Perceived improvement: PML-N likely to improve education, states survey

According to the Alif Ailaan campaign, Pakistanis will vote for a party that prioritises education.


News Desk April 28, 2013
According to the Alif Ailaan campaign, Pakistanis will vote for a party that prioritises education. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI:


The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is currently viewed as the party most concerned with state of education. This perception, coupled with the fact that 73% people prioritise education policies when deciding who to vote for, can have wide-reaching political ramifications during the forthcoming polls.


This is according to the Alif Ailaan campaign’s first annual survey. It interviewed 1,536 Pakistanis – all aged 18 and above, from rural and urban areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh.

Although the survey highlights the education crisis plaguing the nation, the data collected is also reassuring – it shows that Pakistanis are aware of the importance of education, for men and women, and want to see an improvement this time around.

Change in the offing?

According to the survey, Pakistanis today understand the power of the vote to bring about change. People are more engaged with the political process than ever before and over 60% of the respondents plan to vote.

Furthermore, almost 48% of the interviewees agree that education should be the top priority of the government, and 73% percent claim that they will vote for the party that can ensure that each child receives quality education.

The data collected indicates that the PML-N is considered most likely to make significant strides in education, because of which it may be strengthening its vote bank by the day.

PML-N is followed by the PPP and the PTI. Only 2% of the respondents think positively of Jamaat-e-Islami’s educational vision, and even less for that of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional.

Trust deficit

However, the survey shows that people still deeply distrust politicians.

More than half of those interviewed believe that politicians will not live up to the spirit of their manifestos, and 68% hold the government solely responsible for the abysmal state of education.

Unfortunately, this harsh trust deficit is not unfounded. According to the report, most Pakistanis are aware that the nation spends far less than India on education, and a large chunk of the population has been exposed to the inefficiency of the government school system.

The survey also reveals that many people are not aware of their constitutional rights. While Pakistan’s constitution guarantees a free education to each child aged 5-16, only 6% of the people surveyed were aware of this.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2013.

COMMENTS (18)

Pervaiz Lodhie | 10 years ago | Reply

Only EDUCATION is the single most important thing that will bring about the biggest positive change in multiple ways like good governance, good economy, good jobs, good, proper population growth and much more. Till now all political parties and leaders have lied and mislead people of Pakistan. All the money meant for education has been allocated and used for buying votes and keeping poor into slavery.

Anjum | 10 years ago | Reply

These surveys are meaningless and manipulated because they are conducted from a sample of almost 5000 respondents and 5000 respondents don’t necessarily reflect the views of 180 million people or 81 million registered voters for that matter. 5000 respondents may not even reflect the view of one district as the average district size of Pakistan is over 1 million in terms of Population and there are over 100,000 registered voters averagely in each district. Suchsurveys are often conducted and these are without any result for a country like Pakistan. Election results will decide the final outcome.

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