The triggers of change

It is amazing how scientific and technological innovations are fast transforming the world power structure. Countries — whether small or large in size or in population — with high literacy, sound educational system and endowed with innovative skills are triggers of change. Their innovations and design and manufacturing abilities add to the wealth and bring about prosperity worldwide. The most recent example of this phenomenon is so visible in the prosperity and dynamism of Taiwan. Their breakthrough in the design and manufacture of the chip has further elevated the country in its importance in contributing to a transformational change in the understanding and functioning of the people worldwide. It has raised Taiwan’s strategic clout apart from giving a huge boost to its already booming economy. Interestingly, China until it develops its own chip comparable in quality and efficiency to the Taiwanese is likely to be relying largely on importing it from Taiwan.

China’s rise as the second most economic and strategic power owes primarily to the importance its leaders accorded to developing political consciousness among the broad masses, and by giving high priority to universal education with a science-based orientation. This had a transformational impact on every facet of national life. South Korea and several other countries of South East Asia owe their rapid progress and dynamism to ensuring quality education to their youth.

The race in the world among progressive nations is to create the enabling environment and provide the necessary facilities that their youth have access to quality education. China has been sending a large number of students to American and Western universities, who mostly are pursuing science and engineering subjects. Many of them on return find employment in research labs, teaching assignments or industry.

For Pakistan to improve its economic and political clout and above all for the well-being and prosperity of its people has to prioritise scientific and technological education. All the leading-edge industry that are influencing the world and shaping the future — artificial intelligence, microchips, software, robotics and several others — are the result of the advances in science and technology. It is not only the West, China and Russia that have made these enormous strides but South Korea and India too have made enormous strides in some specialised fields. Pakistan has also shown that it can excel in fields of science and technology if it has the support and a favourable environment to operate.

There is no alternative to it and leaders that ignore this reality are not serving the interests of the people. In fact, this should be a major talking point during election campaigning and a subject that should draw attention and scrutiny in parliament.

There are other major challenges especially the external and internal security that Pakistan is facing and no responsible government can be oblivious to it. While addressing these with all the resources at its command it should also analyse the nature or root cause of these challenges in deeper and wider perspective. The militancy in the erstwhile FATA and Balochistan has roots in underdevelopment. Inadequate educational and health facilities have aggravated economic decline. Adding to the woes of the people are shortcomings in governance that are destabilising the region. The government, apart from dealing seriously with terrorism and militant activity, should focus on the economic uplift and political development of these areas. This is the best possible way of addressing their feeling of despair and neglect that exists among a certain cross section of people. It is understandable as they have been lagging behind in all indicators of human development due to the negligence and lopsided priorities of successive governments. This has to be corrected on a priority basis and a clear message has to go to the people of the area that the government is seriously focused in creating and supporting activities that strengthen the economy and promote political stability of the province. Drawing lessons from the rise of China and South East nations, it is the emphasis on education with a heavy bias on science and technology that we have to adopt. But as past experience has demonstrated, it will not be easy due to several factors.

First, it is still not clear if these critical areas are also drawing the full attention of our leadership.

Moreover, serious effort should be made to counter the culture of antagonism that prevails among certain disgruntled groups of young people.

The lack of confidence in the federal government was recently demonstrated by the haste shown by the provincial legislators of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in hurriedly passing the budget even before the federal budget, although they are aware that they will have to go back to revise it when the federal budget gets passed by the parliament. Nonetheless, these are pointers that the government has to do a lot more in order to fully restore the confidence of the provinces.

There are other areas that our leaders need to focus. They should work seriously toward the strategic objective of creating conditions by pursuing domestic and foreign policies that strengthen the economic and security position of the country. Looking at the present general economic and societal conditions and assessing the past, it is unlikely that our leadership is prioritising and fully focused towards that goal.

Another area to which our leadership needs to give greater attention is taking preventive measures to counter the impact of climate change. We are being repeatedly warned by our climatologists of the dangers inherent in neglecting this aspect. It is still not clear how far we are in the transition to clean energy. Another factor generally overlooked is that since global population is on the rise, consumption of fossil fuel will continue to increase and reliance on alternatives will increase. To remain competitive, we have to seriously consider adoption of clean, renewable energy in the coming years.

Looking at these developments, it is clear that politicians and bureaucracy while formulating and pursuing policies have to ensure that these align with the changes. And to remain competitive, our industrial and agricultural products will have to adapt to these changes.