So, how do we build a nation that is fighting cancerous cells of terrorism; a nation rebuilding itself after being drowned by a deluge, and just how do we rise out of the ashes of a decade of confusion, chaos and catastrophe? The super structure of social development in Pakistan can only be built on the solid foundations of education. At a mere 2.1 per cent of GDP public sector spending on education, it is not only an embarrassment among the developing countries of the world, forget the developed; it is a fragile foundation for the bulging youth population of the country to stand upon.
Some days ago I came across a list of countries ranked by literacy rate. Naturally I was inclined and interested in spotting Pakistan. It wasn’t much surprise to where we ranked in the world (somewhere in the 150s), but it took a lot of pride-swallowing when I found half of the so called “Dark Continent” listed above us. The bereaved, war-torn, and forgotten brethren from the Democratic Republic of Congo seem to be more literate; Burundi, Sudan and Madagascar have done more to educate their people than us. Lesotho has done considerably well, while by the standards of Namibia we are probably stone-age hunters from the 7th Century B.C.
To top it, we shot ourselves in the foot by even attempting the devolution of the Higher Education Commission. However, all is not lost. Anatol Lieven in his recent book “Pakistan: A Hard Country” has very intricately shown that despite the weakness of the state machinery, the Pakistani society remains strong. But what will strength make us without education? More so, what have we become without education? These are questions that we need to collectively answer. Do we really need bombs more than books?
Education, rather the lack of it, feeds most of our problems today. Dynastic politics thrives on uninformed public opinion, correlation between illiteracy and unemployment has time and again been backed up by statistical evidence, while a misguided youth blows up in a tranquil gathering hoping to achieve eternal blessings of his God. To add fuel to the fire, we have the so-called educated liberals propagating gay-rights and that too in the name of Quran. Between the Priest and the Pantheon we have a docile nation that is unconcerned and indifferent to developments around it.
Only 56 per cent of the population is capable of reading the newspaper and writing a simple letter in any language. UNESCO surveyed that out of the 18 million youth in the age group of 17-23; only 2.6 per cent are enrolled in higher education. What is the rest of 97.4 per cent of 18 million up to? Such a populace is not only gullible but an easy recruitment pool for extremist forces in and outside the country.
It has long been time that we focus on educating our nation because the road to a prosperous Pakistan can only be made among the meadows of intellectual understanding and discourse. Elementary education must be backed up by vocational training of adult men and women who have been denied the right to education as a child. This will not only greatly enhance the ability of our workforce but raise community awareness and political maturity in Pakistan.
We have a Damocles’ Sword hanging over our nation in the words of the famed American educator, Abraham Flexner and I quote:
“Nations have recently been led to borrow billions for war; no nation has ever borrowed largely for education. Probably, no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.”
The author is a policy analyst and a social worker from Islamabad who believes that the glass is half full. He can be reached at siddique.humayun@gmail.com and http://www.weekend.pk/The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
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