Education and the GDP

The status of research and development in Pakistan is very low. While Pakistan is the only Muslim nuclear power, it is still lagging in the realm of higher education in the world. The dismal state of higher education in the country can be gauged from the fact that the federal government has allocated a puny sum of Rs1.8 billion for research purposes in the 2016-17 budget at a time when its neighbouring countries like India and Iran are on the road to scientific development. India allocated Rs870 billion for science and technology in the last budget which is 470 times higher than that set by Pakistan.

It is high time the government realised the importance of higher education for the prosperity of the nation. It can persuade Chinese companies to invest in research projects and allocate at least four percent of the GDP to education to transform Pakistan’s economy from resource-dependent to knowledge-dependent.

Raeel Haider

Karachi