THIS is apropos Shahrezad Samiuddin`s article `The cure: education` (Dec 14) wherein the plight of education in the country has been brought to light by giving facts and figures. This is true that education can act as a panacea for our major distressing problems such as poverty, hunger, unemployment and disease.
It is equally painful to learn that 25m children, aged five to 16 years, are out of school. Out of these, 13.70m are girls.
The majority of out-of-school children livesinruralareas.Theliteracy rateis staggering somewhat at 60pc whereas India and Bangladesh boast enrolment figures of 92pc at the primary level.
Today, illiteracy is a scourge and no country can progress unless education facilities are extended to every child.Education is a valuable human capital that can be harnessed by bringing children to schools.
Our Constitution says citizens up to 16 years have the right to free and compulsory education. Had this been practised, there would have been 100 per cent literacy today.
Unfortunately, a hype is created for the establishment of schools, with each province allocating a considerable portion of its budget for education; thereafter proper utilisation of the education budget is not done. Instead of setting up new schools and appointing teachers, ghost schools and teachers appear and are causing a massive loss to the education sector and depriving the children of education.
Further, as education has advanced greatly in every discipline, our schoolchildren will have to learn the syllabus once taught in secondary classes in order to come at par with global standards of education. It is gratifying that the HEC has done a wonderful job in higher education.
