Literacy in Pakistan – is a stricter legal pursuit required?

“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is a tool for daily life in modern society. It is a bulwark against poverty, and a building block of development, an essential complement to investments in roads, dams, clinics and factories. Literacy is a platform for democratization, and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and national identity. Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition. For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right…. Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.”
– Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan’s statement reflects the significance of literacy in the struggle for a nation to achieve prosperity. Pakistan is one of the nations struggling to keep up with the pace of the world. The path it walks to accomplish prosperity is plagued with illiteracy, poverty and corruption.

Illiteracy in Pakistan has been a challenge which the country has yet to overcome. It has impeded the country’s development due to which Pakistan has not been able to develop as much in comparison to nations formed before or even after it. Iran’s literacy rate in 1950 was recorded to be lesser than the newly formed state of Pakistan however in the most recent survey Iran flaunts a near perfect literacy rate of 86.8%.

At the time of the partition of the Indian subcontinent the region of Muslim majority was more underdeveloped as compared to the other regions, hence since 1947 illiteracy has been a wall standing in Pakistan’s way on the road to prosperity. At the time of the partition according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) first survey of literacy in Pakistan in 1950 Pakistan’s literacy rate was a meager 14%.

Pakistan currently nurtures a literacy rate[1] of a deplorable 57.9%, this figure is nothing short of an embarrassment since the counties it compares  itself to (India and Bangladesh) have comparatively healthier literacy rates of 71.2% and 61.5% respectively. Pakistan’s low literacy rate is contributed to by factors of increasing population, poverty, sexual discrimination, discrimination against minorities and the measly amount of budget allocated to education by the Government. Of the 57.9% of literate people, 69.5% are men and 45.8% are women[2] these figures indicate the drastic difference between literacy rates between men and women; which once coalesced drags down the gross literacy rate of Pakistan. In Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan the literacy rates stand at 69, 70, 66 and 56 (%) respectively, at the same time the literacy rates of women stand at 51, 46, 29 and 18 (%) respectively. The figures are self-evident on how literacy varies between rural and urban areas and between men and women. These discriminations and consequently the meager literacy rate can be remedied through the existence of proper laws for promoting literacy.

The importance of literacy is entrenched in the Constitution of Pakistan primarily through article 37. Article 37 (b) & (c) provide that “the State shall remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within the minimum possible period; make technical and professional education generally available and higher education equally accessible by all on the basis of merit”. Further developments were made with the introduction Section 9 of the Constitution (eighteenth amendment) Act 2010 which introduced the right to education as a fundamental right to a Pakistani Citizen in the form of Article 25-A. According to which children from the age 5 to 16 are guaranteed free education by the government. Prior to the amendment there were various laws governing the need for education in Pakistan, namely the West Pakistan Ordinance No.XXIX of 1962, the Literacy (Amendment) Act, 1986, the Punjab Compulsory Primary Education Act, 1994, the NWFP Compulsory Primary Education Act, 1996, the Sindh Compulsory Primary Education Ordinance, 2001 and the ICT Compulsory Primary Education Ordinance, 2002.

After the constitutional amendment in 2010 it wasn’t till 2012[3] that the National Assembly passed the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill to promote the practical implementation of the constitutionally granted right. The Amendment caused the Federal Ministry of Education to be dissolved and hence the power to give practical effect to the new constitutional right created was given to provinces. Consequently, so far Islamabad, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan have enacted such legislation through The Right to Free and Compulsory Education (Islamabad) Act of 2012, The Balochistan Compulsory Education Act of 2014, The Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2014 and The Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory education Act of 2013. In the case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the enactment of legislation has been left pending and it has not been until recently that a bill has been drafted for consideration. Although the enactments may be a step in the right way but on the perusal of the same many anomalies can be found.

On perusal of the enactments one can comprehend the gaffes within them. The enactments provide for no set rules or regulations which will help implement the fundamental right in the daily lives of citizens. Furthermore, no provision is provided which pertains to the allocation of additional financial resources in guaranteeing this fundamental right. Funds of promoting education and improving literacy are not only provided by the annual budget but funds are also granted by the international community. The International Education Conference on “Unfinished Education Agenda: The Way Forward” (March 2014) was a big event for Pakistan. Pakistan was congratulated by the attending nations in its efforts to eradicate illiteracy in Pakistan, since Pakistan had recently passed provincial legislations for free education. Many leaders pledged to help Pakistan, financially, in its efforts to eradicate illiteracy which included Great Britain, European Union, Saudi Arabia and others. Despite this, the relevant legislations still lack any provisions pertaining to allocations of such additional financial resources.

The legislations also lack incentives. With more than 30% of the populace of Pakistan living under the line of poverty,parents prefer to include their children in the earning hands of the family, rather than sending them off to schools for education, which demands resources they do not have. The legislations way of incentive pertains to the norms of deterrence; although this is inconformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it includes a prerequisite of guaranteeing positive incentives first. Incentives such as free books, food, transportation, uniform, etc. are known to aid the purpose further however the legislation expressly provide for just free books, only the legislation of Balochistan provides for free meals and only the legislations of Balochistan and Islamabad provide for free transport.

The legislations look to impose fines or imprisonment sentences towards parents in the case of noncompliance with the law, however there is no means provided to educate the illiterate parents regarding the importance of literacy and education and what good it would do them in the long run. Such motivational campaigns are imperative for the purpose of improving literacy rates, since a healthy part of the populace are not familiar with the importance of education and the importance of being literate in this ever-growing world of technology. Furthermore such campaigns are much needed In Pakistan to overcome the patriarchal norms which renounce the importance of education in the case of women resultantly as it can be seen in the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2014-2015 Provincial/District that literacy rate is higher in men (70%) than in women (49%) which collectively contributes to a reduced overall literacy rate in the country.

The aspect imperative for improving literacy, missing from the legislations, pertains to the need for establishing more standardized schools in remote areas to make education accessible for people in the rural areas. The illiterate populace dwelling in the rural regions plays a dominant role in Pakistan’s inability to coup with its dilemma pertaining to its literacy rate. The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSLM) 2014-2015 Provincial/District[4], illustrates that the literacy rates are higher in the urban areas (76%) as compared to in the rural areas (51%). Furthermore the legislations fail to account for shortage of teachers, lack of qualified and trained teachers, missing facilities such as water, toilets and boundary walls, weak supervision and a host of out-of-school factors such as conservative and tribal culture; insecurity and lawlessness all which contribute extensively toward illiteracy in Pakistan.

As many faults as one may seek in the current legislations affecting literacy they nevertheless are improving literacy rates in the youth and it is thought that the coming generations are more literate than their predecessors. Radical improvements can be observed in the youth literacy rates since 2001 to 2013. A survey[5] provides that literacy rates among youth have grown by 8.5% from 2001 to 2013 (63.1% – 71.6 %). Albeit slow and stunted, Pakistan has witnessed growth in its literacy rates.

Illiteracy is a parasite that needs to be deracinated from its roots. Its consequences are devastating, extending from poverty to crime and hate speeches to intolerance; among fellow countrymen. Illiteracy in a community is the primary fetter on a country pacing towards prosperity. Literacy therefore is a solution to many daily hitches faced by the people as it helps develop skills to comprehend and assess situations better. In the case of Pakistan, legislations currently governing the education system need further amendments and drafting further rules and regulations to govern the existing provincial legislation to subjugate the anomalies. The effect of such subjugations would provide for a proper mechanism to practically implement the right to education and further provide ease for the state to perform its constitution duties to tackle illiteracy and provide education. Thus it is imperative for Pakistan to tackle this problem with a more austere legal approach with regards to both providing and enforcing the rights; provided by both International and domestic laws.

[1] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2103.html

[2] These figures can be aided by the local figures by Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2015

[3] After the extremist attack on a bus carrying school children in the Valley of Swat, dated 9 Oct 2012

[4] http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/pslm/publications/PSLM_2014-15_National-Provincial-District_report.pdf

[5] Labour Force Survey (2001-2013)