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| Budget 2012 & Education |
So each year, we come across our
Finance Minister delivering his budget speech amidst loud protest, only this
time there were punches being thrown instead of bangles. The Prime Minister had
said it loud and clear way back before the announcement of budget that his
priorities for this year are going to be:
i.
Electricity
(finally he realizes its significance)
ii.
Employment
iii.
Agriculture
iv.
No
new taxes (is this even classified as a priority?)
Sadly, as done by previous
governments, there was no mention of Education. The PM has been conveniently
hiding education under the mat by putting its responsibility under provinces
after PPP’s glorious 18th amendment. This goes without saying that there
are provinces in Pakistan that barely manage to spend their budgeted allocation (Education Emergency Report 2011).
With our government spending 1-2% of GDP on education on average, what good can
be said about the state of education in Pakistan?
In any case, this time our
government has earmarked Rs. 47.874 billion, against the recommended sum of Rs.
100 billion (by EER 2011) to meet the Millenniums Development
Goal 2015 of Universal Primary Education. This is a meager 1.03% of our budget
(Dawn) and goes to show the world how serious we are in playing our part in
eradicating illiteracy. Compared to last year’s budget, Education has witnessed
a 21.16% increase which is 18% less than the increase seen in PM House’s garden
maintenance expenditure.
Just across the border, India has
taken a revolutionary step by passing ‘Right to Education’ (RTO) bill and its
Supreme Court has directed private schools to maintain a 25% quota for giving
free education to deserving children. Indian government in its budget 2012 has
set aside Rs. 255.55 billion for such projects (Times of India). It has since long
realized the need for educating its posterity in order for it to set its mark
around the world and currently has a 74% literacy rate.
Our government lacks the
leadership needed to think long term and has always gone for short term
solutions. Budgets have come and gone without any marked improvement being seen
by the eyes of an average Pakistani. Even the provinces cannot be excused for
completely politicizing education with schemes such as the ‘Youth Laptop’ in
Punjab. Emphasis needs to be given to proper planning and policy making so that a long term strategy can be put to place that gives everyone a clear direction and goal. Whereas, more spending is the need of the hour, one can not ignore effective utilization of public money at the same time.
In order for the remnants of this nation to survive and build this country, it is necessary that we all raise a voice in support of education! Our government will not realize its significance until we amplify it. In the words of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan:
In order for the remnants of this nation to survive and build this country, it is necessary that we all raise a voice in support of education! Our government will not realize its significance until we amplify it. In the words of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan:
“It is the
categorical verdict of all the nations and great seers of the world that
national progress depends on education and training (of the people).”.
References:
Education
Emergency Report 2011: http://pakistaneducationtaskforce.com/EE_Report.pdf
Tribune:
http://tribune.com.pk/story/388418/austerity-gone-wrong-pm-houses-garden-budget-increased-by-39/
Times
of India: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-17/news/31204564_1_education-sector-higher-education-allocation
Image:
Britannica Image Quest (www.quest.eb.com), thenewstribe.com, allpakistaninews.com (Designed in-house)
