Source: ET
Pakistan’s literacy rate hovers around 37 per cent. We are not sure how many of our people are actually educated in the real sense but what we are sure of is that education has lifted countries out of poverty and improved their overall quality of life. Educational initiatives lie at the heart of efforts to create a productive workforce and a progressive nation. Policymakers are often looking for novel ways to enhance literacy rates. Some nations invest hefty sums on improving the quality of education for an already educated population. Pakistan spends only about two per cent of its GDP on education and is at the bottom of the list of countries where education is a national priority.
We have a long way to go and effort is required not only to provide access to schooling, but to utilise all available means for this purpose. In other words, while attention needs to be given to building schools and providing the best teachers, non-traditional educational means are also worth exploring.
Overall it is an excellent suggestion and must be implemented. However while defining the education one has to be careful. You may produce bunch of formerly educated people but if they are not good human being the aim will not be achieved. In addition to formal educational program, we also need utilisation of popular TV channels to teach the masses the societal harmony, tolerance, honesty, responsiveness, sense of responsibility, good governance, truthfulness and respect for each other. Many other ethical and moral points can be added to this list. All the nations which these days are respected as developed ones have paid utmost attention to these social, societal and ethical aspects. From KG, primary and secondary schools these basic things are hammered in the heads of the children. And that is the reason you see paradise on earth in these countries. At midnight one can see in Western countries, a good citizen obeying traffic red signal even in the absence of any supervisor which is an unthinkable act in Pakistan or India. If at all electronic media elite turns its attention to educational aspect hope will consider the moral aspects also.