The other
day I was walking down the road, lost in the midst of my thoughts. I suddenly
heard a shrill scream from behind. The heart rending voice slashed the silent
air like a knife and brought me back to my senses. I doubled back, running
towards the mayhem and what I saw next drained my body dry of blood; a pleading
mother, a terror stricken toddler and the terror himself – a man with a gun. I
was no hero, yet my humanity put me into action and I grabbed the masked
teenager from behind causing his pistol to jerk out of his hand. ‘Don’t hurt me
please!’ the young thief beseeched as I threatened him with police, ‘I meant no
real harm! The gun is fake!’
I am sure
that I am not the only one who has witnessed such stories of teenagers going
astray with guns in hands and menace in eyes, yet with a scared heart in search
for money to run their families. After this disturbing face-off with the
deadening truths of society, I could do nothing to take it off my mind and
ponder over the basic cause and cure behind these scenes: education. All I
could ask myself was that what is actually the role of education in all social
and economic problems written in our country’s fate? Would they continue to
prevail given that Pakistan has a high literacy rate? Or do they occur because
the country is growing in the education sector, but the education sector only?
Before the
inception of Pakistan in 1947, Quaid-e-Azam tried to take the Muslims to an
exalted level of education, benefitting from the British, yet the adamant
Muslims did not want to change courses. They refused to adapt to the modern
education concept as according to them this was disgrace to their old cultural
lifestyle. Unfortunately, the same ideology persists in our nation today. The
literacy rate in Pakistan has always been at low ebb with only 49.9% of the
population educated out of which 63% are males whereas the female education is
as scarce as mere 36%.
The most of
the uneducated populace is from the Baluchistan and NWFP provinces which are
now flowing into the urban sectors, thus spreading the illiteracy web
throughout Pakistan and providing a boost to the socioeconomic problems in the
country. Baluchistan is scarcely populated as its population is migrating to
Sindh attracted by the flaring city life and jobs in that more advanced
province. What they did not foresee was over-population in Karachi, which
despite being an Industrial hub ran out of jobs. These were the people who then
arose with weapons and terrorist activities in the city making it the heart of
thefts, kidnappings, killings and many other social problems.
If the
Balochis had been educated enough, they would have realized that development in
their province would not only solve all their problems but also become a major
economic lift for the whole country. On the contrary, what they do is resist
any development in that area as the old school ideology still lingers among the
people there. Instead of cooperating on the development of Gwadar, the people
of Baluchistan ended up abusing and thrashing the Chinese workmen who came into
Pakistan for the growth of the port. This placed a full-stop on China aided Gwadar
development program and increased the life-span of economic problems in
Pakistan.
Another
social issue persevering in Pakistan is the reluctance of girl education. Only
22 percent of girls, compared to 47 percent boys, complete primary schooling
with the female school life expectancy to be merely 6 years long. Women make up
as much as 49.17% of the total populace in Pakistan and the averseness towards
female education further drags the country down. This result in early marriages
which become the origin of over-population, thus, initializing the circle of
socioeconomic issue in the country, i.e. joblessness, poverty and the final
stage: crime. If the educational needs of the country had been met, the people
would not be giving their daughters away in the thirst for dowry and nor would
joblessness persist which has become the major cause of the growing crime rate
as people start feeding their families by selling their consciousness. Even the
educated lot is often found seeking money by stealth rather being able to earn
with a head held up high in dignity.
Although agriculture accounts for more than
one-fifth of output and two-fifths of employment in Pakistan, the Industry
sector is required to make the country grow yet the industrial production
growth rate is 3% only which is extremely low for a country with this many
problems. Unless the industrial sector nurtures, Pakistan will continue facing
the problems of unemployment where the official unemployment is 6%, but this
fails to capture the true picture, because much of the economy is informal and
underemployment remains high. This can be overcome by proper edification in the
country. Yet, even today, the expenditure on education is only about 2.7% of
the total GDP making Pakistan the
142nd country in this regard in comparison to the world. The social
strife in the country given birth by the lack of education also keeps MNCs and
NGOs out of the country due to security issues. This adds to the mountain of
reasons keeping the economy level of Pakistan buried underneath.
Pakistan’s
strategic location is very ideal for a developing country. Lined with the Silk
Road, developing and developed countries as neighbors and a sea available for
ports at the other end, the country can improve trade. The untapped resources
in Baluchistan can feed the whole country with electricity, ending the load
shedding crisis too. The variety of weather and the agricultural built is a
plus too. Yet, the lack of unity among the diverse cultures of the country and
the adamant ignorance and selfishness of people has led the country on the
warpath against its own possessions. If with the assistance World Bank (working
for educational progress since 2004), Pakistan overcomes these key challenges
effectively, efficiently, and transparently across the education sector, the
country can resurface as one of the leading nations of the world, bringing all
the social and economic issues to a timely and badly awaited death.
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