Class System in Pakistan

ABSTRACT In this paper I would like to introduce interrelated propositions about the Social structure of Pakistan: (i) that Pakistan society is characterized by a social stratification process which is compensatory in nature; (ii) that the compensatory process of social stratification over the years has given rise to status-centric value orientation; and (iii) that the most significant indicator of status-centric orientation is emergence of artificial middle class which can be distinguished from real middle class in terms of norms. INTRODUCTION They originated as the cast system in the time of divin-reite monarchs, Upper related to, or avored by the monarchy. Middle related to management, legal and business. Lower: often called, "The work force those whom have no rights the ones that die and sweat. That the rich might richer get. The everlasting poor. In Pakistan society, the middle class may be divided into two or three sub-groups. When divided into two parts, the lower middle class, also sometimes simply referred to as "middle class", consists of roughly one third of households, roughly twice as large as the upper middle or managerial class. Common occupation fields are semi- professionals, such as lower-level managers or school teachers, small business owners and killed craftsmen. These individuals commonly have some college education or perhaps a Bachelor's degree and earn a comfortable living. Already among the largest social classes, rivaled only by the working class, the lower middle class is diverse and growing. Though not common in sociological models, the middle class may be divided into two sections, And the least working class that’s express a lot of peoples. A social class is a homogeneous group of people in a society formed on the combined basis of * Education * Occupation * Income * Place of residence

And have who have similar social values similar interest in life and they behave a like have approximately equal position of respect or status in a society. The social classes of Pakistan: - 1. Upper class 2. Middle class 3. Working class 1. UPPER CLASS: - The upper social class which generally have high level of income and belong to be most high paying profession and they live in most cleanest place of the country and money will be no problem for them and their size is 2% of the total society and approximately 3. 7 million they have 60% to 65% of money of the country. They are actually * High status leadership * Big business man Top management of the company Members of the upper class control and own significant portions of the corporate and may exercise indirect power through the investment of capital. The high salaries and the potential for amassing great wealth through have greatly increased for the power and visibility of the "corporate elite". Many sociologists and commentators, however, make a distinction between the upper class (in the sense of those in the families of inherited wealth) and the corporate elite. By implication, the upper class is held in lower regard (as inheritors of idle wealth) than the self-made millionaires in prestigious occupations.

Yet another important feature of the upper class is that of inherited privilege. While most Americans, including those in the upper-middl class need to actively maintain their status, upper class persons do not need to work in order to maintain their status. Status tends to be passed on from generation to generation without each generation having to re-certify its status. Overall, the upper class is the financially best compensated and one of the most influential socio-economic classes in society. (i) Upper Middle Class The upper middle class consists of highly educated salaried professionals whose work is largely self-directed.

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Many have advanced graduate degrees and household incomes commonly exceed the high five-figure range. Members of this class commonly value higher education – most holding advanced academic degrees – and are often involved with personal and professional networks including professional organizations. The upper middle class tends to have great influence over the course of society. Occupations which require high educational attainment, are well-compensated and are held in high public esteem such as physicians, lawyers, engineers, scientists and professors are largely considered to be upper middle class.

The very well-educated are seen as trend setters with movements such as the anti-smoking movement, pro-fitness movement, organic food movement, and environmentalism being largely indigenous to this particular socio-economic grouping. Education serves as perhaps the most important value and also the most dominant entry barrier of the upper middle clas 2. MIDDLE CLASS: - The USC and MSC education are met different like USC study in foreign country like oxford university and MSC are study in local university of their country but income size will found more different their houses are ifferent their house are not huge and not think for a huge house of defense and think a house of Gulshan-e-iqbal their population is 28% out of the total population their population is 53 to 54 million of the total population They are actually * They are small to medium size business man. * Middle management * Low ranking govt officer And the big difference in USC and MSC is house concentration they focus more to their house but USC not so much home focus they are less and MSC lot home focus. The middle class is perhaps the mostly vaguely defined of the social classe.

The term can be used either to describe a relative elite of professionals and managers also called the upper middle class or it can be used to describe those in-between the extremes of wealth, disregarding considerable differences in income, culture, educational attainment, influence, and occupation. As with all social classes in pakistan there are no definite answers as to what is and what is not middle class. Sociologists have brought forth class models in which the middle class is divided into two sections that combined constitute 47% to 49% of the population.

The upper middle or professional class constitutes the upper end of the middle class which consists of highly educated, well-paid professionals with considerable work autonomy. The lower end of the middle class – called either lower middle class or just middle class – consists of semi-professionals, craftsmen, office staff, and sales employees who often have college degrees and are very loosely supervised. Although income thresholds cannot be determined since social classes lack istinct boundaries and tend to overlap, sociologists and economists have put forward certain income figures they find indicative of middle class households. Sociologist identifies a husband making roughly $57,000 and a wife making roughly $40,000 with a household income of roughly $97,000 as a typical middle-class family. Sociologists identify household incomes between $35,000 and $75,000 as typical for the lower middle and $100,000 or more as typical for the upper middle class. Though it needs to be noted that household income distribution neither reflects standard of living nor class status with complete accuracy. i) Traditional Middle Class Those households more or less at the center of society may be referred to as being part of the pakistan middle or middle-middle class in vernacular language use. In the academic models featured in this article, however, the middle class does not constitute a strong majority of the population. The most prominent academic models split the middle class into two sections. Yet, it remains common for the term middle class to be applied for anyone in between either extreme of the socio-economic strata.

The middle class is then often sub-divided into an upper-middle, middle-middle, and lower-middle class. In colloquial descriptions of the class system the middle-middle class may described as consisting of those in the middle of the social strata. The term middle class in this manner, especially when discussing the middle-class squeeze. The wide discrepancy between the academic models and public opinions that lump highly educated professionals together in the same class with secretaries, may lead to the conclusion that public opinion on the subject has become largely ambiguous. ii) Lower Middle Class The lower middle class is, as the name implies, generally defined as those less privileged than the middle class. People in this class commonly work in supporting occupations. Although they seldom hold advanced academic degrees, a college degree (usually a bachelor's degree) is almost always required for entry into the lower middle class. Sociologists divide the middle class into two groups. In their class modes the middle class only consists of an upper and lower middle class.

The upper middle class, as described above, constitutes roughly 15% of the population with highly educated white collar professionals who commonly have salaries in the high 5-figure range and household incomes in the low six figure range. Semi-professionals with Bachelor's degrees and some college degrees constitute the lower middle class. Their class models show the lower middle class positioned slightly above the middle of the socio-economic strata. Those in blue and pink-collar as well as clerical occupations are referred to as working class in these class models. . WORKING CLASS: - The term working class applies to those that work at this tier in the social hierarchy. Definitions of this term vary greatly. Population to be in either the upper-lower class or lower-lower class in 1949, modern-day experts argue that the working class constitutes most of the population. The WSC are not much more educated they are not in very accurative profession their income is low and they build one two room poorly houses, electricity not available water etc. Their size is 70% out total population of Pakistan.

They are actually * They are very small size shop owner. Skill, semi skill ; unskilled * Low grade govt staff ( peons, driver) * Poor former * Political worker The term commonly includes the so-called "blue bloods" (multi-generational wealth combined with leadership of high society). There is disagreement over whether they should be included as members of the upper class or whether this term should exclusively be used for established families. Twentieth century sociologist divided the upper class into two sections: the "upper- upper class" and "lower-upper class" .

The former includes established upper-class families while the latter includes those with great wealth. As there is no defined lower threshold for the upper class it is difficult, if not outright impossible. Income and wealth statistics may serve as a helpful guideline as they can be measured in a more objective manner. In 2012, approximately one and a half percent (1. 5%) of households in the had incomes exceeding $250,000 with the top 5% having incomes exceeding $157,000. Furthermore only 2. 6% of households held assets (excluding home equity) of more than one-million dollars.

One could therefore fall under the assumption that less than five percent of Pakistan society are members of rich households As the day proceeded, I found myself reflecting and comparing the education system of that of Canada to that of  various parts of the international community. Before proceeding let me attest to the reality that I am in no way suggesting that the education system of that of Canada is not saturated with disparities, BUT, I do however want to allude to the reality of the increasing opportunity when considering the access to education when compared to countries like Pakistan, for example. my reference to Pakistan is a direct reflection of my personal interactions with various members of the Pakistani community hence my first-hand take on the dynamics unfolding within the Pakistani education system) In Pakistan, and in most countries for that matter, (comprising the ‘West) is seen as a provincial responsibility ensuring the attainment of education up to and including high school. Access to education in Pakistan however, does not serve as a preamble for social or economic progression in the near future.

Gender disparities,  the social hierarchical positioning of an individual, income, religious affiliation and perhaps the most infuriating of all, the structure of the education system in Pakistan all serve as challenges to achieve a substantive level of access to education. The society that limits access to education and knowledge is short-sighted and destined for extinction, like the societies described in Collapse by Jared Diamond. Furthermore, along with people’s pursuit of social justice one needs to also embark on the pursuit of equal opportunities in education.

Plato in “Utopia” makes reference to every citizen, regardless of sex, outlining that we must receive education from an early age, and that this should be the earliest concept of equality of educational opportunity. Education provides the bedrock for reducing impoverishment and enhancing social development. In Pakistan, there has been a downsizing trend for the quality of education but moreover, the transparency of curriculum made available to students in various schools is questionable as different schools provide arraying levels of education

Madrasas (religious schools housed at local mosques), state-owned schools, English governed schools and private schools are the various components of the educative framework in Pakistan. Although Canada also consists of both public and private schools, does curriculum vary by leaps and bounds in such a way that it further perpetuates class difference, taking away from any opportunity to erode the clashing of civilizations? Are students in Pakistan belonging to the lower classes able to even fathom the idea of attending a private and/or prestigious school within Pakistan?

Why has the education system become reflective of the social and economic classes of Pakistan? Why the arraying curriculum? Are school’s like Karachi Grammer School, Frobels, Aithison College, Beaconhouse, American School Franchise  (and many others for which I would have to re-engage into conversations with certain individuals to remember and that in itself would be an unbearable task for me)  not aware of the students that are being pumped out of their system? The ‘elite’ schools of Pakistan are producing replicas of individuals who acclaim to be ‘elite’ as they are able to converse in English, shunning and onsidering their very own culture to be tainted with traits of backward and outdated. If access to education wasn’t atrocious enough, such ‘elitist’ schools have further contributed to ejecting students who, in some cases, further foster the already created social hierarchies within Pakistan. [Case and point:  Consider the social interaction of some Pakistani students abroad and their pre-conceived notions of each other based on the school they've attended within Pakistan Access to what may be considered ‘decent’ education is undeniably tied to the class structure looming within Pakistan.

This included geographical placement (and 70% of Pakistanis live in rural areas) so if one does not live in a major city your hopes for a post-secondary education are drastically low. When shedding light on job prospects and a prosperous future, the decline ratio between that of the Cambridge system (targets upper and upper-middle class) and the Urdu medium system (this encompasses government schools catering to the ‘rest’ of the population) is dramatic and continues to rise exponentially. From Nicholas D. Kristof’s article, formulated in Nov 2010 and published in the NY Times states One reason Pakistan is sometimes called the most dangerous country in the world is this: a kindergarten child in this country has only a 1 percent chance of reaching the 12th grade, according to the Pakistan Education Task Force, an official panel. The average Pakistani child is significantly less likely to be schooled than the average child in sub-Saharan Africa. ” Such numbers are not surprising, but it seems that they have to be parroted time and time again to shake up the myopic vision of upper-class Pakistan. It is said that nations are not developed in factories and industries but it is developed in colleges and universities.

In the 2nd world war Churchill and Hitler passed a resolution that both armies were not attack on the universities of other countries. You can’t believe that most of the children those were born during 2nd world war were born in colleges and universities. This resolution revealed the importance of education in the western countries. They believed that colleges and universities are the factories where their future leaders would be made. The education system of developed countries is very much strong and effective while the education system of under developed countries like Pakistan is not so good.

Our educational system in Pakistan is facing lots of problems and not working properly. The main deficit of our educational system is that we have not a proper system on which every one should act. The education minister who is governing the education of Pakistan doesn’t believe on his own system and send his/her children abroad for studies. The upper class of Pakistan also send their children abroad for studies or they adopt the British educational system O’ Level and A’ Level in Pakistan. The lower class people send their children in government schools that schools are at bottom in ranking due to bad performance.

The products of these schools not compete with the upper class children which makes a huge difference between both classes. When both classes students got admission in colleges are universities for higher studies there is also a big difference in them due to the quality of education in English medium schools and the low quality of education at government school. Now the government has taken initiative to reduce this difference that English is necessary for all government educational institutes. Here we will discuss the educational system of Pakistan in colleges and universities.

Students are very much assured about getting job right after the graduation or master’s degree in any renowned university. But they have to wait for a long time for a good job first they have to gain experience of any field. In our educational system of Pakistan you know examination system is not very good, you can’t believe it that at master’s level if you’ve read only 10 to 15 questions that are enough for passing exams. Some universities there are semester system and some has annual system, interesting is that there are many universities which have both semester and annual system at a same time in different disciplines.

All the Pakistani universities and colleges have developed their own curriculum for studying. There should be the same course and curriculum for any university or college in Pakistan. Government should do some arrangement for this that all the universities should have same course outline of a specific study program. If the universities have the same course outline it would be very beneficial for the students as well as it would be helpful to improve education in Pakistan. Poorstudents of a college in a village would be study the same course and subjects which would be read by a student of any biggest university of Pakistan.

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