How to counter low achievement in Pakistan's primary schools

There has been much emphasis placed on getting Pakistani children into primary schools to ensure that they receive at least a basic education. While it is critical that children stay in school, it is equally important that they perform well.
Unfortunately in Pakistan, this does not usually happen. The basic competencies of children in a nationwide sample of 11 and 12-year-olds who had completed primary school were very low. Only 33.5 percent could read with comprehension and only 17.4 percent could write a letter. In one study, fewer than 10 percent of the representative sample was competent in basic reading and comprehension.
Similarly, in a 1995 comprehensive survey, a mere 20.7 percent of total students were competent at a level that is considered basic. The North West Frontier Province had the lowest achievement level at only 9.11 percent. Urban competencies were double those of rural areas (29.2 percent compared to 11.8 percent). In addition, in the rural NWFP, only 5.9 percent of girls could read with comprehension.
These figures clearly indicate that if Pakistan wants to move forward, it cannot simply focus on herding its children into school. It must ensure that they graduate from school with at least basic literacy skills. Otherwise, not only will the children and their families suffer, so will the country's economy. Pakistan will be deprived of highly skilled workers to boost economic development.
In order to raise the achievement levels of Pakistan's primary school students, a number of critical steps must be taken. The focus of these efforts must be to raise the quality of Pakistan's schools by improving teachers' ability to teach effectively and students' capacity and motivation to learn.
A higher level of learning achievement requires four things: a strong curriculum, the necessary tools for teaching, the proper tools for learning (textbooks and other learning materials); and time for learning.
A major problem with curriculum in many primary schools is that it is too ambitious. There are far too many subjects crammed in which reduces the time available for teaching basic literacy and numeracy. The curriculum must be modified to reduce the number of subjects taught.
In addition, there is a large discrepancy between the school's actual curriculum and the one implemented in schools and classrooms. This issue can be resolved by concentrating on the courses taught and the number of hours officially allocated to them.
Children typically learn by rote in Pakistan. They are taught from an early age to memorize entire passages from their textbooks and deliver these answers verbatim. Unfortunately, Pakistani textbooks are usually of substandard quality, replete with grammatical and factual errors and poorly bound, which means they do not last very long. Often, teachers are required to summarize the material since students find the books difficult to read because of poor printing.
There is clearly a need to produce better quality textbooks. There is also an urgent need for improved distribution. Often, students in far-flung regions do not have access to schoolbooks. In addition, teachers need to be trained in how to incorporate textbook material into the classroom's teaching curriculum and model. This can be done with the inclusion of teacher guides with the textbooks.
Proper teacher training is another element that can raise school achievement. While many teachers may be familiar with their subject matter, they are lacking in teaching know-how. Better training of teachers through established institutes, a revised curriculum, and vigorous pre- and in-service training will result in better teachers and, in turn, better student performance.
Finally, there is a big difference in Pakistan's schools between the official time for learning and the actual time for learning. The official time for learning must be increased and the actual learning time in classes has to match official time.
Worldwide, the official academic year for grades one to six averages 880 hours. However, in Pakistan, the official school year is only 180 days. Much time is lost due to unscheduled school closings, student and teacher absences, and other disruptions. Teaching time is also lost when the school day itself is shortened. Estimates in Pakistan show that unscheduled breaks contributed to a loss of nine working days in Punjab and 18 days in Sindh.
Some ways to reform this situation would include 'deformalizing' primary school which reduces school hours during periods when the costs of sending children to school are high, as well as flexible scheduling of teaching time to accommodate weather, agricultural seasons, religious holidays and children's domestic chores.
In addition, providing homes and salaries to teachers locally, as well as free lunches at schools to students are effective methods for reducing student and teacher absenteeism.
As well, setting up local monitoring teams to confirm that each school is actually in session and teaching is ongoing is another important tool for increasing instruction time.