What will it take?

The standard of education in our public-sector schools, colleges and universities has deteriorated to a massive extent throughout the country. Similar is the state of our government hospitals, where patients find it really hard to get satisfactory, quick and completely free treatment of their various ailments. Right from the inception of the country, all successive governments (ruling in Islamabad and in the four provinces) have failed to take much interest in improving the lot of the common citizens of the country in the very important, critical and sensitive areas of education and health. The biggest reason of their not taking interest has been that these governments have never ever bothered to own the education and health sectors in their reform agenda.

And the biggest reason for not owning government sectors such as education and health is that both politicians (policymakers) and bureaucrats (policymakers-plus-implementers) haven’t taken any interest in sending their family members to these government-owned entities. I say with utmost confidence that the standard of our government educational institutes and hospitals would improve only when the children of politicians and bureaucrats start going there for learning and treatment.

Abdul Samad Samo

Karachi