THIS is apropos of two letters ‘Justice Asif Khosa’s note’ by Javed Hasan Aly and ‘The importance of English’ by Zubeida Mustafa (May 10).

I am in agreement with the views expressed by the two writers in their respective letters.

In a country where the powerful and elite can acquire educational degrees/certificates through wrongful and fraudulent means and enjoy brazenly perks and privileges as MNAs and MPAs, what else can we expect from a commoner except the hopeless state we are in today.

There must be many in ‘the house of power’ wondering who is this man Khalil Gibran. Leave aside the understanding of the contents of the notes in good English by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa.

Zubeida Mustafa is concerned about the reading and writing ability of the English language among her classmates. How many of these ‘powerful’ of our country can express themselves even in good Urdu.

Education is the backbone for the progress and prosperity of any society and mastering a language can greatly help achieve good education.

We have examples of Singapore and South Korea. Both countries progressed by leaps and bounds as their policymakers invested heavily in the education sector.

We do have world-recognised educational institutions like LUMS, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology and IBA, to name a few. But what we need is good education with emphasis on learning the English language, right from the grassroots level so that our nation can thrive and be able to stand with their head high among cultured nations. It is never too late to start.

SYED NAYYER MUHAMMAD Karachi