UNIT 4: EDUCATIONAL POLICIES IN AN

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

4.1 FIRST EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE OF

PAKISTAN (1947)

INTRODUCTION:
 Historical Background
Owing to the limited educational progress in India, the regions comprising the
newly formed Pakistan lacked in many respects, especially education. About 85%
of the country’s population was illiterate. Therefore, after independence 1947, a
conference was held in order to build an education system in Pakistan. It was
arranged in Karachi under the chairmanship of Mr. Fazl ur Rehman (Minister of
Interior, Information, Broadcasting and Education) and lasted from 29th November
till 1st December.

 Quaid’s Message
As a first step towards education development in Pakistan, the National Education
Conference in 1947 was found. Quaid-e-Azam conveyed the message:

"There is no doubt that the future of our State will and must greatly depend upon
the type of education we give to our children, and the way in which we bring
them up as future citizens of Pakistan ..... We should not forget that we have to
compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction.”

 Major Aspects from Quaid’s Message:

 Education system should suit the genius of Pakistan.
 It should be consonant with our history and culture.
 It should inculcate high sense of honor and integrity.
 It should emphasis on science and technology.

 Salient Features of Educational Conference 1947 :

 Amalgamation of moral, social and vocational elements that an educational
system is made of.
 Compulsory Primary education.
 Compulsory Physical education.
 Compulsory Military training in Colleges.
 Training of Citizens.
 The literacy issues.
 Technical and Vocational education.
 Education for women.
 Establishment of Advisory board of education.
 Establishment of Inter-Universal board.
 Promotion of Scientific research.
 Establishment of Overseas scholarship schemes.
 The problem of medium of instruction.

 Dimensions of Education
In accordance with the discussions from the conference, the dimensions of
education are three:

1. SPIRITUAL

Education must go hand in hand with Islamic values.

2. SOCIAL

Compulsory education in Pakistan should be made free of cost.

3. VOCATIONAL

Emphasis should be given on science and technical education.

 Advantages of the Conference
 The Committee was pragmatic in its efforts, suggesting multi- dimensional
approaches to educational policy making.
 It considered and dealt with issues regarding teacher training, teaching
materials for adult schools, instruction methodologies, etc.
 It prevented uniform codes of conduct and any rigid distinctions in
education for adults.

 Disadvantages:
 Being the first ever educational policy of a new born country it was far-
fetched in its aims. Pakistan was still coping with numerous administrative
problems and the rising number of immigrants and thus low on resources
to actually implement on the policy.
 The foundations of the policy were weak as no solid provisions were made
for higher technical, commercial or vocational education despite its
emphasis.
 Enough attention couldn’t be paid to the primary education sector due to
the shortage of trained teachers and infrastructure.

CONCLUSION
The educational conference 1947 was a strong initial step undertaken by Mr. Fazl
ur Rehman with the guidance of our beloved Quaid and indicated towards a more
promising future in the field of education for Pakistan.
4.2 NATIONAL EDUCATION COMMISSION
(1959)

INTRODUCTION:
Also known as the Sharif Commission, National Commission of education was
adopted under the chairman ship of S.M .Sharif by the government on 30 th
December 1958. It was introduced to meet the requirements of the education
system that the preceding commission failed to fulfill.

The new commission was launched by President Muhammad Ayub Khan on 5 th

January [Link] by 26th August 1959, the Commission had submitted its 350
page report.

 Salient Features:
The areas of education the Commission covered are as follows:

 Higher Education
 Primary Education
 Secondary Education
 Vocational Education
 Adult Education
 Physical Education
 Religious Education
 Military Training
 Special Education for disabled children

 Objectives
The National Commission worked to achieve the following objectives:
1) Training and educating citizens to develop strong leadership skills required
for the good of country.
2) To fulfill the basic requirements and aspirations of fellow countrymen on an
indivisual as well as collective level.
3) Provision of necessary opportunities and vocational education to citizens in
order to ensure a progressive and skilled democratic state.
4) Solidifying the concept of a unified nation by preserving patriotic ideas.
5) Promulgating fraternity and sense of unity among citizens.
6) To create a social state and work for the welfare of our nation.
7) Promoting commercial development
8) Professionally training people in the field of science and engineering.
9) Ensuring character building and enhancement of intellectual abilities.
10) Promoting spirituality and morality in indivisuals.

 Advantages:
 It was opined that Education System must compare favorably with other
systems.
 The commission, through its objectives, strived to eliminate illiteracy from
Pakistan.
 Character building of indivisuals was given considerable importance.
 Primary Education was made compulsory.
 Importance was given to scientific and technical fields of education.
 National Language was made medium of interaction.

 Disadvantages:
 Lack of resources to implement on the plan.
 Lack of Manpower.
 Despite the useful recommendations of the Commission, the country was in
a dire situation and was not fit to follow through with the Commission’s
objectives.
CONCLUSION:
The Sharif Commission came about in 1959 and educators, representatives of
industry and commerce, officers of the civil and defense services and leading
personalities of public life, contributed to the commission report. Had not the
situation of the country been dire, the report would have had more chance at
success.
4.3 EDUCATION POLICY 1972-1980

INTRODUCTION:
This education policy introduced ‘Basic Ideology’, its implementation and
preservation on both indivisual and national level. It was proposed that the policy
would be continuously reviewed and evaluated by Education Councils and that
the Councils would be set up at district, provincial, federal as well as institutional
level. The Councils were to have MNA’s, MPA’s and members of the Local Bodies
and the representatives of the teachers unions, student, government
departments & other agencies.

 Salient features:
 Encouragement and promotion of the Basic Ideology in Pakistan.
 Eradication of illiteracy among adults by the establishment of National
Literacy Corps, which was to have core team of trainers to train adults for
Literacy Centers nationwide.
 Equality in education.
 It announced free & universal education up to Class X for both girls & boys
 Curriculum was formulated on socioeconomic needs of the society.
 Integration of vocational and technical education with general education.
 Active participation of teacher, students and parents in educational affairs.
 Nationalization of educational institutions.

 Advantages:
 According to the policy, children of elementary were promised free
textbooks and reading material.
 Introduced practical and innovative teaching/ learning methodologies in
higher secondary schools.
 Religious education was given considerable importance.
 The policy recognized the lack of female participation in educational
institutions and thus encouraged girl child enrollment.
 This policy was a revolution in the history of educational ideologies in
Pakistan.

 Disadvantages:
 Too much focus on agro technical studies.
 The policy did not follow the pattern of Universal Basic Education.

CONCLUSION
The policy had a promising start but could not be achieved due to some flaws in
it.

4.4 NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 1979

INTRODUCTION:
This education policy was introduced after the normalization of education
institutions in Pakistan. It was put forward by a military led government. The
President of Pakistan Mr. Fazal Illah Chaudhry announced the new policy in 1979
after calling a meeting on October 1977.

 Objectives:
 It was an extension of the previous policies concerning the improvement
of facilities and enrollment in primary schools.
 Mosques were to become a part of the formal primary education
system.
 Instilling Islamic valued in individuals by amalgamating religious
education with the universal education.
 Building character in accordance with the morals of Quran and Sunnah.
 The national language Urdu was to be made the official medium of
interaction in institutions and offices across the nation.
 Provision of professional training opportunities by the government.
 Active participation of the community in literacy programs.
 Integration of scientific and technical education.
 Separate institutes for males and females owing to the religious moral
values.

CONCLUSION:
Although the policy of 1979 gave much thought to the integration of Islamic
Ideology into our education system, its objectives were not acted upon and thus
could not achieve success.

4.5 EDUCATION POLICY 1998-2010

INTRODUCTION:
On January 1988, the Prime Minister of Pakistan advised the Education Ministry
to come up with a new educational policy. As a result, scholars, administrators,
leaders of public opinion and representatives of non-governmental organizations
were consulted and an initial draft was drawn up.

The first revised draft was submitted to the Cabinet on 18th February 1998. The
final Policy was announced in March 1998.

 Salient features:
 It was decided that all education and training will be done in the light of
Holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet [P.B.U.H]. The aim was to promote
religious practice in Muslims.
 To boost the literary rate of Pakistan up to 70% by 2010.
 The policy stressed on the importance of elementary education and
described its legal obligation on the state according to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
 Education Sector reforms 2002-2004 were introduced which enunciated
the essence of universal primary education.
 Double shifts were started in all schools with the target with achieving
105% student enrollment by 2010 in the whole country.
 The provision of functional literacy to the youth belonging to working class
and those who missed out on primary education.
 Teacher-training, revising curricula and the improvement of management
and supervision system was also brought to focus.
 Technical and vocational education for training manpower.
 Introduction to technological fields like telecommunication, electronics,
automation, sugar technology etc. to keep up with the challenging job
market.
 Plans to expand access to higher education up to 5% by 2010

CONCLUSION:
The education policy 1998-2010 is much updated in terms of provisions and
success rate to the previous reports. However, quality education Is still regarded
as a far fetched dream.