Effectiveness of educational administration

Effectiveness of Educational Administration

             Academic institution is a cornerstone of a country. It is the foundation of skills and knowledge of the citizens who are the labor force for the national  production. Adequate and competent educational system is one of key towards  progress and development.

            In Pakistan, the Ministry of Education of Government oversees the responsibility over academic institutions. Aside from funding the public education, the federal government assists in curriculum development and financing of some researches.

            The literacy rate in the capital city of Islamabad is about 89 percent but only 20 percent in some rural areas. However, there is a notable increase of literacy rate in every passing generation. Moreover, command over English language is fast increasing with 18 million Pakistanis or 11 percent of population enables to speak English, making it 9^th largest English speaking nation and 3^rd largest in Asia. It is a progress towards globalization.

            However, one of the criticisms of Pakistani education system is the gender disparity in all levels of education. The Taliban enforcement of a complete ban on female education in the Swat district largely affects the large disparity of female- male ratio of students. Some 400 private schools enrolling 40,000 girl students had been shut down. But, 10 schools enrolling girl students trying to open had been blown up by militants in the town of headquarters of the Swat district.

            Moreover, Pakistan only spends 2.9 percent of GDP on education. But, the recently approved national education policy increased the allocated funds to 7 percent of the GDP. The government is planning to raise the national literacy rate to 85 percent by 2015.

            On the other hand, educational administration is also one of the main concerns in alleviating the current situation of the academic system of the country. There is a growing interest among public administrators in using evaluation as a means of analyzing and improving the quality of teaching.  Educational administrators address the need to be updated in information in order to adapt to specific situations. They strive to meet the social needs and expectations such as using the newer technology of computer age as teaching aid.

            It is critical to realize that the education in the 21^st century is far more demanding and competitive in compared to the earlier times. This is due to the fast growing knowledge base, advancements in technology and the increasing perspective on globalization. An educated man should proceed to the international standards before being regarded as a valuable employee to an organization.

            However, outdated materials and obsolete techniques in the school system are still being used by the poor countries, particularly Pakistan. What’s needed is a complete overhaul of the traditional teaching methods.             In this case, educational administration plays a pivotal role in updating and  making more active rather than passive learners the students. Teachers have an  important part in making this total renovation of the quality of education possible.              Teachers have the control over what to teach and how to teach it.  Therefore, they should be allowed to develop the expertise and self-confidence in  showing the students the path towards independent thinking and learning.  However, seen from this perspective, Pakistan is far away from achieving the  goals of overhauled education because of idealistic rhetoric of education policies  but underpinned by the required research in guiding educationists. The prism of  English language teaching is an evident manifestation of problems from the  government administration to the teachers to the curriculum itself. Despite the  increasing number of English speakers, it does not necessarily indicate progress  of quality of education.

            Moreover, pedagogical decisions continuously rely on the discretions of  government figures. In one instance, a textbook on Sindh was rejected by an  education minister because it was twice as long as the corresponding book on  the North West Frontier Province. Thus, to solve the problem, the textbook board  minions cut the half part of the book – without consulting the authors and experts  if it would affect the data and learning processes. The original manuscript was  only retrieved after years and printed under a World Bank project.

            Many of the problems regarding the quality of education are reflected by  incompetent teaching techniques, obsolete classroom materials and outdated  facts and researches of the lessons. However, the government is still the one  playing the large part in worsening condition of education in Pakistan because of  its policies that need to be reviewed and reassessed. Changes are inevitable,  thus, the education sector should learn to cope so that they can keep up in the  fast pace of globalization and progress.