Our education budget remains a pittance as a percentage of GDP.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to an editorial in your newspaper recently on the state of children in the country.
Like every other Pakistani, I wish that, every year, the state of Pakistani children would improve. But, unfortunately, every year, this wish is not realised and proof of this is in the statistics compiled every year by various sources detailing the plight of our children. The floods of last year, along with the ongoing militancy in the country, have added to the miseries and troubles of the nation, especially children. Hundreds of schools have been either destroyed or made to close down and in any case, the ones that do function do not have good physical infrastructure or lack enough trained teachers. Many lack even the most basic of amenities, such as drinking water, shelter or furniture. On top of that, our education budget remains a pittance as a percentage of GDP and is far lower than that for other developing countries.
Saadia Chaudhry
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2011.
