- By: Ali Haider Javed Ali
- Pakistan’s education system is defined by marks and degrees, while practical skills, creativity and critical thinking are often neglected.
Pakistan has a young population with huge potential which has the potential to transform into entrepreneurs, researchers, skilled professionals and innovators capable of contributing to the country’s economic and social development. However, the big question remains: are our educational institutions preparing young people for the challenges of the real world, or are they just teaching them to pass examinations?
The problem is not a lack of talent among Pakistani students, rather it is an educational approach which prioritises memorisation over understanding, and examination results over practical competence, and certificates over the abilities those certificates are supposed to represent.
Education should develop the mind, encourage curiosity and equip students to turn knowledge into action. When it fails to do so, the consequences are not just for individual students, but also for the productivity and future of the nation.
- The Numbers Behind the Problem
Pakistan’s educational challenges cannot be understood from just classroom experiences, they are also evident in official figures.
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024–25, education expenditure during July–March of FY2024–25 stood at approximately Rs899.6 billion or 0.8 per cent of GDP. The same survey reported completion rates of 67 per cent at the primary level, 47 per cent at the lower-secondary level and 23 per cent at the upper-secondary level. These underline Pakistan’s challenges with financing education, as well as its completion rates of these stages of education.
They do not directly measure students’ practical skills or critical-thinking abilities, but they demonstrate that the education system faces broader challenges even before the question of learning quality is even considered.
When education institutions are struggling to provide consistent opportunities for learning, the development of practical competence becomes even more difficult. While improving access to education is essential, it cannot guarantee that students will acquire the knowledge and skills they need.
The real objective must be to ensure that students not only attend school or obtain degrees.
- The Culture of Memorisation
In many Pakistani classrooms, academic success is tied to information being remembered and reproduced in exams. Students could spend hours memorising definitions, theories and lengthy answers because, in many cases, exam performance is the main measure of achievement.
Memorisation does have its place in education. Students need foundational knowledge before analysis of complex problems can start. The problem arises when remembering information is more important than understanding it.
A student could memorise a business theory without knowing how to apply that theory to an actual business. Another student could recite a scientific definition without understanding how the concept functions in everyday life. While the student has acquired information, they don’t have the ability to use it.
A meaningful education should encourage students to ask questions, examine evidence, compare different arguments and develop their own conclusions. Instead, an excessive focus on exams can discourage experimenting and make students reluctant to give answers not found in textbook examples.
The purpose of learning should not be to reproduce existing knowledge, but to also understand and evaluate that knowledge.
- Degrees Without Practical Skills
A degree is valuable, but its value increases when academic knowledge is accompanied by practical competence.
Consider a business student who studies marketing for several semesters but has never conducted customer research, prepared a marketing campaign or evaluated a real company’s strategy. Similarly, a computer science student may understand theoretical concepts, but have limited opportunities to develop software, collaborate on projects, or solve practical problems.
These are examples of a gap which educational institutions should address between learning about a subject and developing the ability to work with it.
The consequences become evident for when graduates enter the employment market. Employers need people who can communicate effectively, solve problems, work in teams, adapt to changing circumstances and apply their knowledge. A qualification cannot guarantee these abilities.
This does not mean that graduates are incapable or that academic degrees have lost their importance. It does mean that education should provide more opportunities for students to practice what they learn before entering into professional life.
Universities should therefore strengthen the connection between classroom teaching, professional experience, and the needs of the economy.
- When Potential Is Left Undeveloped
The most serious cost of an examination-centred system may be the potential that it doesn’t develop.
Students have different strengths. Some are skilled communicators, others are creative thinkers, and some have aptitude for technology, entrepreneurship, research or practical work. A strong educational system should help students discover these abilities and give opportunities to develop them.
However, when marks are the dominant measure of success, students may start to judge their abilities too narrowly. Those performing poorly in exams may miss out on strengths that aren’t tested well, while high-achieving students are given little encouragement to explore beyond the prescribed curriculum.
Skills develop through practice, feedback, and repeated opportunities. When these opportunities are absent, abilities may stay undeveloped.
This is why the problem deserves serious attention. The loss is not just that students forget what they have memorised after an exam. It is that they may complete years of education without developing the confidence and independence and practical competence that learning should cultivate.
- The Problem Is Structural, Not Individual
It would not be fair to place the entire responsibility on teachers or students. Many are working under tough conditions, while institutions may have overcrowded classrooms, limited facilities, lack learning resources and offer limited opportunities for professional growth.
Students also have inequality and varying opportunities for receiving quality education. Opportunities can differ substantially between locations, family resources and institutions they attend.
These cannot be solved by simply asking teachers to work harder or students to be more motivated. They need sustained investment and reforms to improve both teaching and learning.
Teachers need training, resources and freedom to encourage discussion and independent thinking. Curricula should be academically rigorous, but more relevant to contemporary social and economic needs.
Education policy must also recognise that improving enrolment and improving learning outcomes are related but distinct objectives. A student sitting in a classroom is an important achievement; ensuring that the student learns effectively is also important.
- From Memorisation to Meaningful Learning
Reforming the system does not require abandoning textbooks, exams, or academic standards. It does require a better balance between theoretical knowledge and the application of that knowledge.
First, assessment methods should reward understanding alongside factual recall. Assignments, presentations, case studies and practical projects can help students demonstrate their ability to analyse information and develop solutions.
Second, schools and universities should introduce more opportunities for internships, laboratory work, workshops and collaboration with industry. Business students could work on real marketing problems, science students could conduct practical investigations, and technology students could develop projects that meet genuine needs.
Third, communication, digital literacy, teamwork and critical thinking should be integrated into everyday learning. These should not remain abstract concepts in educational policies; students must have regular opportunities to practise them.
Fourth, educational institutions should encourage career guidance and vocational education. Not every student will follow the same professional path, and practical or technical skills deserve recognition alongside traditional academic qualifications.
Finally, teachers should be able to create classrooms where students can ask questions, challenge arguments, and learn from mistakes. Intellectual curiosity should be seen as an essential part of education rather than a distraction from the syllabus.
These require resources, consistency, and cooperation between governments, schools, universities and employers. They should also be evaluated based on meaningful learning outcomes, rather than the number of policies announced or programmes launched.
- Pakistan Must Think Beyond Examinations
Pakistan’s future depends on its ability to transform the potential of its young population into productive skills, responsible citizenship and meaningful innovation.
A country cannot benefit from its educated population if educational qualifications are not accompanied by abilities required to apply knowledge effectively, and nor can educational reform succeed if the definition of achievement is limited to marks, grades and degrees.
The solution is not to reject exams or academic knowledge, but to recognise that they are a means of education, not its goal.
Our schools and universities must prepare students not only to answer questions of examiners, but to identify problems that have no ready-made answers. They must help young people become capable of learning independently, and adapt to change, and contribute constructively to society.
A system that teaches students to pass but fails to teach them to think is not fulfilling the purpose of education. Pakistan must move away from producing graduates who can repeat knowledge, and nurture individuals who can apply it, question it, and use it to build a better future.