Corruption in Pakistan is a well-established phenomenon. The country has had a consistently poor ranking in the corruption perception index, being 143rd with a score of 2.3 out of 10 in 2010. Pakistan was created as a result of partition of India and the British left behind a strong bureaucracy and army. The country was divided again when eastern Pakistan seceded to form Bangladesh. Individuals convicted under the national accountability ordinance are prohibited from holding political office for ten years.
In 2010, 69 percent of those surveyed reported that they or someone in their household was subjected to an act of corruption when interacting with the judicial system. Of 333 affirmative respondents asked to identify the actors involve in corruption, 119 said court employees, 84 said a public prosecutor, 50 said a witness, 44 said a judge, 29 said an opposite lawyer, 16 said magistrate and 12 said others.
As of 2010, 24 percent of those surveyed reported that they themselves or a family member received educational admission through non-normal methods. The country’s biggest issue is the presence of non-uniform educational system. There are institutes modelled on western educational system.
This system is run by private sector educational institutes that charge fees an ordinary citizen cannot afford, so essentially these institutes are utilised by elite class (politicians, technocrats, bureaucrats, business class).
The same is also the reason for deteriorating standards of public sectors educational institutes, as the elite class only enrol there children in private schools modelled on western institutes.
MUBASHIRA NAQVI
Karachi
