Transforming education and the gap

"You must concentrate on getting knowledge and education. It is your foremost responsibility...education is a matter of life and death for our country", Quaid-e-Azam. Copied from The New Deal 2018-23 Transforming School Education in Punjab.
Frankly, it took a lot of ratiocination to come to this particular conclusion which The Quaid had the foresight to isolate as perhaps the key variable for a prosperous Pakistan way back at the time of Independence. In fact The Quaid actually warned that we might end up being dead without education, which makes you wonder what our successive governments have been doing for the past 70 years, also considering that the Constitution of Pakistan "obligates the state to provide free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of five to sixteen years". Worryingly, the current challenges identified in the document referred to above, include an estimated 4.8 million children out of school in Punjab with 50% of three- to four-year-old not enrolled in any form of early childhood education/schooling.
Being passionate about economics, albeit admittedly a crazy hobby, I am in complete agreement with the phrase that, it's the economy stupid. That being the case, the answer to the question as to what should be the first priority of the government to put the economy on right track on a long-term basis in Pakistan has been a puzzle that one has struggled with over the years. Does wealth come before education or vice versa has been a chicken or egg situation for Pakistan; wealth in general being the per capita income. Having previously believed that wealth was necessary for spending on education the focus was therefore, and perhaps for the short-term still is, on planned industrialization, protectionism and by and large, mercantilist approach to trade; which is the model followed by most growing economies of Asia toady and was the preferred growth model for all developed economies. However, wiser now, the belief is that a basic level of education and skill training is necessary and is in fact a prerequisite for any kind of growth enhancing economic activity, including planned industrialisation.
Accordingly, the view is that education needs to be the top priority for Pakistan, as rightly said by the Quaid and set out in the Constitution, and that the State should do what it takes to improve the real literacy rate in the shortest time possible. Perhaps, defending the borders takes priority so to speak because you have to exist as a nation to educate the nation; a view which most likely will irk many. Nonetheless, doing what it takes essentially refers not to the size of the education budget but the gap therein.
The gap is the difference between what is currently spent on education and what is needed to be spent to ensure quality education as envisaged by the Constitution; without a target you are basically shooting in the air! The target is a prerequisite for out of box thinking to identify additional sources of funds, perhaps corporate sector philanthropy, to meet the gap. For instance, the Punjab government's austerity measure to save Rs 550 million out of the education budget in 100 days is curious, efficient spending should definitely be an objective but any gains should be spent to fill in the gap.
And the gap is not about infrastructure only, which nonetheless is expected to be a significant cost outflow. The New Deal document talks about quality teachers and identifies steps to train teachers, certify them and monitor them. But what we must understand is that if we want our top students to move towards the teaching profession, we will need to ensure that teachers are the top taxpayers of our country; respect them and pay them maximum. As someone wisely said, you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Today, how many of our students even dream of becoming teachers? My guess is next to none.
Please don't get me wrong, the Punjab government's initiative for the New Deal is extremely laudable and the vision and ambition therein is highly commendable. Definitely some of the strategies discussed are quite appropriate and in the right direction. In fact it would be very useful if all provinces corporate to learn from each other and to work together in educating Pakistan; considering that education is now a provincial issue. Pooling and sharing of resources is perhaps fundamental to address the national gap in transforming school education.
The objective today was only to provide food for thought for those spearheading the drive to educate Pakistan; after all it is every Pakistani's wish to see Pakistan prosper. And remember quality education for all school going children is the first step; quality education at the university level is the final frontier. My two bits, for transforming school education, there is a need to realistically identify and then work on strategies to fill the gap.
(The writer is a chartered accountant based in Islamabad. Email: [email protected])