Pak’s Education: An Unending Slippery Slope

Ishtiaq Ahmed

London: Some weeks back I wrote a piece drawing policymakers’ attention to the dire situation in which the public education sector finds itself.

Our education system for the masses has been on a downward slippery slope for decades. The successive governments, to an annoyingly degree, have shown total incompetence and lack of will to reverse this decline.

It is generally acknowledged and rightly so that ‘education’ is a route to achieving life aspirations and being able to contribute to the wellbeing of society. This is no different in Pakistan or anywhere else.

One of the most rehearsed quotes attributed to Quaid-e-Azam, the revered founding father of Pakistan, regarding the importance of education is: “Education is a matter of life and death for Pakistan. The world is progressing so rapidly that without requisite advancements in education, not only shall we lag behind others but may be wiped out altogether.”

The Constitution of Pakistan stipulates: “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children under the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as may be determined by law” ( Article 25-A).

It is estimated that 22.8 million children, aged 5-16 are out-of-school, making Pakistan the world’s second-highest nation with a number of children being out of school; a staggering 44 per cent of the total population in this age group.

The fact remains that the successive governments have not properly planned or invested in this the most important plank of nation-building. Today’s budget announcement by the present government once again relegates the education of the nation even further.

A 6 per cent increase in the defence budget and a whopping 71 per cent cut in education is a sense-defying equation given the already dire predicament in which the public education sector finds itself. This is truly a bombshell for those who have aspirations seeing the public education sector restored to its proper function. One can’t help to feel that children of the nation are being cheated out of their right to education.

As one of my esteemed friends on the social media “ Is the case of moving the masses from dumb to dumber”.