Daily Times

Listening to any casual gathering of Pakistanis would thoroughly depress you. You would hear gloom aand doom theories about the future of our country and a hopeless lamenting of our condition. Strikingly missing are any solutions on the offer and a belief that we are responsible for and can change our condition. Apathy and disenchantment have taken hold, hope for change withering away. Going forward we must look for solutions in Pakistan rather than simply highlight our problems if we are to stop the steady drift into irrelevance and obscurantism. Each Pakistani must ask him/herself what can I do for my country and what are the constructive solutions I can offer to move my country forward. This would require abandoning the usual blame game mindset and conspiracy theories and embracing an introspective and questioning look inwards. Pakistan requires political and social activism from ordinary citizens, especially from its youth, rather than ceding that arena almost entirely to the religious right. Pakistan’s young, who have systematically been divorced from politics, would have to get involved to create a tipping point with progressive voices and ideas.

In the spirit of finding solutions the question could be posed: what are the initiatives or reforms that would have the most long-term and widespread benefits? What would re-invent Pakistan? The answer requires a holistic approach and immediate progress on multiple fronts from women and minority rights, economy, law and order to reforming outdated and unjust laws, and population control. But nothing would pay more long-term dividends than reforming education and would bear beneficial effects in each of these areas.

World is ripe with examples of countries developing stable societies and booming economies as a result of making education their highest priority. We could draw parallels from the experience of Oman and Costa Rica.

Just 40 years ago, Oman was one of the most underdeveloped and intolerant societies on the planet, with education least of its priorities. In a fiercely tribal society, only about 900 students were enrolled in schools without a single female student. Curfew had to be enforced each evening to curb lawlessness. But Oman took a sharp u-turn and reinvented itself in 1970 when its new young leader launched a bold programme of development centred on education. Today Oman boasts a strong economy with sustainable growth and a stable and tolerant society. Girls are just as likely to enrol in school, and young women starting entrepreneurial ventures are not an anomaly. Pakistan too can take such a u-turn.

Costa Rica also makes a strong case for investing in education and resetting spending priorities. Cost Ricans are the happiest people on earth as measured by the World Database of Happiness and several other approaches. What is so special about Costa Rica, other than its stunning beaches? In 1949 Costa Rica dissolved its military and started investing in education instead. Increased education helped create a more stable society and boosted the economy. It also improved gender equality and allowed the female population to be more productive (a benefit of education Pakistan sorely needs).

You might say that Costa Rica started at a very different point than where Pakistan is today, but that would be missing the point. Benefits of education are universal and not dependent on where and what kind of society you are. It would be mindless to suggest that Pakistan disband its army, but surely there is a hint in Costa Rica and Oman’s examples for Pakistan — invest more in education and you can attain a happier population, a stable economy, and a relatively conflict-free society — as mentioned above. It bears repeating, education would have benefits in multiple fronts Pakistan needs to make progress on.

Following would or should stop you in your tracks: Pakistan’s combined expenditure on health and education in last 30 years is little more than half of that for defence for 2010/11 (read ‘For he, that once hath missed the right way’ by Mir Muhammad Ali Talpur, Daily Times, April 10, 2011). No wonder then that Pakistan ranks 137th on the UN Human Development Index. Pakistan needs reinventing and to do that we will have to reset our spending priorities and reform our education sector.

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Washington DC, USA. He can be reached at nashraf@aol.com