INCREMENTALISM AND COLONIAL CONTINUITIES IN PAKISTAN’S EDUCATIONAL POLICIES (1947–2009): A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND COMPARATIVE POLICY ANALYSIS

Abstract

The political, social, and economic development of any country depends heavily on its education policy. Since the inception of the state of Pakistan in 1947, various educational initiatives and reforms have taken place in successive governments with an aim of improving institutional capability, curriculum building, literacy levels, and accessibility. Despite the repeated efforts, however, there remain structural problems in Pakistan's education system in the form of low literacy levels, inequitable schooling, lack of institutional ability, inadequacy of teaching staffs, and social stratification within Pakistani society. Through a systematic approach to research, this paper critically analyzes the incremental reforms that took place in Pakistan's education policy between 1947 and 2009 with specific attention to the pre-primary and secondary education sectors. Additionally, it highlights the influence of colonial education policies on the emergence of post-colonial Pakistan. The research is based on the assessment of education policies, official documents, academic articles, and historic records through the qualitative systematic review approach, which uses thematic analysis technique. The theory includes postcolonial perspectives developed by Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, and Tariq Rahman with the Incrementalism Model of Charles E. Lindblom. The findings indicate that the educational transformation in Pakistan was largely incremental rather than revolutionary. Instead of making any major structural change, most of the reforms were an addition to pre-existing structures. English domination, aristocratic systems of education, centralization of bureaucracy, and examination-oriented learning were some of the examples of the continuation of colonial education, which continued in the subsequent era of education. It can be inferred from the research that instead of continuously making small changes, the educational system of Pakistan requires basic and logical improvement. Decolonization of the curriculum framework, policy-making on empirical grounds, professional development of teachers, reducing educational inequalities, and development of a national education framework have been recommended in the report.