Education — the only way to progress... By Amjad
08 February, 2013
It is a well established fact that education is a key instrument for social, economic and political change in society. Education has badly suffered from a perpetual negligence of government authority. Education in Pakistan has remained a most neglected sector both in terms of budgetary allocations and systematic development — allocating just two percent for the education sector is very disgusting. The result can be seen in peripheral areas like Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southern Punjab. The mentioned areas lack basic infrastructure and teachers. How can this miserly allocated budget overcome the increasing needs in the education sector? However, the importance of education cannot be denied, as societal health directly depends upon the literacy rate. Pakistani society is already fraught with many internal and external problems of which those at the top of the list are extremism, sectarianism, nationalism and the war on terror, which has subverted the social fabric. The country is in dire need of a revamp of its policies regarding education so that it can bring itself onto the road of progress. Secondly, it is the need of the hour to change the extremist mindset prevailing across the country. This can be achieved only through incorporating education in society. There is no denying the fact that it is the mind that changes first, and then brings changes in all of society. Change of mind is the change of general social life and the mind cannot be changed until education is given to the people. Education is an injection for change and progress. Thus, investment in knowledge pays the best return. The government ought to take bold steps to strengthen the education sector. Education is the best weapon to fight all social ills. Those nations that are equipped with knowledge have always ruled the world. AMJAD HUSSAIN
Nasirabad
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