Category: Education

The Indispensable Role of International Students in Australia’s Post-COVID Economic Recovery and Labor Market Stability

Australia’s international education sector proved instrumental in the nation’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery, acting as a significant counter-recessionary force. Following a sharp decline during border closures, the sector experienced a robust rebound, contributing tens of billions of dollars to the economy and driving a substantial portion of national GDP growth. International students, through their tuition fees and extensive living expenditures, have consistently ranked among Australia’s top exports. Beyond this direct financial injection, their crucial role in alleviating widespread labor shortages across various sectors, particularly in casual and entry-level positions, further underscored their economic indispensability. Despite these undeniable economic benefits, public discourse, often shaped by media narratives, frequently misrepresents international students, attributing to them issues such as the housing crisis or job competition, which are largely unsupported by empirical evidence. This report provides a factual account of their contributions and addresses these prevailing misconceptions.

The Indispensable Role of International Students in Australia’s Economy

International students are not just visitors; they are a pivotal force in Australia’s economic vitality, especially highlighted in the post-COVID recovery. Their contributions extend far beyond campus, shaping the nation’s prosperity and resilience.

$51.03B

Education Export Value (FY 2023-24)

A new peak, underscoring massive financial injection.

0.8%

Contribution to GDP Growth (2023)

Driving half of Australia’s economic expansion in the year.

Key Role

In Averting Deeper Recession

“Almost singlehandedly kept us out of recession” – Universities Australia (2023).

An Economic Powerhouse

The international education sector has consistently been one of Australia’s top export earners, demonstrating robust growth and resilience. Its financial impact is a cornerstone of the national economy.

Education Export Income Trend

The sector saw a dip during COVID but rebounded strongly, reaching new heights.

Top Export Earner (FY 2023-24)

International education stands tall among Australia’s primary exports.

Beyond Tuition: A Multiplier Effect

The economic contribution of international students extends far beyond their tuition fees. Their spending on goods, services, and living expenses creates a significant ripple effect across the Australian economy.

Student Expenditure Breakdown (FY 2023-24)

A significant portion of student spending directly supports local businesses.

Fueling the Economy Through Work

~25%

Of Total Student Expenditure is Self-Funded

This amounts to approximately $13 BILLION (FY 2023-24) earned through local employment, directly reinvested into the Australian economy. This demonstrates a reinforcing cycle of economic activity.

Backbone of the Workforce

Post-COVID, Australia faced severe labor shortages. International students proved crucial in filling these gaps, particularly in essential services and the “odd job market,” stabilizing industries and supporting economic continuity.

250,000

Australian Jobs Supported in 2023

This is more than double the jobs in the iron ore, coal, and gas mining sectors combined, highlighting the sector’s vast employment footprint.

🧑‍🎓 > ⛏️

Key Policy Response: March 2020

Recognizing their vital role, the government temporarily relaxed work hour limits for students in essential services like aged care and supermarkets to address critical staff shortages during the pandemic’s peak.

Critical Support Across Key Sectors

International students provided indispensable labor in various sectors facing acute shortages:

🍽️

Hospitality & Retail

Filled part-time, casual roles; vital for business operations.

👵🏽

Aged Care

Ensured continuity of care during staff shortages.

👶

Childcare

Provided crucial support for childcare services.

✈️

Tourism

Underpinned workforce needs as the sector recovered.

The Disconnect: Narratives vs. Reality

Despite their significant economic contributions, international students are often unfairly blamed in media and public discourse for broader societal issues. This section contrasts common narratives with evidence-based realities.

Narrative: “Students Cause Housing Crisis”

Often blamed for rising rents and housing shortages.

Reality:

Constitute only 6% of renters nationally.
Nearly 40% live in dedicated student housing.
Research (UniSA 2024) found no statistical link to the rental crisis.
An increase of 10,000 students correlated with a $1 decrease in weekly rents (other factors controlled).

Narrative: “Students Take Aussie Jobs”

Concerns raised about job competition and displacing domestic workers.

Reality:

Australia faced severe labor shortages post-COVID (2nd worst in developed world).
Students fill critical gaps, especially in hospitality, retail, aged care.
85% of businesses couldn’t operate at full capacity due to shortages.
Government actively encouraged student return to address workforce shortages.

Challenging Misrepresentation

“Media discourses tend to ‘commodify’ international students, valuing them for fees while marginalizing them… Students are often characterized as ‘temporary, expendable, or invisible’.” (Academic Research)

Initiatives like the film “Phoenix” see students reclaiming their narratives, offering lived experiences to challenge one-dimensional portrayals and foster recognition as integral community members.

Valuing Our Vital Contributors

The evidence is clear: international students are indispensable to Australia’s economic prosperity and social fabric. Their contributions as a major export earner, spenders in the local economy, and vital members of the workforce helped Australia navigate the post-COVID recovery and avoid a deeper recession.

It is crucial for public discourse and policy to reflect these realities, moving beyond misinformed narratives. A welcoming and supportive environment for international students is not just a matter of fairness; it’s an investment in Australia’s ongoing economic strength and global competitiveness.

1. Introduction: Australia’s Economic Resilience in the Wake of COVID-19

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic presented Australia with an unprecedented economic challenge. The nation experienced a significant downturn, with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declining by a record 7.0% in the June quarter of 2020, leading to a 1.1% fall for the year to December 2020.¹ This marked the largest quarterly contraction on record, unequivocally pushing the Australian economy into recession and highlighting the severity of the initial economic impact.¹ This critical context establishes the economic vulnerability Australia faced, providing the baseline against which the subsequent recovery and the role of key sectors can be measured.

Sectors with a high dependence on the international movement of people, such as tourism, education, and airlines, were particularly affected by the stringent lockdowns, quarantine measures, and travel restrictions implemented to protect public health and prevent the spread of COVID-19.¹ The severe curtailment of international travel and a significant reduction in net overseas migration were explicitly identified as key sources of economic perturbation.² These restrictions prevented many businesses from operating at full capacity and forced numerous workers to cease employment or transition to remote work.²

In response to these strong negative economic consequences, both federal and state governments instituted various stimulus measures. These actions were designed to support businesses and maintain household finances, aiming to bolster the economy’s resilience against the pandemic’s shocks.¹ Australia’s economic resilience is inherently tied to the performance of its major export industries. While traditional exports like mining (iron ore, coal) demonstrated relative stability and continued to thrive amidst the disruptions ¹, the services sector, particularly international education, faced profound disruption due to closed borders and halted travel.¹ The subsequent rebound and recovery of these severely affected sectors, especially international education, were therefore critical for the broader national economic recovery and for averting a deeper or more prolonged recession. The speed and magnitude of their recovery directly influenced the overall pace and strength of Australia’s economic rebound.

2. International Education: A Cornerstone of Australia’s Economy

International education has a long-standing and profound significance as a major contributor to Australia’s economy. Its historical trajectory demonstrates a consistently growing industry, rather than a transient phenomenon. As early as 2007, education services exports had already grown at an average annual rate of approximately 14% in volume terms since 1982, displacing leisure travel services as Australia’s largest service export.⁶ By 2007, it had become Australia’s third largest export overall, behind only coal and iron ore, underscoring its established and substantial economic footprint.⁶

A critical aspect of this economic contribution is its onshore delivery. The vast majority of this export value – approximately 97% of $12.6 billion in 2007 – was generated through foreign students studying within Australia.⁶ This highlights that the economic activity is primarily injected directly into the Australian economy, stimulating local businesses and employment across various sectors, rather than being an offshore service.

Post-COVID-19 Rebound and Current Economic Standing

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated border closures severely impacted the international education sector. Its value approximately halved from $40.3 billion in 2019 to $22.5 billion in 2021.⁴ This dramatic reduction sent significant economic shockwaves through universities, which had developed a substantial reliance on international student fees.⁴

However, the sector demonstrated remarkable resilience and a robust rebound following the reopening of borders. In 2022, international education added over $29 billion to the economy, with the majority of this contribution coming from onshore students.⁷ This recovery continued strongly, with the sector contributing $48 billion to the economy in 2023, positioning it as the second biggest export behind mining.¹⁰ By the financial year 2023-24, the value of education as an export reached an all-time peak of $51.032 billion.⁹ This rapid and substantial recovery underscores its vital role in the national economic rebound.

The significance of this rebound extends beyond mere recovery; it became a critical driving force for Australia’s overall economic growth. Universities Australia explicitly states that international education “drove half of Australia’s economic growth in 2023,” contributing 0.8% of the total 1.5% GDP increase.¹⁰ Furthermore, it is asserted that the sector “almost singlehandedly kept us out of recession” in 2023.¹⁵ These strong statements indicate a direct causal link between the sector’s performance and the avoidance of a deeper or prolonged economic downturn.

It is worth noting that the ranking of international education among Australia’s top exports can fluctuate. While a 2007 report identified it as the third largest export ⁶, more recent data from calendar year 2024 and financial year 2023/24 places it as the fourth largest export.⁹ Conversely, 2023 data indicated it was the second biggest export behind mining.¹⁰ These variations are not contradictory but reflect the dynamic nature of Australia’s export landscape, influenced by fluctuating commodity prices (iron ore, coal, natural gas) and the specific reporting period (calendar vs. financial year). The consistent theme across all available data is that international education remains unequivocally among Australia’s top few exports (top 2, 3, or 4), generating tens of billions of dollars annually, which strongly affirms its profound and enduring economic importance as a cornerstone of the Australian economy.

Breakdown of International Student Expenditure

The economic contribution of international students extends significantly beyond tuition fees, demonstrating a broad economic ripple effect. As early as 2007, tuition fees accounted for only 39% of overseas student expenditure, with the substantial balance (61%) representing spending on a wide array of goods and services such as food, accommodation, transport, and entertainment.⁶ This pattern of broad economic stimulation continued post-COVID. In 2020, over half of the export income generated from international students came from their spending on goods and services, with 45% attributable to tuition fees.⁸ More recently, in financial year 2023-24, $30.2 billion was generated from goods and services expenditure, compared to $20.6 billion from tuition fees.¹³ This substantial spending on daily necessities and leisure activities directly injects capital into a much wider array of local businesses, creating a multiplier effect where money circulates throughout the economy. For example, student spending at a local cafe supports the cafe owner, their staff (baristas, cooks), their suppliers (food producers, transport companies), and so on. This broad economic circulation is crucial for understanding how the sector contributed to overall national recovery and resilience, far beyond just university budgets.

3. International Students: Catalysts for Post-COVID Economic Recovery and Labor Market Stability

Australia’s economy was undeniably pushed into recession by the COVID-19 pandemic, marked by a significant decline in GDP.¹ The robust and rapid rebound of the international education sector was instrumental in mitigating this economic impact and driving the subsequent recovery. Universities Australia explicitly highlights that international students “drove half of Australia’s economic growth last year” (referring to 2023), contributing 0.8% to the overall 1.5% GDP increase.¹⁰ This substantial contribution led to claims that the sector “almost singlehandedly kept us out of recession” in 2023.¹⁵ Such strong causal language underscores the critical role international education played in preventing a deeper or more prolonged economic downturn.

Government policies actively facilitated the return of international students, demonstrating a clear recognition of their economic and labor market value. The Morrison Government offered visa rebates to international students who returned in early 2022, and the Albanese Government prioritized clearing visa backlogs to accelerate their return.¹⁰ Both administrations explicitly encouraged the return of international students to “address critical workforce shortages and boost the economy”.¹⁰

Addressing Critical Workforce Shortages (“Odd Job Market”)

Post-COVID, Australia faced widespread and severe labor shortages, which were ranked as the second most severe in the developed world.¹⁷ This critical issue resulted in approximately 85% of businesses being unable to operate at full capacity, particularly impacting sectors like restaurants, cafes, and shopping malls.¹⁷ National shortages were identified in at least 332 occupations, including critical areas such as healthcare (with a projected need for 250,000 additional skilled healthcare workers by 2027 and a shortage of 70,000 nurses by 2035) and skilled trades like electricians and engineers.¹⁷

International students played a vital and flexible role in filling these gaps, especially in sectors heavily reliant on casual and part-time labor, often referred to as the “odd job market.” They are described as “critical” for supporting roles in tourism, hospitality, retail, aged care, and childcare.¹⁶ Many recent migrants, including international students and working holidaymakers, frequently take “lower-wage jobs” ¹⁷, which are essential for the smooth functioning of these industries. The presence of international students in these roles is not merely about them finding employment; it reflects their strategic utility during a crisis.

During the immediate crisis phase of the pandemic, the Australian government recognized this critical need. In March 2020, temporary changes were announced to relax work hour limits for international students in essential services like aged care and major supermarkets, specifically to address emerging staff shortages as other workers took leave or quarantined.¹⁹ This policy adjustment directly enabled students to significantly increase their labor market participation in areas of acute demand. This governmental action highlights a deliberate policy choice, indicating that international students were not merely a passive workforce but an active solution deployed by the government to mitigate economic disruption. This points to a deeper role for international students as economic shock absorbers. When the domestic workforce faced unprecedented disruption (due to illness, quarantine, or border closures), international students provided a flexible, responsive, and readily available labor pool. Their presence helped maintain essential services (such as aged care and supermarkets) and operational capacity in casual-heavy industries (like hospitality and retail), directly contributing to national resilience and preventing a more severe economic collapse. This demonstrates their essential function in maintaining the continuity of vital services and business operations during a crisis, thereby stabilizing the workforce.

Industry bodies such as the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and National Retail Association (NRA) have vocally highlighted the indispensable role of international students for the $430 billion retail sector, not only as consumers but also as workers. They emphasize students’ crucial contribution to “part-time and casual roles” and their importance in solving the “retail labour crisis,” citing high job vacancies (25,600 nationally).¹⁸ The international education sector, through both direct and indirect employment, supported approximately 250,000 Australians in 2023. This figure is more than double the number employed in the iron ore, coal, and gas mining sectors combined ¹⁶, underscoring the sector’s substantial job creation capacity across the broader economy.

The economic contribution of international students is multifaceted. They serve as a major export industry through their tuition fees and living expenses ¹⁰, and simultaneously constitute a significant component of the labor force, particularly in casual and lower-wage jobs.¹⁶ A crucial connection between these two contributions is revealed by the ABS, which estimates that around a quarter of the total expenditure (approximately $13 billion in the 2023-24 financial year) is funded by international students working in Australia for Australian employers.¹² This means that a substantial portion of the export income attributed to international students is directly generated from their work within Australia. Their labor market participation directly enhances their overall export value, creating a reinforcing cycle of economic benefit. This integrated contribution makes international students uniquely valuable to the Australian economy, providing both a substantial foreign income stream (boosting national accounts) and a flexible, responsive workforce that can adapt to fluctuating labor demands, especially in the “odd job market” that domestic workers may not always fill.

The following table provides a detailed overview of how international students contributed to addressing critical workforce shortages in key sectors post-COVID.

Table 2: International Student Contribution to Key Workforce Sectors (Post-COVID)

Sector	Nature of Labor Shortage Addressed	Evidence of Student Contribution	Relevant Data Points / Policy Changes
Hospitality & Retail	General vacancies, part-time & casual roles, lower-wage jobs, inability of businesses to operate at full capacity	Critical for supporting part-time and casual roles, backbone of dynamic trading environments.¹⁸ Many international students take lower-wage jobs.¹⁷	85% of businesses unable to operate at full capacity due to labor shortages; 25,600 retail job vacancies nationally.¹⁷
Aged Care	Critical staff shortages, need for continuity of care as domestic workers quarantined/took leave	Temporary relaxation of visa work limits for international students already employed in aged care.¹⁹ Students helped fill critical staff shortages.¹⁹	Policy change announced March 2020.¹⁹ Projected need for 250,000 additional skilled healthcare workers by 2027; shortage of 70,000 nurses by 2035.¹⁷
Childcare	General staff shortages	International students are crucial for supporting roles.¹⁶	N/A (specific data not provided in snippets, but acknowledged as a sector supported).¹⁶
Tourism	Workforce support, particularly in casual roles	Underpins tourism sector.¹⁶ Businesses reliant on international travelers stood down staff due to collapse in demand.⁵	N/A (specific data not provided in snippets, but acknowledged as a sector supported).¹⁶
Overall Economy	Addressing critical workforce shortages, boosting economy	Government encouraged return of international students to address shortages.¹⁰ Supported 250,000 jobs nationally in 2023.¹⁰	250,000 jobs supported by international education (more than double mining combined).¹⁶

4. The Disconnect: Media Narratives vs. Economic Realities

Despite their profound and multifaceted economic contributions, international students are frequently subjected to negative media portrayals and public blame for systemic societal issues. This creates a significant disconnect between their empirically verifiable economic value and their public perception.

One of the most prevalent negative narratives positions international students as culprits in Australia’s housing crisis. They are often prominently blamed for ostensibly contributing to rising housing costs and the rental crisis.¹⁵ This narrative has been echoed by politicians, including the Treasurer, who suggested that increased numbers of foreign students “puts pressure on prices and rents”.²¹ However, academic research and industry data strongly challenge this assertion. A 2024 study from the University of South Australia found that international students are “not the culprits of the rental crisis” and “only constituted a small part of the puzzle”.²¹ This research, based on data from 2017 to 2024, found “no statistical relationship between international members and the housing crisis” and that an increase of 10,000 international students actually led to a corresponding decrease of $1 in weekly rents when other factors were controlled.²¹ The Student Accommodation Council further supports this, noting that international students make up just 6% of renters nationally, with almost 40% living in student housing.²¹ They are often at a disadvantage in the private rental market due to lack of rental history or immediate income statements.²¹ This suggests that the housing crisis is driven by “very complicated macro-level socio-economic reasons” rather than student numbers.²¹

Similarly, media narratives and political rhetoric have fostered concerns about international students creating job competition ²⁰ and framed them as “economic threats” ²⁴, implying they displace domestic workers. This contrasts sharply with the documented reality of severe labor shortages across Australia, particularly in sectors like hospitality, retail, and aged care, where international students are crucial for filling identified gaps.¹⁶

Furthermore, academic research reveals that Australian media, exemplified by current affairs programs like “Four Corners,” has misrepresented international students’ English language proficiency. These portrayals often assign them “responsibility for declining standards at universities” through simplistic and naive representations of their language use as problematic.²⁵ This discourse contributes to their discursive exclusion from the broader societal narrative.

Beyond specific issues, international students are frequently characterized in media and public discourse as “temporary, expendable, or invisible”.²⁴ Academic analysis indicates that media discourses tend to “commodify” international students, valuing them primarily for their fees, while simultaneously marginalizing them as the “excluded ‘other’” in Australian society.²⁷ This leads to a painful juxtaposition where they are welcomed for their financial contribution but simultaneously devalued and subjected to overt and covert racism, including being “spat at, yelled at with racist slurs, and being told to ‘go back home’”.²⁴

The impact of government messaging has also played a role in shaping these perceptions. The Australian Prime Minister’s public suggestion for international students to “go home” during the pandemic contributed to a sense of abandonment and undermined Australia’s reputation as an attractive destination.⁸ Such statements, along with policy changes like increasing visa fees ¹⁵, send a clear message that can contradict the economic reality of their value.

Research from the Australian National University (ANU) highlights that media narratives are often more effective at influencing public opinion than facts.³⁰ When people are exposed to negative immigration narratives, it reduces public support for increasing or maintaining current migration levels.³⁰ This underscores the importance of impartial media reporting, as emotive narratives can significantly shift public views and, consequently, political and policy outcomes.³⁰

In response to these pervasive negative narratives, there have been efforts to present a more balanced and fact-based perspective. Studies have explicitly refuted the claim that international students are the primary cause of the housing crisis.²¹ Universities Australia and other industry bodies consistently issue statements highlighting the substantial economic contributions of international education, emphasizing its role in GDP growth and job creation.⁷ Furthermore, international students themselves, through initiatives like the film “Phoenix,” are actively taking back their stories, offering lived experiences to challenge flat, villainous, or victimized portrayals.²⁴ These counter-narratives aim to foster recognition of international students as equals, colleagues, neighbors, and community builders, rather than merely fee-payers or temporary migrants.²⁴

Conclusions

The evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that international students played an indispensable and multifaceted role in Australia’s post-COVID economic recovery, serving as a significant force in averting a deeper recession. Their contribution extends far beyond tuition fees, acting as a major export industry that injected tens of billions of dollars into the Australian economy through diverse expenditures on goods and services, thereby generating a substantial multiplier effect across various sectors. The sector’s rapid rebound to over $51 billion in export value by FY 2023-24 and its role in driving half of Australia’s economic growth in 2023 underscore its critical importance as a cornerstone of national prosperity.

Crucially, international students also served as vital economic shock absorbers and workforce stabilizers during a period of severe labor shortages. They filled critical gaps in essential services and casual-heavy industries such as hospitality, retail, aged care, and childcare, enabling businesses to operate and maintaining service continuity. Government policies that facilitated their return and relaxed work hour limits during the pandemic explicitly acknowledged their indispensable contribution to the labor market. The dual economic contribution—as a major export and a flexible workforce—creates a powerful reinforcing cycle, with a significant portion of their expenditure directly funded by their work within Australia.

Despite these undeniable economic and social benefits, public discourse and media narratives frequently misrepresent international students. They are often unfairly scapegoated for systemic issues like the housing crisis, despite empirical evidence demonstrating minimal correlation. Similarly, narratives of job competition contradict the reality of widespread labor shortages that students actively help address. Such misrepresentations, sometimes amplified by political rhetoric, contribute to their marginalization and can undermine Australia’s reputation as a welcoming study destination.

Moving forward, it is imperative for policymakers and public discourse to align with the economic realities. Recognizing and valuing the comprehensive contributions of international students, beyond their financial input, is essential for fostering a stable, resilient, and inclusive Australian economy. Policies should be informed by data that acknowledges their role in both national income generation and critical workforce support, rather than being swayed by misinformed narratives. Maintaining a supportive and welcoming environment for international students is not merely a matter of social equity but a fundamental component of Australia’s ongoing economic strength and global competitiveness.

Works cited

COVID-19 early recovery – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.dfat.gov.au/australia-vietnam/eees/en/strategy/covid-19-early-recovery.html
The impacts of COVID‐19 containment on the Australian economy and its agricultural and mining industries – PMC, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8652510/
Review of Australia’s response to international student needs during the COVID-19 pandemic – ERIC, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1372493.pdf
Chapter 1 – Introduction – Parliament of Australia, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/Tourismandeducation/Interim_Report_-_Inquiry_into_Australias_International_Education_Sector/Chapter_1_-_Introduction
The COVID-19 Outbreak and Australia’s Education and Tourism Exports, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2020/dec/pdf/the-covid-19-outbreak-and-australias-education-and-tourism-exports.pdf
Australia’s Exports of Education Services, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2008/jun/pdf/bu-0608-2.pdf
International education adds $29 billion to the economy – Universities Australia, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://universitiesaustralia.edu.au/media-item/international-education-adds-29-billion-to-the-economy/
Inquiry into the post COVID-19 recovery of Australia’s international education sector, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=46f1b7a7-e158-49e5-8290-21007727b820&subId=728103
Education as an Export for Australia – The Koala News, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://thekoalanews.com/education-as-an-export-for-australia/
Draft International Education and Skills Strategic Framework — response to the Department of Education – Universities Australia, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://universitiesaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/UA048-International-Education-and-Skills-Strategic-Framework-Response_v3-1.pdf
Education as an Export for Australia: A Third Perfect Storm – The Koala News, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://thekoalanews.com/education-as-an-export-for-australia-a-third-perfect-storm/
Recording of international students in the balance of payments …, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/recording-international-students-balance-payments
Education export income – Financial Year – Department of Education, Australian Government, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.education.gov.au/international-education-data-and-research/education-export-income-financial-year
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT CUTS HURTING THE ECONOMY – Universities Australia, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://universitiesaustralia.edu.au/media-item/international-student-cuts-hurting-the-economy/
STUDENT CAP PLAN WILL DAMAGE ECONOMY WITHOUT FIXING HOUSING CRISIS, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://universitiesaustralia.edu.au/media-item/student-cap-plan-will-damage-economy-without-fixing-housing-crisis/
Proposed Student Visa Hike Will Cost Thousands of Australian’s Jobs – The Koala News, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://thekoalanews.com/proposed-student-visa-hike-will-cost-thousands-of-australians-jobs/
What’s going on with the labor shortage? – People Matters ANZ, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://anz.peoplemattersglobal.com/article/economy-policy/whats-going-on-with-the-labor-shortage-45046
Fed-election: International student restrictions a setback for retailers, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.nationalretail.org.au/fed-election-international-student-restrictions-a-setback-for-retailers/
International students ready to fill critical staff shortages in aged care, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/senator-the-hon-richard-colbeck/media/international-students-ready-to-fill-critical-staff-shortages-in-aged-care
Changing Winds | NAFSA, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.nafsa.org/ie-magazine/2024/10/17/changing-winds
Are international students to blame for the housing crisis? | SBS News, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/are-international-students-to-blame-for-the-housing-crisis/f9q327agx
International students not to blame for rising rents, Australian study finds – Reddit, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianPolitics/comments/1jg4zay/international_students_not_to_blame_for_rising/
Are International Students Really to Blame for Australia’s Housing & Job Crisis? – Reddit, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAustralian/comments/1jlfe0p/are_international_students_really_to_blame_for/
Misunderstood & misrepresented: these international students are taking their stories back – Women’s Agenda, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/misunderstood-misrepresented-these-international-students-are-taking-their-stories-back/
EJ1291925 – The Discursive (Mis)Representation of English Language Proficiency: International Students in the Australian Media, Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 2021-Mar – ERIC, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1291925
The discursive (mis)representation of English language proficiency: International students in the Australian media – John Benjamins, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://benjamins.com/catalog/aral.19039.bod
Welcome and Exclusion: An Analysis of the Australian Newspaper’s Coverage of International Students | Request PDF – ResearchGate, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271738824_Welcome_and_Exclusion_An_Analysis_of_the_Australian_Newspaper’s_Coverage_of_International_Students
Impact of COVID-19 on South Asian graduates’ employment experiences in Australia: a qualitative study | Emerald Insight, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/et-05-2023-0216/full/html
International students in Australia – during and after COVID-19 – ResearchGate, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347280303_International_students_in_Australia_-_during_and_after_COVID-19
Australians want less migration but support for international students remains steady, accessed on May 29, 2025, https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/australians-want-less-migration-but-support-for-international-students-remains-steady

May 29, 2025

The Tale of 2 Economies: Navigating the Growth Paradox in China

China presents a compelling case of the growth paradox, where robust economic indicators mask underlying disparities and societal sentiments. The dichotomy between China’s impressive economic figures and the lived realities of its businesses and people indicates how these contradictions coexist. Understanding these divides and seeking solutions to bridge them can have a significant impact on the nation’s economic trajectory and its global standing.

A Growth Paradox

On January 17, the National Bureau of Statistics announced that China’s GDP growth for 2023 reached 5.2 percent, a growth rate that is highly commendable and ranks prominently on the global stage. That figure would suggest that the Chinese economy has achieved stable and rapid growth, again.

However, the reality shows clear signs of strain: Consumers are saving their shrinking disposable incomes instead of spending them, and enterprises are suspending their investments due to fear of declining profitability and company value.

In 2023, the total market value of A-shares in China decreased by approximately 8.5 trillion yuan, an amount equivalent to the total cost of the Belt and Road Initiative over its lifetime (estimated to be between $1.2-1.3 trillion, or about 8-9 trillion yuan). This decline occurred against the backdrop of growing capital markets in the United States, various European countries, and India. In the first trading week of 2024 alone, an additional 7 trillion yuan was lost. Stock markets mirror the collective sentiments of investors, currently indicating a loss of confidence in China’s growth prospects.

People I talked to during my recent trip to China shared these sentiments: The rich have little confidence in growing or even sustaining their wealth; the poor have little hope of upward mobility. Two phrases, “involution” (内卷) and “lying flat” (躺平) encapsulate what happened over the past year. Involution is a sociological term describing a state of excessive and ineffective competition, leading to a zero-sum game where resources are redistributed but minimal genuine value is created. Lying flat, an internet slang term, characterizes the attitude of those who opt out of this relentless competition, choosing instead to accept their circumstances and leave their fate to time.

In socioeconomic terms, the “growth paradox” describes a phenomenon where there is an inconsistency between the statistical data of economic growth and the actual economic welfare of the general populace. This disparity involves complex structural issues that require comprehensive policy adjustments and socioeconomic development strategies for resolution.

Unequal Benefits of Economic Growth

The growth paradox is primarily due to the unequal distribution of economic growth benefits. Large enterprises and the urban elite disproportionately accumulate wealth, benefiting from the country’s economic growth. Their success overshadows the slower growth and constrained opportunities for private businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and rural residents.

Despite SMEs in China representing 99.8 percent of all business entities and employing nearly 80 percent of the workforce, they face a contraction phase marked by limited access to capital, complex regulatory hurdles and excessive competition in a shrinking market. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from October 2023 underscored this divide: Large enterprises posted a PMI of 50.3 percent, with state-owned enterprises at 50.0 percent and large private enterprises at 50.7 percent, all indicating expansion. In contrast, medium-sized enterprises experienced a PMI of 48.6 percent, and small enterprises were at 47.5 percent, both in the contraction zone.

This pattern reflects broader industrial output differences in China. State-controlled enterprises saw a 7 percent growth in 2023, compared to a modest 5 percent for private enterprises, most of which are SMEs. Given the large number of employees in the SME sector, more people felt the strain of an economic downturn.

Overcapacity vs Lack of Capacity

As the world’s factory, China’s production capacity was tailored to supply the global market during the golden age of globalization, from 1999 to 2018. However, since the onset of the trade war between the United States and China, efforts to de-risk dependency on China’s supply chains have particularly impacted China’s manufacturing sector.

SMEs, the backbone of China’s export-oriented manufacturing sector, are encountering severe profitability challenges, with many on the brink of bankruptcy. A sharp reduction in sales for an export-oriented company can significantly affect not only its own profitability, valuation, and stock price but also the financial health of many SMEs on the entire supply chain. This situation has created a vicious cycle where reduced profits hinder investment in R&D, production growth, and job creation, while intensified price competition from an involution-style rivalry further diminishes profits and, in some instances, leads to business shutdowns. This self-reinforcing cycle underscores the difficulties of operating in an economy facing declining demand, which results in serious overcapacity and unemployment.

On the other hand, China’s rapid advances in manufacturing have led to a dilemma in geopolitics. The country has ascended the global value chain, modernizing its industrial sector. This rise has been accompanied by an assertive recalibration of its international standing, aiming to reflect its burgeoning economic clout, especially in negotiations with the United States. However, this upward trajectory is tempered by a vulnerability due to its dependence on imported technologies and access to an open global market for its production capacity. This leaves China susceptible to U.S. sanctions on advanced technologies and to shifts in supply chains away from China toward the nearshoring and friend-shoring partners of the United States.

The semiconductor sector illustrates this point vividly. China faces significant “chokepoints” imposed by the U.S. and its allies in chipmaking, leading to shortages in high-end, especially AI, chips. Concurrently, China’s substantial investments in mature-node chipmaking risk creating internal competition and overcapacity, which could potentially result in anti-dumping trade restrictions from other countries.

Domestic vs Geopolitical Challenges

The disconnect between economic growth, as suggested by statistical data, and the collective sentiments arise from a misalignment between macroeconomic trends and microeconomic activities within China. Government policies might focus more on long-term structural and quality improvements of the economy rather than on short-term employment and income growth, which may not be immediately understood or accepted by the public. Policy-driven GDP growth in large projects or investments in certain areas or industries may not directly translate into job opportunities or income increases for average citizens.

On one hand, sectors like renewable energy, electric vehicles, and high-tech manufacturing – considered the three new engines for China’s GDP – continue to offer promising growth avenues. On the other hand, businesses face significant challenges due to unpredictable policies, contracting export markets, reduced government spending, and cautious consumption by local consumers. These challenges cascade down the economic value chain.

The collapse of several high-profile real estate companies last year has triggered a domino effect across supply chains, resulting in decreased production within upstream industries such as steelmaking, cement, and construction, as well as affecting downstream sectors like furnishing and furniture. A fear of widespread economic instability and loss of investor confidence may ensue. At the societal level, collective sentiments include lowered expectations for future earnings; rising unemployment, especially among the youth; growing income inequality due to the concentration of wealth in certain industries and regions; and increasing costs (visible and invisible) in education, healthcare and aged care.

Globally, China is facing an increasingly hostile geopolitical landscape, where, as shown in the semiconductor sector, geopolitical pressures result in critical technology shortages and push China toward developing a self-reliant ecosystem to mitigate foreign influence and secure its economic future.

The China-U.S. relationship is at the core of China’s geopolitical complexity. Over nearly half a century, the relationship between China and the United States has evolved from diplomatic engagement to deep economic cooperation, and now to a state of strategic competition. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, trade between the two countries has grown more than 200-fold over 45 years, with bilateral investment exceeding $260 billion, and over 70,000 American companies investing and operating in China.

Recently, the economic relationship between the two countries has shifted into a new era of technology rivalry, marked by strategic competition for control over global supply chains of critical technologies and minerals. This rivalry can potentially lead to technology decoupling. Such developments have profoundly impacted China’s economy, with export-oriented SMEs being particularly affected due to U.S.-led reshuffling of the global supply chains.

A More Reclusive China?

Facing such challenges, China is pivoting toward an inward-looking strategy. It is cultivating a self-reliant ecosystem focused on bolstering its large domestic market and internal circulation, aimed at becoming less susceptible to foreign influences.

China isolated itself for three years during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the post-pandemic era, China has cautiously opened its borders. Yet, wandering through the bustling streets in China, even in large cities like Beijing and Shenzhen, one notices a curious absence: Foreign faces are markedly sparse.

In 2023, China reported its first negative foreign direct investment (FDI) since 1998. Inward FDI has played a significant role in China’s economic growth, employment, productivity, and technological innovation. However, foreign enterprises and their foreign employees are either rushing out of China or have not yet returned post-pandemic.

China’s advanced digital infrastructure has become a virtual barrier for foreigners. Chinese citizens have embraced technology with fervent zeal. China has leapfrogged into a cashless society where QR codes serve as the magic wand of commerce. They enable the easy acquisition of goods and services, including public services such as those in hospitals, schools, and customs at the borders, with a simple scan. However, for outsiders, especially those without a Chinese residential permit – which is required for foreigners to open a bank account and thus set up a QR code for mobile payments – life in China can be disorienting.

Beyond this virtual barrier, the digital divide is perhaps the most striking for foreign visitors. The Great Firewall, now AI-enhanced, looms large, segregating the online world. Efforts to breach this digital barrier, even via VPNs, are often futile.

The Way Forward

China’s economic reality, through the lens of the growth paradox, reveals the disparities between economic numbers and the sentiments of the people and businesses. These disparities underscore the need for more inclusive growth strategies. As China navigates the choppy waters of domestic challenges and geopolitical uncertainty, the true measure of its economic success will be how well it bridges these divides, ensuring that the fruits of growth are more evenly distributed across all strata of society.

The path forward calls for a balanced approach that harmonizes state-led development with market-driven entrepreneurship, fostering an environment where foreign and private businesses and entrepreneurs regain their confidence to invest for the future, and to grow their wealth through innovation and hard work. For confidence to return, they need not just growth opportunities but also stable and predictable policies, as well as a friendlier and more open global market.

Specifically, shifting the focus from prioritizing infrastructure investment toward increasing investment in areas that contribute to social security, healthcare, and education will foster confidence among average citizens regarding their future. This approach may boost domestic consumption.

Expanding high-level openness to the international community and continuously creating a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment are crucial to achieve this goal. Effectively removing barriers for foreign nationals coming to China for business, study, or tourism, and enhancing the convenience of living, traveling, and working in China are essential first steps.

>Source link>

>>Join our Facebook Group be part of community. <<

May 29, 2025

An Analytical Overview of the Education System in Pakistan: Structure, Challenges, and Reform Initiatives

1. Executive Summary

Pakistan’s Education Sector

An In-Depth Market Analysis

Market Overview: Scale and Critical Juncture

Pakistan’s education sector represents a vast market, catering to tens of millions. However, it currently faces an “Education Emergency,” signaling significant challenges and opportunities for transformation. Understanding its scale is the first step in analyzing its dynamics.

54.87 M

Total Enrolled Students (2021-22)

This figure highlights the immense scale of the education ‘market’ in Pakistan, encompassing all levels from pre-primary to tertiary education.

EDUCATION EMERGENCY

Declared May 2023

This declaration by the Prime Minister underscores the critical challenges facing the sector, including access, quality, and equity, demanding urgent and comprehensive interventions.

Market Segmentation: Enrollment Across Educational Tiers

The education market is segmented into distinct tiers, each with a significant student population. Analyzing enrollment at each level reveals the current distribution and potential areas for growth or intervention.

Student Enrollment by Educational Level (2021-22)

Primary education constitutes the largest segment, followed by pre-primary. Higher education and TVET represent smaller but crucial segments for advanced skill development and economic contribution. The data shows millions of students at each stage of their educational journey.

Institutional Landscape: Public, Private, and Religious Providers

The “supply side” of the education market consists of public, private, and religious institutions (Madrasas). Their respective shares and characteristics influence accessibility, quality, and the overall educational experience.

Distribution of Educational Institutions

Public sector institutions form the majority, but the private sector holds a substantial share, indicating a mixed economy in educational provision.

Private Sector & Madrasa Enrollment Share

The private sector accounts for a significant portion of primary enrollment, particularly in provinces like Punjab and Sindh. Madrasas also serve a notable percentage of rural children.

Key Market Challenges: Access, Quality, and Infrastructure Gaps

Despite its size, the education market is fraught with challenges. Millions are excluded, learning outcomes are poor, and basic infrastructure is often lacking, representing significant “market failures” or unmet needs.

26.2 M

Out-of-School Children

A staggering number of children are not enrolled, representing a massive untapped “market” and a critical social challenge. This issue disproportionately affects girls and rural children.

77%

Learning Poverty (10-year-olds unable to read age-appropriate text)

This alarming statistic (May 2024) indicates a severe quality deficit in the education provided, impacting future human capital.

57%

Public Institutions Lack Electricity

Basic amenities are missing in a majority of public schools, highlighting critical infrastructure gaps. Other deficits include 41% lacking drinking water and 28% without boundary walls.

Consumer Profile: Literacy Landscape & Disparities

Literacy is a key indicator of educational attainment and “consumer readiness” for further development or economic participation. Significant disparities exist across demographics and regions.

National Literacy Rates by Gender (2023 Census)

A persistent gender gap in literacy is evident, with males having a higher literacy rate than females nationally. Overall national literacy stands at 62.85%.

Literacy Disparities: Urban vs. Rural & Regional Extremes

Urban areas show significantly higher literacy rates compared to rural areas. Extreme regional disparities also exist, for example, between Islamabad and Torghar district.

Market Investment: Public Spending on Education

The level of public investment is a critical factor influencing the education sector’s capacity for growth and quality improvement. Historically, this has been an area of concern.

~2%

Of National Public Sector Development Program (FY 2023-24) Allocated to Education

This figure reflects ongoing low levels of public investment in the education sector relative to national development spending.

1.87%

Education Spending as % of GDP (2023)

Pakistan’s education expenditure as a percentage of its Gross Domestic Product remains low, impacting resource availability for schools, teachers, and infrastructure.

Strategic Outlook: Reform Initiatives & National Goals

Various national strategies and reform initiatives aim to address the sector’s challenges and steer it towards improvement. Key among these are Vision 2025 and the “Skills for All” strategy.

Pakistan Vision 2025: Education Targets vs. Current Status

Goal Area	Target by 2025	Current Status (Approx.)
Primary Enrollment	100%	Challenged (26.2M OOSC)
Literacy Rate	90%	~62.85% (2023)
Higher Education Enrollment	12%	11.22% (2023) – Nearing Target

Vision 2025 set ambitious targets. While progress in higher education enrollment is notable, primary enrollment and literacy rate goals remain significantly distant, highlighting persistent systemic challenges.

Single National Curriculum (SNC)

Aimed to standardize education and reduce disparities across public, private, and religious schools. Challenges include socio-cultural diversity, infrastructure gaps, and teacher preparedness. Emphasis on rote learning remains a criticism.

“Skills for All” Strategy (2021)

Focuses on equipping youth, especially girls, with green and digital skills for evolving job markets. Aims to align with SDGs for quality education, gender equality, and decent work. TVET enrollment, however, remains relatively low.

Pakistan’s education system is a complex and multifaceted landscape, characterized by a structured progression from pre-primary to higher education, alongside a diverse institutional mix of public, private, and religious seminaries. Despite being a declared national priority, the sector faces profound and persistent challenges in access, quality, and equitable funding. Millions of children remain out of school, learning outcomes are alarmingly low, and significant disparities persist across gender, income levels, and urban-rural divides. Governance issues, exacerbated by the devolution of education responsibilities and fragmented coordination, further impede progress. While ambitious reform initiatives like Vision 2025 and the Single National Curriculum aim to standardize and improve educational standards, their implementation is often hampered by deep-seated structural realities, including underinvestment, inadequate infrastructure, and a pervasive emphasis on rote learning over critical thinking. Addressing these systemic issues requires a holistic, sustained, and evidence-based approach that transcends policy declarations to foster genuine transformation and ensure inclusive, quality education for all Pakistani children.

2. Introduction: Overview and Context of Education in Pakistan

Contextualizing Pakistan’s Education Landscape

Education in Pakistan is recognized as a cornerstone of national development, a sentiment profoundly articulated by the nation’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who declared, “Education is a matter of life and death to our nations”.¹ This foundational belief has consistently positioned education as a “top government priority” within national strategic plans, including the Pakistan 2025 Vision launched in 2014, which dedicates two of its 25 key goals to the education sector.² The country’s rich linguistic, cultural, and ethnic diversity significantly shapes its educational environment, presenting both opportunities and complexities.³ Historically, the curriculum and textbooks have been utilized as instruments for instilling Islamic ideology and fostering a unified national identity.¹ However, despite this consistent emphasis and numerous policy interventions—including eight educational policies, eight five-year plans, and various commissions over 75 years—the sector has experienced continuous, yet often fragmented, reform efforts.¹

Current State and Urgency

Despite the stated national commitment, Pakistan’s education system is currently grappling with what Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has termed an “Education Emergency”.⁴ This urgent situation is underscored by critical challenges, including an estimated 26.2 million children who are out of school, a figure exacerbated by the widespread destruction of thousands of classrooms due to the catastrophic floods of 2022.⁴ The crisis is fundamentally characterized by pervasive systemic barriers related to access, quality, and equity.⁵ A particularly severe issue is “learning poverty,” where a staggering 80% of children at late primary age lack proficiency in reading, a rate significantly worse than the averages for both South Asia and lower-middle-income countries.⁷ This concerning figure further deteriorated to 77% by May 2024, indicating that a vast majority of 10-year-olds are unable to comprehend a short, age-appropriate text.⁸

The persistent gap between declared policy priority and actual outcomes is a critical observation. The research consistently highlights education as a “top priority” ² and a “matter of life and death” ¹, yet simultaneously presents alarming statistics: 26.2 million children out of school ⁵, 80% learning poverty ⁷, and stagnant literacy rates.⁹ This stark contrast suggests a fundamental disconnect. The frequent policy changes—eight in 75 years ¹—without substantial improvement ¹¹ indicate that the challenge is not a lack of policy intent but rather a failure in consistent, impactful implementation, adequate resource allocation, or sustained political commitment. This implies that policy formulation alone is insufficient to drive change; effective reform necessitates robust implementation mechanisms, transparent accountability frameworks, and unwavering political will that transcends short-term declarations and addresses deep-seated structural impediments.

Furthermore, education in Pakistan stands out as a sector highly vulnerable to external shocks. The explicit mention of “nationwide and severe disruptions” to schooling due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 floods ⁸, including thousands of destroyed classrooms ⁴ and the use of schools for flood displacement ⁸, reveals the inherent fragility of Pakistan’s education infrastructure. The subsequent increase in out-of-school children ⁸ and the disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups ⁸ underscore how external crises directly undermine educational continuity and exacerbate existing inequalities. This highlights a critical need for building resilience within the education system. Future policy must integrate comprehensive disaster preparedness, climate-resilient infrastructure, and robust, equitable distance learning capabilities to ensure educational continuity during crises. It also emphasizes that education is not an isolated sector but deeply intertwined with broader socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities.

3. Structure of the Education System: Levels and Institutional Diversity

Educational Tiers

Pakistan’s national education system is fundamentally structured into twelve years of formal schooling, progressing through distinct levels. These include primary education (grades 1-5), middle school (grades 6-8), matriculation (grades 9 and 10), and intermediate (grades 11 and 12).² Prior to formal schooling, pre-primary education, designed for children aged 3 to 5, serves as a foundational stage, typically comprising Play Group, Nursery, and Kindergarten.¹⁰

Crucial academic milestones punctuate this progression. Students undertake the Secondary School Certificate (SSC), commonly known as Matriculation, examination at the conclusion of Grade 10, which is a pivotal determinant for eligibility to pursue higher education.¹⁰ Following this, the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) is awarded upon successful completion of years 11 and 12.¹⁰ Beyond the intermediate level, post-secondary education encompasses undergraduate studies, leading to bachelor’s degrees, and various technical and vocational training programs.¹⁵ The higher education landscape in Pakistan is substantial, with over 200 universities and 3,000 degree colleges operating across the country.² The Higher Education Commission (HEC) plays a central regulatory role, responsible for accrediting 202 universities in both the public and private sectors.²

Types of Institutions

The schooling system in Pakistan is broadly segmented into modern education and religious education, known as Madrasas.¹⁶

Modern Education: This category comprises two primary types of institutions:

Public Sector Schools: These schools are established and funded by the government, providing free education, including textbooks and essential school equipment.¹⁶ The primary medium of instruction in these institutions is Urdu, the national language, with English typically taught as a basic subject.¹⁶
Private Sector Schools: Operating on a fee-based model, students enrolled in private schools are required to pay monthly or annual tuition, with additional costs for books and other materials.¹⁶ English serves as the predominant language of instruction in these schools.¹⁶ A notable feature of some private schools, particularly in major cities, is the option for students to pursue international qualifications such as O’ levels (University of Cambridge), which allows for subject selection based on individual interests.¹⁶ The private sector plays a significant role in primary enrollment, accounting for 30-36% nationally ¹¹, with higher penetration observed in wealthier households and in provinces like Punjab (35%) and Sindh (30%).¹²

Religious Seminaries (Madrasas): Known in Urdu as Madaris-e-Deeniya, these Islamic seminaries primarily focus on religious subjects. The curriculum typically includes Quranic interpretation (tafseer), Hadith (sayings of Muhammad), Islamic law (fiqh), and Arabic, though some institutions integrate non-Islamic subjects such as logic, philosophy, and mathematics to broaden students’ understanding.¹⁶ The majority of madrasas in Pakistan adhere to the Deobandi doctrine of Sunni Islam, while a smaller proportion (4-10%) cater to the minority Shia population.¹⁷ Madrasas often provide free room and board, offering a crucial educational pathway and fostering social mobility for impoverished students, who often develop intense devotion to their teachers due to the immersive and intimate living conditions.¹⁷ However, these institutions have also drawn concerns regarding their potential to foster “religious radicalism” and, in some instances, serve as “breeding grounds for radical Islamic terrorists,” with reports of graduates being recruited for “jihadi training”.¹⁷ Approximately 13% of rural children attend madrasas at some level, with higher concentrations (over 20%) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and FATA.¹²

The co-existence of distinct public, private, and madrassa education systems, with their varying mediums of instruction, diverse curricula, and disparate funding models, inherently creates significant educational inequality.¹ This segmentation means students from different socio-economic backgrounds receive vastly different qualities and types of education, thereby impeding social mobility and potentially undermining national cohesion. The increasing reliance on private schools, even for lower-income families ¹¹, further entrenches this divide. Moreover, the concerns surrounding madrasas fostering “religious radicalism” ¹⁷ introduce a layer of societal risk, suggesting that while institutional diversity provides access, it also poses significant challenges to fostering a unified national identity and promoting social harmony. Addressing educational inequality in Pakistan therefore requires not merely improving public schools but also a comprehensive strategy to bridge the quality, ideological, and socio-economic gaps between these diverse institutional types. The Single National Curriculum (SNC) attempts to address this ¹, but its implementation challenges ³ highlight the complexity of harmonizing such a fragmented system.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Landscape

Recognizing the importance of skill development, the government has established various Skill Development Technical Councils under the National Training Board, which operate through public-private partnerships.² In a concerted effort to address the needs of unskilled and economically challenged segments of the population, the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training introduced the national “Skills for All” strategy in 2021.² This initiative specifically aims to equip youth, particularly girls, with green and digital skills, aligning Pakistan’s aspirations with global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to quality education, gender equality, and decent work opportunities.¹⁹ The program is designed to prepare the younger generation for rapidly evolving job markets and enable their meaningful contribution to sustainable industries, fostering both economic resilience and positioning Pakistan as a proactive participant in the global sustainability agenda.¹⁹

While the “Skills for All” strategy ² and the focus on green and digital skills ¹⁹ represent forward-looking initiatives to prepare youth for the evolving job market and sustainable industries, the relatively low enrollment in TVET (455,000 students in 2021-22) compared to general education (e.g., 25 million in primary) ² suggests that this sector is not yet fully leveraged. The emphasis on empowering girls and economically disadvantaged youth through TVET ¹⁹ highlights its significant potential for fostering social mobility and gender equality. However, the current scale of TVET enrollment indicates a missed opportunity for broader economic resilience, poverty alleviation, and addressing the skills gap in the workforce. For Pakistan to effectively harness its demographic dividend and address persistent unemployment, there is a critical need for substantial expansion and mainstreaming of TVET. This must be coupled with stronger linkages to industry demands and a concerted effort to improve societal perception of vocational training. Current low enrollment figures suggest that significant accessibility barriers, funding limitations, or cultural biases might still exist, preventing this crucial sector from reaching its full potential in driving inclusive economic growth.

Enrollment and Institutional Statistics (2021-2023)

The education system in Pakistan serves a vast student population across its various tiers. In the 2021-22 academic year, pre-primary education enrolled 11.35 million students, primary education (grades 1-5) accounted for 25 million, middle education (grades 6-8) had approximately 8.75 million, secondary education (grades 9-10) 4.5 million, and higher education 2.5 million.² During the same period, technical and vocational education enrolled approximately 455,000 students, degree-awarding colleges 820,000, and universities 1.96 million.² The total number of enrolled students across all levels in Pakistan was 54,870,964, supported by 2,139,631 teachers in 2021-22.⁶

The institutional landscape reflects this scale, with approximately 182,600 functional primary schools, 46,800 middle schools, 34,800 secondary schools, 7,648 higher/secondary/intermediate colleges, and 3,729 technical and vocational institutes nationwide.² The public sector accounts for 56.2% of all educational institutions, while the private sector comprises the remaining 43.8%.⁶ Tertiary school enrollment reached 11.22% in 2023, showing an increase from 10.62% in 2022, though this figure remains significantly below the global average of 40.35%.²⁰

The following table provides a comprehensive quantitative snapshot of Pakistan’s education system, illustrating its scale and distribution across various levels and institutional types.

Table 1: Pakistan’s Education System: Enrollment and Institutional Landscape (2021-2023)

Educational Level	Number of Institutions (2021-22)	Student Enrollment (2021-22)	Projected Student Enrollment (2022-23)	Number of Teachers (2021-22)	Projected Number of Teachers (2022-23)
Pre-Primary	–	11.35 million	12.09 million	–	–
Primary (Grades 1-5)	182,600	25.0 million	24.04 million	463,200	–
Middle (Grades 6-8)	46,800	8.75 million	9.10 million	434,300	–
Secondary (Grades 9-10)	34,800	4.5 million	4.64 million	587,100	–
Higher Secondary (Grades 11-12)	7,648	2.15 million	2.26 million	170,200	–
Degree Colleges (Grades 13-14)	3,000	0.82 million	0.63 million	57,700	62,300
Universities	200	1.96 million	2.41 million	69,600	–
TVET Institutes	3,729	0.455 million	0.44 million	18,300	–
Total Enrolled Students	–	54.87 million	55.60 million	2.14 million	–
Public Sector Institutions	56.2%	–	–	–	–
Private Sector Institutions	43.8%	–	–	–	–
Tertiary Enrollment Rate (2023)	–	11.22%	–	–	–

Note: Enrollment figures for pre-primary, primary, middle, secondary, and higher education are from Pakistan Economic Survey 2021-23.² More detailed enrollment and teacher data for 2021-22 and 2022-23 projections are from Pakistan Institute of Education.²¹ The total enrolled students and public/private institutional split are from Pakistan Education Statistics 2021-22.⁶ Tertiary enrollment rate is from UNESCO 2023 data.²⁰ Some figures may slightly vary across sources due to different reporting methodologies or aggregation periods.

4. Governance and Regulatory Framework

Devolution of Education: Impact of the 18th Constitutional Amendment (2010)

A pivotal transformation in Pakistan’s governance structure, with significant implications for education, was the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution in 2010. This amendment fundamentally reshaped the distribution of legislative powers by abolishing the Concurrent List, which had previously allowed both federal and provincial governments to legislate on shared subjects.²² As a direct consequence, the subject of education, including higher education, was largely devolved to the provincial legislatures, making them primarily responsible for its administration and policy formulation.²²

A landmark outcome of this amendment was the insertion of Article 25-A into the Constitution. This article established the “Right to Education” as a fundamental and justiciable right, obligating the state to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged 5 to 16 years.¹¹ While provinces gained exclusive jurisdiction over most educational matters, the federal legislature retained a specific authority over “standards in institutions for higher education and research, scientific and technical institutions”.²³ This constitutional shift also led to the dissolution of 17 federal ministries, including the Ministry of Education, with their functions reassigned to the provinces, thereby extending provincial control to local government functions.²⁴ Despite this extensive devolution, the federal government retains residual duties related to education, including providing “special financial support, monitoring and harmonization” to ensure the effective enforcement of Article 25-A.²³

Key Regulatory Bodies and Examination Boards

The education system is overseen by several key regulatory bodies and a network of examination boards:

Higher Education Commission (HEC): The HEC functions as a constitutionally established, autonomous regulatory body with the mandate to fund, oversee, and accredit universities across Pakistan.² It currently accredits 202 universities, encompassing both public and private institutions.² Following the 18th Amendment, the HEC’s role was intended to be guided by the Council of Common Interests (CCI), reflecting the shift towards provincial autonomy.²⁴
Skill Development Councils: To promote technical and vocational education and training (TVET), bodies such as the Skill Development Technical Council and provincial Skill Development Councils (e.g., Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar) have been established. These councils operate under the National Training Board through public-private partnerships.²
Educational Boards (BISEs): These boards are integral to the secondary and higher secondary education system, playing a vital role in setting academic standards and conducting examinations.²⁵

The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) is responsible for federal territories, including Islamabad, Cantonment, and Garrison areas, as well as Pakistani schools abroad. It is recognized for its rigorous examination standards, fair evaluation methods, and detailed curricula.²⁵
Each of Pakistan’s four provinces—Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—has its own Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) operating at the district level.²⁶ Prominent examples include BISE Punjab, which is the largest and most widespread; BISE Karachi, the primary authority for high school and college-level education in Pakistan’s largest city; BISE KP; and various BISE Sindh boards.²⁵ These provincial boards are tasked with setting educational policies, designing curricula, and conducting examinations for secondary and higher secondary education within their respective jurisdictions.²⁵ In total, Pakistan has 32 educational boards, including public institutions, private entities like Aga Khan University Karachi’s Examination Board, and three technical education boards.²⁶

Federal and Provincial Responsibilities

Following the 18th Amendment, the primary responsibility for delivering free and compulsory primary and secondary education now rests squarely with the provincial governments.²³ However, the federal government maintains a crucial, albeit redefined, role in ensuring the enforcement of Article 25-A through financial support, monitoring, and harmonization efforts.²³ Despite the constitutional devolution, a significant challenge remains the persistent lack of effective coordination among the six different federal ministries involved in education policies, as well as between federal and provincial governments.¹¹ This has led to suggestions that the federal government should minimize its direct implementation role and instead focus more on needs identification, planning, and coordination among relevant authorities.¹¹

The unfulfilled promise of devolution and persistent coordination gaps represent a significant impediment. The 18th Amendment’s devolution of education to the provinces ²² and the establishment of education as a justiciable right ²³ were intended to empower sub-national governance and improve service delivery. However, the evidence indicates that this constitutional shift has not fully translated into effective governance. The “significant lack of coordination” among federal ministries and between federal and provincial levels ¹¹ suggests that the legal framework for devolution is not matched by robust inter-governmental coordination mechanisms. The recommendation for the federal government to focus on “need identification, planning, and coordination” rather than direct implementation ¹¹ implies that this ideal state of collaborative devolution has not been achieved, leading to fragmented and uncoordinated efforts.¹¹ While the 18th Amendment was a crucial step towards provincial autonomy, its full potential for educational improvement is hindered by persistent governance and coordination challenges. Effective devolution requires not only legal transfer of power but also significant capacity building at provincial and district levels, clear delineation of roles, and strong, formalized inter-governmental coordination mechanisms to ensure coherence and avoid duplication or gaps in service delivery.

Moreover, the centralized examination system functions as a significant bottleneck for quality and the cultivation of critical thinking. The extensive network of examination boards plays a central role in setting curricula and conducting exams.²⁵ However, the research critically points to a “flawed examination and assessment system” that has received “the least attention in reforms”.¹¹ This system is accused of reinforcing “rote learning” and being susceptible to “widespread cheating”.¹¹ The lack of international recognition for Pakistani qualifications ¹¹ and the preference for foreign-based O’ levels in private schools ¹⁶ further underscore the systemic failure of the national examination system to foster quality and higher-order thinking. This situation is directly linked to findings that textbooks are “not conducive to developing critical thinking skills” ²⁷ and that teaching practices are driven by “rote learning and passing exams” due to external pressure.²⁸ The examination system, rather than serving as a reliable measure of learning and a driver of quality, appears to be a significant impediment to educational progress. Its inherent design, which prioritizes memorization, actively discourages the development of critical thinking and deeper analytical skills. Any meaningful education reform in Pakistan must therefore include a fundamental overhaul of the examination system, shifting its focus from mere recall to the assessment of higher-order cognitive abilities, thereby incentivizing more effective teaching and learning practices.

5. Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Language of Instruction

Mediums of Instruction

In Pakistan’s education system, Urdu and English serve as the primary languages of instruction.² Public sector schools predominantly utilize Urdu as the medium, with English typically taught as a basic subject to introduce foundational concepts.¹⁶ Conversely, private sector schools widely adopt English as their primary language of instruction, reflecting a growing demand for English Medium Instruction (EMI) across the country.³ This demand sometimes comes at the expense of local languages, although English is a compulsory subject within the national curriculum.³ In addition to Urdu and English, provincial and regional languages such as Punjabi, Sindhi, and Pashto may also be taught in their respective provinces, particularly in regional language-medium schools.¹⁰

Curriculum Content and Structure

The curriculum for secondary education in Pakistan is structured around a combination of compulsory and elective subjects. Compulsory subjects typically include English, Urdu, Mathematics, Islamic Studies, and Pakistan Studies, while students can choose from elective streams such as science (Physics, Chemistry, Biology), commerce, or arts.¹⁰ In the early grades, from Nursery to Grade 1, the curriculum focuses on three core subjects: Science, Mathematics, and English. After Grade 1, the curriculum expands to include Islamic Studies and Social Studies.¹⁶

Public schools adhere to textbooks provided by the government, which are taught in Urdu.¹⁶ In contrast, private schools frequently use Oxford edition textbooks up to Grade 8, after which they are expected to transition to textbooks developed within their respective provinces.¹⁶ The existing curriculum has faced criticism for its perceived irrelevance to local contexts, outdated content, and a strong tendency towards ideological indoctrination, with history and social studies textbooks often omitting controversial facts.¹¹ There is a recognized and growing need to integrate contemporary social issues, human rights, constitutional principles, and climate change into the curriculum, starting from elementary levels, to foster a more inclusive and informed citizenry.²⁹

The Single National Curriculum (SNC): Objectives, Implementation, and Challenges

The Single National Curriculum (SNC), introduced in 2020 under former Prime Minister Imran Khan, represents a significant policy initiative aimed at standardizing educational content and reducing disparities across public, private, and religious schools.¹ Rooted in the “One Nation, One Curriculum” concept, the SNC mandates a unified curriculum structure, medium of instruction, and assessment system for grades 1-12, with the overarching goal of ensuring equitable educational opportunities nationwide.¹ A notable feature of the SNC is its provision for religious minorities to study their own faiths—including Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Baha’i, and Kalasha faiths—for grades 1-5, aiming for greater inclusivity.²

Despite its ambitious goals, the implementation of the SNC has encountered substantial hurdles. These challenges include navigating Pakistan’s complex socio-cultural diversity, addressing existing infrastructure disparities, and adequately preparing educators to deliver competency-based education effectively.³ Initial outcomes have fallen short of expectations, largely due to discrepancies within the school system, insufficient teacher training, and persistent socioeconomic inequalities.³ Quantitative assessments further indicate a disparity in SNC success, with urban schools reporting greater success (mean=4.1) compared to rural schools (mean=3.5), highlighting the critical need for improved teacher training and resource allocation, particularly in underserved areas.³ A key criticism leveled against the SNC is its continued emphasis on rote learning and its limited adaptability to diverse contexts, which hinders its alignment with global educational priorities such as critical thinking, creativity, and sustainability.¹⁸

The Single National Curriculum (SNC) as a policy ideal faces deep-seated structural realities. The SNC’s ambitious goal of unifying education and reducing disparities ¹ is a direct policy response to the profound inequalities inherent in Pakistan’s multi-tiered education system.¹ However, its implementation is severely hampered by existing structural realities: deep-seated socio-cultural diversity, pervasive infrastructure disparities, and inadequate teacher preparedness.³ The observed disparity in SNC success between urban and rural schools ³ directly reflects these pre-existing resource and infrastructure gaps. Furthermore, the SNC’s continued reliance on rote learning ¹⁸ contradicts its stated aim of equitable and quality education, suggesting that curriculum reform alone is insufficient to overcome entrenched pedagogical practices and assessment systems. The SNC, while conceptually sound in its pursuit of equity, highlights that systemic educational transformation requires more than just a new curriculum. It necessitates substantial and sustained investment in comprehensive teacher training, significant infrastructure development, and a fundamental shift in pedagogical approaches and assessment methods to genuinely move beyond rote learning. Without these complementary, integrated reforms, the SNC risks remaining an unfulfilled promise, potentially exacerbating existing inequalities rather than resolving them.

Curriculum and the Cultivation of Critical Thinking Skills

National curriculum documents and education policies in Pakistan formally acknowledge the importance of fostering critical thinking (CT) and problem-solving abilities among students.²⁷ However, empirical studies reveal a significant gap between policy intent and classroom reality. For instance, text-based questions in subjects like Pakistan Studies are found to be “not conducive to developing critical thinking skills,” predominantly focusing on lower-order thinking levels such as remembering and understanding, rather than analysis, evaluation, or creation.²⁷

Current teaching practices and the prevailing examination system are heavily criticized for their over-reliance on lecture methods, teacher-centered pedagogy, and a singular focus on passing exams, thereby actively hindering the development of CT skills.²⁸ Teachers themselves recognize the importance of CT but face significant barriers, including large class sizes, inadequate training in student-centered approaches, and immense pressure to achieve high exam results, which often prioritize rote memorization.²⁸ These challenges extend to higher education, where universities are urged to promote critical thinking and prepare students for contemporary issues, yet the current curriculum often fails to meet modern education and research standards, contributing to a lack of quality education.³¹

This situation points to a systemic impediment to critical thinking development. Despite explicit policy recognition of the importance of critical thinking ²⁷, the reality on the ground—as evidenced by textbook content ²⁷, prevailing teaching practices ²⁸, and the dominant examination system ¹¹—overwhelmingly favors rote learning. This creates a self-reinforcing negative feedback loop: exams primarily test recall, teachers consequently teach for memorization, and textbooks are designed to facilitate rote learning, effectively stifling the development of higher-order thinking skills. The “pressure to produce good exam results” ²⁸ further entrenches this rote-based approach. This is not merely a pedagogical flaw but a systemic issue that impacts the competitiveness of graduates ³² and the nation’s capacity to address complex challenges effectively. Pakistan’s education system is structurally disincentivized from fostering critical thinking. Genuine reform requires a holistic and simultaneous approach that revises curricula to emphasize analytical skills, re-trains teachers in student-centered and inquiry-based pedagogies, and fundamentally overhauls the examination system to assess higher-order cognitive abilities. Without this integrated shift, Pakistani graduates will continue to lack the essential skills required for success in a rapidly evolving 21st-century knowledge economy.

6. Major Challenges and Disparities in the Education Sector

Access and Enrollment: The Out-of-School Children Crisis and Disparities

A significant crisis plaguing Pakistan’s education system is the alarming number of out-of-school children, estimated at approximately 26.2 million. This issue disproportionately affects girls and children in rural areas.⁵ The percentage of out-of-school children notably increased following the COVID-19 pandemic, rising from 17% to 19% in rural areas and from 5.6% to 7.8% in urban areas.⁸ In rural Pakistan, 18% of children aged 5-16, totaling 4.8 million, are currently out of school, with the highest rates observed in Balochistan (36%) and Sindh (20%).¹² While enrollment rates for children aged 5-16 in rural Pakistan have shown some improvement, reaching 82% ¹², the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) across all levels experienced a notable decrease from 2016-17 to 2021-22, with primary GER dropping by 21 percentage points to 76%.⁶

Profound disparities persist across provinces, income levels, gender, and urban/rural divides.⁸ Gender disparities are particularly stark, with boys consistently having higher enrollment rates than girls at all levels.¹² More girls (37.9%) are out-of-school compared to boys (26.1%) ⁷, and female literacy in tribal areas is as low as 9.5%.¹⁰ Girls in rural areas and children from the lowest-income households are consistently identified as the most vulnerable to educational exclusion.⁸ Income-based disparities are also significant, as the enrollment gap between the poorest and wealthiest children widened considerably during the pandemic.⁸ Overall literacy among the poor stands at 28% compared to 49% for the non-poor.¹¹ Regionally, literacy rates vary drastically, from 96% in Islamabad to a mere 23% in Torghar District.¹⁰ Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) exhibits wide variation, from 111% in urban Punjab to 41% in rural Balochistan.¹¹ Balochistan consistently records the lowest enrollment and highest out-of-school rates.⁶ The government has struggled to expand state education facilities sufficiently to meet the existing demand and bridge these disparities, with the annual increase in public primary schools falling short of requirements.¹¹

Quality of Education: Learning Outcomes, Infrastructure, and Teacher Effectiveness

The quality of education remains a critical concern. Learning poverty is a pervasive issue, with 80% of children at late primary age lacking reading proficiency.⁷ Assessments indicate that only 55% of fifth-grade students can read a simple Urdu story, and fewer than half can solve basic division problems.⁴ In rural areas, the situation is particularly dire, with only 49% of Grade 5 children able to read a Grade 2 level story, 34% capable of basic subtraction, and 29% able to read English sentences.¹²

Inadequate physical infrastructure further compromises learning environments. A significant portion of public educational institutions lack basic amenities: 28% have no boundary walls, 41% no drinking water, 57% no electricity, and 7% no building.¹¹ Specifically for primary schools, 61% lack electricity, 97% no gas, 34% no drinking water, 95% no telephone, and 23% no textbooks.¹¹ These conditions lead to uncomfortable and often unhygienic learning environments, especially in areas with extreme weather.¹¹

The education system also faces challenges related to insufficient and poorly trained teaching staff. There is a notable shortage of teachers, with an average teacher-to-school ratio of 2 in Sindh and Balochistan, often resulting in multi-grade, one-teacher schools in rural areas where a single teacher is responsible for multiple grades without specialized training.¹¹ Teacher recruitment is heavily politicized, with appointments and transfers frequently based on political affiliations rather than merit.¹¹ Teacher training institutes are often inefficient, and many teachers report learning little from their courses.¹¹ Moreover, contractual teacher policies lack adequate incentives for performance-based promotion or for attracting qualified teachers to remote areas.¹¹

Weak monitoring and management compound these issues. Post-2001, monitoring functions were devolved to district governments, and School Management Committees (SMCs) were emphasized. However, the capacity of district monitoring staff has shown little improvement. District Education Officers (DEOs) are often overburdened, lack transport, and face political interference, hindering effective accountability.¹¹ Monitoring staff frequently limit their roles to attendance checks rather than providing instructional support or pedagogical guidance.¹¹

Funding and Resource Allocation: Investment Gaps and Utilization Issues

Historically, education in Pakistan has suffered from chronic underinvestment. In 2004, only 2% of GDP was allocated to education, significantly less than the 4% allocated for military spending.¹¹ While an increase to 2.4% of GDP was announced for 2006-2007, its actual realization remained uncertain.¹¹ In FY 2023-24, approximately 2% of the total National Public Sector Development Program was allocated to education ², consistent with this historical pattern of underinvestment.¹¹

A disproportionately high percentage of the education budget is allocated to recurrent activities, predominantly salaries, leaving minimal funds for crucial development projects and infrastructure improvements.¹¹ Furthermore, less than 50% of funds allocated for development expenditure at the federal Ministry of Education are actually utilized, with similar low utilization rates observed at provincial and district levels, indicating a weak absorption capacity for funds.¹¹ The financial allocation and release system is complex: authority rests at federal and provincial levels, but actual utilization is highest at the district level. Provinces heavily rely on federal revenues, contributing only 10% of their own educational funding requirements.¹¹

The consistently low investment in education ¹¹ directly translates into inadequate physical infrastructure ¹¹, insufficient numbers of qualified teachers, and poor teacher training.¹¹ These deficiencies, in turn, are primary drivers of poor student achievement and alarmingly low learning outcomes.⁴ Furthermore, the high proportion of the education budget consumed by recurrent activities, predominantly salaries ¹¹, leaves minimal funds for crucial development projects, further hindering improvements in quality and access. The weak absorption capacity of allocated funds ¹¹ means that even the limited available funds are not fully utilized, creating a vicious cycle where poor quality justifies continued low investment, and low investment perpetuates poor quality. Breaking this entrenched cycle requires not just a significant increase in overall funding but also a fundamental reform of financial management, allocation, and utilization mechanisms. Prioritizing development expenditure over recurrent costs, coupled with robust capacity building for effective fund absorption at all levels, is crucial. Without addressing these systemic financial and management inefficiencies, simply increasing the budget may not translate into tangible improvements in educational quality or access.

Impact of External Factors: Climate Change and Pandemics

Pakistan’s high vulnerability to climate change implies that educational disruptions are likely to increase in frequency and intensity.⁸ The devastating 2022 floods, for instance, damaged nearly 7,000 schools across the country ⁸ and affected 22% of households in rural areas.¹² The COVID-19 pandemic also caused severe disruptions to schooling, leading to increased student drop-out rates, a rise in gender-based violence, child labor, and mental health issues among students.⁸ Although the federal ministry and provincial education departments launched several distance learning programs, including through broadcast media and online portals, the number of out-of-school children still increased during this period.⁸ Access to digital learning was highly unequal, with significant rural-urban disparities in cable connection access for broadcasted lessons, further exacerbating existing inequalities.⁸

The research consistently demonstrates that educational disparities in Pakistan are not isolated but rather intersect and compound each other. Girls, rural children, and children from low-income households are disproportionately affected by lack of access and poor quality education.⁵ External shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change-induced floods ⁴, amplify these pre-existing inequalities, hitting “the poorest the hardest”.⁸ This pattern suggests that the education system’s vulnerabilities are deeply embedded within broader socio-economic structures and environmental risks, making it particularly susceptible to external pressures. A truly inclusive and effective education reform cannot operate in isolation. It must adopt a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach that simultaneously addresses poverty, gender inequality, and climate vulnerability in conjunction with targeted educational interventions. Policies need to be specifically designed to reach the most marginalized populations, and resilience-building measures should explicitly consider the disproportionate impact of crises on already vulnerable groups to ensure equitable educational continuity.

The following table provides a quantitative overview of key education indicators and highlights the significant disparities within Pakistan’s education system.

Table 2: Key Education Indicators and Disparities in Pakistan

Indicator	Value	Source
Literacy Rate (Total)	62.85% (2023 Census)	¹⁰
Literacy Rate (Total)	58.00% (2019)	⁹
Male Literacy Rate (2023 Census)	68%	¹⁰
Female Literacy Rate (2023 Census)	52.84%	¹⁰
Rural Literacy Rate	54%	²
Urban Literacy Rate	74%	²
Out-of-School Children (Total)	26.2 million	⁵
Out-of-School Children (Rural, 5-16 years)	18% (4.8 million)	¹²
Learning Poverty (May 2024)	77% (children cannot read age-appropriate text by age 10)	⁸
Learning Poverty (Pre-COVID-19)	80% (children at late primary age not proficient in reading)	⁷
Primary School Completion Rate	67.5% (general)	¹⁰
Primary School Completion Rate (2022)	68.1%	²⁰
Primary Education Expenditure per child (PPP)	USD 397	⁷
Education Spending as % of GDP (2004)	2%	¹¹
Education Spending as % of GDP (FY 2023-24)	~2% of National Public Sector Development Program	²
Education Spending as % of GDP (2023)	1.87%	²⁰

7. Government Initiatives and Reform Efforts

Pakistan Vision 2025: Educational Goals and Progress Assessment

Launched in 2014, Pakistan Vision 2025 is a national strategic plan that designates education as a top priority for national development.² The plan set ambitious educational goals to be achieved by 2025, including increasing primary school enrollment and graduation rates to 100%, alongside achieving a 90% literacy rate.² Additionally, it aimed to boost higher education enrollment from 7% to 12% and significantly increase the number of Ph.D. scholars from 7,000 to 15,000.²

However, a review of progress indicates a significant discrepancy between these ambitious goals and implementation realities. As the 2025 deadline approaches, the literacy rate has largely stagnated at approximately 60% since 2014-15 ², with the 2023 Census reporting 62.85% ¹⁰, falling considerably short of the 90% target. While higher education enrollment reached 11.22% in 2023 ²⁰, nearing the 12% target, the presence of 26.2 million out-of-school children ⁵ indicates that the 100% primary enrollment target remains highly challenging. Government allocation to education continues to be low, at approximately 2% of the National Public Sector Development Program in FY 2023-24 ², consistent with historical underinvestment.¹¹ The “U.S.-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor Ph.D. Scholarship Program,” established in 2015, is a key initiative supporting these higher education goals, aiming to leverage international partnerships to achieve the Ph.D. scholar targets.²

The ambitious goals of Pakistan Vision 2025, such as 100% primary enrollment and 90% literacy by 2025 ², are commendable. However, current data, including 26.2 million out-of-school children ⁵ and a literacy rate stagnating around 60% ², indicates a substantial and widening gap between these aspirations and actual achievements as the deadline approaches. This suggests that while the strategic plan is well-intentioned, it may lack the necessary political commitment, sustained financial investment, or effective implementation mechanisms required to achieve such transformative goals. The repeated declaration of an “education emergency” ⁴ further underscores the systemic challenges that prevent the realization of these targets. This situation highlights that comprehensive national strategic plans, while crucial for setting direction, require robust, long-term, and adequately resourced implementation frameworks to translate vision into tangible progress.

“Skills for All” Strategy and TVET Development

In a targeted effort to enhance human capital, the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training introduced the national “Skills for All” strategy in 2021. This initiative specifically aims to address the needs of unskilled and economically challenged segments of the population.² A core focus of the strategy is equipping youth, particularly girls, with green and digital skills, thereby preparing them for evolving job markets and enabling their contribution to sustainable industries.¹⁹ This initiative aligns strategically with global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to quality education, gender equality, and decent work opportunities.¹⁹ The involvement of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) as a key enabler underscores the government’s commitment to ensuring effective implementation and maximizing outreach, reflecting a broader strategic vision of reducing inequalities and advancing gender empowerment through education and skill development.¹⁹

Public-Private Partnerships and Donor Interventions

Pakistan has seen a significant push towards public-private partnerships (PPPs) in education, leading to innovative models aimed at improving access, equity, and bridging gender gaps.¹¹ The ‘Adopt a School Programme’ is cited as one popular model for such collaborations.¹¹ Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly contracted for services such as teacher training, which has brought about positive changes within the system. However, a concern exists regarding their potential loss of independence as monitors of the state education system when they become service providers for the government.¹¹

Donor agencies contribute a substantial portion, almost 30%, of the development budget for education. These funds are often channeled through individual projects, a major portion of which are implemented via NGOs.¹¹ This approach frequently results in fragmented and uncoordinated interventions, potentially leading to resource wastage and exacerbating regional disparities, as some districts may receive many donor-funded projects while others receive none.¹¹

Recent Assessments and Evidence-Based Policy Reforms

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s declaration of an ‘Education Emergency’ in May 2023 underscored the urgent need for comprehensive reform to address the critical state of education.⁴ Recent assessments, such as the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023, provide critical insights into the educational landscape. This large-scale survey, covering 151 rural and 123 urban districts and assessing 272,370 children ¹², revealed that 18% of children aged 5-16 in rural areas are out of school. It also highlighted persistently low learning outcomes, with only 49% of Grade 5 children able to read a Grade 2 level story in Urdu/Siraiki, and a significant proportion (27%) of rural children attending private schools.¹²

In response to these challenges, initiatives like the DARE-RC (Development and Research in Education – Research Center) project, supported by the British High Commission, aim to generate high-quality, accessible research to improve education in Pakistan and strengthen domestic research capacity for evidence-based policymaking.⁴ Its focus areas include teacher quality, inclusion (addressing girls’ enrollment, religious minorities, and disability), climate resilience, and system-level reforms such as teacher e-transfer policies and public-private partnerships.⁴ Ongoing reform discussions also address curriculum flaws, advocating for the integration of lessons on critical social issues, human rights, constitutional principles, and climate change to create a more relevant and inclusive educational experience.²⁹

8. Conclusion

The education system in Pakistan is characterized by a structured framework from early childhood to tertiary levels, encompassing a diverse array of public, private, and religious institutions. While foundational to national progress and consistently declared a top government priority, the system is simultaneously plagued by deep-seated and systemic challenges.

A significant challenge lies in the persistent gap between policy aspirations and on-the-ground realities. Despite ambitious goals outlined in initiatives like Pakistan Vision 2025, progress in areas such as literacy rates and universal primary enrollment remains significantly behind targets. This disparity suggests that policy formulation alone is insufficient; effective reform necessitates robust implementation, sustained political will, and transparent accountability.

Furthermore, the education sector’s inherent fragility is evident in its vulnerability to external shocks, such as pandemics and climate-induced disasters. These crises disproportionately affect already marginalized groups, exacerbating existing inequalities in access and learning outcomes. Building resilience through disaster preparedness, climate-resilient infrastructure, and equitable distance learning capabilities is therefore paramount.

The institutional segmentation into public, private, and madrassa schools, each with distinct curricula and mediums of instruction, contributes to profound educational inequality and poses challenges to social cohesion. While the Single National Curriculum attempts to unify standards, its implementation faces hurdles due to existing infrastructure disparities, inadequate teacher training, and a continued reliance on rote learning.

Governance issues, particularly the unfulfilled promise of devolution following the 18th Amendment and persistent coordination gaps between federal and provincial authorities, further complicate reform efforts. The centralized examination system, which prioritizes memorization over critical thinking, actively hinders the development of higher-order cognitive skills, impacting the competitiveness of graduates.

Underinvestment in education, coupled with inefficient resource allocation and weak absorption capacity, creates a self-perpetuating cycle of poor quality. A significant portion of the budget is consumed by recurrent expenditures, leaving insufficient funds for crucial development and quality enhancements.

Addressing these multifaceted challenges requires a comprehensive and integrated approach. This involves not only increased and more efficient funding but also a fundamental overhaul of pedagogical practices and assessment systems to foster critical thinking. Moreover, policies must explicitly target intersecting vulnerabilities related to gender, income, and geography, ensuring that reforms reach the most disadvantaged populations. Ultimately, the transformation of Pakistan’s education system demands a sustained, evidence-based commitment that moves beyond declarations to implement deep structural reforms, fostering an inclusive, equitable, and quality learning environment for all.

Works cited

Development of the Single National Curriculum; Opportunities at Primary Level, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=135722
Pakistan – Education – International Trade Administration, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/pakistan-education
Evaluating the Impact of the Single National Curriculum on Educational Equality and Teacher Preparedness in Pakistan – EUDL, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://eudl.eu/pdf/10.4108/eai.30-10-2024.2354744
From crisis to transformation: advancing evidence-based education reform in Pakistan, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.opml.co.uk/insights/crisis-transformation-advancing-evidence-based-education-reform-pakistan
Education | UNESCO, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.unesco.org/en/node/168509
Pakistan Education Statistics 2021-22 – Highlights Report, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://stateofchildren.com/pakistan-education-statistics-2021-22-highlights-report/
Pakistan Learning Poverty Brief – World Bank Documents and Reports, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099090524113129017/pdf/P17920914d233b0701985a14a5d15f20e04.pdf
MISSING SCHOOL | The Effect of Crises on Students and Teachers in Pakistan – World Bank Documents and Reports, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099854205312413524/pdf/IDU1ac5f58b41cfd914dff18d4712745301013a5.pdf
Pakistan Literacy Rate 1981-2025 – Macrotrends, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/pak/pakistan/literacy-rate
Education in Pakistan – Wikipedia, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Pakistan
Pakistan: country case study – UNESCO Digital Library, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000155503
Annual Status of Education Pakistan 2023 – Provisional, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://stateofchildren.com/annual-status-of-education-pakistan-2023-provisional/
www.trade.gov, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/pakistan-education#:~:text=Pakistan%20has%20over%20200%20universities%20and%203%2C000%20degree%20colleges%20across%20the%20country.&text=Pakistan’s%20national%20education%20system%20comprises,(grades%2011%20and%2012).
en.wikipedia.org, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Pakistan#:~:text=The%20education%20system%20in%20Pakistan,leading%20to%20a%20Higher%20Secondary
What is Secondary Education in Pakistan – TSS, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://tss.edu.pk/what-is-secondary-education-in-pakistan/
Schooling System in Pakistan – The North Star, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://oshkoshnorthstar.org/4861/showcase/schooling-system-in-pakistan/
Madrassas in Pakistan – Wikipedia, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrassas_in_Pakistan
AN ANALYSIS OF SINGLE NATIONAL CURRICULUM OF PAKISTAN IN RELATION TO UN SDGS ON EDUCATION, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.pjia.com.pk/index.php/pjia/article/view/1145
With Green Skills, Pakistan’s Youth Can Redefine Their Future – OpEd – Eurasia Review, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.eurasiareview.com/26012025-with-green-skills-pakistans-youth-can-redefine-their-future-oped/
Pakistan Tertiary school enrollment – data, chart | TheGlobalEconomy.com, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Pakistan/Tertiary_school_enrollment/
Education – Finance Division, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_24/10_education.pdf
rasta.pide.org.pk, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://rasta.pide.org.pk/wp-content/uploads/05.140-Aamer-Raza_Paper.pdf
A Look Back At Education As Federal And Provincial Subject After The Eighteenth Amendment – Courting The Law, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://courtingthelaw.com/2018/01/31/commentary/a-look-back-at-education-as-federal-and-provincial-subject-after-the-eighteenth-amendment/
Making Federalism Work – The 18th Constitutional Amendment – World Bank Documents and Reports, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/687281468057882110/pdf/871020NWP0Box30ing0Federalism0Work.pdf
Which Board is Best in Pakistan – Board of Education – TSS, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://tss.edu.pk/which-board-is-best-in-pakistan/
Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – has its own educational boards, known as Board of Intermediate and, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://assets-global.website-files.com/66f42b71e186733b71f025c4/67c7c90892e37d063d9623ba_59438431140.pdf
Critical Thinking Skills in a Secondary School Pakistan Studies Textbook: A Qualitative Content Analysis – SciSpace, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://scispace.com/pdf/critical-thinking-skills-in-a-secondary-school-pakistan-3gdbd3loze.pdf
Fostering Critical Thinking in Pakistani Secondary School Science: A Teacher’s Viewpoint – Global Educational Studies Review, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://www.gesrjournal.com/fulltext/fostering-critical-thinking-in-pakistani-secondary-school-science-a-teachers-viewpoint
Revamping Pakistan’s Education System: A Path To Inclusivity And Progress, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://thefridaytimes.com/20-Mar-2025/revamping-pakistan-s-education-system-a-path-to-inclusivity-and-progress
Evaluating the Impact of the Single National Curriculum on Educational Equality and Teacher Preparedness in Pakistan – EUDL, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://eudl.eu/doi/10.4108/eai.30-10-2024.2354744
The Quality Education Challenges of Higher Education in Pakistan for Socio-Economic Development, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://prjss.com/index.php/prjss/article/download/214/224/285
EVOLVING LANDSCAPE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES – CBER-IBA, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://cber.iba.edu.pk/rethinking-economics-in-the-contemporary-world/pdf/policy-brief-session-on-education.pdf
Pakistan Vision 2025 – Wikipedia, accessed on May 24, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Vision_2025
Welcome To ASER Pakistan | Education in Pakistan | Annual Status of Education Report, accessed on May 24, 2025, http://aserpakistan.org/

2025 India–Pakistan conflict

India–Pakistan conflict was a brief armed conflict between India and Pakistan that began on 7 May 2025, after India launched missile strikes on Pakistan, in

May 24, 2025

PROOF POINTS: Trial finds cheaper, quicker way to tutor young kids in reading

Education researchers are studying a low-cost, low-disruption tutoring programme called \”short-burst\” for kindergarten children. Chapter One (formerly Innovations for Learning) is behind the programme, which involves one-to-one tutoring sessions at a desk in the back of a classroom. The sessions take place during normal English lesson periods and involve each child working with the same tutor for a few minutes, up to five days a week. The approach has produced impressive initial results: at the end of the first year of a four-year study of 800 Florida kindergarten children, who were given the short-burst tutoring programme, more than double the number of children hit an important reading milestone than those who did not receive the tutoring. Researchers recommend tutoring programmes to schools, but high-dosage tutoring programmes are costly and difficult for schools to implement. The $120bn in federal funding provided to the US for pandemic recovery could be invested in tutoring programmes. The hope is that short-burst tutoring will be a cost-effective way to ensure students become proficient readers, leading to long-term academic success.

>Source link>

>>Join our Facebook Group be part of community. <<

March 13, 2023
Ford government makes technological education mandatory for Ontario high school students | Globalnews.ca

اونٹاریو ہائی اسکول وزارت تعلیم کے مطابق، اونٹاریو میں طلباء کو اپنا ڈپلومہ حاصل کرنے کے لیے لازمی تکنیکی تعلیم کی کلاس لینے کی ضرورت ہوگی – ایک تبدیلی جو کہ فورڈ حکومت امید ہے کہ ہنر کی تجارت میں داخل ہونے کے خواہشمند طلباء کی تعداد میں اضافہ ہوگا۔

حکومت نے کہا کہ تکنیکی تعلیم کا کورسجو کہ ستمبر 2024 میں لازمی شروع ہو جائے گا، جس میں تعمیر، نقل و حمل، مینوفیکچرنگ، کمپیوٹر، ٹیکنالوجی، مہمان نوازی اور مواصلات سمیت وسیع شعبوں کا احاطہ کیا جائے گا۔

مزید پڑھ:

اونٹاریو کمپیوٹر کے لیے نصاب کو اپ ڈیٹ کر رہا ہے، تکنیکی…

>Source link>

>>Join our Facebook page From top right corner. <<

March 11, 2023
ChatGPT in the classroom: Why some Canadian teachers, professors are embracing AI – National | Globalnews.ca
دسمبر میں، برینڈن بینسن نے یہ دیکھنا شروع کیا کہ اس کے گریڈ 12 کے طالب علم ایسے ہی مضامین لکھ رہے تھے۔

نیومارکیٹ، اونٹ کے پکرنگ کالج میں انگریزی پڑھانے والے بینسن نے کہا، \”میری آوازیں ایک دوسرے سے ملتی جلتی تھیں۔\”

وہ جانتا تھا کہ اس کے طلباء اکثر گرامرلی یا آٹو کریکٹ جیسی ایپس پر انحصار کرتے ہیں۔ لیکن یہ مختلف تھا۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ میں نے طلباء کے تحریری عمل کے بارے میں سوچنا شروع کر دیا۔ اسے یہ معلوم کرنے میں زیادہ دیر نہیں گزری تھی کہ اس کا جواب ChatGPT تھا، ایک مصنوعی ذہانت والا چیٹ بوٹ، جسے اکثر سرچ انجن کے متبادل کے طور پر استعمال کیا جاتا ہے۔

مزید پڑھ:

ChatGPT کینیڈا کے AI علمبرداروں کے بغیر موجود نہیں ہوگا۔ آخرت سے کیوں ڈرتے ہیں۔

یہ لطیفے، گانے، شاعری اور طویل، پیچیدہ جوابات – بشمول مضامین لکھ کر اشارے کا جواب دے سکتا ہے۔

کہانی اشتہار کے نیچے جاری ہے۔

لیکن اپنے طالب علموں کو ڈانٹنے اور ٹیکنالوجی پر پابندی لگانے کے بجائے، بینسن نے انہیں یہ بتانے دیا کہ وہ اسے کس طرح استعمال کر رہے ہیں، اور پچھلے مہینے ایک منصوبہ لے کر آیا تھا کہ چیٹ بوٹ کی مدد سے کیے گئے اسائنمنٹس کا اندازہ کیسے لگایا جائے۔

وہ کینیڈا بھر کے اساتذہ اور پروفیسرز میں شامل ہیں جو اخلاقیات، سرقہ اور دیگر ممکنہ خرابیوں کے بارے میں بحث کے درمیان ChatGPT کو کلاس روم میں مدعو کر رہے ہیں۔

بینسن نے کہا کہ انہوں نے ChatGPT کے ساتھ کام کرنے اور طلباء کے درمیان تنقیدی سوچ کی حوصلہ افزائی کرنے کا ایک موقع دیکھا، جو ان کے خیال میں AI سے بہتر کام کر سکتے ہیں۔

ChatGPT کی مدد سے اسائنمنٹس کا اندازہ لگانے میں اس کی مدد کرنے کے لیے، طلباء سے کہا گیا کہ وہ AI کے ساتھ اپنی گفتگو کے ٹرانسکرپٹس جمع کرائیں اور وضاحت کریں کہ انہوں نے تحریری عمل کے بارے میں کیا سیکھا۔ بینسن نے کہا کہ وہ پرجوش تھے۔

\”جب میں نے ChatGPT استعمال کرنے کا آپشن دیا، (ایک) طالب علم مسکرایا – اس نے صرف اتنا کہا، \’یہ سب سے زیادہ ترقی پسند، دلچسپ چیز ہے جسے کرنے کے لیے مجھ سے کہا گیا ہے۔ یہ بہت اچھا ہے، میں بورڈ پر ہوں۔\’\’

$\"ویڈیو$

5:52
TikTok اور ChatGPT پر تشویش

Pickering کالج میں تدریس اور سیکھنے کے ڈائریکٹر جوشوا آرمسٹرانگ نے کہا کہ AI تعلیم کا حصہ بننے جا رہا ہے اور وہ اخلاقی اثرات کے بارے میں فکر مند ہیں۔

کہانی اشتہار کے نیچے جاری ہے۔

\”ہم اب بھی چاہتے ہیں کہ طلباء یہ سمجھیں کہ سرقہ کیسا لگتا ہے،\” انہوں نے کہا۔ \”یہ ایک بنیادی اصول ہے جو ہم نے اپنے طلباء کو نسلوں سے سکھایا ہے۔\”

انہوں نے کہا کہ یہ \”اچھی تعلیم کے بارے میں آتا ہے کہ آپ AI سے کسی چیز کو کس طرح استعمال کرتے ہیں۔\”

وینکوور میں یونیورسٹی آف برٹش کولمبیا میں، پیٹرک پارا پینی فادر نے ابھی ایک پروجیکٹ مکمل کیا ہے جس میں طلباء نے ولیم شیکسپیئر کے انداز میں ایک ڈرامہ لکھنے کے لیے ChatGPT کا استعمال کیا۔

Pennefather، تھیٹر اور فلم کے شعبہ میں ایک اسسٹنٹ پروفیسر نے طالب علموں کو ChatGPT کا استعمال کرتے ہوئے ایک سین لکھنے میں مدد کی جس میں میکبیتھ، پورٹیا، اوتھیلو اور شیلک _ تین مختلف شیکسپیئر ڈراموں کے کردار – سبھی ملتے ہیں۔

مزید پڑھ:

ماہرین کا کہنا ہے کہ چیٹ جی پی ٹی جیسے اے آئی پروگرام ساسکیچیوان کی تعلیم کو بدل سکتے ہیں۔

\”میں اپنے طالب علموں کی حوصلہ افزائی کرتا ہوں کہ وہ ان جنریٹرز کے ساتھ تخلیقی انداز میں کھیلنے کی کوشش کریں تاکہ وہ دیکھیں کہ وہ ان سے ایسا مواد کیسے بنا سکتے ہیں جس کے بارے میں وہ متجسس ہوں۔ لہذا، شیکسپیئر ایک بہترین مثال ہے،\” Pennefather نے کہا۔
اس وقت مقبول ہے

$\"\"/$

کینیڈا اور امریکہ میں کم عمر بالغوں میں کولوریکٹل کینسر کے کیسز بڑھ رہے ہیں۔

$\"\"/$

Markham کی دیکھ بھال کرنے والا سفر کرنے کا ارادہ رکھتا ہے، ممکنہ طور پر $60M لاٹری جیتنے کے بعد نیا گھر خرید سکتا ہے۔
Pennefather نے طلباء سے یہ بھی جانچنے کو کہا کہ ChatGPT مضامین کیسے لکھتا ہے اور ثابت کیا کہ AI مضمون کے آخری پیراگراف کو شروع کرنے کے لیے \”اختتام میں\” استعمال کرنا پسند کرتا ہے۔

وہ اسے طالب علموں کی تنقیدی سوچ کو بہتر بناتے ہوئے ChatGPT جیسے ٹولز کو نیویگیٹ کرنے کے بارے میں علم سے آراستہ کرنے کے طریقے کے طور پر دیکھتا ہے۔ نتیجے کے طور پر، اس کے ایک طالب علم نے محسوس کیا کہ وہ فارمولک انداز میں لکھ رہا ہے اور اب کمپوز کرنے کے نئے طریقے تلاش کر رہا ہے۔

کہانی اشتہار کے نیچے جاری ہے۔

Pennefather نے کہا کہ AI ٹولز کے موجود نہ ہونے کا بہانہ کرنا کوئی حل نہیں تھا، اور یہ بہتر تھا کہ طالب علموں کو اس بات کی ترغیب دی جائے کہ ان کا بہترین استعمال کیسے کیا جائے۔

\”یہ ایک اچھی بات ہے۔ طلباء کے بارے میں میرا تاثر یہ ہے کہ میں ان پر بھروسہ کرتا ہوں اور وہ کورسز کے ہر پہلو میں شامل ہونا چاہتے ہیں جو میں پڑھاتا ہوں۔

$\"ویڈیو$

1:59
ماہرین کا کہنا ہے کہ چیٹ جی پی ٹی جیسے اے آئی پروگرام ساسکیچیوان کی تعلیم کو بدل سکتے ہیں۔

لیکن کچھ معلمین اخلاقی خطرات سے محتاط رہتے ہیں۔

گارتھ نکولس، ہیورگل کالج کے وائس پرنسپل، ٹورنٹو میں قائم کنڈرگارٹن سے گریڈ 12 تک لڑکیوں کے ایک آزاد اسکول، چاہتے ہیں کہ طالب علم املاک دانش کی اہمیت کو سمجھیں کیونکہ AI سیکھنے کا ایک حصہ بن جاتا ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ چیٹ جی پی ٹی موجودہ نثر یا نصوص سے اقتباسات تیار نہیں کرتا تھا، بلکہ اس کے بجائے ایک \”بڑی زبان کا ماڈل\” تھا، جو الگورتھم کی ایک قسم ہے جو ڈیٹا کی وسیع مقدار پر اپنے آؤٹ پٹ کی بنیاد رکھتا ہے۔ ایسا کرنے سے یہ اصل تخلیق کاروں کے مناسب حوالہ کے بغیر مواد تیار کر سکتا ہے۔

کہانی اشتہار کے نیچے جاری ہے۔

نکولس نے کہا کہ اس نے \”دانشورانہ املاک اور کاپی رائٹ کے بارے میں واقعی اچھے سوالات اٹھائے ہیں۔\”

مزید پڑھ:

AI اور چھاتی کا کینسر: کینیڈین لیب مریضوں کے علاج کے لیے نئی ٹیکنالوجی کو کس طرح استعمال کرنے کا ارادہ رکھتی ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ طلباء کو قدر میں اضافے اور سرقہ سے بچنے کے طریقے تلاش کرنے کے لیے تنقیدی سوچ کا اطلاق کرنا ہوگا۔

رنڈل کالج سوسائٹی، کیلگری میں مقیم ایک آزاد اسکول، تجسس کے ساتھ AI تک پہنچ رہا ہے۔

ہیڈ ماسٹر جیسن راجرز نے کہا کہ اسکول کلاس رومز میں AI کے لیے ایک غیر رسمی، تحقیقی طریقہ اختیار کر رہا ہے۔

\”ایک بار جب ہم ان سوالات پر گہرائی سے غور کرنا شروع کر دیتے ہیں، تو ہم تبدیلیوں کو لاگو کرنے کے لیے مزید اختراعی اور سیاق و سباق کے نقطہ نظر کو دیکھ سکتے ہیں۔\”

انہوں نے کہا کہ اس کا مقصد آنے والے مہینوں میں کنڈرگارٹن میں گریڈ 12 کی کلاسوں میں AI چیٹ بوٹ مدد متعارف کرانا ہے۔

چیٹ بوٹ پر سرکاری سکول کی سطح پر بھی بات چیت ہو رہی ہے۔

$\"ویڈیو$

5:42
ChatGPT سیکھنے کو کس طرح متاثر کر رہا ہے۔

کیلگری بورڈ آف ایجوکیشن نے کہا کہ وہ اپنے اسکولوں میں AI کی طرف سے پیش کردہ مواقع اور چیلنجوں کو دیکھ رہا ہے۔

کہانی اشتہار کے نیچے جاری ہے۔

ایڈمنٹن پبلک سکولز کے ترجمان نے کہا کہ وہ AI کی ترقی اور ارتقاء پر نظر رکھے ہوئے ہے اور یہ کہ یہ سکولوں اور طلباء کو کیسے متاثر کرتا ہے۔ فروری میں، بورڈ نے AI ٹولز پر اساتذہ کے لیے ایک سیشن منعقد کیا۔

وینکوور سکول بورڈ نے گزشتہ ہفتے ایک پوڈ کاسٹ جاری کیا جس میں ChatGPT پر توجہ مرکوز کی گئی اور اس بات پر تبادلہ خیال کیا گیا کہ یہ طلباء اور اساتذہ کو کیسے متاثر کرے گا۔

جیف اسپینس، پوڈ کاسٹ کے ایک اسپیکر اور اسکول بورڈ میں انفارمیشن ٹیکنالوجی کے ڈسٹرکٹ پرنسپل، نے کہا کہ اس نے اساتذہ کو چیٹ جی پی ٹی کی جانچ کرنے کی ترغیب دی ہے۔

مزید پڑھ:

کینیڈا کی یونیورسٹیاں چیٹ جی پی ٹی پالیسیاں بنا رہی ہیں کیونکہ فرانسیسی اسکول نے AI پروگرام پر پابندی لگا دی ہے۔

اسپینس نے کہا، \”میرے خیال میں کسی بھی نئی ٹیکنالوجی کے ساتھ سب سے اہم چیز یہ ہے کہ اس سے خوفزدہ نہ ہوں اور اس سے چھپنا نہیں، بلکہ اس کے بارے میں جاننا اور اسے آزمانا ہے۔\” \”میں تمام نئی ٹیکنالوجیز کے بارے میں بہت پرجوش ہوں اور ہم ان کو کس طرح استعمال کر سکتے ہیں اور خاص طور پر طلباء کس طرح بہتر طریقے سے سیکھتے ہیں۔\”

اسپینس نے AI کے تعارف کو ریاضی کی کلاسوں میں کیلکولیٹروں کی آمد سے تشبیہ دی۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ اس طرح کے آلات کا استعمال دھوکہ نہیں تھا، اگر اساتذہ ان کے استعمال کے بارے میں جانتے ہوں۔

اونٹاریو کالج آف آرٹ اینڈ ڈیزائن یونیورسٹی میں ٹورنٹو میں مقیم پروفیسر جوٹا ٹریویرانس نے گزشتہ ہفتے UBC کے زیر اہتمام ایک آن لائن بحث میں حصہ لیا تاکہ اس بات پر تبادلہ خیال کیا جا سکے کہ کس طرح AI ٹولز اعلیٰ تعلیم کو تبدیل کر رہے ہیں۔

کہانی اشتہار کے نیچے جاری ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ ماہرین تعلیم کو طلباء کو AI سسٹمز کے ساتھ \”تصادم کے کورسز\” کے لیے ترتیب دینے کے بجائے موافقت، تنقیدی سوچ اور تعاون کی مہارتوں کو بہتر بنانے کی ترغیب دینی ہوگی۔

\”اگر ہمیں پولیس کی تعلیم کی ضرورت ہے، تو ہم کچھ غلط کر رہے ہیں،\” Treviranus نے کہا۔ \”اگر کوئی مشین وہی کر سکتی ہے جو ہم اپنے طلباء کو سکھا رہے ہیں، تو ہم اپنے طلباء کو مشین بننا سکھا رہے ہیں۔\”
>Source link>

>>Join our Facebook page From top right corner. <<
March 5, 2023
Treasure, conflict, and survival in Canada’s peatlands | Globalnews.ca

$\"Click$

18:56
The power of peat: Canada’s secret weapon against climate change

Hiking in the Hudson Bay Lowlands is like a game of hopscotch — in a swamp. A tapestry of colourful mosses indicates where it’s safe to step: the green and white spots are drier, while the rich red and copper patches can swallow you whole.

Aside from the stunted black spruce trees that dot the watery landscape, it doesn’t look like there’s much here. It’s quiet, except for the constant buzzing of mosquitoes and black flies. But Michelle Kalamandeen didn’t come all this way for what’s on the surface.

Standing only about five feet tall, she uses her entire body to shove a long metal instrument into the spongy ground. Using a sledgehammer, another team member thumps the pole downward inch-by-inch. Until, eventually, it stops.

“The blade is going to cut the soil and then we’ll pull it up,” Kalamandeen says, turning the handle on top of the pole 180 degrees.

What emerges is a perfectly cylindrical soil sample.

Except this isn’t your average soil, it’s peat.

The research team examines the peat core. This sample was taken more than two metres below the surface.

Marc Doucette / Global News

“We know it’s very old because we’re going so far down into the ground,” Kalamandeen says.

This sample, also called a peat core, is likely around 2,000 years old judging by its depth, which means it could have been forming at the same time as the Roman Empire. And all that time, it’s been storing carbon.

“The darker the peat is, the more carbon it tends to have,” she says.

Peatlands are ancient ecosystems that cool the planet by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and trapping it deep underground. But despite its natural ability to stall further climate warming, Canada’s peatlands are often overlooked.

“They are always seen as desolate wastelands: full of bugs, wet, you can’t access them, nothing of value in them,” says Lorna Harris, a peatland scientist working for Wildlife Conservation Society Canada. “And I think we need to change that.”

The Hudson Bay Lowland peatlands are a “global treasure,” says peatland scientists Lorna Harris.

Marc Doucette / Global News

A search for any praise of peatlands in government policy papers yields few results. This is surprising when you consider that Canada has one-quarter of the world’s peatlands. Together, they store more carbon than the Amazon rainforest and amount to the largest land carbon stock in the world. The latest research estimates Canada is responsible for 150 billion tonnes of carbon sequestered underground — the equivalent to 11 years of current global greenhouse gas emissions.

These carbon sinks can be found across the country, from the Taiga Plains in the Northwest Territories to the north shores of the St. Lawrence River. But there’s one peatland complex that stands out among the rest: the Hudson Bay Lowlands.

Stretching from Manitoba, across northern Ontario, and into Quebec, it is the largest peatland expanse in North America and the second largest in the world. Largely undisturbed by human development, this unique ecosystem has been accumulating for thousands of years and is thought to store more than 35 billion tonnes of carbon.

“It is essentially our equivalent to the Amazon rainforest,” Harris says.

Like the Amazon Rainforest, its existence is being threatened by human activity.

Kalamandeen’s work has taken her to peatlands in Peru, Brazil, England, and across her home country of Guyana. But none quite compare to the Hudson Bay Lowlands.

“I was blown away by the extent of it,” she says. “And as a scientist, you think, ‘Oh wow, this can store a lot of carbon.’”

She’s part of McMaster University’s Remote Sensing Lab. In partnership with World Wildlife Fund Canada and the Mushkegowuk Council, the scientists are combining satellite data with field samples to map the density of carbon across the Hudson Bay Lowlands.

A local guide hammers the peat borer into the ground while Kalamandeen holds it still.

The region is so large and so remote that the research done up to today just scratches the surface. There are only two ways to get to these peatlands: getting a helicopter to drop you off in the middle of the wilderness, or boating up river, then hiking several kilometres inland. The research collective chose the latter. On this leg of the trip, the researchers are using the small Cree community of Peawanuck as their home base.

“It’s very exhausting work,” Kalamandeen says on the morning of the second day of fieldwork. The team has four more days in Peawanuck before flying to its next location, Attawapiskat First Nation, located a few hours south by plane. Locals from each of the First Nations the researchers visit have been trained as sampling technicians in the hopes they can carry on the work in the years to come.

There’s a palpable sense of urgency. The collective is trying to keep pace with a well-funded and extremely motivated foe: mining companies. Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s dogged support of mineral extraction has led to a boom in exploration activity in an area deemed “the Ring of Fire.” As of last year, more than 26,000 mining claims cover 5,000 square kilometres of the Hudson Bay Lowlands, an area roughly the size of Prince Edward Island.

The goal of the mapping project is two-fold: by identifying the most carbon-rich areas, groups can better advocate for their protection and other scientists and government agencies can use the data to assess the carbon cost of any future resource development.

“Conservation action increasingly needs to be looking not only at the biodiversity values — and there are tremendous biodiversity values in the region — but also the role of carbon,” says James Snider, a conservation biologist who leads WWF Canada’s science and innovation team.

As mining companies work to put a value on the minerals underground, scientists and conservationists are using carbon to show the value of the Hudson Bay Lowland peatlands.

But the stakes are highest for the tens of thousands of Indigenous people who live in this region. Struggling to adapt to a rapidly warming climate, the vital infrastructure they need comes tied to an industry that threatens their traditional way of life.

Peatlands are ancient ecosystems, forming over the course of hundreds or thousands of years.

Here’s how they work.

Sphagnum mosses and other vegetation on the surface take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. Typically when plants die and decompose, that carbon gets released back into the atmosphere.

But the waterlogged conditions of peatlands slow down plant decomposition to such an extent that the dead plant matter gets pushed down by new vegetation growth, trapping the carbon absorbed underground with it. The accumulation of this partially decayed plant matter is what forms peatlands.

Globally, peatlands store more carbon, and for longer than any other terrestrial ecosystem. Despite only covering three per cent of the earth’s surface, they store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined.

“That’s the power of peatlands,” Harris says.

But this unique ecosystem is more than a carbon sink.

Scientist Michelle Kalamandeen holds peat in her hands.

Marc Doucette / Global News

During the winter months, Sam Hunter will gather a small group together to hunt caribou in the frozen peatlands. The muskeg, as it’s called by locals, is a critical habitat for the eastern migratory caribou. They come to this region to fill up on the white crunchy lichen that blankets the muskeg.

“The caribou are never in one place,” he says. “But we find them.”

Hunter’s grandson, who’s about to turn eight, often joins him on his hunting trips, which can involve days of travel inland. He’s been tagging along on hunting and fishing excursions since he was two years old.

“He’s seen everything — caribou, moose. He loves to fish,” Hunter says.

More and more, families are bringing the youth out on the land and teaching them about harvesting, he says. In the spring, many community members travel downriver to Hudson Bay to hunt geese. The area serves as the breeding ground for millions of birds that migrate between South America and the Arctic every year. Come fall, it’s the moose hunt inland that everyone looks forward to. The rivers are their highways, and the muskeg is their hunting grounds.

“We need to teach the kids how to live off the land,” Hunter says.

Sam Hunter monitors changes in the environment around Peawanuck – from the water quality of the rivers to the flight path of migratory birds.

Marc Doucette / Global News

Due to the high cost of food up north, seasonal harvesting is not only culturally significant but necessary.

“If we couldn’t do that, living up here wouldn’t be affordable,” Hunter says. At the Northern store in Peawanuck, a package of cold cuts sets you back at least $15 and fresh fruits and vegetables are sparse.

Luckily, the rivers are brimming with fish, and herds of caribou still frequent the area. The muskeg is also where community members harvest traditional medicines and “tundra tea,” says Matthew Gull, a resident of Peawanuck.

Peatlands also act as a natural water filter, improving the quality of water that feeds into the vast network of streams and rivers that lead to Hudson and James Bay. Many people in Peawanuck still drink directly from the Winisk river that flows alongside the community, Gull says.

“We tell the youth, ‘Drink the water from the river while you still can,’” he says.

The Winisk river is a vital source of drinking water and food for the community of Peawanuck.

Across the Hudson Bay Lowlands, people have been noticing changes: inland ponds are disappearing. So are the geese. Peatlands are collapsing due to permafrost thaw. The river levels are too low. The winters are wetter and shorter. The trees are getting taller. New species like cougars and even grizzly bears are appearing.

Hunter has been keeping a record of these changes as the Peawanuck’s Natural Resource Monitor.

“What used to take a thousand years to change, it’s happening in decades now,” he says.

Northern regions of Canada are warming faster than the rest of the country. These changes in the environment are making it more challenging — and potentially dangerous — to travel across the land.

The Cree community of Peawanuck in the wintertime.

The winter ice road that’s used to haul housing material, fuel, and other heavy essentials to northern communities has become “unsustainable,” as one chief put it. Peawanuck has yet to complete its ice road this year. Clendon Patrick, a resident, says the community will maybe get two weeks of use before it becomes unsafe. Weather permitting.

“Our muskeg, it’s not frozen,” Patrick says. “We’re trying to adapt with Mother Nature. We’re trying to teach our youth our knowledge of survival skills and how to be safe on the land.”

Mining activity in the Ring of Fire is just one more issue the 280 people that live here must contend with, he says.

“Everything is tumbling towards us like an avalanche.”

Because peatlands are typically thought of as useless swampland, they’re often drained and degraded for farmland and other development. When this happens, the carbon that’s been sequestered for thousands of years gets released into the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gases.

These carbon sinks become carbon emitters: every year, at least two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are released from damaged peatlands around the world, which amounts to roughly five per cent of all human-caused emissions.

Despite a growing global consensus that these ecosystems should be left alone, peat harvesting remains a major industry in Canada. Each summer, large swathes of peatlands are dried out and vacuumed up by huge harvesters. The product is then sold and exported as peat moss, a popular ingredient in potting soil.

But the larger threat to Canada’s peatlands, conservationists say, is mining in the Ring of Fire.

The area was named after the vaguely crescent shape of the deposits and the fact that the people who made the discovery were Johnny Cash fans, or so the story goes.

Mineral deposits of chromite and nickel were discovered in 2007, leading to politicians proclaiming northern Ontario as Canada’s “next oil sands.” In the years since, dozens of mining companies have made the trek 540 kilometres north of Thunder Bay in search of great wealth. But so far, the area has not lived up to the hype.

Two successive provincial governments have tried and failed to open the region to mining. But that hasn’t discouraged Ford, who famously says he’ll hop on a bulldozer himself to get it done.

A mining camp in the Ring of Fire in the summer of 2022.

Courtesy: Wildlands League

Today, interest in the Ring of Fire is the highest its been in a decade, partly due to Ford’s rhetoric, but also because of a looming global shortage of nickel.

“The rush happened in the early part of the decade and now we’re concerned it’s happening again,” says Anna Baggio, the conservation director of Wildlands League, a not-for-profit group that has been monitoring mining exploration in the region for the past 14 years.

Every few years, the group flies over the Ring of Fire to see what the level of activity is.

“The camps have gotten a bit bigger,” Baggio says. “But the bigger change to me is just how sprawling the activities are emanating from the camps outwards.”

Large drills are used to obtain information about mineral deposits deep underground. The impact of maneuvering this heavy machinery in the soft, spongy landscape can be seen from the sky. The clear-cutting of forests for camps and exploratory drilling happens prior to any environmental review process.

The Ring of Fire in the Winter of 2010. The impact of exploratory drilling can be seen from the sky.

Courtesy: Wildlands League

“These impacts look like they’re going to be permanent,” Baggio says. “And [the mining companies] are not required to restore the land afterward.”

There are likely unaccounted-for greenhouse gas emissions resulting from this activity too, Harris says.

Ironically, the Ring of Fire is central to the Ford government’s plans to make Ontario a manufacturing hub for green tech, like electric vehicle batteries. In an interview with Global News, Ontario Mines Minister George Pirie claimed the mineral deposits in the Ring of Fire are worth $1,000,000,000,000.

“Anecdotally, mining people are saying this is a trillion-dollar project based on the acreage, (and) the value of critical minerals that are already established in the ground,” Pirie says.

Pirie could not provide any evidence to support that statement, so we contacted Wyloo Metals, the Australian mining company with the largest deposit holdings in the region. CEO Luca Giacovazzi laughed when he heard the trillion-dollar figure.

“I don’t mean to laugh, but there is a lot of myth around the Ring of Fire. A number like that is way exaggerated,” Giacovazzi told Global News. “The Ring of Fire is a special area. … But numbers like that are a little bit silly.”

Wyloo Metal’s Esker Camp in the Ring of Fire. Giacovazzi says it currently houses about 50 employees.

Ring of Fire Metals / Facebook

Giacovazzi wouldn’t speculate about the value of the minerals in today’s market. He says the company is in the early stages of figuring that out. Wyloo just launched Ring of Fire Metals, a new subsidiary focused on the region. The team is currently working on refreshing the decade-old feasibility studies for the company’s planned nickel mine, the Eagles Nest.

“We’re really going the extra mile to make sure that we do put the environment right up front,” Giacovazzi says. “We’re taking every possible measure to make the footprint of the mine as small as possible.”

Plans for the Eagles Nest currently only encompass one-square kilometre, and Giacovazzi says only a small part of that area is peatlands.

“As a miner, you don’t want to be constructing in a wetland, so you avoid it as much as possible,” he says.

Wyloo is just one mining company, albeit with a sizable stake in the region. But where one goes, others will follow.

If only half the area covered by mining claims is developed, it would result in the release of roughly 800 million tonnes of carbon dioxide — doubling Canada’s annual reported greenhouse gas emissions.

“Anything we do here is going to impact the global climate,” Harris says.

The road to the Ring of Fire

The Ring of Fire remains largely inaccessible. Three roads need to get there; two are under environmental review and one is still in the planning stages. The estimated cost of building the road network, which will cut through dense boreal forest and peatlands, has jumped to $2 billion. That tab is to be split between the provincial and federal governments, and the latter has not yet committed the funds.

Vern Cheechoo sees the roads as a doorway to the region. Once it opens, anyone can walk through. Miners, hunters, fishers, energy companies. “Who’s going to control those?” he asks. Once that door is open, can it be shut?

Cheechoo is the director of lands and resources for the Mushkegowuk Council, which represents seven Cree First Nations along James Bay. He says member nations are most concerned about how mining and other development will impact the rivers and the muskeg.

“We know that mining is a boom and bust industry,” he says, referring to the De Beers’ diamond mine west of Attawapiskat First Nation that closed in 2019.

“A rich diamond mine in the backyard of Attawapiskat. It doesn’t look like it’s helped the community at all,” Cheechoo says.

Instead, it may have damaged a critical river system. Conservation groups, including Wildlands League, found elevated levels of mercury in the water and fish in the Attawapiskat river which they allege was caused by mining activity. De Beers pleaded guilty to failing to provide mercury monitoring data, but maintains it did not pollute the river.

Vern Cheechoo says the region has been ignored by policymakers for too long. “It sequesters all this carbon,” he says “Why is it not a priority to be protected?”.

Brent Rose / Global News

This time, Cheechoo’s not leaving anything to chance. For the last six years, he’s been leading an initiative to gather baseline samples from all the major river systems that are downstream from the Ring of Fire.

“We’re not only downstream, we are down muskeg,” he says. “It’s the breathing lands of Mother Earth.”

Of the dozen First Nations in the region, only two formally support the development. Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation are working with the province on the proposed road network that would connect their communities, and any future mines, to existing highway networks.

“Our members, especially our young people, want to actually have the things that are available to most Canadians,” Marten Falls Chief Bruce Achneepineskum says. “Health care, education, a chance at training and job opportunities.”

Marten Falls has wanted an all-season road for two decades to bring down the cost of living. But Achneepineskum says it’s always lacked the support and funding to get past the feasibility stage. After the discovery of the Ring of Fire, that’s no longer been an issue.

Minister Pirie rejected the idea that this is just a mining road, saying the roads are “all about developing the communities.”

“[The Chiefs] want an opportunity for their kids to have a better life than they had. And quite frankly, so do I,” Pirie says.

Ontario Mines Minister George Pirie says the footprint of the Ring of Fire is “very, very small.” Mining claims currently cover 5,000 square kilometres, an area the size of PEI.

Jory Lyons / Global News

But when asked what plans the province has to build high schools or improve health services in the communities getting the road access, he couldn’t say.

“I think that they’re getting well-served with the clinics that are in those communities right now,” Pirie says.

Both Achneepineskum and Webequie Chief Cornelius Wabasse don’t think so. Wabasse says Webequie’s health clinic has only one or two nurses living there full-time. A doctor flies in every month or so.

“The doctor has limited time while in the community and is not able to see most of the community members that seek medical help,” Wabasse says.

It’s the same in Marten Falls. Achneepineskum says the health care services are “very inadequate.”

“We struggle to see a doctor. We’re struggling to transport our sick people. We don’t even have an ambulance in the community,” he says.

Read more:

Northern Ontario First Nation health system only treating emergencies amid nurse shortage

Remote First Nations desperately need better services. Boil-water advisories, housing shortages, suicide crises, and addiction issues stem from Canada’s colonial legacy and decades of neglect from people in power. Speaking to both Chiefs, you get the sense they saw this path as the only option to improve the quality of life in their communities.

“We have a big say in what happens in those areas now,” Achneepineskum says. “So that industry and government doesn’t strip First Nations of their resources and leave us in continued poverty.”

The Chiefs also understand it involves risk. But with few options and climate change making life up north more difficult and expensive, it’s a gamble they’re willing to make.

Environment Minister Stephen Guilbeault has never been to Ontario’s far north to see the peatlands firsthand, but as a self-confessed former environmental activist — he calls them “critically important.”

He knows about their carbon sequestering power and importance to Indigenous people. He also knows about the critical minerals that are buried underground and what could happen if the peatlands are disturbed.

“Would we allow for mining in very ecologically sensitive areas where hundreds of millions, eventually billions, of tonnes of carbon would be released? That wouldn’t make sense from an environmental perspective,” Guilbeault says in an interview with Global News.

But he wants critical minerals too. Therein lies the federal government’s Ring of Fire-sized conundrum.

Guilbeault is placing his faith in his government’s regional assessment, which is designed to anticipate the cumulative impacts of any future development in the region. When it was announced in 2020, there were high hopes that it would address the concerns people have about the potential contamination of watersheds, the release of carbon emissions, and impacts on seasonal harvesting.

Minister Guilbeault says his government could halt the Ring of Fire development. “If we came to the conclusion that all projects would have too much impact, I guess we could theoretically.“.

David de la Harpe / Global News

But when the draft terms of reference for the assessment were made public at the end of 2021, it was met with disappointment and anger. First Nations were sidelined. It didn’t mention carbon. And it was hardly regional in scope.

“They drew a box around the Ring of Fire and said, ‘This is going to be our focus,’” says Baggio of Wildlands League. “It was kind of like the worst-case scenario.”

A coalition of First Nations wrote a scathing letter to Guilbeault demanding the terms be thrown out and reworked to include them as equal partners. He listened and has agreed to most of the key requirements put forward by Chiefs in recent meetings, says Kate Klempton, a lawyer who represents several First Nations in the region.

The first demand: that the assessment cover the entire Hudson Bay Lowland peatlands.

“It is critically important that we get it right, because the consequences of getting it wrong are likely to be catastrophic,” Klempton says.

Guilbeault touts this as “a new way of doing things.”

“Indigenous peoples and nations want to make sure that they are part of this as real partners.”

The new terms of reference haven’t been announced yet, so it is an open question if the process will be co-led, and if the peatlands, and the carbon they store, will be given any special consideration.

After being overlooked for years, the Hudson Bay Lowlands are poised to become the most hotly contested region of Canada. Now, everyone sees value in them. But what that value is — carbon or minerals — depends on where you sit.

Clendon Patrick is a resident of Peawanuck. On his last hunt, he harvested a caribou and moose. He says that will feed him and his extended family for about a month.

Marc Doucette / Global News

Back in Peawanuck, it’s still -20 C but starting to warm up. Clendon Patrick is looking forward to taking his 13-year-old daughter out for the spring hunt.

“Being out on the land, you rejuvenate yourself, recharge yourself,” he says.

Out on the rivers, he’s no longer thinking of hardships or what’s to come in the future.

“You stop and say a little prayer. Thank you for bringing me on this land. I’m here now.”

>Source link>

>>Join our Facebook page From top right corner. <<

March 4, 2023
Pakistan should prioritise population planning, female education: Miftah Ismail

سابق وزیر خزانہ مفتاح اسماعیل نے ہفتے کے روز اس بات پر زور دیا کہ پاکستان کی ترقی کے لیے آبادی کی منصوبہ بندی اور خواتین کی تعلیم کو ترجیح دینے کی ضرورت ہے۔

کراچی میں ایک تقریب سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے انہوں نے کہا کہ ملک مذہب کی بنیاد پر آبادی کی منصوبہ بندی کرنے میں ناکام رہا لیکن ساتھ ہی بنگلہ دیش، تیونس اور مصر ایسا کرنے میں کامیاب ہوئے۔

پاکستان کے وزیر خزانہ مفتاح اسماعیل کا کہنا ہے کہ وہ باضابطہ طور پر عہدے سے مستعفی ہو جائیں گے۔

اعداد و شمار کا حوالہ دیتے ہوئے، انہوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان میں سالانہ 5.5 ملین بچے پیدا ہوتے ہیں اور \”ملک اس وقت غذائی عدم تحفظ کی طرف بڑھ رہا ہے۔\”

مزید برآں، انہوں نے خواتین کی تعلیم کی اہمیت پر زور دیا اور کہا کہ \”یہ بہترین سرمایہ کاری ہے\”۔

\”بنگلہ دیش بدعنوان ملک ہے لیکن اس کی ترقی اس لیے ہوئی کیونکہ اس نے خواتین کی تعلیم اور آبادی کی منصوبہ بندی پر توجہ دی،\” سابق وزیر خزانہ نے نوٹ کیا۔

انہوں نے اس بات پر افسوس کا اظہار کیا کہ پاکستان میں 40.2 فیصد بچے سٹنٹ کا شکار ہیں اور ملک میں غذائیت کی شرح بھی بہت زیادہ ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان نے تخلیق کے بعد پہلے 11 سالوں میں 7 وزرائے اعظم تبدیل کیے جب کہ بھارت نے پہلے 10 سالوں میں 5 انڈین انسٹی ٹیوٹ آف ٹیکنالوجی قائم کیے۔ \”جب ہندوستان نے معاشی لبرلائزیشن شروع کی تو اس کے پاس پہلے سے ہی تعلیمی بنیاد تھی اور پاکستان کے پاس اب بھی کوئی نہیں ہے۔\”

سابق وفاقی وزیر خزانہ و محصولات مفتاح اسماعیل کا انٹرویو

انہوں نے یہ بھی حوالہ دیا کہ ہندوستان کی آئی ٹی برآمدات پاکستان کے 2-3 بلین ڈالر کے مقابلے میں ہر سال 150 بلین ڈالر تھیں اس حقیقت کے باوجود کہ پاکستان میں فری لانسنگ کی بڑی بنیاد ہے۔

انہوں نے اس بات پر بھی افسوس کا اظہار کیا کہ پاکستان دنیا میں بچوں کی شرح اموات میں دوسرے نمبر پر ہے۔

ہمیں ایک قوم کے طور پر سوچنا ہے اور ہمیں آبادی کی منصوبہ بندی کی ضرورت ہے۔ ہمیں بھی اپنے وسائل کے اندر رہنے کی ضرورت ہے،‘‘ اسماعیل نے کہا۔ \”ہمارا کرنٹ اکاؤنٹ عام طور پر خسارے میں رہتا ہے۔\”

مفتاح کا معاشی \’اوور ہال\’ کا مطالبہ

انہوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان سابقہ قرضوں کی ادائیگی کے لیے قرض لینے کا سہارا لیتا ہے اور \”یہ حکمت عملی کبھی پھل نہیں دے گی۔\”

اقتصادی صورتحال

معاشی بحران پر بات کرتے ہوئے انہوں نے کہا کہ اب یہ اشرافیہ کو متاثر کر رہا ہے۔

\”اس بحران کو اب سب سے اوپر 10-15٪ آبادی برداشت کر رہی ہے۔ باقی عوام گزشتہ 75 سالوں سے غلط پالیسیوں کی وجہ سے بحران کا شکار ہے۔ میں خود کو بھی اس مسئلے کا حصہ سمجھتا ہوں۔‘‘

انہوں نے کہا کہ پاکستان اشرافیہ کا معاشرہ ہے۔

>Source link>

>>Join our Facebook page From top right corner. <<

March 4, 2023
How edtech can worsen racial inequality

ایڈیٹر کا نوٹ: اس کہانی نے اس ہفتے کے فیوچر آف لرننگ نیوز لیٹر کو آگے بڑھایا، جو ہر دوسرے بدھ کو سبسکرائبرز کے ان باکسز میں ٹرینڈز اور ایجوکیشن انوویشن کے بارے میں سرفہرست کہانیوں کے ساتھ مفت فراہم کیا جاتا ہے۔ آج سبسکرائب کریں!

پچھلے چند مہینوں میں، ChatGPT اور BingAI جیسی AI سے چلنے والی ٹیکنالوجیز نے ہماری زندگی کے بہت سے پہلوؤں کو تبدیل کرنے کی اپنی صلاحیت کے لیے کافی توجہ حاصل کی ہے۔ اس کا ادراک کس حد تک ہوتا ہے یہ دیکھنا باقی ہے۔

لیکن بات چیت سے جو چیز غائب نظر آتی ہے وہ یہ ہے کہ کس طرح ٹیکنالوجیز – خاص طور پر AI اور مشین لرننگ سے چلنے والی – نسلی عدم مساوات کو مزید خراب کر سکتی ہیں، اگر ہم محتاط نہیں ہیں۔

تعلیم میں، سیاہ فام اور ہسپانوی طلباء کو اسکولوں میں ہر روز عدم مساوات کا سامنا کرنا پڑتا ہے، خواہ اس کے ذریعے ہو۔ تادیبی اعمال، کورس کی جگہ کا تعین یا ثقافتی طور پر غیر متعلقہ مواد۔ ماہرین نے متنبہ کیا ہے کہ کلاس روم میں تکنیکی ٹولز کی بغیر سوچے سمجھے توسیع سے سیاہ فام اور ہسپانوی طلباء کے امتیازی سلوک کو مزید بڑھ سکتا ہے، ماہرین نے خبردار کیا ہے۔

دوسرے شعبوں میں، نسلی تعصب پر مبنی ٹیک ٹولز کے خطرات نسبتاً معروف ہوتے جا رہے ہیں۔ چہرے کی شناخت کی ٹیکنالوجی لیں۔ تحقیق نے دکھایا ہے کہ چہرے کے تجزیہ کے الگورتھم اور ڈیٹاسیٹس خراب کارکردگی کا مظاہرہ خواتین، سیاہ اور بھورے لوگوں، بوڑھوں اور بچوں کے چہروں کا جائزہ لیتے وقت۔ جب پولیس نگرانی کے مقاصد کے لیے استعمال کرتی ہے، تو ٹیکنالوجی غلط گرفتاریوں یا جان لیوا تشدد کا باعث بن سکتی ہے۔ ہاؤسنگ میں صنعتالگورتھم پر انحصار کرتے ہوئے رہن کے قرض دہندگان ڈاکٹروں کے قرض دہندگان جو بعض اوقات سیاہ اور لاطینی درخواست دہندگان سے غیر منصفانہ طور پر چارج کرتے ہیں زیادہ سود کی شرح.

ماہرین کا کہنا ہے کہ یہ ٹیکنالوجیز جزوی طور پر نسلی طور پر متعصب ہوسکتی ہیں کیونکہ یہ اپنے ڈیزائنرز کے تعصبات اور کمزوریوں کی عکاسی کرتی ہیں۔ یہاں تک کہ جب ڈویلپرز ایسا ہونے کا ارادہ نہیں رکھتے ہیں، ان کے موروثی تعصبات کسی پروڈکٹ میں کوڈ کیا جا سکتا ہے، خواہ ناقص الگورتھم، تاریخی طور پر متعصب ڈیٹاسیٹس یا خود ڈویلپرز کے تعصبات کے ذریعے۔

2020 میں، Nidhi Hebbar، Apple میں ایک سابقہ ایجوکیشن لیڈ جس نے بعد میں Aspen Tech Policy Hub میں ایڈ ٹیک میں نسلی تعصب کا مطالعہ کیا، نے Ed Tech Equity پروجیکٹ کی مشترکہ بنیاد رکھی۔ اس کا مقصد نہ صرف اسکولوں کو وہ وسائل فراہم کرنا ہے جس کی انہیں مساوی ایڈ ٹیک پروڈکٹس چننے کے لیے درکار ہے، بلکہ ایڈ ٹیک کمپنیوں کو ایسے ٹولز کے لیے جوابدہ بنانا ہے جو تاریخی طور پر کم نمائندگی والے طلبہ پر منفی اثر ڈال سکتے ہیں۔

ہیبر نے کہا، \”اکثر اوقات تکنیکی کمپنیاں واقعی کلاس روم میں سیاہ اور بھورے طلباء کے تجربے کو نہیں سمجھتی تھیں۔\” انہوں نے کہا کہ جب تکنیکی کمپنیاں اسکولوں کے لیے پروڈکٹس تیار کرتی ہیں، تو وہ یا تو ایسے اسکولوں کے ساتھ شراکت کرتی ہیں جو امیر، بنیادی طور پر سفید مضافاتی علاقوں میں ہیں یا اپنے ملازمین کے تعلیمی تجربے پر انحصار کرتے ہیں۔

ہیبر نے کہا کہ وبائی مرض کے دوران ٹیک کو اپنانے کی جلدی پریشانی کا باعث رہی ہے کیونکہ اسکول پروکیورمنٹ افسران کے پاس ہمیشہ مناسب طریقے سے ٹیک ٹولز کی جانچ کرنے یا ٹیک کمپنیوں کے ساتھ سخت بات چیت کرنے کا وقت نہیں ہوتا تھا۔

ہیبر نے کہا کہ اس نے اسکولوں کے لیے دستیاب کچھ ذاتی نوعیت کے سیکھنے والے سافٹ ویئر میں نسلی تعصبات کو دیکھا ہے۔ وہ پروڈکٹس جو طالب علم کی زبان کی فہم اور تخلیق کی مہارتوں کی پیمائش کرنے کے لیے وائس اسسٹنٹ ٹیکنالوجی کا استعمال کرتے ہیں۔

\”اکثر اوقات ٹیک کمپنیاں واقعی کلاس روم میں سیاہ اور بھوری طلباء کے تجربے کو نہیں سمجھتی تھیں۔\”

ندھی ہیبر، شریک بانی، ایڈ ٹیک ایکویٹی پروجیکٹ۔

\”اگر اس کی تربیت طلبا کو لہجے کے ساتھ نہیں کی گئی تھی، مثال کے طور پر، یا [those who] گھر میں ایک مختلف لہجے میں بات کریں، یہ بہت آسانی سے سیکھ سکتا ہے کہ کچھ طلباء غلط ہیں اور دوسرے طلباء درست ہیں، اور یہ طلباء کی حوصلہ شکنی کر سکتا ہے،\” ہیبر نے کہا۔ \”یہ طالب علموں کو سیکھنے کی رفتار کو سست کر سکتا ہے کیونکہ وہ اپنے اظہار کے طریقے سے۔\”

ہیبر کے مطابق، اس طرح کے مسائل عام ہیں جب ایڈ ٹیک کمپنیاں صرف اسکولوں کے ایک مخصوص سیٹ کے فراہم کردہ ڈیٹا پر انحصار کرتی ہیں جو مطالعہ کا انتخاب کرتے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ٹیک کمپنیاں اکثر طلباء کی رازداری کے خدشات کی وجہ سے نسل سے متعلق ڈیٹا اکٹھا نہیں کرتی ہیں، اور نہ ہی وہ اس بات پر نظر ڈالتے ہیں کہ مختلف نسلی یا زبانی پس منظر کے طلباء کے لیے کوئی پروڈکٹ کیسے کام کرتی ہے۔

ہیبر نے کہا کہ ٹیک کمپنیوں کا یہ دعویٰ کہ وہ ڈیٹا پرائیویسی کے مسائل کی وجہ سے ریس کا پتہ نہیں لگاتے ہیں، ایک کاپ آؤٹ ہے۔ \”اگر وہ پراعتماد نہیں ہیں کہ وہ حساس اور محتاط طریقے سے ڈیٹا کو ٹریک کر سکتے ہیں،\” انہوں نے کہا، \”تو پھر شاید انہیں طالب علم کے ڈیٹا کو بالکل بھی ٹریک نہیں کرنا چاہیے۔\”

متعلقہ: \’ایڈ ٹیک پر خرچ کرنے میں جلدی نہ کریں\’

ہیبار کے ایڈ ٹیک ایکویٹی پروجیکٹ نے، ڈیجیٹل وعدے کے تعاون سے، شروع کیا۔ مصنوعات کی تصدیق 2021 میں ان ایڈ ٹیک کمپنیوں کو تسلیم کرنے کا پروگرام جو اپنے ڈیزائن میں نسلی مساوات کو شامل کرنے کے منصوبوں کا اشتراک کرتی ہیں۔ اس کے گروپ نے بھی ایک تیار کیا ہے۔ نسلی مساوات کے لیے ایجوکیشن ٹول کٹ میں AI ان کے ڈیزائن کے عمل کے دوران کمپنیوں کی مدد کرنے کے لئے.

یہ وہی ٹول کٹ تھی جسے صابن باکس لیبز کی چیف ٹیکنالوجی آفیسر امیلیا کیلی اپنی کمپنی کے کام کی جانچ کرتی تھی۔ کمپنی، جو 2022 میں بن گئی۔ سرٹیفیکیشن حاصل کرنے والی پہلی ایڈ ٹیک کمپنی، اسپیچ ریکگنیشن ٹیکنالوجی تیار کرتی ہے جو خاص طور پر بچے کی تقریر کو ان کے فطری لہجے اور بولی میں پہچاننے کے لیے بنائی گئی ہے۔ کمپنی اپنی پروڈکٹ دیگر ایڈ ٹیک کمپنیوں اور پلیٹ فارمز کو بھی فراہم کرتی ہے، جیسے Scholastic.

کیلی نے کہا کہ جیسے ہی ملازمین نے ٹیکنالوجی بنائی، انہوں نے \”ممکنہ طور پر سب سے متنوع ڈیٹا پول\” حاصل کرنے کی کوشش کی تاکہ یہ ٹیکنالوجی \”نہ صرف متمول علاقوں کے چھوٹے چھوٹے بچوں کے لیے، بلکہ تمام بچوں کے لیے\” کام کرے۔ کیلی نے کہا کہ صابن باکس لیب کی ٹیم نے ایک ماہانہ \”مفروضہ جائزہ\” متعارف کرایا ہے، جس میں وہ مصنوعات کے ڈیزائن سے لے کر جانچ تک ہر چیز کے بارے میں اپنے مفروضوں کو چیلنج کرتے ہیں۔

اس نے دیگر ٹیک کمپنیوں پر زور دیا کہ وہ اس بات کو یقینی بنائیں کہ ان کی مصنوعات طلباء کو نقصان نہیں پہنچا رہی ہیں: \”یہ سوچنا بہت آسان ہے کہ آپ کا سسٹم کام کر رہا ہے جب آپ ٹیسٹ کے نمائندے کو کافی نہیں بناتے ہیں۔\”

ہیبر نے کہا کہ وہ اس بات پر بھی پریشان ہیں کہ اسکول کے منتظمین کی مدد کے لیے بنائی گئی ٹیکنالوجی، خاص طور پر تادیبی فیصلوں میں، سیاہ اور بھورے طلباء کو نقصان پہنچا رہی ہے۔ جیسا کہ زیادہ اسکول استعمال کرتے ہیں۔ اسکول کے تشدد اور بد سلوکی سے بچانے کے لیے چہرے کی شناخت کی ٹیکنالوجی، اس نے کہا کہ وہ فکر مند ہیں کہ سافٹ ویئر غلطی سے سیاہ یا بھورے طالب علموں کو نظم و ضبط کے لیے منتخب کر سکتا ہے کیونکہ اس کی تربیت ممکنہ طور پر تاریخی ڈیٹا پر کی گئی تھی جس میں ان طلبہ کو سفید فام یا ایشیائی طلبہ سے زیادہ شرحوں پر نظم و ضبط کیا گیا تھا۔

لیکن ہیبر اور دیگر ماہرین کا کہنا ہے کہ اس طرح کے خدشات کو اسکولوں اور اساتذہ کو ٹیکنالوجی کے استعمال یا AI پر پابندی لگانے سے نہیں روکنا چاہیے۔ غیر منفعتی تنظیم ڈیجیٹل وعدے کے ساتھ لرننگ سائنسز ریسرچ ٹیم کے ایگزیکٹو ڈائریکٹر جیریمی روسیل کے مطابق کلیدی، اساتذہ کے لیے یہ ہے کہ وہ دستاویزات طلب کریں کہ ٹیک کمپنیاں ان مسائل کو سنجیدگی سے لے رہی ہیں، اور یہ کہ ان کے پاس تعصب کو دور کرنے کا منصوبہ ہے۔

انہوں نے اسکول کے رہنماؤں کی حوصلہ افزائی کی کہ وہ انسٹی ٹیوٹ فار ایتھیکل AI ان ایجوکیشن، AI4K12 اور EdSAFE AI الائنس جیسے گروپوں کو دیکھیں، جنہوں نے کلاس رومز کے لیے ابھرتی ہوئی ٹیکنالوجیز کا انتخاب کرتے وقت اسکولوں کے لیے استعمال کرنے کے لیے فریم ورک اور اخلاقی رہنما خطوط تیار کیے ہیں۔ AI الائنس میں تقریباً 200 ممبر تنظیمیں شامل ہیں، جن میں غیر منافع بخش اور ایڈٹیک کاروبار شامل ہیں، جو ان اقدامات کی نشاندہی کرنے کے لیے اکٹھے ہوئے ہیں جو کمپنیاں الگورتھم میں تعصب کا اندازہ لگانے اور AI کا استعمال کرنے والے معلمین کی مدد کرنے کے لیے اٹھا سکتی ہیں، جم لاریمور، شریک بانی اور چیئر نے کہا۔

\”یہ سوچنا بہت آسان ہے کہ آپ کا سسٹم کام کر رہا ہے جب ایسا نہیں ہے اگر آپ ٹیسٹ کے نمائندے کو کافی نہیں بناتے ہیں۔\”

امیلیا کیلی، صابن باکس لیبز کی چیف ٹیکنالوجی آفیسر

Roschelle نے اساتذہ کو مشورہ دیا کہ وہ اپنے اسکول کے ان علاقوں کو دیکھیں جن میں ٹیکنالوجی کا استعمال کیا جا رہا ہے، اور اگر یہ کسی ایسے عمل کو خودکار بنانے کے لیے استعمال ہو رہی ہے جس میں موروثی تعصب ہو سکتا ہے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ وہ سسٹم جو کہ کہنے کے لیے، ایک پریکٹورڈ امتحان کے دوران دھوکہ دہی کا پتہ لگانے، یا طالب علم کے رویے کی پیش گوئی کرنے اور بچوں کو نظم و ضبط کے لیے تجویز کرنے کے لیے استعمال کیے جاتے ہیں، وہ متعصب ہو سکتے ہیں – اور اس کے حقیقی نتائج بچوں کے لیے ہوتے ہیں۔

سلور لائننگ، Roschelle نے کہا، یہ ہے کہ مزید کمپنیاں ان مسائل کو سنجیدگی سے لینا شروع کر رہی ہیں اور انہیں درست کرنے کے لیے کام کر رہی ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ یہ جزوی طور پر ہیبر کے ایڈ ٹیک ایکویٹی پروجیکٹ جیسے اخلاقی AI وکیلوں کے کام کی وجہ سے ہے۔ رینی کمنگزورجینیا یونیورسٹی کے پروفیسر۔

ہیبر نے کہا کہ اسکول بھی فعال طور پر طلباء اور اساتذہ کو یہ سمجھنے کے لیے ٹولز فراہم کر سکتے ہیں کہ AI کیسے کام کرتا ہے اور اس سے وابستہ خطرات۔ انہوں نے کہا، \”AI خواندگی انفارمیشن لٹریسی کا واقعی ایک اہم حصہ بننے جا رہی ہے۔\” \”طلبہ کو واقعی یہ جاننا ہوگا کہ ان کے ساتھ بات چیت کیسے کی جائے اور یہ سمجھنا کہ یہ ٹولز کیسے کام کرتے ہیں۔\”

انہوں نے کہا کہ نوجوان نسلوں کو ان ٹولز سے روشناس ہونے کی ضرورت ہے اور یہ سمجھنے کی ضرورت ہے کہ وہ کیسے کام کرتے ہیں، تاکہ وہ بالآخر \”ان شعبوں میں جا کر ایسی ٹیکنالوجی تیار کر سکیں جو ان کے لیے کارآمد ہو۔\”

کے بارے میں یہ کہانی ایڈٹیک میں نسلی تعصب کی طرف سے تیار کیا گیا تھا ہیچنگر رپورٹ، ایک غیر منفعتی، آزاد نیوز آرگنائزیشن جو تعلیم میں عدم مساوات اور جدت پر مرکوز ہے۔ کے لیے سائن اپ کریں۔ ہیچنگر کا نیوز لیٹر

متعلقہ مضامین

ہیچنگر رپورٹ تعلیم کے بارے میں گہرائی، حقائق پر مبنی، غیر جانبدارانہ رپورٹنگ فراہم کرتی ہے جو تمام قارئین کے لیے مفت ہے۔ لیکن اس کا مطلب یہ نہیں ہے کہ یہ آزادانہ پیداوار ہے۔ ہمارا کام اساتذہ اور عوام کو پورے ملک میں اسکولوں اور کیمپسوں میں اہم مسائل سے آگاہ کرتا رہتا ہے۔ ہم پوری کہانی بیان کرتے ہیں، یہاں تک کہ جب تفصیلات میں تکلیف نہ ہو۔ ایسا کرتے رہنے میں ہماری مدد کریں۔

آج ہی ہمارے ساتھ شامل ہوں۔

>Source link>

>>Join our Facebook page From top right corner. <<

March 3, 2023
PIDE holds webinar on ‘Future of Public Education in Pakistan’

اسلام آباد: ماہرین تعلیم نے پبلک سیکٹر کے تعلیمی اداروں کو ڈیجیٹلائز کرنے کی ضرورت پر زور دیتے ہوئے کہا ہے کہ گزشتہ کئی سالوں سے قومی تعلیم کی کارکردگی ناقص ہے اور عالمی معیارات کے مطابق اس میں زبردست بہتری وقت کی اہم ضرورت ہے۔

بدھ کو یہاں پاکستان انسٹی ٹیوٹ آف ڈویلپمنٹ اکنامکس (PIDE) کے زیر اہتمام \”پاکستان میں عوامی تعلیم کا مستقبل\” کے عنوان سے ایک ویبینار سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے؛ مقررین نے کہا کہ ملک کو سرکاری شعبے کے تعلیمی نظام کی کارکردگی کو بڑھانے کے لیے جدید آلات کا استعمال کرتے ہوئے ایک سمارٹ کلاس سسٹم متعارف کرانے کی ضرورت ہے۔ انہوں نے اس بات پر زور دیا کہ اساتذہ کی کارکردگی کو بہتر بنانے، اساتذہ کی دستیابی کو دور کرنے، سیکھنے کے نقصانات کو پورا کرنے کے لیے تیز رفتار سیکھنے، انفرادی سیکھنے کے لیے بچوں کے لیے اضافی سیکھنے اور تدارک کے لیے سیکھنے کے راستے کے لیے فاصلاتی تعلیم کے حل کو لاگو کیا جا سکتا ہے۔

اس موقع پر وفاقی تعلیم اور پیشہ ورانہ تربیت کی وزارت کے ایجوکیشن ٹیک ایڈوائزر ذوالفقار قزلباش نے کہا کہ موجودہ نظام کا انتظام آؤٹ پٹ کی بنیاد پر کیا جاتا ہے۔ نتیجہ یا اثر کے لیے کوئی ترغیب نہیں ہے۔ تعلیم اور ترقی کے بارے میں 2015 کے اوسلو سربراہی اجلاس میں پاکستان کو \”تعلیم کے میدان میں دنیا کے بدترین کارکردگی کا مظاہرہ کرنے والے ممالک میں سے ایک\” کے طور پر بیان کیا گیا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ زندگی کے دیگر شعبوں میں جدید ٹیکنالوجی کے متعارف ہونے سے پوری دنیا میں تعلیمی نظام میں بھی زبردست تبدیلیاں دیکھنے میں آئی ہیں، خاص طور پر کورونا وائرس کے خاتمے کے بعد۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ Covid-19 وبائی مرض کے دوران ڈیجیٹل تعلیم تعلیم کا ایک بڑا ذریعہ بن گئی تھی۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ ڈیجیٹل تعلیم کے متعارف ہونے سے نصابی کتب کی اشاعت پر اخراجات میں بھی کمی آئے گی، والدین کا مالی بجٹ کم ہو گا اور بچے بہترین معیار کا علم حاصل کر سکیں گے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ملک تعلیم کے شعبے میں بہتری کے لیے عالمی تعلیمی فنڈز سے فائدہ اٹھا سکتا ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ وزارت نے اس سلسلے میں ایک موثر پالیسی وضع کی ہے جو اندازے کے مطابق 90 ملین اسکول جانے والے بچوں کی اکثریت تک مرکزی مواد کے ساتھ پہنچ جائے گی اور مؤثر طریقے سے ایسی خدمات فراہم کرے گی جو اساتذہ کی کارکردگی کی منزلیں طے کرتی ہیں اور ساتھ ہی ساتھ اسے بہتر کرنے کی اجازت دیتی ہیں۔ اساتذہ کی کارکردگی کو بہتر بنانا جس سے مجموعی نظام میں بہتری آئے گی۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ ایڈ ٹیک کی دلیل یہ ہے کہ اس سے سیکھنے میں بہتری آئے گی۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ حکومت نے ڈیجیٹل تعلیم کے فروغ کے لیے ایک قابل عمل منصوبے پر کام شروع کر دیا ہے اور اگلے پانچ سالوں میں نمایاں ترقی واضح ہو گی۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ اہداف کو حاصل کرنے کے لیے حکومت پبلک پرائیویٹ پارٹنرشپ کی بنیاد پر کام کر رہی ہے اور حکومت تعلیم سے متعلق چھ ٹیلی ویژن چینلز بھی شروع کرنے جا رہی ہے، انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ ہندوستان میں ایسے تقریباً 20 چینل کام کر رہے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ اس اقدام سے اسکول سے باہر بچوں کو تعلیم دینے میں مدد ملے گی۔

اس موقع پر گفتگو کرتے ہوئے محبوب محمود، سی ای پی، نالج پلیٹ فارم نے کہا کہ پاکستان میں تعلیم کے شعبے کو عملدرآمد اور آؤٹ پٹ پر زیادہ توجہ دینی چاہیے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ تعلیمی شعبے کی ڈیجیٹلائزیشن سے فی بچہ 100 ڈالر کے اخراجات میں اضافہ ہو گا اور پاکستان میں 90 ملین طلباء کو مدنظر رکھتے ہوئے کل سالانہ لاگت کا تخمینہ 9 بلین ڈالر سالانہ لگایا گیا ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ اس وقت پرائیویٹ سیکٹر نے پبلک سیکٹر کے تعلیمی نظام کو پیچھے چھوڑ دیا ہے۔ انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ حکومت کو بہتر انفراسٹرکچر کی فراہمی پر زیادہ توجہ مرکوز کرنی چاہیے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ سیکھنے میں بہتری کا انحصار ٹیکنالوجی اور درس گاہ کے موثر انضمام پر ہے جسے صرف نتائج/اثرات سے ماپا جا سکتا ہے۔ لہذا، مداخلتوں کی تشخیص کو پیداوار سے نتائج اور اثرات کی طرف جانے کی ضرورت ہے۔

ہارون یاسین، سی ای او، تعلیم آباد نے اس موقع پر گفتگو کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ حکمت عملی کی ایک اہم تجویز حکومت کو نئی ابھرتی ہوئی ایڈ ٹیک انڈسٹری کے ساتھ منسلک کرنا ہے، جس سے برین ڈرین کو ریورس کرنے میں مدد ملے گی اور پاکستان کی آئی ٹی انڈسٹری میں بہترین کارکردگی کا مظاہرہ کیا جائے گا۔ اپنی تخلیقی صلاحیتوں اور ایجنسی کو سماجی شعبے کی طرف منتقل کرنے کا موقع۔

یاسین نے مزید کہا کہ فاصلاتی تعلیم کے نئے پروگرام حکومت کے لیے رہنما خطوط، پالیسیوں اور معیارات کے ذریعے عوام کے لیے سیکھنے کے بہترین راستے تیار کرنے اور فراہم کرنے کا ایک موقع ہیں۔ بالآخر، فعال تحقیق پروگراموں کو ضروریات اور ہدف والے طلباء کی صلاحیت کے مطابق بناتی ہے۔

کاپی رائٹ بزنس ریکارڈر، 2023

>Source link>

>>Join our Facebook page From top right corner. <<

March 2, 2023

1 2 3 … 7
Next Page

Category: Education

An Economic Powerhouse

Education Export Income Trend

Top Export Earner (FY 2023-24)

Beyond Tuition: A Multiplier Effect

Student Expenditure Breakdown (FY 2023-24)

Fueling the Economy Through Work

Backbone of the Workforce

Key Policy Response: March 2020

Critical Support Across Key Sectors

The Disconnect: Narratives vs. Reality

Narrative: “Students Cause Housing Crisis”

Reality:

Narrative: “Students Take Aussie Jobs”

Reality:

Challenging Misrepresentation

Valuing Our Vital Contributors

1. Introduction: Australia’s Economic Resilience in the Wake of COVID-19

2. International Education: A Cornerstone of Australia’s Economy

Post-COVID-19 Rebound and Current Economic Standing

Breakdown of International Student Expenditure

3. International Students: Catalysts for Post-COVID Economic Recovery and Labor Market Stability

Addressing Critical Workforce Shortages (“Odd Job Market”)

4. The Disconnect: Media Narratives vs. Economic Realities

Conclusions

Works cited

1. Executive Summary

Market Overview: Scale and Critical Juncture

Market Segmentation: Enrollment Across Educational Tiers

Student Enrollment by Educational Level (2021-22)

Institutional Landscape: Public, Private, and Religious Providers

Distribution of Educational Institutions

Private Sector & Madrasa Enrollment Share

Key Market Challenges: Access, Quality, and Infrastructure Gaps

Consumer Profile: Literacy Landscape & Disparities

National Literacy Rates by Gender (2023 Census)

Literacy Disparities: Urban vs. Rural & Regional Extremes

Market Investment: Public Spending on Education

Strategic Outlook: Reform Initiatives & National Goals

Pakistan Vision 2025: Education Targets vs. Current Status

Single National Curriculum (SNC)

“Skills for All” Strategy (2021)

2. Introduction: Overview and Context of Education in Pakistan

Contextualizing Pakistan’s Education Landscape

Current State and Urgency

3. Structure of the Education System: Levels and Institutional Diversity

Educational Tiers

Types of Institutions

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Landscape

Enrollment and Institutional Statistics (2021-2023)

4. Governance and Regulatory Framework

Devolution of Education: Impact of the 18th Constitutional Amendment (2010)

Key Regulatory Bodies and Examination Boards

Federal and Provincial Responsibilities

5. Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Language of Instruction

Mediums of Instruction

Curriculum Content and Structure

The Single National Curriculum (SNC): Objectives, Implementation, and Challenges

Curriculum and the Cultivation of Critical Thinking Skills

6. Major Challenges and Disparities in the Education Sector

Access and Enrollment: The Out-of-School Children Crisis and Disparities

Quality of Education: Learning Outcomes, Infrastructure, and Teacher Effectiveness

Funding and Resource Allocation: Investment Gaps and Utilization Issues

Impact of External Factors: Climate Change and Pandemics

7. Government Initiatives and Reform Efforts

Pakistan Vision 2025: Educational Goals and Progress Assessment

“Skills for All” Strategy and TVET Development

Public-Private Partnerships and Donor Interventions

Recent Assessments and Evidence-Based Policy Reforms

8. Conclusion

Works cited

A local guide hammers the peat borer into the ground while Kalamandeen holds it still.

The Winisk river is a vital source of drinking water and food for the community of Peawanuck.

The Cree community of Peawanuck in the wintertime.

The road to the Ring of Fire