Informal Education

There are millions of people in Pakistan who have no access to formal

education system. It is not possible for the formal system to meet
educational needs of the rapidly growing population. Non-formal Basic
Education School scheme has been introduced for those who have no access
to formal education. This scheme is very cost-effective. Under this scheme
primary education course is taught in forty months. Non-formal schools are
opened in those areas where formal schools are not available. Government
provides teachers salary and teaching material whereas community
provides school building/room. There are 6371 NFBE schools functioning in
the

country.

It is very simple to understand Informal Education as informal means

unofficial

No

and

it

is

called

regular

Not

No

informal

education

because;

curriculum

obligatory

formal

certification

The Government can or can not support the whole program as it is mostly
refer to the social base programs. Mostly education/training or awareness for
this purpose is organized outside of the formally school. Most typically, the

term or phrase in-formal education is used to refer to adult literacy and

continuing

education

for

adults.

Structure

In Pakistan, where the government has failed to raise the level of literacy and
education of its people, new hope is coming from the private sector.
"Baithak" schools have cropped up around the country for the past few
years. These schools teach basic literacy skills to children. There is no fee for
admission. All it requires is for a community to provide a place to hold the
class (i.e. in a home, a room in a community center, etc.) and the organizers
of the Baithak system will send a part-time teacher for the children. There
are

currently

about

6371

such

schools

in

Pakistan.

The Baithak system is ideal for poorer communities in rural areas, as well as
for children whose parents expect them to work to support their families.
These schools teach children the basic literacy they need. In some cases, the
curriculum of Baithak schools is even better than that found in government
or

private

schools.

Pakistan has a dismal literacy rate of 38 percent. If you divide it up by

gender, males have a 50 percent literacy rate while for females it's 24.4
percent. The 38 percent literacy rate also takes into account all those
individuals who can even write their name. In addition, the total expenditure
out of the National Budget spend on education is a meager 2.5%.
The government has tried to eradicate illiteracy, but government projects for
mass literacy have become administrative and bureaucratic nightmares. This

is one of the reasons why Pakistan hasn't been able to attain its literacy
level.
But between the cities and the villages, it is the rural population that suffers
the most. Pakistan's rural population has been largely ignored by efforts at
improving mass literacy. The educational facilities provided by the Pakistani
government have been of a substandard quality with no thought to the
people's

needs

or

advancement.

One can help by paying a Baithak schoolteacher's monthly salary, which

comes out to about $20 US. For $100 one can sponsor five schools, for $200
10 schools, etc. In this way one will be helping eradicate the sicknesses of
literacy

from

Pakistani

society

in

concrete

way.

Or one can help provide the location for the school. If he/she know of a
village where few children go to school because they must help support their
families by working, then pay for the establishment of a room or building
where

these

classes

take

place.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with supporting an existing organization

that is establishing Baithak schools. In fact, this would be a better idea since
one could bypass all of the organizational and managerial costs one would
incur

if

he/she

was

doing

this

on

his/her

own.

One organization at the forefront of the Baithak school movement is the

Karachi-based Society for Educational Welfare. They have a network of
schools in three provinces: Sindh, Punjab and NWFP. On their website, they
have

an

online

donation

process.

Another way one can help is by becoming a teacher in one of Baithak

schools. In fact, SEW encourages individuals to not only help out financially,

but also to teach in their schools or better yet, join their team in Pakistan.

Promoting Informal Education

Mostly this sort of Education, Programs, training needs cost and mostly are
being supported by international organization like World Bank, UNICEF, Red
Cross, etc. Now there is a problem as these organization has their own
philosophy and according to the World Bank, they emphasis that formal
education is most essential and thus illiteracy can be eliminated in a
generation

or

next

coming

one.

According to others they think that there is more need to work on In-formal
Education because deprived families and children can be accommodated
through the informal education programs. And it will help to reduce
illiteracy's

percentage.

Conclusion

It seems feasible that a more balanced approach or model for formal versus
informal-education is needed not only by educational theorists but also
societies as well. And they have to come out to work on this to try to
eliminate illiteracy rate. Because there is no doubt that education is needed
and especially countries like Pakistan, we do understand that the Govt. can
not cope individually on this issue now we have to play our role (Societies) in
this regard and have to come out to reduce the illiteracy rate either by
formal or informal way.