The ordinary citizen

It is not unusual in Pakistan to hear of public schools that receive no books, no supplies and no subsidies from the government. Thousands more are "ghost schools" that exist only on paper, to line the pockets of phantom teachers and administrators.- National Geographic: Struggle for the Soul of Pakistan, Don Belt.

After more than sixty years of independence Pakistan stands at a precipice where it is bordering on a faulty jump between moderate and extremist Islam, both terms having been coined post 9/11. This being a fine balancing act in which you fall more than you travel on the line; it is sadder still to find the present government spending less than what is required at this moment, on education. The fact is that it was hoped, almost expected without reservations, that the recently elected government would allocate an amount from the budget of 2008-9 to education, to show its commitment to this struggle, this landslide of illiteracy and ignorance which has warped our personalities and crippled our growth, both as individuals and as a society.

With a 4 percent increase in the education slot and about 30 percent of that going to higher education, I wonder for a moment why it never seems to occur to anyone that education is about teaching the young so that they can contribute to the society as and when they grow up. Unless we have scientifically achieved a point where we will be giving birth to graduates only. That would be remarkable and would take a load off mothers like myself to stop looking for education in schools. I would comfortably shop for colleges only.