URGE FOR ONLINE DIGITAL EDUCATION LAWS AND POLICY IN PAKISTAN
According to UNESCOS’ report published in 2017, approximately 30% of the total percentage of students registered in Private Education sector, still a large percentage of about 70% is at the mercy of poor Public or Government education system .Private institution work for their repute and to stay in competition provide much better services then the public institutions but COVID-19 without any discrimination among public or private sector, has equally handicapped the whole education industry.
In this dilemma, where every education institution is focusing on just online education but not a quality online education, Government should work in preference to put serious and sincere efforts on availability of internet around the country especially in rural and far-flung areas, exorbitant prices of internet packages for poor people should also be controlled and after taking experts opinion must designed an inclusive model for every segment of the society. Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan , under 18th amendment protects the right of free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to 16 years in such manner as determined by law . Unfortunately, the reality of our education system is that, everyone is trying but no one is trying to give its best, to provide proper setup for online learning, every institution is just following the policy of “go with the flow”. Such a gross scale transition to online education is not possible in country like Pakistan with an unplanned agenda. From the beginning of lockdown till now, there is no highly appreciable task done by the concerned authorities, no proper mechanism is officially designed by the government. They are just trying to transmute the wall into a door by just beating on it.
Everyone is trying but no one is trying to give its best
University students are of the view that, we are heavily overburdened with multiple assignments of 5 marks or 10 marks and quizzes only along with erratic online classes, in order to complete credit hours instead of formal and interactive lectures as in daily routine during practical classes. Students after weeks of struggle are unable to learn something more productive. Another issue faced by the students is uncertainty in the notifications of Educational institution regarding board exams in schools and colleges and mid term exams, final exams and other overall assessment in the case of universities. Various students readiness on Online Learning forms, in the first few weeks of lockdown are launched by universities on their online learning management systems (LMS) for students having severe internet issues but after submission of forms no response was generated by the relevant institutions. Many education institutions are struggling for their official learning management system and using Zoom Cloud (software that allows 40 minutes free scheduled conference session for any purpose either educational or business), Google Classroom, Microsoft teams, closed Facebook groups and whats-app as an alternative sources to practical classes.
Law student in a private university of Islamabad says, “We are not able to access Pakistan law site for proper case study and research for thesis and assignments and no justifiable measures were taken by the university despite of various complaints by the students”.
In view of the deplorable and distressing situation of education sector in Pakistan during Coronavirus, especially for poor and the needy students who belong to remote areas and necessitous or poverty stricken families, I wish we together challenge and disrupt the monotonous and rusted status quo of Education Industry, to help such victims of educational and institutional disparity and to raise the nation. Digital online education progress can prove to be a crunch point to bridge the gap between poor public and debt-inducing private education system. Moreover it is simply a cheap and cheerful defense of a country.
Colossal opportunity can bring colossal impact
Every competitor is new in this game, this colossal opportunity can bring colossal impact in our growth and survival in digital future. We just need a robust attempt to get through this struggle. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Never leave ‘till tomorrow what you can do today”. We are still not late, we can positively use this pandemic as an opportunity to revive our struggling digital education sector by drafting a special regulatory laws through any act or ordinance along with details of restrictions, data protection procedure of online education system. Federal Ministry of Education (FME) in collaboration with National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks (NBTC) and provincial curriculum center should devise an updated National Online Digital Education policy based on identical and coherent curriculum for every student of the country. Proper teachers training programs on online education should also be scheduled. There is also a need of working on affordable internet access to the maximum students. Government should set proper sustainable and profitable goals for education sector and issue directives to follow and pursue such goals for the benefits of the students and emanates positive results in the long run. It would be just like an opening ceremony of inexpensive, economical, reasonably fair, and most significantly equal quality education system in Pakistan. Digital education has a lot of potential If, wisely formulated and prudently executed.
This article is written by Sadia Tanveer studying in the last semester of LLB.Hons. in Bahria University, Islamabad. Along with studying Law, Sadia Tanveer has successfully cleared International Law course from RSIL in 2019, presently working as an internee and research assistant with Maiken Law Associates. She can be reached at sadiatanveer812@gmail.com.This article discusses the need for online education policy in Pakistan during this pandemic of COVID-19.
Good one 👍
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