THE country has yet to fully recover from the economic setback caused by the floods last year, and the extreme political instability over the last few months has not helped either. Price hike can be observed everywhere. In fact, this is not something one has to ‘observe’; it is right there in everyone’s face.

Amid all this, there are people trying to enlarge their share in the pie in the name of education. Educational institutions have become a major source of income and profiteering. Well over 75 per cent of our population is already living below the poverty line. The increase in educational fees and other related charges has forced many families to withdraw their children from schools.

The academic journey for many has been over. They are now working on the streets just to keep the wolves away from the door. Is this not adding to the burden of child labour in society?

In the current scenario, the country needs to improve the quality of education, but what is happening on the ground is just the opposite. Many are not getting any education worth its name.

The policymakers and other relevant stakeholders must remember that the country cannot progress without education. It is the educated, the learned, who happen to be the torch-bearers in any society, leading the nation on the road to prosperity. The govern-ment must make quality education accessible to every person so that the motherland may make progress by leaps and bounds in the years ahead.

Muhammad Wajdan
Faisalabad

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2023