Talking on Wednesday to the winners of an All Pakistan Website Development Competition centred on the theme "Know My Pakistan", President General Pervez Musharraf made two important observations, One was that we "must enhance the quality of our human resource to have a prominent place in the economics driven world." And the second was that the country's history "stretches back to 8000 years through the Indus, Taxila, Ghandhara and Harrappa civilisations.
Its history, culture, civilizational background and the variety of terrain, he said, could make it an attractive destination for tourists. Of course, there can be no two opinions on that the key to socio-economic progress is human resource development. Pakistan's biggest asset being its population with a high proportion of young persons, mostly illiterate, it needs to educate its people and arm them with skills that complement its developmental effort.
The task requires higher budgetary allocations and a sustained focus. Indeed, during the recent years, thanks partly to certain western countries' interest in weaning away young Pakistanis from extremist causes, education has started to attract considerable attention and money from the government. But we have a lot of catching up to do.
As it is, the literacy rate in this country is the lowest in the whole of South Asia. There are some vocational training institutes, but not enough to keep pace with the economy's growing need for skilled manpower. No comparisons are to be made with our regional competitors regarding university level education, particularly in the field of science and technology.
Basic education and vocational training, it goes without saying, are fundamental requirements for economic progress. At the same time, the demands of modern economies are changing too. Only those that are knowledge-based and innovation driven can reach the top, and expect to stay there. Unsurprisingly, the US, spends a lot of money, 2.6 percent of its GDP, on university education, which has enabled it to become the leader in knowledge-based and innovation-driven economic growth.
The two rising economic powers, China and India, have got where they are now mainly because they have been investing heavily in university level education, with a special focus on science and technology. Together they produce the world's highest number of engineers, some 950,000, every year. Commendably, the present government is in the process of establishing six new engineering universities in collaboration with reputable institutions in Germany, France, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, and South Korea.
Much more needs to be done in order for the country to be able to achieve a decent economic status within its regional neighbourhood and possibly the world at large. The primary responsibility for that rests squarely on the government's shoulders, but the private sector must also play its part in promoting knowledge and innovation.
It is refreshing to note that our government leaders have started to own up to the rich civilisational heritage that this land bestows on its people. Recently, Education Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi had created a few ripples when he approvingly talked of that heritage, and now the President has done the same. Unfortunately, our Right wing politicians and intellectuals like to pretend that the history of this country began with the arrival of Mohammad bin Qasim in Sindh in 712 A.D. to wage war against a Hindu raja in the name of honour of some Muslim women.
People can debate endlessly whether it was bin Qasim or Sufi saints who are to be credited with the spread of Islam in the Subcontinent, but what remains an undeniable fact of history is that Taxila, Mohenjodaro, and Harrappa once were the centres of great civilisations. These places and the civilisations they hosted happen to be a part of our proud heritage; owning them detracts nothing from anyone's identity as a Pakistani Muslim.