The search committees are camouflaged to the unlawful appointments and generous extensions in tenures of the sycophants in violation of rules and regulations. The provincial leaders are behaving like medieval utilitarian rulers and absolute monarchs. The feudal mindset with all its malevolence is manifest; the legal wizards to bend or invent ways to bypass rules and regulations and lawful systems and procedures have been let loose; sycophancy is galore; merit and fair play is an anathema to our self-indulgent ruling elite. Redemption of the land has become a distant dream. Education plays a fundamental role in nation-building. South Koreans were embroiled in active war for pretty three years which destroyed their social, economic, and communication infrastructure. They proved to be a self-respecting nation. They skipped one meal a day to spend on the education of their children. Today, they are counted among developed nations. Sri Lanka, in our region, with fewer resources than Pakistan, achieved the mark of 100 per cent literacy. We are the only self-indulgent nation from this region comparable to Afghanistan or the poor African countries as far as education is concerned. According to a report presented to the National Assembly in 2014, over 24 million children between the ages of five and 16 years were out of school in Pakistan. The report also revealed that Pakistan had the highest number of children out of school after Nigeria. There is a child workforce of 10 million doing menial jobs in the country. We should mind that all the crimes of man begin in the vagabondage of the child. “An erring child,” as put by Victor Hugo, “is the corollary of an ignorant child. A child left to fend for himself is abandoned to fatal immersion to public vices that devour in his honesty and conscience. An ignorant child is a lost man.” There are over six million children out of school in Sindh. We can well imagine how gravely we have been crippling our society by leaving our children to the perils of vagabondage and ignorance. We do not even feel ashamed when our children are smuggled to the Gulf States for a camel ride. The naked human wickedness is countenanced by our federal and provincial governments shamelessly. The vulnerable sections of our society are subjected to harsher bounds of suffering and sufferance, simply beyond the human endurance and unthinkable in a civilized society. We are living in a dehumanized society where the powerful have the right to live and the weak are condemned perpetually to degradation and social asphyxia. This is an outrage perpetrated by the stronger upon the feebler; a crime by the feudal society against its individuals, committed afresh every day. This is an unpardonable failure on the part of the state. The implacable and callous march of human society breeds bitterness, hatred, rashness, and wilderness among the segments of the population at the bottom of the social pyramid – hatred against their fellow citizens, the society, the rulers, the laws, and the institutions enforcing the state authority. The provincial leaders are behaving like medieval utilitarian rulers and absolute monarchs. The state has miserably failed to fulfil its constitutional duty to provide for the education of the children of the nation. The children of the elite go to elite schools and colleges in both public and private sectors in the country or foreign educational institutions and universities. The children of the lower middle and poor classes languish in dilapidated public schools in torturous conditions bracing the scorching summers and biting winters of our weather. These children are enlisted by the seminaries to prepare a class of citizens immersed in religiosity and sectarianism. With the state’s failure to prioritize education as the crucial instrument of nation-building, we have failed to produce scientists, mathematicians, technologists, Information technology experts, PhDs, etc. as compared to other countries in the region. The federal and provincial budget allocations for education and healthcare every year reflect the callous neglect of these vital sectors by the ruling class. Most of the funds allocated to these sectors are siphoned off or grossly mismanaged. This needs no elaborate research to prove. A simple survey of the schools, hospitals, basic health units, and their dilapidated premises in the provinces is enough to reach conclusions. Professor Sikander Ali Memon, a man of mind and heart, remains very concerned about the deteriorating condition of our education. He draws a dismal picture of the condition of schools in public and private sectors and pours out his views with a touch of sadness on how our schools should have been prioritized and ideally managed. He says, School education with particular reference to primary education plays a vital role in the development of the child and hence the nation. The public schools are already in a dire state without playgrounds, libraries, computers, science, and experimental labs, and parks to provide an enabling atmosphere for the healthy mental and physical growth of the children. He claims, during the British era, all these factors were considered compulsory for the opening of schools or building a new school. The school buildings of that era with vast playgrounds are still intact. The school building must be appealing to children with toys and gears of games for their mental and physical exercise; the colour and design of uniform must produce a positive impact on the psychology of students; qualified doctors must be on the panel of the schools in a neighbourhood to attend children in an emergency; no NOC should be given to any private school without these facilities. What we have instead of such ideal school premises are small, discoloured, cramped, cracked, and crumbling buildings with broken doors and windows surrounded by pools of stinking stagnant sewage or rainwater, overflowing surface drains. The fewer British-era school premises are an exception. This is the atmosphere where the majority of the children of the lower and poor classes are compelled to receive an education. PS: I received my primary education in such a school and joined a middle school of the British era with a playground after fifth grade. To Be Continued The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books.