MOST people would agree that for a building to be strong, the foundations have to be strong. It is no different in education. Foundational literacy and numeracy, and foundational skills in learning, language and math have to be strong for a child to experience a good educational outcome. The foundation is set at the primary level of schooling. Should we not have our best teachers at the primary school level? This is where we make or break our students.

It is true that content-wise, primary education is not ‘difficult’. Subject content for classes 1-5, whether English, Urdu, math or something else, is not difficult as it focuses on the basics. However, primary-level children, aged around five to 10, have little prior learning. Many have little to no support in education or learning at home and are poorly prepared. Young children are easily distracted. Sitting down to learn does not come easily to them. While the knowledge requirement might not be high, the primary school teaching skills needed are exacting. Not every person can be a good teacher and not every good teacher can teach younger children well.

But the way we set career paths and incentives currently, in both the public and private sectors, we end up pushing the best teachers out of primary schools. Primary school teachers are usually paid the least amongst teachers; their entry grade in the public sector falls in the lowest tier, their promotions are the slowest, and they are usually not allowed to go beyond one or two grades........

© Dawn