CASE -EDUCATION- CARE : MASTER GLOBAL ESSAY

 

CASE STUDY : Both Pakistan and China faced almost identical conditions in literacy and education at the time of their respective independence in the late 1940s.

While Pakistan began its journey with a literacy rate of 16.3 percent in 1947, China was 20 percent in 1949.

The irony was that the two countries with such low literacy levels were heirs to the world's two most ancient civilizations - the Indus Valley and the Huang He [ or the Yellow River ]  civilizations, whose marks of identity had been their highly advanced systems of literacy and education.

At this stage, however, Pakistan had few advantages over China. For instance, with a population of 33.7 million, Pakistan had to educate only 28 million more people to achieve universal literacy.

On the other hand, China, with a population of more than 500 million then, had an almost fifteen times bigger task, of educating about 400 million people.

Another advantage that Pakistan enjoyed over China was its better economic conditions.

In 1950, Pakistan's per capita income was around 100-120 US dollars, while that of war -ravaged China was 50-70 US dollars. In other words, Pakistan had more more per capita economic resources than China to invest in human resource development.

FROM this point, the two-nations moved into two different trajectories. While China made education a cornerstone of its national development strategy, Pakistan chose different priorities.

China's interest and investment in education soon started bearing fruits, in the form of highly developed and skilled human resource, which served as China's backbone in its economic development.

The right selection of the right set of national priorities has brought China today to a stage where its per capita income has reached US$ 12, 758, almost eight times of Pakistan's US$ 1,650.

The Case Study in '' Literacy and Education '', continues. The World Students Society thanks Dr. Muhammed Ali Shaikh.