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