Economy And Education Of Pakistan

Our nation has been engulfed by problems wide-ranging and far-reaching for a very long time now. We tend to talk about them. Sit together in TV shows and make meaningless conversation or gather around on political rallies and make an even greater show of unproductive efforts. The problems on the other hand have been consistently proportional with our indifference, apathy and a general sense of irresponsibility. We play the blame games as part of our everyday routines. Each one of us finds it imperative to curse the government, political leaders, bureaucracy and well in short everybody else apart from us and our families. Sometimes even our own families. What each of us however on the other hand fails to realize is that the damage is done and we are far beyond the stage of crying over spilt milk. We are blinded of any sort of perspective. Blinded of the fact that it is step up time. Time to do something more productive, more meaningful.

This country and this nation need some real change to sprout up now. The need of the hour is to start eradicating at the basics rather than stitching up on a temporary basis. A country stands tall if it has strong international relations, a well built human resource and a glorious past. Most of all however, you need a strong economy. And yes, take the bitter pill here. We don’t even have anything close to a strong economy. Pakistan needs to work desperately on its financial position if it needs to come back in the game. We are heavily dependent on aid and grants by international agencies and global giants and their strings are crippling us. This country needs to work on its ability rather than run behind something which never was our strength. I believe that our God gifted capacity in agriculture and natural resources is what we should have built on in the first place. We need to train our farmers, make the agricultural sector more automated, more modernized. There needs to be a general awareness program in order to make the farmer realize his and his lands full potential. We read each day about the importance of pesticides, fertilizers, green reforms and other general awareness programs however it’s easy for us to dismiss them. Once in the field, however, they can do wonders.

If Pakistan can build onto its agricultural potential, it is not just going to make the country self sufficient and avoid our import expense but also bring in export revenue. We have been bestowed with the unique potential to cultivate a multitude of crops. What we just need to do is make our people more aware of where their strength lies. The people in the parliaments need to help the people in the fields.

On the other hand however it’s also important that we move hand in hand with the world so that our self sufficiency persists not just in agriculture but also spreads gradually to the industrial market. It may sound too much of a cliché stating the importance of education and how it can play a crucial role in helping us find a solution to our problems but that is the foremost long term solution that we need to work on. A well educated nation will not just bring about with itself more employment and greater inflows of revenue but will also help channel resources to the right direction. It will bring about a positive attitude towards work and life in general and help the country in garnering a positive image in the global community.

Thus improvement in economy and education will help us in striking that missing balance. The two E’s will help us attain the two P’s. Peace and prosperity.   

A new vision

Pakistan is facing a terrible time due to poor economy and lack of education. If these two things would get better, a lot of problems can be eradicated.

If people of Pakistan would be educated, the law and order situation can get better. People would start knowing how to abide by the laws to become a civilized nation. Education teaches you the way to live a sophisticated and cultured life. Our nation does not know how to make a queue and wait for our turn. The latest example of unethical behaviour is at the time when the Metro Bus was providing free of cost services. People start fighting for their turn; women were pulling each other’s hair and destroying the new buses as well. So this is all due to lack of education. Our public has never gone to school to get social awareness.

If they would be given proper education, it would broaden their thinking and automatically they would know the voting system of Pakistan. Half of the populations, who vote for a new government, do for the sake of fun. They don’t know the consequences of choosing a wrong party. So they need proper guidelines.

In Pakistan a lot of parents send their children to Madrasas to give them education, without knowing that, are they gaining something from this or only ruining their lives. More than half of the Madrasas are giving wrong education which is resulting in terrorism. If these parents would have acquired education in their childhood, they would have definitely monitored their children properly. Hence, the lack of education is ruining many generations.

There are a lot of hurdles in women education in Pakistan. Through educating women, Pakistan can achieve social and human development. They can improve the economy by setting up businesses, helping their husbands and so on. Not only the economy is affected but also bringing up the children is equally important. If the mother would be educated, she will teach her children, who will result in better future of the country as well as the child himself.

This is also resulting in weak economy. The literacy rate is so low that economy is not increasing with a proper rate. The people in rural areas are still busy in their farms with old methods, resulting in slow production. They are not educated with the fast world, new technologies etc.

 Due to the corrupt government people are facing a lot of problems to set up the businesses in Pakistan. The skilled and productive people are moving abroad to set up their businesses. The energy crackdowns are forcing them to move some were else.

This is all related with education. If people would be educated, they would automatically vote for deserving government, which will create good law and order situation, minimize the corruption, less terrorism etc resulting in betterment of the economy.



SAAD HASSAN KHAN
SECTION J

Is lack of education the main reason behind our economy's downfall

The allocated budget spent on education is just 2% which is a shocking figure seeing the literacy rate dropping every year in Pakistan. Education has always been a major problem in Pakistan. Behind all what is happening in the country such as beggary, rapes, murders, stealing and corruption, the reason is the lack of education in people.
The issuing of fake degrees is also one major problem countering proper education. People dont hesitate to get a degree of their own when they can afford to get it in a certain amount. This is present a lot in families having a political background or rich landlords. Secondly there is a shortage of qualified teachers in the rural schools with no facilities of proper classrooms. As a result, many students are forced to study on plain grounds or even in open air without a roof. The figures state that 9% of primary schools do not have a blackboard, 24% do not have textbooks available for pupils, and 46% do not have desks for their students.This is all due to the lack of finance being spent of the education system in Pakistan.On the contrary only 36%  of public primary schools have access to electricity..  Educating women in Pakistan has always been a major problem. Our rural culture does not support the concept of co education due to which females are always restricted from studying. There were 14 million girls studying in basic education in 2006, compared to 18.3 million boys
When education is a problem in a country, then there is always less stability and a chance of a higher crime rate. Hence corruption occurs which disrupts the economy as a whole. Due to the instability and terrorism in the country, there has been very little investment in the country. Little investment means less employment. Our economy is in a recession since the last 5 years experienced with a hyper inflation which has resulted in stagflation in the country. The main reason lies in the fact that no effective policies have been taken to reduce inflation and terrorism due to which Pakistans economy has massively declined.

Utho, Jago Pakistan !!!

Utho, Jago Pakistan 

It seems we are living in a society that is becoming more health conscious than at anytime before. Our malls and shopping centers are full of heath stores offering us an array of products that can help us achieve our ultimate health goals. We have fitness centers that advertise the benefits of having a fit body. We have TV advertisements that offer the best exercise equipment that will provide us with the best body workout in the comfort of our own homes. All these things are good and beneficial to our health and well being. This is one of the initiatives Pakistan has given to the society in order to keep this motto “UTHO JAGO PAKISTAN”  remain active. Therefore there has been an increase in the number of nutritionists, gyms , spa’s and diet shops in our country .

On the other hand, we hear that our unhealthy eating habits are creating untold health problems across all age groups. As a result, many well known companies are hearing the out cry and are offering a healthier product. Just last week Frito-Lay announces their plans to make their products all natural. 

As for many of us we strive to be as healthy as possible. We try to exercise as often as possible. We try to eat the right things and we try to get the recommended amount of sleep. All these things are good, but they are not always achievable. We are often forced to spend more time at work than we want to spend. We are for the most part a mobile society, so therefore, we find ourselves eating out more than we desire. To our dismay, we find ourselves slaves to our own busy schedule.

But there is one thing we can do that cost very little in time and money and will provide great health benefits for us and our entire family. I am referring to the simple installation of water filters in your home. As for the health benefits, I do not know of a better thing to install in the home than water filters. They remove the chlorine, the harmful minerals and contaminates that have been proven to cause many harmful diseases.

Water filters, such as countertop water filters, shower head filters, under sink water filters all of which, are manufactured by Crystal Quest are a very economical way to enjoy the health benefits of using filter water. These simple devices are easy to install and maintain and are cost effective. So its better to take small steps and make our Greenland Pakistan a more safer, and healthier place to live .

Written By:  Misha Razzaq

How to make tomorrow better in Pakistan.

"Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts". Winston Churchill

 Dirty politics happen in every country; every part of the world and unfortunately every office and every presidency of the world have to face these circumstance. The question remains that whom among the leaders we have chosen deals with them under the loyalty and faith of their people.

Everyone thinks they are doing the best they can do, we are all patriots of our countries in true sense, however, what shapes our motivation and goals make us the kind of person we want to be. Pakistan has been an Independent nation for 65 years now. What is required is an educated economy. There are thousands of students who go outside of Pakistan to world class universitie

s to gain foreign education, however, what is important is that one does not forgets what we are, what our stance is. It is customary that an admissions counselor reading an essay from a Pakistani student would see his passion and love for his country, yet few years from graduation, they would find them in a building with a luxurious office in London! We all have our goals and ambitions but the country cannot survive if this continues to happen. Illiteracy is the worst disease that can chew away an economy causing pain at every step. The very limited people who take up an initiative are demoralized by limited support. We need a leader to guide us, but more importantly Pakistan needs youth who is determined so serve for the need of the country first.

In light of my limited experiences of life, I feel it is very important for the limited educated class to take an initiative. Pakistan is among the countries whose literacy rate is very low. Education does not show better results unless completely utilized through correct mediums. Pakistan faces energy crises, clean water issues, natural gas is limited and more-over there’s a wide spread frustration among the population of the economy. If we have better people in the government, dedicated personnel in our assemblies, ambitious and hard working individuals who put the interests of the country first rather than their own interests, we can make Pakistan a better place. We cannot solve the energy crises, natural gas issues or governmental politics to start at the very basic level. These huge issues take time, but what we can do as students is to take initiative from the basic ground roots. It’s not necessary that authority comes from top down. Every student who has the exposure of studying outside of Pakistan would realize the importance of libraries in the city. To start with, we need to create world-class libraries in our cities, give access to our people to free education, make our community a better place and make informed decisions.

 It does not matter whom we align within the government, whom we are voting for the next government elections, what matters is our intentions of the grounds on which we make our decisions.

HOW FAR CAN WE GO? By: Moeen Qureshi

Education is one of the basic factors which play a very vital role in the development of any country. It also combats unemployment, confirms sound foundation of social equity, awareness, tolerance, self-esteem and spread of political socialization and cultural vitality. Like many other developing countries, the situation of Pakistan’s education sector has not been very encouraging due to poverty, unemployment, over-population and slow pace of economic development. Through 62 years and 23 policies and action plans, the available stats and figures on the internet still show that the educational sector is waiting for an arrival of a savior. Musharraf’s government invested heavily in the educational sector and that era saw a visible positive educational change in the Pakistani society. Today, the economic situation in Pakistan is under a lot of stress and education suffers at the most in between all the hassle and chaos.

Recently, Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Member National Assembly Ahsan Iqbal said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s scholarship program is the biggest educational initiative in the world. It is a step taken to motivate the youth.

This is one such initiative that was promoted on such a wider scale that it became so popular and Pakistan needs many such youth based motivational programs and by the aforementioned initiative taken by the rulers of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) ,we, as the Pakistani citizens are certainly capable of providing such initiatives. It is high time that we as part of the Pakistani youth start taking such steps to bring about a change and play our part towards the betterment of the nation in the long term. And if we keep carving out such initiatives to educate our people and implement them effectively then pinnacle of success and growth is HOW FAR CAN WE GO.

                                       

It’s a shout out to all the Pakistani’s that it is about time to bring the winds of change so       

WAKE UP!!!

Author: Moeen Qureshi

Who Should be blamed - System or the People

An Insight to the Education System

Of all the wealth that one can accumulate in a lifetime,

the most valuable is education. Education that comes
through a structured learning system can refine one’s thinking, perspective and vision. Only education helps
us separate the wheat from the chaff. Education is the
bedrock of social and economic development.Throughout history, philosophers like Aristotle and Plato recognized the importance of education.It is only through sound education that we can hope to eradicate social evils. Education is considered as the cheapest defence of a nation but the down trodden condition of education in Pakistan bears an ample testimony of the fact that it is unable to defend its own sector.Though 64 year have been passed and 23 policies have been introduced yet the educational sector is waiting for the arrival of a saviour. In Human Development report Pakistan is placed at 136^th position for having just 49.9% educated people. The main factor behind such a continuous failure is the educational incongruity amongst different cities and even amongst different institutes lying adjacent to each other. There is difference in educational standards of various private, public and local institutes on a huge scale

Today it has become a business to run private institutions. In every street a school or institute is opened in homes having no playgrounds and other facilities which are alarming. Furthermore, private institutes or academies are a trend now-a-days which is being followed by majority of the students. The government school teachers who are employed in academies display a biased character towards their duty in government schools, they intentionally leave grey areas so that the students might join in order to acquire complete curricular knowledge, in return the teachers are heavily paid. This is the major cause of stratification on educational grounds.

Another dilemma worth mentioning is education in Pakistan has become grossly commercialised, it is a very sorry state of affair. Now the rising cost of colleges and universities in Pakistan threatens to put higher education, rendering low-income students absolutely unable to afford college or university. Our education system is passing through a very bad phase and is regarded as amongst the poorest in the world. Cream of Pakistani brain is either becoming idle due to non-availability of ever rising cost of education or going to other countries. Merit is a mere joke in Pakistan and now increasingly looked upon as tradable commodity. In the process the quality of education is absolutely eroded. Studying in college or university is now an expensive investment. Tuition fees have a disincentive effect on the poor middle-income students. The prevailing situation of uncertainty and disrespect for the people who are not considered as the members of semi-rich or elite class has pushed a lot of youngsters to flee from country in search of jobs and further education with long term plans to get settled abroad where they get more respect despite their status of a third rate citizen. Education has now been made a profitable business, those who could afford to study from top of the line and prestigious universities are more likely to end up having good jobs up their sleeves. On the other hand, more talented and promising people who have studied from slightly lower rating institute struggle to get a good start. It is about time that we go for a collaborative effort to channelize and focus the energies of our youth by providing them equal opportunities in all fields. People and the institutions are busy in profit-making and are least bothered about the quality and standard of education which they are providing to the students. The public institutions which offer education at low a low fee, are not of a good standard and they do not provide the student with helpful education. Also, private tuitions have become a fashion and the people all around the globe; have adopted it as a necessity. The government policies regarding education are not satisfactory, and the ones which are adequate are not being implemented. This is a chaotic situation and needs our special attention. Thus, to get rid of all the problems and to give education its status and position back, the psyche of the people has to be changed plus the government needs to review its policies and new laws should be imposed which can help our society to enjoy the real fruit of education. This will help our society to flourish and prosper well.
 






Aurthor: Khaula Aasim

Let's get a proper education system!

Getting education is every man and woman’s right. Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. It is the sole basis on which the world is progressing.

Secondary education in Pakistan begins from grade 9 and lasts for four years. After end of each of the four school years, students are required to pass a national examination administered by a regional Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (or BISE). The first two year course is locally termed as 'matriculation certificate' or 'matric' for short. Students then enter an intermediate college and complete grades 11 and 12. Upon successful completion of these examinations, students are awarded the Higher Secondary (School) Certificate (or HSC). This level of education is also called the FSc/FA or 'intermediate'. An alternative qualification in Pakistan is also available but is maintained by a foreign examination board instead of BISE. This alternative qualifications is known as the General Certificate of Education (or GCE), where SSC and HSC are replaced by Ordinary Level (or O Level) and Advanced Level (or A Level) respectively. These examinations are conducted under the pretext of Cambridge Board which has its main headquarters in Britain.

 The syllabus used in BISE is very old and no significant changes have been made to it whatsoever. Students who want to pursue degrees in medical and engineering can go along with this old syllabus but students who want to go for business, law or media have to study an updated course. CIE is an internationally recognized board with updated courses and thus is helpful for students. Students who pursue O/A’ Levels find it difficult to score good marks in medical and engineering entry tests. This is because the entry tests for engineering and medical universities are made entirely from the syllabus of Fsc. A’ Level students have a maximum of two months to prepare for it. Furthermore, O/A’ level grades are converted into FSc/FA equivalence marks which lowers the marks of O/A’ Level students and also reduces their chances of getting into a good university.

Hence it can be concluded that CIE is a better board and far superior in quality when compared to BISE. But students who wish to pursue a degree in medical or engineering in Pakistan should most definitely opt for BISE. This is because it will help them in the university entry tests. Other than that, students who can afford it or are willing to pursue any other degree or wish to go abroad should most defiantly opt for CIE.

The difference in these boards is creating differences among students. Discrimination is taking place and dividing our youth. Thus the government should take steps to improve the working of BISE to root out this discrimination problem. They should bring their books up to date with the present. More subjects should be introduced to enhance the creativity skills of students. Examination system should be improved upon i.e. exams should be taken in better examination halls and steps should be taken to avoid cheating. In this bring way BISE can be on the same level as CIE and our youth can be on the same wavelength to bring about a change in the country. 

Pakistan as a nation is a developing country and consequently faces a wide array of social problems: educational, economical, political, religious and a number of internal ethnic conflicts. However I believe that it is more important to address small issues first and then work towards the annihilation of the larger ones.

 After all small steps lead to big changes and transformations. Child Labour is a social issue within Pakistan and is considered a violation of human rights by the United Nations. Pakistani society is such that, a poor child can quite conveniently be deprived of basic education, only to feed the rest of his family members. Anyone up to the age of 18 is a child and his basic right is to receive education and proper upbringing rather than use his hands to destroy his own bright future. 

Children are especially exploited in the third world countries as they are a cheap source of labour and Pakistan children are used as labourers in the Sports Industry, Carpet Industry and the Footwear and in glassware production. According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics of Pakistan, 3.3 million out of 40 million children are working in various industries, although child labour is strictly prohibited by law.

 Child Labour is a serious social problem within Pakistan because the future and progress of any country depends on an educated and enlightened youth and if a child is not properly socialized then he/she will not be able to grow as confident and literate Pakistani citizens. There are various reasons for exploitation of children within the economic sector of Pakistan and such causes are directly related to the major social problems of Pakistan. Sociological Variables as the Causes of Child Labour in Pakistan: The factors that generate child labour within Pakistan are parental poverty and illiteracy; an irresponsible political system; social and economic pressures; lack of education. Social attitudes in Pakistan due to which a child is considered an adult at quiet an early stage due to biological changes, also are a cause of exploitation of children below 18 years. 

Poverty is a major social issue within Pakistan and as a result children are made to work in various industries in order to support their financially poor parents. The status of the family directly influences the choices available to a child and obviously if a family is extremely poor with comparatively less resources then consequently, each member, be it a child or an adult will be required to work and bring in money in order to survive. The economic and family status in the rural areas of Pakistan id quite low and as a result children are forced to work in various manufacturing and tertiary industries and are also over-exploited.61.2 % of Pakistan is illiterate and poor education resulting in limited exposure to human rights is a major cause of child labour.


 Education is a sociological variable and is of extreme importance because it emancipates a person from the grip of ignorance. However most people in the rural areas have no access to educational institutions and thus a child learns the tricks of trade from his father and instead of gaining education he chooses to work as a labourer or is at times forced by parents’ due to their own lack of basic knowledge. Pakistan does not have sound educational system under which a child can be adequately socialized into becoming a productive member of society. Education is not treated as a priority and inevitably child exploitation continues within our nation. 

Girls and boys are forced to work as domestic servants in the homes of the upper middle class or the richer elite. Thus class divisions become more prominent with the exploitation of the poor by the rich and this leads to an inequitable distribution of wealth and income. Pakistan is going through a serious social stratification problem and the rich continues to get richer whereas the poor continues to get poorer. Girls are exploited within the rich households, are paid less and are often physically harassed by the male owners. This leads to further sex and gender related issues and thus child labour needs to be strongly curtailed.

Pakistan needs a strong government and political structure to address the issue of child labour. However President Musharraf’s government is a military dictatorship which considers a nuclear programme a priority but banning child labour is not a serious issue for them. There are loopholes in the political structure of Pakistan and a weak government is a main cause of the denial of rights of the citizens of a country. Therefore children’s rights are largely ignored and deliberately avoided. For a positive change a democracy is needed which will fight against child labour through reformative action and laws and regulations. In Pakistan 7% of children working suffer from health problems and are physically abused as well by their owners. These are all structural problems within the social agencies of Pakistan which not only accelerate the rate of child labour but also set a precedent for other developing nations to follow.

EDUCATE THE YOUTH, EDUCATE A NATION..

It sends down shivers down my entire body when I see how my country is lacking behind the entire world just on the basis of being an "illiterate nation". In the Human development Report Pakistan is placed at 136th position for having just 49.9% educated population. Aren't these statistics just mind blasting? Do we not need to CHANGE this. Do we not need education. Do we just want to stay here and see the world moving a hundred steps ahead of us. I believe we're just so demotivated, we just want to sit back and watch the outer world raising fingers upon us. Creating a joke out of our illiterate nation, presenting it to the entire world that we're a nation of illiterates. 

It is not just the lack of resources, but even the quality of available resources, the dearth of motivation and the absence of better job security that have left a enormous chunk of Pakistanis illiterate. The education system of Pakistan is based on unequal lines. Medium of education is different in both, public and private sector. This creates a sort of disparity among people, dividing them into two segments. Such a distraught infrastructure is a basic cause of high illiteracy rate in Pakistan and high drop out rates in rural areas and public school.

Another major issue when it comes to education in Pakistan is that of gender discrimination. The current primary school ratio of boys and girls is 10:4, which is a cause of huge concern. The lack of technical education is a biggest flaw in the education policy that has never been focused before. Therefore, less technical people means low standard of education.There are no trained teachers, and infact they're not even motivated to get themselves trained due to the lack of monetary assistance and financial rewards.

The allocation of funds for education are very low. It is only 1.5 to 2.0 percent of the total GDP. It should be around 7% of the total GDP. At that budget allocation, the illiteracy rate in Pakistan would not decrease but rather increase. The federal and provincial governments need to cut down their expenditures in other areas and spend a bigger proportion of income on education.

 

 

  

In developed countries such as America, Europe, the emphasis of the states is on developing virtual education systems i.e. provision of education through online networks. The idea of online education is gathering momentum and many online institutions have been set up which offer online courses and online degrees. The Higher Education Commission and Education ministry need to focus on developing a strong online education network so that students through out the country can benefit. Universities such as Harvard, Berkley and MIT are offering online courses and degrees. It reflects the importance of online education in today's modern high tech world.

 

 

In today's world the benchmark for excellence is education. Moreover, if a country has a weak academic infrastructure, the chances to survive in current competitive world are less. The illiteracy rate in Pakistan is alarmingly high which calls for critical attention. The federal and provincial governments need to work  together towards elimination of flaws of education system in Pakistan.

Author: Nabeeha Gazelle Amer

 

Taleem pe yaqeen - By: Alisha Sajjal

God has blessed every single individual with certain capabilities that if applied in proper direction can open the horizons of success and glory. For some people, success is all about earning fame and money but individuals like me believe in making dreams come true by exhibiting the traits of hard work and uphill struggle. My name is Alisha Sajjal, and as left wing liberate person I strongly believe in equal education opportunities for entire Pakistanis irrespective of class, gender and social segmentation.

Education is essential

As a third world nation, we are deprived from standard living and even we have failed to meet the basic necessities of living.  History reveals the fact that prosperity and growth of any nation lies in the applied and professional education. In Pakistan, we have below average education standards and the main reason lies in the stratified education. By stratification, we mean the difference between courses and curriculum between different schools, college and university.

In education sector, we have diversity and unfortunately it is leading us to nowhere. We have American school systems, British school system, and typical Islamic schools. The selection of school, college and university is not based on choice of profession rather it totally depends on affordability. How come we stand on a single point, if we are not able to access our generation using a unified schooling system?  How come a graduate from Lums, Fast, or LSE can be compared with a graduate of nominal to sub nominal university? Moreover, in case of religious education system, even Islamic education is divided into different sects like Shia, Sunni, and others.  Keeping this situation in mind, we should not expect any kind of harmony and integration between students when it comes to the solution of critical issues. What we need is a unified examination system besides a unified course and syllabus at the initial education level.

Once providing equal opportunities with the basic level of education, students must be free to select any discipline or profession of their choice.  It’s not necessarily engineering and doctor degree that must be accomplished rather humanities and arts must be given equal prestige. Quality and profession oriented education in Pakistan is very costly. Government should put their best efforts to make this education accessible and affordable for every single Pakistani. Last but not the least; professional education must be accompanied with practical experience and job placements. Research environment must be cultivated as it is indeed a back bone to the progress of any nation. The above mentioned details are critical and this is the right time to propose a definite and authentic solution to various problems faced by our educational system.

Author : Alisha Sajjal

Anum Aftab

From Cradle to Grave

Pakistan emerged on the world map on 14th August, 1947. Since then she has faced a number of troubles on her way to progress. These key issues are major are roughly affecting our society. Perhaps the greatest loss comes in the area of education.

The key to success for any nation lies in their concern and development of education sector. As the education is promoted in the nation this reduces the illiteracy rate which ultimately reduces the unemployment which is one the biggest curse on any nation. The education sector in Pakistan is over looked by the government ministry of education and the provincial government whereas, the development of curriculum and financing is done with the aid of the federal government. In the past little decade Pakistan education is continuously developing which is ultimately helping the expansion of the entire nation.

One of the downside which Pakistan education is facing is low investment of the public in this sector, which is only 2 to 2.2 % of the total GDP. Although the provincial government has stated to increase this to almost 7 % which would be a live wonder if achieved. The education system in Pakistan is comprised of 5 levels which include; Primary, Middle, High, intermediate and university (undergraduate and graduate degrees). The past data indicate that the literacy rate in Pakistan is increasing to almost 10% every passing year.

Education is the systematic process of instruction for the development of character or mental powers. The primary stage of education is of prime importance for the edifice of career. Reliability and compactness of this stage enables a child to raise a standard of his personality. Unfortunately the importance of this stage is ignored to a large extent in our country. The drawbacks are multifarious in nature and require considerations on the part of the responsible. They have just followed the same principle of making policies in closed rooms and draft curriculum which was followed in the colonial era. Even now a days in our country, both the public sector and private sector have the capacity to publish books yet not according to the psychological level of the subject. They have borrowed ideas from elsewhere in the world and feel proud to present it in seminars and workshops.  As modern education system are adopted in Pakistan which are taken from the British education system which is playing a fundamental role in spreading English level all over the state. The census shows that almost 18 million which is 11 % of the total population has total command on English language which makes Pakistan the 9th largest English speaking nation in the world and the 3rd largest in Asia. The education in Pakistan is carried in two major languages comprising of English and Urdu. As most of the curriculum are taken from the British education system which consists of Oxford press, another drawback is that this makes the normal education very expensive which goes beyond the purchase and buying power of the majority of the local people. Whether or not this is a direct result of Pakistan's economic problems, it is undoubtedly connected with so many resources directed towards the aforementioned debt payment, educational improvements are given and inordinately low priority. In addition, Musharraf's military dictatorship had understandably not placed great emphasis on education in Pakistan.

In term of population, low literacy rates are often observed with high population growth. A poorly educated population is unlikely to participate in family planning or any other form of population control. Poorly educated masses make Pakistan a poor choice for the foreign investors that it so desperately needs. Furthermore, the extremely low literacy rate among Pakistani women (24.4%) lends itself to a society where most women never enter the labor force, creating fewer incentives for them to limit the size of their families.

The parents of today are also responsible to a greater extinct as they are not questioning the effects of these curriculum. They just pushing their young ones and finally opt for tuitions, which is not the right solution. The amount they spend on borrowing ideas and then its practical implantation will be in my opinion far less than the amount required for the research to know the psychology of the subject (Pakistani Children). Then another drawback of our primary education system is that of different school system for varied classes of the society, again following the agenda of the colonial rulers, empowering a particular section of the society, typically known as the feudal lords, to run the affairs of the state and to be easily affected by the name of modernism, enlighten moderation etc.

Due to costly education many people are kept away from the reach due to unavailability of resources. The old expired curriculum has also decreased the quality of education as there is shortage of teachers and poorly equipped laboratories are the result of less concentration shown by the government by lesser resources allocation. After all these controversies Pakistan is struggling in the field of education and steps taken on national level are showing the willpower and  fortitude of the government and local people. Despite of this Pakistan produces 445,000 university graduates and 10,000 computer science graduates, which shows that still Pakistan has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world. Another drawback the teachers are also following the typical attribute of punishing the students harshly. Schools' authorities in the private sector are also highly responsible for the poor status of primary education system in our country. They have interests in building of the students but to earn more and more money even they are also not highly qualified. The government should channelize and monitor the schools in private sector.

Being a Pakistani I request all the readers to pause and think for a moment as to where we are heading!

By: Anum Aftab