IN terms of urgent and important problems requiring resolution, Pakistan’s education sector is the real frontier.
asserted
sector → require → resolution
With some 26 million five- to 16-year-olds out of school, a lack of universal enrolment, high dropout rates, and the poor quality of education provided to most of those lucky enough to be enrolled, could any issue be more important?
uncertain
issue → provide → those
Pakistan has a very young population; we are still growing at 2.4 per cent every year.
asserted
we → have → cent
This means that approximately 6m children are added to the population annually.
asserted
children → mean → population
In more developed societies, the frontiers are about ageing populations and health.
asserted
frontiers → age → populations
All this implies that Pakistan provides a research frontier for those interested in education.
asserted
Pakistan → imply → education
And we need a lot of research.
asserted
we → need → research
We face big questions and need good answers: how can we provide education to millions; how do we improve the quality of education; how do we manage private versus public schools; how do we recruit, train, and support teachers; how do we govern and manage schools and systems better; how do we ensure good curricula, books, assessments, teaching, etc?
asserted
we → face → curricula
The list is long; we need good research to answer all these questions and more.
asserted
we → need → questions
First, the education sector, as a whole, has always been underfunded.
asserted
sector → underfunde → whole
Even in better days, the state never spent more than 2pc of GDP on education; currently, we are at less than 1pc.
asserted
we → spend → 1pc
Within this, one can imagine what funding for research would be and what, within research funding, funding for education research must have been.
asserted
funding → imagine → research
The general thinking is that Pakistan needs engineers and technologists — and thus research in science and technology for development.
asserted
Pakistan → need → development
Research in the social sciences, humanities, and the arts is not seen as important or needed, nor is it viewed as providing the returns that society needs.
Historically, research done on education in Pakistan was conducted either locally — with smaller budgets and samples — by academics and students in university education programmes, or by foreign academics and academics based abroad.
asserted
research → see → academics
The latter had higher budgets.
asserted
latter → have → budgets
A lot of the research was funded by multilateral and bilateral agencies such as the World Bank, DFID (now FCDO — the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office), USAID, GIZ, etc.
asserted
lot → fund → Bank
A lot of the local research was not published internationally, while international work did little or nothing to develop local capacity.
asserted
work → publish → capacity
Some good partnerships developed between local and international academics, but these were rare and tended not to last beyond the life of the project.
asserted
these → develop → project
It has been interesting to follow the Data and Research in Education — Research Consortium (DARE-RC) in this context.
asserted
It → follow → context
This FCDO-funded programme, due to end by December, tried to change the existing equilibrium.
asserted
programme → fund → equilibrium
The main ingredients of change were the following: a) it encouraged local researchers to apply for competitive funding; b) it encouraged collaborations across local institutions; c) it encouraged collaborations across local and international academics and institutions as well; d) it committed to making all data public; and e) it insisted on quality outputs that should be published internationally.
asserted
that → follow → outputs
More than 40 different studies were commissioned; many of them have been completed and their reports and policy briefs are available.
asserted
reports → commission → them
Some of the early studies have already been slated for publication in international journals, while many are in the process of being submitted.
asserted
many → slat → process
Some will be appearing in a special issue of an international journal.
asserted
Some → appear → journal
Many interesting partnerships have been created among local universities, between universities and research institutions, between local and international researchers, and between local and international universities.
asserted
partnerships → create → universities
This has led to quite a bit of capacity building, and has provided each project with junior research assistants.
asserted
This → lead → assistants
Quite a few people have been trained and mentored over the last few years.
asserted
people → train → years
DARE-RC has even started a yearly conference on education.
asserted
RC → start → education
As DARE-RC winds down and the funding ends, it appears that, given the new global funding realities, FCDO is not going to support such programmes anymore.
asserted
FCDO → wind → programmes
What happens to the gains made?
asserted
What → happen → gains
Will the collaborations be sustained?
asserted
collaborations → sustain → ?
Will someone take over the yearly conference?
asserted
someone → take → conference
Will the fora created for capacity building and sharing research continue beyond DARE-RC funding?
asserted
fora → create → funding
Will the sharing of data for research continue?
asserted
sharing → continue → research
Will cooperation between researchers and policymakers continue?
asserted
cooperation → continue → researchers
Or will it lapse as it has on previous occasions?
asserted
it → lapse → occasions
Will the government, federal or provincial education departments, or HEC take on the role of research funder?
asserted
government → take → funder
The research has been very policy-focused and has helped in critical areas such as teacher recruitment and licensing, inclusive education, improved teaching and learning in classrooms, education and support for children with disabilities, and curricula and textbook improvements.
asserted
research → focus → disabilities
Do departments see value in such research, and will they provide support for sustaining and expanding the networks that have been created?
asserted
that → see → networks
Research is the backbone of progress, but quality research is expensive, hard to do, and even harder to sustain.
asserted
research → do → progress
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
