Nearly 24 million children aged 5-16 years are out of school in Pakistan – a worrying statistic for a country experiencing a ‘youth bulge’. While more than 60% of our population is below the age of 30 years, it is mostly unskilled with low educational and productivity levels and is inadequately prepared for gainful employment in high-value added industries. While demand-side issues which result in low enrollment and high drop-out rates are part of the explanation, Pakistan’s severe supply-side issues are a prime driver of its under-performance relative to the rest of the world especially when it comes to learning outcomes. According to the latest ASER 2021 report, of those surveyed, 45 percent students, could not read a sentence in Urdu and their regional languages while 44 percent could not read sentences in English .
In the face of teacher absenteeism, infrastructure issues and inadequate school supplies, parents either pull their children out of school and they enter the labor market, or then for those who have the option, look for coaching and private tuitions. Such ‘shadow education’ i.e., after-school supplementary classes, is a rising trend and has been increasing globally especially in countries with highly competitive exams such those in East Asia as well as other South Asian countries. Even in Pakistan, an estimated 34 percent of private school students and 17 percent public school students in Punjab are enrolled in after school classes . This shows the interest parents and stakeholders take in educating the youth, as people are spending a substantial portion of their household income on education. Yet, this raises a number of questions: do all students have equal access to after-school classes? And who are the students that are left behind?
As expected, much of the literature on supplementary classes shows that poorer and rural populations have lower access. Not only are urban teachers generally better qualified, but students from better socio-economic backgrounds have a larger variety to choose from. Hence, even when it comes to shadow education, the expectation is that any inequality in educational access across socio-economic classes and other regional and demographic markers will be replicated. Similarly, girls are found to have poorer access particularly because of mobility restrictions. When it comes to closing this gap then, technology-based solutions may well be a way forward.
At its most effective, online education enables one qualified teacher to reach several students at once. Leveraging video as its medium, ed-tech can reach many multiple times the number of students in a day as a traditional classroom teacher teaches in their entire career. Moreover, companies such as Edkasa within the ed-tech space can create and disseminate specially designed videos along with other practice materials to their students particularly from an exam preparatory perspective.
At the same time, students can also take control of their learning. The status quo in a classroom entails one teacher who is assigned to teach a subject, or in the case of Pakistan’s education system, a class teacher may teach several subjects, and the students do not have a choice or voice in deciding who this teacher would be. If their teaching style does not match the students’ learning style, there is almost nothing that the student can do. However, through ed-tech, students can choose their own teachers and decide when and where they want to learn. Further, education can be differentiated and customized for each student as they decide the pace of their learning. Similarly, given that online education can be accessed from one’s own home, parental concerns about safety, purdah, and general mobility restrictions placed particularly on girls, can effectively be bypassed.
This begs the question: who is able to access this technology and how equitable is it?
Aser Report 2021 states “The presence of technology in households (cell /android phones, computer, digital learning, TV radio and smart phones) has been on the rise. The technology profile of households is changing rapidly. Compared to 2019 when 66 % of HHs (rural) who had cell phones, there are 77 % households in 2021 .” Thus, the urban-rural divide in tech and subsequently ed-tech access is expected to decline significantly. Gender, however, remains a concern. Only about half of the adult female population in Pakistan own a mobile phone. Girls too see their access to, and use of digital technologies and platforms controlled and monitored. However, given the fact that there are very few government high schools compared to boys schools, ed-tech has been a viable alternative. For example, it has been heartening to note that a large number of users on Edkasa’s app are girls who are appearing for their standardized board examinations as private candidates, not enrolled in schools and using edtech platforms as their primary source of education.
Therefore, it can be said that while tech-based solutions do fill the gap in education and learning, there are gaps that remain to be addressed. Not only must gender be factored in, but continued issues of electricity, internet and broadband must be considered while planning and designing initiatives to create access for the 24 million out of school children while enabling continuity of learning as well as improving the quality of education. Both the private and public sector need to design solutions that are based on a human-centered approach and help meet learners where there are at, both in terms of learning levels and a household’s technology capability.
Annum Sadiq is the cofounder of Edkasa.