The education gap

Published December 12, 2021

EDUCATION plays a pivotal role in the personality development of children. The developed world spends much of its budget on early childhood education. However, the situation is quite different in Pakistan which spends only two per cent of its GDP on education. There are 52 million children aged 5-16 years in Pakistan, of which 22.8 million (44pc) are out of school.

The Covid pandemic has only added fuel to the fire. Though the government took timely action and launched the TeleSchool programme in collaboration with leading EdTech platforms, this only benefited the students having elite backgrounds.

The students from interior Sindh and Balochistan remained deprived of this benefit due to multiple reasons. They either did not have the sufficient gadgets to pursue their education while at home or their course contents did not match with those that were being taught. Resultantly, the education standard of the marginalised areas of Pakistan further declined.

And this will have a severe impact on the literacy ratio of Pakistan.

Last month — Nov 20, to be precise — the World Children’s Day was observed with the slogan of helping children to recover from interruptions and learning losses experienced owing to the pandemic. It is time Pakistan devised some effective mechanism to bridge the educational gap that the pandemic has created. Otherwise, the whole nation will have to face the music in the shape of increased illiteracy, unemployment and backwardness in all aspects of progress.

Javeriya Mahar
Hyderabad

DENGUE PREVENTION: Dengue haemorrhagic fever is another crucial challenge for the country as it has already taken many precious lives. Of all the cases reported in Punjab, the majority has been recorded in Lahore which is a troubling indicator. Mosquito-borne diseases, like chikungunya, yellow fever and zika may also spread if due preventive action is not taken. People must take precautionary steps to keep themselves safe, while the government should take care of the rest.

Muna Manzoor
Kalatuk

HOSTEL FACILITIES: This refers to the editorial ‘University administration’ (Nov 2) which rightly pointed out that lack of hostels is a common problem in all public universities. I have completed my second semester at the University of Karachi, but, like many others, do not have a proper accommodation due to the unavailability of hostel facility. The matter is much worse for the boys compared to the girls who are studying at the same university. This is so because the building designated for the purpose is being used by the Rangers for the last many years. The administration needs to resolve the issue forthwith.

Zaiwer Baqi Sajidi
Awaran

PLIGHT OF NURSES: Staff nurses responsible for the holistic care of patients are scarce in Balochistan. As a result, those who are available are overburdened and have to deal with many distressing issues other than providing care to the patients. There is only one staff nurse for over 70 patients in Balochistan. There are 960 staff nurses in the province against the required 10,000. The government should fill the gap with skilled nurses.

Rahul Sadiq
Turbat

CULTURE DAY: This refers to the report “30 students face rustication for raising ‘anti-state’ slogans on SU campus” (Nov 28). It is a matter of great concern that students of Sindh University raised such slogans while celebrating the Sindhi Culture Day. If ignored, it may become difficult to control such elements in the future.

Jawaid Mannan
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2021

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