THERE are many reasons for the low literacy rate in Pakistan like poverty, population expansion, feudal lords, low allocations, male-dominated society and lack of school in rural areas.

Poverty is the biggest disadvantage and the largest resistance in the development of a country. Over half of Pakistanis live below the poverty line. In Pakistan many children work and support their families. Now in such conditions, the role and support of the government becomes unavoidable.

Politics in Pakistan is controlled by feudal lords. The feudal system is a big obstacle in the way of universal literacy. Statistics show that there are great inequalities in the country on the basis of gender, class and regions. Women’s education is not considered as important as that of men’s.

Pakistan counts among those 12 countries of the world which spend less than 2.4pc of the GDP on education, whereas China spends 2.82pc, India 3.5pc and the US, Japan, the UK and Italy more than 5pc of GDP on education. Free education is the right of every person but unfortunately this is not happening in our country. The government should devise a better plan for education.

Hamza Ali

Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2017