Definition of

Education
The word education is derived from Latin word Educare which
means to bring up, to nourish. Aggarwal(1988, p.89) foundEducation
is a way bring out and the development of all inherent potentials of an
individuals. Education is undoubtedly provided formally and
systematically in teaching institutions (Aeth,1975). But it does not
end there. It is a continuous process and goes on from cradle to the
grave.

Definition of education in English:

noun
1The process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or
university: a new system of public education

DIFFERENT AIMS OF EDUCATION

The Vocational Aim
The vocational aim is also known as the utilitarian aim or the
bread and butter aim. The above stated ideals of education are
useless unlessthese aims enable us to procure the primary
needs of our life- food, shelter and clothing. Education must
help the child to earn his livelihood. Education, therefore, must
prepare the child for some future profession or vacation or
trade. The vocational aim is a narrow aim of education.
Therefore, the vocational aim is not a complete aim by itself.
The Knowledge or Information Aim
Educationists who hold the knowledge or information aim of
education justify their stand with powerful arguments. They
argue that knowledge is indispensable for all right action and it
is the source of all power. It is knowledge which makes a
realist a visionary successful in any profession.
The Culture Aim

The cultural aim of education has been suggested to

supplement the narrow view of knowledge aim. The cultural aim
of education is no doubt a nice aim as it produces men of
culture. But it is ambiguous and has too many meanings. It
cannot serve as the major aim of education.
The Character Formation Aim or the Moral Aim
Character is the cream of life and, as such, it should be the aim
of education. Vivekananda and Gandhi both emphasized
character building in education. Character formation or moral
education is concerned with the whole conduct of man. The
Secondary Education Commission (1951-52) has rightly
remarked: character education has to be visualized not in a
social vacuum but with reference to contemporary socioeconomic and political situation. Therefore, we can conclude
that only character building cannot be the aim of education.
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The Spiritual Aim
The idealist thinkers have opined that the spiritual
developmentof an individual should be the supreme aim of
education. Mahatma Gandhi has attached great importance to
spiritual vales in education.
The Adjustment Aim
Adjustment is the primary rule of human life. Without
adjustment to environment none can survive. Life is a struggle
for adjustment. In the words of Horney: Education should be
mans adjustment to his nature, to his fellows and to the
ultimate nature of the cosmos.
The Leisure Aim
Free and unoccupied time of an individual is generally known
as leisure. It is a time when we can use it in a creative way.
During leisure we can pursue an activity for own sake and not
for earning a living, which is dull and monotonous. During
leisure we can also regain our lost energy and enthusiasm.
Leisure can make our life dynamic and charming.
The Citizenship Training Aim
A citizen has to perform multifarious civic duties and
responsibilities. Children should be so trained by education that

they can successfully discharge their various civic duties and

responsibilities.
The Complete Living Aim
Some educationists have insisted upon the need of an allcomprehensive aim of education. This viewpoint has led to the
development of two aims- the complete living aim and the
harmonious development aim. According to Horney there is
no one final aim, subordinating all lesser aims to itself... There
is something in all these aims but not everything in any one of
them.
The Harmonious Development Aim
Educationists are of the opinion that all the powers and
capacities inherited by a child should be developed
harmoniously and simultaneously.
The Social Aim
From the above discussion it is clearly evident that no individual
can live and grow without social context. Individual life became
unbearable to man and that is why he formed society.Individual
security and welfare depend on the society. Individual
improvement is conditioned by social progress.Education
should make each individual socially efficient. A socially efficient
individual is able to earn his livelihood.
PROCESS OF EDUCATION
Education by Accretion or Storage
According to this view, education is the process of gradually
filling up the empty mind of the child with grains of knowledge.
The teachers mind and the books are the store-houses of
mental granary of the child. This is called the gold-sack
theory. The books and the teacher are the sources of the
springs of knowledge. From these sources the stream of
knowledge is to be piped into the empty vassal of the childs
mind. This is humorously called the pipeline theory. Obviously
education and knowledge is regarded as the ultimate
educational aim.
14

The supporters of the theory of education by accretion hold that

knowledge is essential means of prompting human welfare.
With the invention of the conventional symbols of language, it
was easy to record, pressure and to transmit human experienc
es systematically. The theory is really narrow and unsound. It
neglects the essential elements in the theory of knowledge .It
regards knowledge as information of acts and statements to be
condensed into compact and logical forms and memorized by
the pupils.
This theory is quite un-psychological as it neglects the child
who is to be educated, his innate equipments for bearing, his
inherited potentialities, propensities, attitudes and abilities, the
psychological processes and products of learning.
Education as formation of mind
Education as formation tries to form the mind by a proper
presentation of materials. It is formation of mind by setting up
certain associationor connection of content by means of a
subject matter.
Education as preparation
Education as preparation is a process of preparation or getting
ready for the responsibilities and privileges of adult life
preparation for complete living, this theory is the outcome of
modern scientific tendency in education and has for its
exponents men like Herbert Spencer, T. H. Huxley and others.
Education as mental discipline
The theory of mental discipline is a traditional concept of
education. It was in vogue in the Western countries for many
centuries. It is still highly popular even today in our country.
According to this theory, the process of learning is more import
ant than the thing learned. This theory is based upon the
traditional Faculty Theory of psychology according to which
the mind is divided into a good number of separate faculties
such as memory, attention, reasoning, imagination, perception,
thinking judgment etc. Johan Locke was the classic represent
ative of this theory. The outer world presents the material or
content of knowledge, through passively received sensations.

After the simple stuff of experience is furnished by the senses,

ones ideas,judgments, etc. are formed through the perfection
of intellect.
Education as growth and development
It is a modern concept of education. Change is the law of
nature. Man undergoes changes and transformations from
cradle to grave. These changes may be of different types such
as physical, mental, moral and emotional. Two factors, training
and environment condition every change. The original nature of
man can be changed either by training on by his reaction to the
environment.
Whenever there is change there is growth. Through change, a
living organism can take entirely a new shape and this again
gives him powers to grow. Thus, Growing is education and
getting education is growing.
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Education as direction
Educate a child means directing the child in the proper
direction. The young learners have innate powers, attitudes,
interests and instincts. It is the essential function of education
to direct those inborn instincts and powers properly in socially
acceptable and desirable channels. The native impulses of the
child may not conform to the socially accepted norms and
behaviour patterns. So the child has to be directed, controlled
or guided. It is the duty of the teacher to see that the active
tendencies of children are not dispersed aimlessly.These are to
be directed at various phases of life for their proper satisfaction.
Education as adjustment and self-activity
Adjustment is essential to an individual for self-development.
Education gives an individual the power of adjustment in an
efficient manner. Through education, the child learns to adjust
with the environment. That is why it is said education is ad
justment and adjustment is education. In the process of
continuous growth man has to adjust in multifarious and diverse
life situations and environment. This is called adjustment and it
requires self-activity. So education is nothing but adjustment
through self-activity.

Education as social change and progress

A society is a well-organized human community. A
conglomeration of people may not create a society. There must
be active co-operation and intimate interaction among the
members of the community. A society is not constant or static.It
is rather dynamic and subject to change. A society is composed
of individuals and when the ideas of individuals change the
society is bound to change.
According to Maciver social change is a process, which
influences and change human life in different directions.
Change is the law of human life and society. The function of
education is to maintain thisprogressive trend.
Education as Process Socialization
Education is a process both in the narrower as well as in the
wider sense. Ancient people used to collect facts and
information about nature for survival. This is nothing but
education. In the wider sense, education is acquisition of
experience throughout life. Experience brings changes in
human life and behaviour. It is the primary function of formal
education to accelerate and facilitate social
progress

education is third eye of a man

In my opinion Education is a gateway to success. It is
considered as a third eye of men. It enlightened the mental
outlook of individuals and gives sense of judgment and
understanding among masses. Education is now becomes a
necessity without proper education you cannot attain superior
or respectable status in society. It is the need of an hour.
Education is the foundation stone of successful nation. It flows
in the society as blood flows inside the body. It created
awareness and capacity to work in organized manner.
Education possesses great importance in our society. A person
who is educated considered as the mighty men in the social

spheres .so in this regards education holds great position in the

internal as well as external sphere of country.
In Pakistani society, Education can play an important role
towards political stability, economic development and social
progress. The under-developed education system of Pakistan
has created many evils in the country. According to most of the
social scientists and experts, poor role of education system is
critical factor of political instability, economic upheavals and
social disorganization. Nevertheless, vital role and significance
of education system is largely neglected in Pakistan unveiling a
plethora of problems and challenges.
I must say that there are some basic problems regarding the
education system of Pakistan,. First Education system of
Pakistan is lacking enough funds for installing proper
infrastructure development. Second, there are many parallel
education systems which whip up discrimination among the
people. Third, there is lack of creative and practical education
which could provide the power for research and modernism in
the society. Fourth, education system is unable to meet
properly to students to make them true human beings who can
promote and protect the society. And fifth, faculty of teachers is
lacking properly towards its duties.

Our country got independence almost 65 years ago, since then, it cannot be said that a
public sector has not even fulfilled the requirement of the people of Pakistan by providing
them good education.
The contribution imparted by this sector is a little bit worth to be maintained. Our
government system is moving towards destruction due to which not only the teachers
are taking interest, nor the students are getting satisfied.
Now, day by day, situation is getting so worst that in government institutions, teacher
does not comes regularly which is definitely resulting in destroying the education system
of Pakistan.
Even, nowadays, the cheating has also become so common that, it is destroying the
image of our education sectors. In my opinion, the basic reason behind this nuisance in
our country is wide spread corruption.
I must say, our government should be blamed for all this, because they are not properly

providing the funds to the institutions, or else, if the funds are provided, then they are
being misused by our senior government staffs.
Secondly, our education has always remained as an orphan child in our society by facing
double standard which is thus creating an atmosphere of frustration for the young ones.
This is so because, our government themselves have divided the education system into
several different boards.
Thus, this is creating a vast difference in the minds of the high and low class people for
educating their generations.
Kindly, I request you to please put an eye on this matter and take my advice as an
appeal to the media and to our President.
I am raising my voice, so that they must ponder of how to bring a change in our
education system to improve our society.
If our society will improve, then it would definitely help our country to move towards
success and prosperity.

A problematic education system could not make Pakistan strong like other
countries. The government and civil must play their parts to promote the quality
of education. And the slogan of free education should be prevailing in the
Pakistan, which provides equal opportunities to all and makes the students true
human beings. It is a time, government should take rapid step to save the life of
people of Pakistan through implementation of proper policies.
Now lets have a cursory look on the remedies or initiatives which should be
taken by government. Government should come forward with proper policies.
Firstly, it should remove gender discrimination. This concept should be removed
instantly because we are entered in to a modernized world. With this primitive
idea, no one gets success. Campaign should be launched in an organized manner
to remove this distinction.
Secondly, dual system of education should be treated with equality. Government
should joined hands with private investors to invest in public sector to remove
this distinction. Well balance system of education creates equal opportunities.
Thirdly, Regional disparities of Baluchistan, Punjab and NWFP Should be removed
with conscious and sound policies.
Fourthly, massive funds should be allocated in this sector to boost it. It will raise
the quality education. Standard of education should be improved with this effort.
Fifthly, Grassroots corruption should be viewed and removed with strict
punishments.
Sixthly, favoritism concept should be removed. It also created negative impact in
society. This is the main factor of education backwardness.
Seventhly, women education should be promoted. It is said earlier that educated
women give birth to educated nation.

Eighthly, merit principles should be introduced properly. It creates a sense of

competition. By following this method competent people come to lead the
country.
Thus it is clear that education is very important in our society. It directs the right
platform to individuals. It gives a sense of self perpetuation and self expression.
Awareness, freedom of thought, leading capacities all are emerges from
education. Through education, educated people come forward to lead the nation.
National integration is promoted. Concept of nationalism emerges through
education.

2 I NDIGENO

The Education Policy: 1972-80

11

The 1972-1980 Education Policy was drafted in a somewhat matter of fact

tone and refrained from philosophical pronouncements. It aimed at
eradicating illiteracy within the shortest possible time through
universalization of elementary education and a massive adult education
programme and at equalizing access to education through provision of
special facilities for women, under-privileged groups and mentally-retarded
country ... in both Government and privately-manage and physically-ha
ndicapped children and adults in all areas in general and the backward
areas in particular.
It declared that education will be made free and universal up to Class X for
all children throughout the d schools. Private schools will be suitably
supported for the loss of fees incurred by them. It was anticipated that
primary education up to Class V will become universal for boys by 1979
and for girls by 1984" and further that elementary education will become
universal up to Class VIII ... for boys by 1982 and for girls by 1987. The
earlier objective of compulsory education was discarded.
The Policy proposed to construct 61,000 additional class-rooms for primary
classes, train 150,000 teachers, and recruit anadditional 75,000 teachers
through the National
Literacy Corps.
The 1972 Policy identified 40 million adult illiterates in the country and
declared that a "massive literacy programme will be undertaken in every
town, and village (and) literacy centres will be established all over the
country in schools, factories, farms, union council halls and other community
places." A target of establishing 276,000 literacy centres to educate 11
million persons was fixed for the period 1972-80.

The 1972 Policy was overtaken somewhat mid-stream by the military coup
d'etat in 1977, leading to significant shift in priorities. The egalitarian
principles enunciated by the ousted government had yet to see the light of the
day in practice. However, they were literally "expunged" under the new
dispensation.
The Fifth Five Year Plan was prepared and launched a year later. However,
the new education policy was not announced until two years later in 1979.

Report of the Commission on National Education: 1959

7

The 1959 Education Policy commenced with a harangue on the undesirable

attitudes of the people towards public duty, government, nation-building, ma
nual work and education. It called upon the people to revise their concept of
government and their relationship to it, for a corresponding
transformation ... within government and among its officials, for a revision
of attitudes on the part of the professional educator, for the traditional
views toward education ...held by people ... to bealtered, and so on. It
lamented that less than 50 percent of the children of primary school age were
enrolled in schools and recommended eight years compulsory education to
make
the child functionally literate. Regarding adult education, the Report
admitted that during the last 30 years a number of campaigns have been
launched to eradicate illiteracy, but only very limited results were achieved
Defining the objectives of the educational system, it stated that the reorienta
tion and reorganization of education in Pakistan which we have suggested
will ... provide us with the trained manpower, educated citizenry, and
competent leadership we require. Stating the objectives of adult education, it
said: "the aim of adult education cannot be anything other than the general
aim of all education, i.e., the development of the individual to his full
capacity in his personal and social life so that he may be a happy, healthy and
useful citizen and able to make his optimum contribution to the community
in which he lives ... Starting with the pressing needs and problems of the
community concerned, it may, in the long run, include skills of
reading,writing, speaking, listening, and calculation; vocational skills;
domestic skills; skills of self-expression in arts and crafts; personal and
community hygiene; simple and practical science; civics; economics;
spiritual and moral development; and training in reasoning and scientific
thinking."
The lofty aims were, however, qualified thus: "Before these broader aims can
be achieved, the population must be made literate, and therefore thedevelopm

ent of a literate population must be the immediate primary objective of adult

education in Pakistan." It further stated that: We are well aware that ours is
not the first set of proposals for reform of our educational system. Our hope
is that it may be the first to be translated into both prompt and long-term
action.
A target of achieving compulsory universal enrolment in 15 years, i.e., by
1975, was also specified. It called for curriculum reform to develop the
basic skills in reading, writing and arithmetic, a liking for working with ones
own hands, and a high sense of patriotism, for religious education to be
made compulsory, and for teaching in national languages.
It also called for improved facilities in school buildings and furniture and for
involving the localcommunity in the opening, upkeep, and operation of
primary schools. To achieve mass literacy, it recommended somewhat
unique, if not fanciful, strategies for eradication of illiteracy.
It proposed: (i) use ofschool children as teachersto make their parents
literate, (ii) use of undergraduate college students as adult literacy teachers,
and (iii) use of one literate adult to teach another under the "each one teach
one" approach. No target for the literacy rate was specified.
7. Government of Pakistan,
Ministry of Education,
Report of the Commission on National Education
, 1959

National Education Policy: 1998-2010

28

The 1998 Education Policy acknowledged that Education is now universally

recognized to be the prime key to moral, cultural, political and socio
economic development of a nation. Nations taking bold initiatives in this
regard, have made revolutionary reforms and performed miracles during the
last two decades. It, however, lamented that We have an unprecedented
history of producing excellent documents of plans and policies which could
not be implemented. It opined that The 1951 census brought to light that
the literacy ratio had declined to 13 percent compared to that at the time of
Independence of Pakistan. The present rate of literacy is estimated to be 38.9
percent signifying that literacy rate is gradually increasing at the rate of half a
percent during the last fifty years. Consequently, Pakistan stands at 142nd
position among 160 countries, and among SAARC countries, its position is
6th. It is certainly a depressing scenario. Continuing the lament, it said:
In Pakistan, the overall strategy, during the period from 1947 to 1997 has
remained one of expansion of the existing system and efforts have been
directed solely to the establishment of more of the existing type of formal
institutions ... After spending scarce resources we have come to the

conclusion that our approach of mere expansion has been very simplistic ....
In spite of the huge investmentmade, the successive failure of the loud
promises made in every plan and with every educational policy and putting
off the well marked out deadlines, has created a credibility gap.
The Policy further bemoaned: The Eighth Five-Year Plan (1993-98)
allocated Rupees 1.750 billion (US $ 43.75 million approx.) for Adult
Literacy Programs to make 16.86 million people literate. This comes to about
Rupees one thousand per person to become literate. For the attainment of the
objectives and the targets of this policy in letter and spirit, a comprehensive
pragmatic, realistic, and well-monitored plan of operation should have been
prepared; implying that it was not done.
Taking stock of the present situation, it stated that: "there are 145,000
primary schools in the public sector, including about 37,000 mosque schools.
One third of primary schools are female schools. In addition, 7,177 NonFormal Basic Education Schools are run by the Prime Ministers Literacy
Commission. The shortage of physical facilities and equipment is critical.
About 25,000 primary schools are without school buildings ... Most of the
one room schools in the rural areas are made of a mixture of mud and
wood ... Majority of the schools do not have toilets and water facilities. There
is also a shortage of desks, chairs and some schools do not even have mats
for the pupils to sit on ... Teaching kits were developed and distributed to 30
per
cent of primary schools in early eighties but it was found that these kits were
locked in the Headmistresss/Headmasters room and were never used.
The Policy recalled provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948), whereby it is stated: Elementary education is the fundamental right
of all people, men and women, of all types of areas and places, irrespective of
gender, sect, religion or any other denomination. Everyone has the right to
education and The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which
states that the child has a right to education and it is the States duty ensure
that primary education is free and compulsory. It also recalled
Pakistansinternational commitments, such as the World Declaration on
Education For All (1990) and the Delhi Summit Declaration (1993), to
double the rate of literacy by the year 2000. A unique feature of the 1998
Policy is the massive involvementof foreign donor agencies in the education
and literacy effort. Agencies providing assistance in elementary education
projects and programmes include the World Bank, ADB, UNDP, UNESCO,
UNICEF, DFID, JICA, NORAD, GTZ, OPEC, EU, and others
While the Seventh Plan had specifically rejected non-formal education and
opted unambiguously for formal education, the 1998 Policy reinforced the
strategic shift in the 1992 Policy towards non-formal education with a virtual

condemnation of the formal education system. It stated that millions of

children have been deprived of elementaryeducation not because institutional
facilities did not exist but primary education clashed with their jobs, since it
was organized only as a full-time program during the day. Promoting the
idea of non-formal education, it stated that The idea is certainly not a new
one. The practice is almost perennial. The consciousness that learning has to
be co-existent with life isas old as mankind. All traditional societies had, in
one way or the other, some learning practices within all periods of ones life
and as part and parcel of ones overall activities.
It is only in the more recent times that learning and education became timebound and space-bound, mostly limited to some age groups, predominantly
professionalized, institutionalized and sociologically and pedagogically
programmed. This reflects in reality the basic trends in the global evolution
of our contemporary societies, which are increasingly over organized and
over structured, leaving less and less scope for creativity, imagination, choice
and peoples real participation ... The increased emphasison non-formal
learning stems from the awareness that institutionalized, time and
space-bound education does not correspond to the requirements of todays
societies. The concept of non-formal education is based on an integral
educational philosophy rather than the piecemeal and diffused practices
stimulated by working or living exigencies.
Hence, the non-formal learning concept today is comprehensive answer to
the identified needs."
The Policy relating to elementary education policy was based on agreed
themes and strategies of Social
Action Program, such as improving the quality, expanding access for out of
school children, especially disadvantaged groups, improving management
and supervisory services, capacity building, institutional development and
financial sustainability. The major issues and challenges of elementary
education were identified as:
1.More than 5.5 million primary school age (5-9) children are left-outs.
2.Approximately 45 percent children drop-out of school at the primary level.
3.Teacher absenteeism is a common malady inschools, specially in the rural
areas.
4.Instructional supervision is weak at the elementary level.
5.About one-fourth of primary school teachers are untrained and the present
training infrastructure does not appear to improve the quality of instruction.
6.Learning materials are inadequate and of poor quality. Teaching methods
are harsh and uncongenial for learning and motivating pupils.
The Policy proposed to construct 190,000 new formal primary schools,
250,000 non-formal basic education centres, and 57,000 mosque schools,

upgrade 60,000 primary schools, begin double shifts in 20,000 existing

primary schools, and recruit 527,000 additional teachers. Necessary resources
were also been pledged at the highest level to raise the expenditure on
education from 2.2 to 4 percent of GNP.
It also proposed to launch: a massive Non-Formal Basic Education Program
on a war footing ... to provide access economically and expeditiously to all
the 5.5 million primary school age (5-9 year old) children who are at present
out-of-school. The 10-14 year old adolescents and youth who have missed
primary education will be given a second chance through a crash condensed
course to enable them to complete primary education cycle in 2-3 year time."
It, thus, expected that by the year 2002-03, 90 percent of the children in the
primary age group (5-9) will be in schools and by the year 2010, the gross
enrolment will rise to 105 per cent. Consequently, the promulgation and
enforcement of Compulsory Primary Education Act will be possible by 200405.
The Policy also recognized that the current literacy rate is estimated at 38.9
percent, 27 percent for females, and 8 percent for rural females and proposed
to raise the literacy rate to 55 percent during the first five years and 70percent
by 2010. The implementation strategy is as heroic as that of the abortive
National Literacy Plan: 1984-86. The Policy proposes to launch a National
Literacy Movement on an emergency basis in every village, tehsil and
district, increase the existing Non-Formal Basic Education (NFBE)
community schools/centres from 7000 to 82,000, utilize mosques as one of
the means to provide non-formal basic education to increase literacy, render
it mandatory for all industrial units and federal and provincial agencies, like
WAPDA, Pakistan Steel, OPF, PTV, PBC, etc., to make their employees and
their dependents literate, put Boy Scouts and Girl Guides at the service of
literacy programs, establish Literacy Corps comprising of College/University
students/teachers for literacy programs during vacations, issue driving and
ammunition licenses only to literate persons, condone, accordingly, the
duration of a prisoners term of imprisonment if s/he becomes literate, utilize
radio and television for social mobilization and promotion of the cause of
basic education, particularly amongst rural females, and for imparting skills
to neo-literates, require Khakas/Mazars to donate a portion of their earning to
the literacy fund, and link development grants to local governments with
literacy programmes.