Written by: Editor: Dr. Dushka H. Saiyid
Posted on: August 13, 2022 | 
| 中文
The Pakistan flag seems to be everywhere, and this celebratory mood reaches a fever pitch on the 14th of August, when the roads are clogged with packed vehicles out to see the city decorated with lights.
There is a general sense of wellbeing in Pakistan, the high inflation rate notwithstanding. People are now eating and dressing better than they did at its birth, on the 14th of August 1947, while a large section of the population have access to television sets and mobile phones. The country faces many challenges, but the most recent is that to fundamental rights, with people being picked up arbitrarily, without the due process of law being followed. We pay lip service to our founder, but the Quaid was the ultimate constitutionalist and upheld the rule of law, even pleading the case of Bhagat Singh in the Imperial Legislative Council, whom Gandhi had abandoned.
However, the most concerning is the neglect by successive governments, both civil and military, of the system of education. Its long-term effects are devastating on the society and clear to see. Napoleon had realized the importance of education as a tool for transforming and modernizing society as far back as 1800, and gave France a uniform state system of education.
Pakistan’s literacy rate is embarrassingly low at 58%, and 20 million children do not go to school, the second highest in the world. With a population growth rate of 2% per annum, and a youth bulge in which 63% of the population is between 15 and 33 years, the need for creation of jobs and vocational training has acquired a new urgency. It is worth noting that Pakistan spends only 1.77% of its GDP on education, while India spends 3.1% of its GDP on it. However, its not just the investment in education which is dismal, it’s the quality of education being offered.
While the Indian society seems to have lost its moorings as far as any semblance of an inclusive and a just society is concerned, its educational system seems very vigorous and education is given high priority. Not surprisingly, the front-runner in the race for the Prime Minister’s slot in the UK is Rishi Sunak, a man of Indian origin and a practicing Hindu. Kamala Harris, half Indian, is already the Vice President of the USA. The Surgeon-General of the US is Dr Vivek Murthy, Dr Ashish Jha is Biden’s advisor, Arvind Krishna is the Chairman and CEO of IBM, Satya Nadela is CEO of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai heads Google and the list goes on. Indians dominate the Silicon Valley, while the lower caste Hindus are struggling to create a space for themselves even in an American setting.
India’s literacy rate was 12% at the time of Partition, but has now risen to 74%. The twenty-three Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and its twenty Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) provide training to the best and the brightest of Indians. Sundar Pichai, for example, was educated at the IIT Kharagpur. These institutes and some quality universities like the Jawaharlal Nehru University, provide the backbone to the Indian education system.
While our political parties and military seem to be consumed by power politics, the more serious issues that beset our polity are neglected. It is high time we became more cognizant of them. With limited resources, a shortage of water looming on the horizon, there is a dire need to both educate our populace and control the rate of growth of our population.
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