From the Staffroom to the Classroom: Stakeholder Perspectives on Education Quality in Pakistan

Abstract

The quality of secondary education in Pakistan is not just determined by the classroom dynamics, but also by the environment of the classroom, which includes the workplace environment of teachers, teaching materials, including the language of instruction, and the curriculum they follow in class. This study has invited the people in these conditions’ close circle to make their evaluations. Closed ended questionnaires with 5 point agreement scale were filled out by 20 principals, 60 teachers, and 120 students from 20 higher secondary schools and 6 intermediate colleges in a district of Southern Punjab. Job security was agreed to by the majority of teachers (80); in-service training (72); fair marking and examination (83); and the teachers’ aid to students (77). They were less enthusiastic about the teaching resources: Only 35% agreed that there was laboratory equipment available, and only 23% agreed that audio-visual aids were used properly. Less than half believed that the curriculum was internationally standard (39%) and fulfilled the objectives (35%); principals were also skeptical regarding international standard and critical thinking skills. As to the medium of instruction, the majority of teachers (83%), students (80%) and principals (70%) agreed that language Urdu was a useful medium whereas approximately two teachers and students out of five agreed in regard to English. These results show that the respondents considered that teaching effort is a less hindering source for their insufficient performance in secondary education, when compared to missing material taught, and out-of-touch and out-of-classroom content.

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