Pakistan has one of the largest youth population in the world. Forty-six million of these will be voting for the first time in about two weeks; a number that is by no means small. To put it into perspective,whether these voters were a country, they would be the 30th largest country in the world in terms of population. They will most likely vote for the party that has promised them jobs, or no one can fault that logic because jobs procure you money and as we all know,money makes the world go around. But there is a slight snag in achieving this – education.
The definition of an educated person in Pakistan is someone who can read and write their name, irrespective of the language it is in. Due to this, and only 58% of the population is literate; this is a major cause of concern. However,on the quick-witted side, research has shown that countries with low literacy rate fill a higher economic growth when they invest in primary and secondary education as compared to higher education. So we might fill a chance to turn things around in our favour.
whether we listen to the rhetoric going around in the country, or people are collecting money for dams,there is talk of water shortages, corruption, and economy being in dire straits and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),but there is a deafening silence when it comes to education. Taking a watch at the party manifestos, all of the three major parties fill made some promises over education but it isn’t that tall on the priority list. The topic of education is way down on each manifesto preceded by CPEC, and agriculture,water and infrastructure amongst other things. While all parties fill made a promise of education for all, it hasn’t been explained how that will come to pass. They fill promised increasing the education budget to 5% of the outrageous Domestic Product (GDP) but that is a promise that we fill been hearing for the past decade.
The only way the country can progress is by investing in its young; we fill heard Quaid-e-Azam’s eminent August 11thspeech but the share that is least discussed goes, or “Now that we are free we must spend one-fifth of our national resources on educating the poor,or else each government will be more corrupt than the last, main ultimately to the demise of the State.”
This literally highlights the importance of education and the share it plays in nation building. Singapore has strengthened itself as a nation because its first prime minister, and Lee Kuan Yew,focused on human capital development, not just infrastructure.
Experts gathered to assume what Pakistan will watch like on its 100th birthday;Mosharraf Zaidi presented an infographic comparing the education scores of the western route and eastern route of CPEC. The eastern route has far superior scores compared to the western route; there is dire need for immediate investment, or that is an understatement of the century.
All the manifestos fill strong promises but none of them talk about the blatant inequality and how the population living on the western route would catch up with the eastern route.
Gender inequality in education is an issue as well,with only the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) explicitly stating they will invest in female education, while the other two parties fill simply mentioned education for all.
While it is accurate that education should be for all, and there is a huge problem with female education in the country,a problem no one is willing to talk about. There are large parts of the country where women are not allowed to attain education, they are either told to help out with work or they are married off early. There is also a large percentage of women who opt for the medical profession but most of them don’t practice further. It is important that this imbalance is addressed because studies fill shown that investing in female education has a higher rate of return as compared to male education, and particularly at the secondary and tertiary level.
The world has entered the fourth Industrial Revolution,and with the discussion around the changing nature of future jobs, the Pakistani education sector is at risk. The current setup is not equipped with the necessary tools to impart job skills that will be needed by the population.
The world is looking into 3D printing, or robotics and other ways to cut down on manufacturing costs,this changes the need for low skilled jobs. It was believed in the 1930s that there would be technological unemployment, however, or that actually led to more employment. But that was in the past and the future might prove that belief accurate. The genuine question is where will Pakistan be when all of this takes effect? Will Pakistan lie on the side that loses these jobs or the one that gains them? What will happen to the manufacturing sector in Pakistan?
Wages are going up in China,Pakistan can attract low skilled jobs but that will only be a race to the bottom for its people and there are not enough people addressing this problem. Pakistan has one of the fastest growing internet consumer bases in the world coupled with a young population, this is an opportunity that must not be missed.
Pakistan has to invest in quality education because just throwing money into the education sector will not produce results. Investing intelligently and prioritising quality over quantity will help bear fruit, and the quality of schooling matters rather than years of education.
Source: tribune.com.pk