulting in dropouts from schools. Gender inequalities serve as another hurdle in access to education, as girls' education is still not encouraged in rural areas of Pakistan. Furthermore, the unavailability of a uniform curriculum is another obstacle to quality education. There needs to be more educational budget for quality education because it directly affects educational reforms. Therefore, it is vital to address these issues to ensure the education of all citizens.
The government of Pakistan has initiated specific strategies like monitoring teachers, giving incentives to the students, and providing free books at the school level. However, more actions will be required to solve this issue, which includes teacher professional development and reforms in the curriculum (Pierszalowski et al., 2018). Furthermore, the education budget should be increased to help establish high-standard libraries and laboratories and give scholarships. Moreover, community leaders must be engaged in creating awareness regarding gender inequalities and motivating and encouraging people for girls' education.
In summary, every child has the right to quality education. Unfortunately, children in Pakistan face barriers to receiving quality education. Therefore, actions like teacher training, increasing education funds, giving incentives to students, making a uniform curriculum, and involving local leaders are required to ensure quality and equitable education for all students.
References
Amir, S., Sharf, N., & Khan, R. A. (2020). Pakistan’s education system: An analysis of education policies and drawbacks. Electronic Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3549953
Pierszalowski, S., Vue, R., & Bouwma-Gearhart, J. (2018). Overcoming Barriers in Access to High-Quality Education After Matriculation: Promoting Strategies and Tactics for Engagement of Underrepresented Groups in Undergraduate Research via Institutional Diversity Action Plans. The Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 19. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324825737
Sain, Z., & Ii, R. (2023). Navigating Educational Challenges in Pakistan: Unraveling Issues and Proposing Remedies. International Journal of Integrative Sciences, 2, 2117-2126. https://doi.org/10.55927/ijis.v2i12.7485
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