THIS is with reference to the report ‘PM vows to get 26m out-of-school children enrolled’ (May 9), which was about the imposition of an education emergency in the country. This, indeed, is the right step in the right direction.

The daunting problems faced by the country in the realm of education are many and complex, the biggest ones being the quantity and quality of teaching, and the lack of library, laboratory and research facilities.

As such, everything else falls in one of these two umbrellas. On their part, the two categories together mean lack of official attention over a long, very long, period of time. And, with the imposition of education emergency, the sitting government has taken the first step. This, if executed and sustained properly, has the potential to turn things around for the country.

As things stand today, Pakistan has 26.2 million out-of-school children, which, according to the Pakistan Education Statistics Report 2021-22, represents 39 per cent of the total number of children in the country.

Furthermore, the current education budget is a miserly 1.7pc of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is a serious matter of concern. While announcing the education emergency, the prime minister assured that the budget would be increased to 4-5pc of GDP. If executed, this will be great.

Finally, there are also academic as well as administrative problems, like different mediums of instruction, outdated syllabus, severe lack of training for the teachers, outdated teaching methodologies, corruption, failed education policies and other social problems. But once the political will is there, and the promised resources are made available, there is still time for us to surprise ourselves with the change in our own fortunes.

Tufail Abbas
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2024