Much like other departments, the education department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) had a rough year last year due to widespread complaints from educators and their students.
The academic community will never forget 2023, the year in which the province was governed by a caretaker administration. There were widespread demonstrations. University employees were not being paid on time because most of the province’s colleges and universities were discovered to be in financial deficit.
The demonstrations did not last just one day. Everyone from teachers to support staff went on strike for over six months last year, with many people wanting even higher pay and benefits on top of what they were already receiving, all to stave off the double-digit inflation that had hit the people hard.
An educationist named Shahnawaz Khan characterized 2022 as “terrible for education” when discussing the state of K-P universities.
University of Peshawar, Islamia College, University of Engineering Peshawar, and Agriculture University are among the prominent universities in the region that have been facing wage and salary rise demands from its staff due to the ongoing deficit. “It is a really unfortunate situation,” Shahnawaz commented.
“It is the responsibility of the provincial government to distribute funds to the universities following the 18th Amendment, but it is evident that they have been preoccupied with matters other than education,” the educationist continued.
In addition, Shahnawaz noted that fewer students were enrolling at public universities because of budget cuts. “Whoever leads the province this year will see the education department in its current sorry condition and the devastating effect it is having on the students.”
However, K-P students’ complaints did not just originate from universities. Due to several allegations of cheating, the Peshawar High Court ordered that students take the popular Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) multiple times. The exam is administered by the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA). Students harshly attacked the ETEA for failing to prevent cheating, despite the fact that an investigation into the claims resulted to the arrest of several students.
But Peshawar activist Imran Takkar said in an interview with the Express Tribune that he thought school standards had been falling for a while. To fix the current state of education in the province, the government would need billions of rupees. Second shift programmes, alternative education techniques, school construction, free uniforms, stationery, and bags, and an excess of funds are the only things that can bring about these improvements.
An even more pressing issue, according to Takkar, is the state of education in the province’s rural areas and the combined districts. The activists argued that the government’s ability to provide quality education was directly related to its performance in raising urban education standards.
