MINISTER for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal always speaks with conviction and logic on issues of importance to the country and its people. Speaking at a consultative meeting of principals, teachers and parents of students from public educational institutions of Islamabad, he called for a major overhaul of the public education system, emphasizing a shift from rote learning to critical thinking, creativity, inquiry and practical learning to prepare students for emerging global challenges.
Critical learning processes – which shift education and thought from passive memorization to active analysis – are essential for independent judgment, problem-solving and navigating a complex world. However, it is ironic that the decades old practice of rote learning is still in vogue in Pakistan, which is the primary reason why the country has not benefited optimally despite producing hundreds of thousands of graduates. Young minds are curious and searching but most of the teachers rely on text-book lessons without caring for promoting critical thinking of their students. Apart from class-rooms, government-administered secondary, intermediate and board exams reward the verbatim reproduction of textbook paragraphs, formulas and essays rather than analytical reasoning or comprehension. Some school chains, which claim to clinch top positions in board examinations every year, conduct separate regular but rigorous memorization classes for select students and as a result students achieve high marks without reflecting functional literacy or critical thinking. That is why the system produces clerks rather than genuine researchers, engineers, scientists and technicians. Apart from class-room level reforms to discourage rote learning, there is dire need to introduce fundamental reforms in board exams, which should transition to analytical, unseen and application-based problem-solving formats that penalize memorization and reward logic. At the class-room level, the goal is realizable provided there is proper focus on teachers’ training, curriculum realignment and use of modern technologies. We hope the Planning Minister will not confine himself to pinpointing the most important challenge confronting our educational system but also coordinate formulation and then implementation of a strategy to address the problem.
