Districts ranking revealed that 48 per cent schools in Pakistan are without drinking water
LAHORE: This refers to the sorrow, grief and shame associated with the news report headlined, “Districts ranking: 48% schools in Pakistan without drinking water” published in this newspaper on May 25. We claim to be an Islamic republic, which should ideally value education, but in the priority list of our rulers and policymakers, education comes as one of the last items and successive governments have failed to consider it as one of the most important factors for the development of country and society. History is witness to the fact that nations that attained progress focused on education and learning. It is extremely painful to see that not a single university of top ranking in the world is in a Muslim country.
The late Dr Eqbal Ahmed wanted to establish a university by the name of Ibn Khaldun in Pakistan and he wished it to make it on a par with the world’s top class universities. After the premature fall of Benazir Bhutto’s government in the 1990s, the project was shelved for reasons best known to policymakers. For all we know, the land mafia might have grabbed a piece of the expensive land meant for the university with ease, courtesy the higher-ups in the government.
In his book Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela writes that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. It is ironical that our government spends trillions on Metro buses, Orange line trains and motorways, while in the country with such big name private schools, education is largely ignored. Such an attitude, thinking and policies take us back to the 1700s to the famous quote attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette of France, “Quils nagnet de la brioche.” If they don’t have bread, why don’t they eat cake? Our students are forced to study in deadly heat or rain, without basic facilities of drinking water, electricity, buildings, tables and chairs, and our government proudly continues to announce mega projects worth trillions of rupees. A civilised society free of terrorism, bomb blasts, cases of daily rape and child molestations can only flourish if our youth is educated. Metro buses, Orange line trains, motorways, flyovers and high-rise buildings of concrete and iron cannot harvest an educated youth which will have to take the reins of this country in the future. The Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousufzai very correctly stated in these words, “All I want is an education, and I am afraid of no one.” She spoke to the hearts of many Pakistani students.
Aamir Aqil
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2016.
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