Our poor education sector

According to media news Pakistan celebrated education and Malala day with the hope that the government will provide equal education opportunities for everyone. The government has also launched a four year literacy programme under which more than three million children of poor families, especially girls, will get free education in Pakistan. Unfortunately, despite declining graph of education system, the government is just doing cosmetic steps to satisfy people. Original conditions of education are far from ideal in Pakistan. Recent statistics are showing grim picture of education sector in Pakistan. According to UNESCO, some seven million children in Pakistan are out of primary schools in which 60 percent are girls. Only 20 percent of girls have completed primary level schooling in rural areas of Pakistan. Literacy rate of girls in Northern Pakistan is only six percent.
Despite all of these challenges Pakistan spends less of its national budget on education than other small South Asian countries like Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan. True reality is that several western and UNO funded schools are just alive on papers and have no physical presence. Ghost schools and ghost teachers are true reality of Pakistan education sector. The world community has promised to spend around one billion dollars to help Pakistan’s poor education sector but most of the people in Pakistan rightly believe that everything is politically motivated and will not serve the purpose. Only corrupt elements of government will enjoy this money and education sector will not feel any comfort.
The true reality is that the biggest barrier to poor education in Pakistan is a lack of government interest and powerful feudal system in villages and poor areas. Political influence in education institutions is also a main cause of worse performance of education system in Pakistan. Even public service commission examinations are not transparent and most of results are politically motivated. It seems true that due to increasing education expenditures and self-finance schemes, the government is limiting education only for upper class people. Due to poverty, rising graph of unemployment and tough financial conditions, thousands of children have been forced to leave their education and work in inhuman conditions as a child labourers. Despite huge increase in education expenditures and self-finance schemes, the education system has failed to provide alternatives of Dr Qadeer Khan, Professor Saleem-uz-Zaman Siddiqui and Hakeem Mohmmed Saeed.
KHAWAJA UMER FAROOQ
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia