BUSINESS EDUCATION AND

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PAKISTAN
WHAT IS EDUCATION FOR and why is it important?

Education is concerned with the development of a whole person. It

involves students acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that
will be part of their life. It also involves caring for the development of
individual intellectual, emotional, social and physical growth.
Education frequently takes place under the guidance of educators, but learners may
also
educate
themselves
in
a
process
called autodidactic learning.
[1] Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts
may be considered educational.
Education is commonly and formally divided into stages such as preschool, primary
school, secondary
school and
then college, universityor apprenticeship.
The
methodology of teaching is called pedagogy.
A right to education has been recognized by some governmentsAlthough education
is compulsoryin most places up to a certain age, attendance at school often isn't,
and a minority of parents choose home-schooling, sometimes with the assistance of
modern electronic educational technology (also called e-learning). Education can
take place in formal or informal settings.

REASONS WHY EDUCATION IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:

It Gives Knowledge
"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin
A direct effect of education is knowledge gain. Education gives us knowledge of the
world around. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life. It helps us form
opinions and develop a point of view. The information we are constantly bombarded
with, cannot be converted into knowledge without the catalyst called education.
Education makes us capable of interpreting things rightly and applying the gathered
information in real life scenarios. Education is not limited to lessons from textbooks.
Real education is obtained from the lessons taught by life.
It Leads to Career Progression
"An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less." - Nicholas M.
Butler
Education is important because it equips us with the expertise that is needed in
helping us realize our career goals. Expertise is an in-depth knowledge about a
specific field and it's ought to open doors to brilliant career opportunities. Education
fetches better prospects of career growth. Good education is an eligibility criterion

for employment in any sector of the industry. Be it any field, education always
proves to be rewarding. We are weighed in the market on the basis of our
educational skills and on how well we can apply them.

It Builds Character
"A man's own manner and character is what most becomes him." - Marcus Tullius
Cicero
The words 'cultivate' and 'civilize' are synonymous with 'educate'. That says it all.
Education is important as it teaches us the right behavior and good manners, thus
making us civilized. It is the basis of culture and civilization. It is instrumental in the
development of our values and virtues. Education cultivates us into mature
individuals; individuals capable of planning for the future, and taking the right
decisions in life. It gives us an insight into living, and teaches us to learn from
experience. It makes us self-confident, and develops our abilities to think, analyze,
and judge. It fosters principles of equality and socialism. It forms a support system
for one to excel in life. It is the backbone of society. It won't be wrong to say that
good education makes us more human.
It Leads to Enlightenment
"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." - Socrates
Education paves the path to disillusionment. It wipes out the wrong beliefs from our
minds. It helps create a clear picture of things around, and erases all the confusion.
It kindles the flame of curiosity and helps awaken the abilities to question, and to
reason. The more we learn, the more questions we have, and without questions,
there are no answers. Education teaches us to find answers. It makes us more selfaware. It leads us to enlightenment.
It Helps a Nation Progress
"Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The
human mind is our fundamental resource." - John F. Kennedy
Though not enlisted as one of the three basic human needs, education is equally
important. For the progress of a nation, for the enrichment of society in general,
education is important. A country's literate population is its asset. In today's
competitive world, it won't be wise to neglect the importance of education for the
development of society as a whole. Most countries have realized this. It has led to
the development of many government-aided educational programs and government
grants to schools and colleges. The motive behind this is fostering education in
society. The future of a nation is safe in the hands of the educated. Education is
important for the social development and economic growth of a nation

15. Overcoming Superstitions

Superstitions are baseless, useless and may affect your life negatively. Illiterate and
uneducated people often tend to hold certain superstitious beliefs. Education and

awareness are the best ways to combat superstitions and replace such beliefs with
reason and logic.
14. Keeping up with the world
We live in an ever changing world. New technologies keep coming up and if you
dont want to be left behind, you must keep up with the world which is moving really
fast. Without education it will be really difficult for you to adapt to all these changes.
An educated person is much more aware of the latest technologies and all the
changes that are taking place in the world. For example, an uneducated person may
not know about the benefits of the internet whereas an educated person uses this
gift of technology regularly for work as well as for entertainment.
13. Education and healthcare
Illiteracy often breeds ignorance and this ignorance may prove to be dangerous
when it comes to healthcare. Educated people know better about preventive
methods which protect them from a number of diseases. An illiterate and ignorant
person is more likely to ignore the symptoms and avoids seeking medical aid unless
the problem becomes very serious. Hence education enables you to take better care
of yourself as well as your family.
12. Respect
Everybody likes a wise and knowledgeable person! Educated people are considered
highly reputable in the society. The more educated you are, the more respect you
will get from those around you.
11. Helps you understand the world we live in
Education is what you need if you want an answer to your whats and hows and
wheres. It helps you understand the world you live in. You get to know more about
your surroundings as well as the whole world through subjects like history,
geography, science etc.
10. Makes the world a safer and more peaceful place
Education majorly affects our understanding of the difference between right and
wrong. An educated person is well aware of the consequences of wrong/illegal
actions and he is less likely to get influenced and do something which is not
legally/morally right. Also, a number of uneducated people who live a poverty
stricken life owning to lack of opportunities often turn to illegal ways such as theft
and robbery to solve their problems. If you are educated, you are well aware of your
rights, the law and your responsibilities towards the society. Hence, education is an
important factor which contributes in social harmony and peace.
9. Makes you confident
Your educational degree is considered as a proof of your knowledge by many. If you
are educated you have more chances of being heard and taken seriously. Generally,
an uneducated man will find it harder to express his views and opinions owning to

lack of confidence. Even if he does so, people may not take him seriously. Education
gives you the confidence to express your views and opinions.
8. Society
We all live in a society which has its own set spoken/unspoken rules and one of
them is education. The society expects you to go to school followed by college, get
a job, settle down etc. In fact education helps you become a useful member of the
society. An educated member certainly has a greater chance to contribute to his
community. Education helps you become an active member of the society and
participate in the ongoing changes and developments.
7. For economic growth of the nation
Australia, USA and Japan are few countries with very high literacy rates. These
countries are extremely prosperous and the citizens have a high per capita income.
On the other hand, in underdeveloped and developing nations, where literacy rate is
not as high, a number of people are still living below the poverty line. Education is
vital for the economic prosperity of a nation!
6. Saves you from being fooled/cheated
Education saves you from being exploited and fooled. We live in a country where we
enjoy a number of rights and freedom. It is easier to take advantage of innocent
and illiterate people. They may be trapped into signing false documents or be
deprived of some right which they have because unlike an educated person they
are not well aware of their rights and freedoms.
5. Turns your dreams into reality
What is your dream, your aim in life? Do you want to become rich? Do you want to
be popular? Do you want to be an extremely successful person who is respected by
people? Well, the key to all this is education. Of course there are exceptions, like
sportsmen who dont really owe their success to their education. However in most
cases, your degree is what helps you realize all your dreams.
4. Makes you self dependent
Education is very important if you want to be a self dependent person. It helps you
become financially independent but that is not all. Education also makes you wiser
so that you can make your own decisions.
3. Equality
If we want to see the world as a just and fair place where everyone is given equal
opportunities, education is what we require. Education is a must if we want to do
away with the existing differences between different social classes and genders. It
opens a whole world of opportunities for the poor so that they may have an equal
shot at well paying jobs. Education also plays a major role in women empowerment.
2. Money

An educated person has more chances of landing up a good high paying job.
Everybody wants a good life but the good life!. It may be called as the root of all
evil but most people will agree that money is important for survival in todays
world. The more educated you are, the better career options you have!
1. For a happy and stable life
If you want to lead a happy life and enjoy the good things the world has to offer,
you certainly need to get educated. A great job, a good social reputation are few of
the many benefits of being an educated person. Education is a must for a promising
and secure future and a stable life.

HOW DO WE GET EDUCATION?

Experience
Observation
Environment
5 senses

PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION
Following are the problems in education in Pakistan.

Lack of Proper Planning: Pakistan is a signatory to MDGs and EFA goals.

However it seems that it will not be able to achieve these international
commitments because of financial management issues and constraints to achieve
the MDGs and EFA goals.

2)
Social constraints: It is important to realize that the problems which hinder
the provision of education are not just due to issues of management by government
but some of them are deeply rooted in the social and cultural orientation of the
people. Overcoming the latter is difficult and would require a change in attitude of
the people, until then universal primary education is difficult to achieve.

3)
Gender gap: Major factors that hinder enrolment rates of girls include
poverty, cultural constraints, illiteracy of parents and parental concerns about
safety and mobility of their daughters. Societys emphasis on girls modesty,

protection and early marriages may limit familys willingness to send them to
school. Enrolment of rural girls is 45% lower than that of urban girls; while for boys
the difference is 10% only, showing that gender gap is an important factor.

4)
Cost of education: The economic cost is higher in private schools, but these
are located in richer settlements only. The paradox is that private schools are better
but not everywhere and government schools ensure equitable access but do not
provide quality education.

5)
War on Terror: Pakistans engagement in war against terrorism also affected
the promotion of literacy campaign. The militants targeted schools and students;
several educational institutions were blown up, teachers and students were killed in
Balochistan, KPK and FATA. This may have to contribute not as much as other
factors, but this remains an important factor.

6)
Funds for Education: Pakistan spends 2.4% GDP on education. At national
level, 89% education expenditure comprises of current expenses such as teachers
salaries, while only 11% comprises of development expenditure which is not
sufficient to raise quality of education.

7)
Technical Education: Sufficient attention has not been paid to the technical
and vocational education in Pakistan. The number of technical and vocational
training institutes is not sufficient and many are deprived of infrastructure, teachers
and tools for training. The population of a state is one of the main elements of its
national power. It can become an asset once it is skilled. Unskilled population means
more jobless people in the country, which affects the national development
negatively. Therefore, technical education needs priority handling by the
government.
Poverty, law and order situation, natural disasters, budgetary constraints, lack of
access, poor quality, equity, and governance have also contributed in less
enrolments.

1.

Education System is based on Unequal Lines

The educational system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education

is different in both, public and private sector. This creates a sort of disparity among
people, dividing them into two segments.
2.

Regional Disparity

Regional disparity is also a major cause. The schools in Baluchistan (The Largest
Province Of Pakistan By Area) are not that much groomed as that of Punjab (The
Largest Province Of Pakistan By Population). In FATA, the literacy rate is deplorable
constituting 29.5% in males and 3% in females.
3.

Ratio of Gender Discrimination

The ratio of gender discrimination is a cause which is projecting the primary school
ratio of boys & girls which is 10:4 respectively. For the last few years there has been
an increase in the growth of private schools. That not only harms the quality of
education but creates a gap among haves and has not.
4.

Lack of Technical Education

The lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the educational policy that has
never been focused before. Therefore, less technical people mean less.
5.

Funds

The allocation of funds for education is very low. It is only 1.5 to 2.0 percent of the
total GDP. It should be around 7% of the total GDP.
6.

Untrained Teachers

The teachers in government schools are not well trained. People who do not get job
in any other sector, they try their luck in educational system. They are not
professionally trained teachers so they are unable to train a nation.
7.

Poverty

Poverty is also another factor that restricts the parents to send their children to
public or private schools. So, they prefer to send their children to madrassas where
education is totally free.

Recently, minister of education announced a new Education policy for that next 10
years. The interesting thing is that the previous educational policy from 1998 to
2010 is still not expired. Although it is projected to give new plans and to make
more promises with the nation. It is said in this policy that all the public schools will
be raised up to the level of private schools. No plan of action have been discussed,
yet a notice is issued to private schools to induct government course in 5th and 8th
class and these classes will bound to take board exams. This disturbed the students
of private sector also.

Solutions for Educational System

There is a need for implementation of national education policy and vision 2030
education goals. An analysis of education policy suggests that at the policy level
there are several admirable ideas, but practically there are some shortcomings also.
Uniform curriculum
It may not be possible for the government at the moment to implement uniform
education system in the country, but a uniform curriculum can be introduced in
educational institutes of the country. This will provide equal opportunity to the
students of rural areas to compete with students of urban areas in the job market.
Promote education in rural areas.
Since majority of Pakistani population resides in rural areas and the access to
education is a major problem for them, it seems feasible that a balanced approach
for formal and informal education be adopted. Government as well as nongovernment sector should work together to promote education in rural areas.
Proper infrastructure
The government should take measures to get school buildings vacated which are
occupied by feudal lords of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. Efforts should be made
to ensure that proper education is provided in those schools.
Vocational and technical training centres
The federal government is paying attention to the vocational and technical training,
but it is important to make the already existing vocational and technical training
centres more efficient so that skilled youth could be produced.
Since education is a provincial subject, the provincial education secretariats need to
be strengthened. Special policy planning units should be established in provinces
education departments for implementation of educational policies and formulation
of new policies whenever needed. The provincial education departments need to
work out financial resources required for realising the compliance of Article 25-A.
Federal Government should play a supportive role vis--vis the provinces for the
early compliance of the constitutional obligation laid down in Article 25-A. Special
grants can be provided to the provinces where the literacy rate is low.
Pakistan is not the only country which is facing challenges regarding promotion of
literacy and meeting EFA and MDGs commitments. Education remains a subject
which is paid least attention in the whole South Asian region. UNDP report 2014
suggests that there has been an improvement in other elements of human
development such as life expectancy, per capita income and human development
index value (in past 3 years); but there has been no progress in the number of
schooling years. The expected average for years of schooling in 2010 was 10.6
years but the actual average of schooling remained 4.7 for all South Asian
countries. In the year 2013 the expected average of number of years increased to
11.2 but the actual average of years of schooling of South Asian countries remained
4.7. Regional cooperation mechanism can also be developed to promote literacy in

South Asian region. Sharing success stories, making country-specific modifications

and their implementation can generate positive results.

Estimating the value of education, the Government should take solid steps on this
issue. Implementation instead of projecting policies should be focused on. Allocation
of funds should be made easy from provinces to districts and then to educational
institutes. Workshops must be arranged for teachers. Foreign states are using LSS
system. This should be inducted in Pakistani schools to improve the hidden qualities
of children. Technical education must be given to all the classes. The education
board of Punjab has projected a plan to give tech- education to the children of
industrial workers. Promotion of the primary education is the need of time. Teachers,
professors and educationists should be consulted while devising any plan, syllabus
or policy. The state seems to give up her responsibility and totally relying on private
sector. The need of time is to bring education in its original form to masses.
Burdening students with so much books will not work as he will not understand what
the world is going to do next moment. Education is the only cure of the instability in
the state and can bring revolution through evolution, by eradicating the social evils.
This is how to remove illiteracy in Pakistan.
An analysis of the issues and problems suggest that:
The official data shows the allocation of funds for educational projects but there is
no mechanism which ensures the proper expenditure of those funds on education.
The existing infrastructure is not being properly utilized in several parts of the
country.
There are various challenges that include expertise, institutional and capacity
issues, forging national cohesion, uniform standards for textbook development, and
quality assurance.
The faculty hiring process is historically known to be politicized. It is because of this
that the quality of teaching suffers and even more so when low investments are
made in teachers training. As a result teachers are not regular and their time at
school is not as productive as it would be with a well-trained teacher.
Inside schools there are challenges which include shortage of teachers, teacher
absenteeism, missing basic facilities and lack of friendly environment.
Out of school challenges include shortage of schools, distance especially for
females, insecurity, poverty, cultural norms, parents are reluctant or parents lack
awareness.

Recommendations
Technical education should be made a part of secondary education. Classes for
carpentry, electrical, and other technical education must be included in the
curriculum.

Providing economic incentives to the students may encourage the parents to

send their children to school and may help in reducing the dropout ratio.
Local government system is helpful in promoting education and literacy in the
country. In local government system the funds for education would be spent on a
need basis by the locality.
Corruption in education departments is one of the factors for the poor literacy
in the country. An effective monitoring system is needed in education departments.
For any system to work it is imperative that relevant structures are developed.
Legislation and structure should be framed to plan for the promotion of
education in the country. After the 18th amendment the education has become a
provincial subject, therefore, the provinces should form legislations and design
educational policies which ensure quality education.
Unemployment of educated men and women is a major concern for Pakistan. There
should be career counselling of the pupils in schools so that they have an
understanding of job market and they can develop their skills accordingly.
Counselling of parents is required, so that they can choose a career for their child
which is market friendly.
There are two approaches to acquiring education: First, which is being followed by
many in Pakistan is to get education to earn bread and butter. The second approach
is to get education for the sake of personal development and learning. This
approach is followed by affluent and economically stable people who send their
children to private schools and abroad for education. The problem arises when nonaffluent families send their children to private schools, and universities. This
aspiration for sending children for higher education is wrong, because the country
does not need managers and officers only. There are several other jobs where
people are needed. Hence the mind-set of sending ones children to university only
for becoming officers and managers needs to be changed.

Conclusion:
The reforms required in the education system of Pakistan cannot be done by the
government alone, public-private participation and a mix of formal as well as nonformal education can pull out majority of countrys population from illiteracy.
Similarly, to make the youth of the country an asset, attention should also be paid
to vocational and technical training.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship is all about undertaking risk and bearing risk. Innovation requires
entrepreneurs to take calculated risks and with the help of this it is important to

achieve economic growth in Pakistan. The nationalization period in Pakistan has

affected innovation adversely and in subsequent years very little of it could place
because planning system has been unable to understand it. As a result, the entire
essence and the spirit of innovation were strangled. Without the required educated
and skilled workforce, Pakistan cannot attain innovation threshold and economic
growth. It is not just a matter of insufficient resources or ill-conceived policies but
more of an unsupported culture. Excessive government interventions have directed
investment towards rent seeking rather than innovation
The foul policies of the government of Pakistan that has just served a few elite and
powerful people and rent seeking culture has crippled the innovation of products
and almost ended the trend of research and development in Pakistan. After
globalization the entrance of cooperate sector to Pakistan and the support by
government to them has increased the competition and has made difficult for SME
industry to prosper. As due to energy crisis the cost of production here has raised up
so much that Pakistani producers fail to provide products at competitive prices in
markets
(domestic
and
international).
By ensuring rule of law, removing the instruments of rent seeking, new growth
strategy based on researched knowledge and overcoming the energy crisis are the
major factors that if implemented correctly in Pakistan, can bring prosperity in
economy while rescuing many from the poverty and deprivation trap. I suggest the
strict review of government and its policies regarding SME industry. SME should be
protected to a healthy competition where there is an environment of innovation and
research and development keeping the consumer preferences in mind.