The Canvas

OK, so a few months back when all the hulla-ballu of standing elections and getting elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan using party’s strength in the electoral vote the question about the authenticity of Asif Ali Zardari’s Bachelor’s of Art degree was thrown into the ring. Then, he was a major contender against Musharraf who could actually pose a threat to his seat.

But as time and tide changed, Asif Ali Zardari was more in the favor of Mushy and the subservient Supreme Court of Pakistan, it was better to strike down the weak filter of BA requirement so that people like Asif Ali Zardari and a thousand more could contest election in the upcoming by-elections and get elected to the National Assembly. AAZ is also hoping to become the next PM.

But all that doesn’t really matter now. Let’s discuss that fact that education makes a difference. The difference it creates is not the elevation of lifestyle only. What better could the lifestyle of anyone married to Princess Bhutto get? Education instills in one the need to strive, learn, adapt and appreciate to the circumstances around them. Most of the time, in fact all of the time, circumstances are at odds with what you are or what you have. Knowledge and intelligence garnered through education helps one counter that in a way that it does not affect others. Which instills the values of meritocracy and democracy into people. But sadly, everything in Pakistan is for sale, and has a price for it. Money talks. Things get done by cash. So why educate?

Even if people educate themselves to BA level, the 2 year degree programs in Pakistan can be considered the worst by world standards they do not help elevate the thinking of students to a higher level where they could do away with the petty politics of daily life and do something about the human condition and plight in a greater world view. Top notch universities like GIKI, LUMS, FAST, NUST don’t even offer a diploma after 2 years of studies in that program, let alone a degree.

This cyclic problem of illiterate representatives getting elected to the assemblies only propounds the problem. These representatives have paid poor attention to education, especially the raising of educational indicators in the country and as a result the number of graduates has never really gone over a certain number.

If education is a big business in Pakistan, where is the product? If Pakistan is a free market, where is the investment in this sector that creates competition to deliver the best education product at cheap prices and get more and more people educated?