It is widely argued that during British colonial rule in South Asia, the educational system introduced under Thomas Babington Macaulay was not primarily designed to foster intellectual development or critical consciousness among the colonised population. Rather, its underlying objective was to produce a class of clerks and intermediaries who could efficiently serve colonial administrative interests. This system privileged rote memorisation, mechanical learning, and uncritical reproduction of information, while discouraging independent reasoning, analytical thinking, and intellectual inquiry. Success within this framework depended largely on a student’s ability to memorise prescribed content and reproduce it verbatim in examinations, thereby rewarding conformity over creativity.

Although Pakistan achieved political independence in 1947, the structural and ideological remnants of this colonial educational legacy persist. One of the most enduring manifestations of colonial influence is the examination-oriented, memory-based education system that continues to dominate large segments of Pakistani schooling. Despite superficial reforms, the foundational logic of this system has remained largely unchanged, particularly at the secondary and higher secondary levels. In the contemporary era, marked by rapid technological advancement and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), such an outdated pedagogical model is increasingly untenable. The global economy is being reshaped by automation, data science, digital platforms, and AI-driven innovation. Consequently, job markets now demand skills........

© Daily Times