Improving ‘Quality’ in Education: is Spending Effectively Better than Spending More?

Abstract

The right to basic education is considered a fundamental human right. The provision of quality education for all children is the responsibility of the state. Article 25A of Pakistan's 1973 constitution says that "The state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children." In Pakistan, the government of Punjab has taken steps to ensure that all school going children attend school. Moreover, the provincial government has also made efforts to improve the quality of education through a number of interventions, such as improving infrastructure and work conditions, introducing smaller classrooms, provision of free textbooks, real-time monitoring of schools performance and giving children scholarships or other incentives to encourage their families to send them to school. Nevertheless, the principal question remains: Is the Pakistani state employing its resources efficiently to ensure that the quality of education is adequately improved? For instance, the government in Punjab invests almost 18 percent of its annual budget on education but still, the quality of public education system remains a challenge. The government has tried to digitize Punjab's entire public school system in order to monitor key outcomes. However, it’s just a first step toward getting to an education system where the teaching and learning experience are revamped through the integration of different Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Moreover, the government has taken steps to introduce reforms to the current curriculum which mainly focuses on rote learning. A syllabus which encourages and focuses on evocative learning should be at the centerpiece of the student experience (Jamal, 2017). On the whole, this paper argues that Punjab needs to spend effectively and efficiently rather than spending more in order to resolve its educational crisis.