Importance of education

Letter December 31, 2020
People in Pakistan lack awareness about the importance of education because the system itself is corrupt and lacks the fundamental resources to empower students

KARACHI:

Developed countries pay close attention to their health and education sectors, which benefits their socio-economic growth later on. On the contrary, we live in a country where the system of education is incredibly distressing and deplorable, to say the least.

Not only do people in Pakistan lack awareness about the importance of education, primarily because many want their children to work and earn money, but the system itself is corrupt and lacks the fundamental resources to empower students. It is because of this that the literacy rate in the country remains extremely low. The Human Rights Watch has stated that about 22.5 million children are currently out of school in Pakistan — the number of girls being higher than that of boys. Compared to urban areas, rural areas have a higher rate of poverty. The SBP estimates that nearly 29.5% of the people there live below the poverty line, which means that 30% of parents are not able to send their children to school simply because they cannot afford it. These children will either be forced into child labour or will fall prey to the evils of society. Either way, there is less hope for them having a brighter future.

Taking into account these appalling social conditions, I still sincerely believe that improvement is possible if a well-off person bears the cost of education of at least one poor child. This form of voluntary work could lead the country out of poverty in the near future. Apart from this, the government also needs to invest in education, by ridding the sector of corruption and by providing free education as well as incentives to those who are unable to afford it. It is high time we realised our social obligations and played our due role as responsible citizens, individually and collectively.

Fahad Siddique

Rawalpindi

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2020.

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