Being a heterogeneous nation, the education of Pakistan also reflects that. There are multiple systems in Pakistani schools and these systems are partly why there is such a huge gap between the different peoples of Pakistan.

In Pakistan there are twelve years of primary and secondary education. In tenth grade, the matriculation certificate is given and grades 11 and 12 make for the Intermediate years. After that, there are two years of college which are called Part One and Part Two.

Another system in some of the major private schools of Pakistan is the Cambridge Board system, which is a British system. This comprises of 11 years of primary education in which grades ten and 11 make the Ordinary ”O” level years and two more years of secondary education, grades 12 and 13 which make the Advanced “A” level years. In some, a very small percentage of Pakistani students can afford this kind of education because it is very expensive and it is also only limited to the urban elite. An education system, let alone an education in the rural areas is non-existent.

Most educational institutes are privatized, though in the early 70’s there were attempts to nationalize it. All education till grade eight was made free but these attempts did not work because there was not enough money in the kitty to cater to each and every child. Hence, education was made a commodity once again and the poor could not afford to get their children even a basic education. The public schools which are from the government are in a state of disarray and there is a lot of corruption and bribery that goes on in these schools. At one point in time, a large number of ghost schools was discovered which schools on paper were, but in reality, were a shame.

Even in the Matric/Inter system there is a huge emphasis on rote-learning and the curriculum has remained the same for the last 50 years. The same questions are repeated every five years hence the popular “five-years” exam guides are in every student’s possession. Some schools try to combat this by keeping an O’level curriculum till eight grade and then having the children matriculate from the normal system so that there is at least some form of learning.

Slowly new ways of education are making way in Pakistan. The International Baccalaureate and Aga Khan Board systems are two of these and these are aiming to replace the drudgery of the Pakistani system and the obsolete Cambridge system.