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Pakistan's lost generation By Irfan Husain Saturday, 05 Dec, 2009 A vast majority (92 per cent) of our young generation believe that the first priority ought to be the improvement of the educational system.-Photo by APP AS we negotiate our way past yet more debris from our unending corruption saga, let me ask a question: why is it that only sleaze among our rulers excites so much anger and passion? Why don't we get equally worked up about all the other problems we face? I agree that corruption is a major issue, but surely it isn't the only one. However, judging from our newspapers and TV channels, it would seem that if we could solve this one problem, all would be well. The other issue to attract media attention is, of course, the nefarious intentions of the Americans as demonstrated by the passage of the Kerry-Lugar Act. This will see significant amounts coming to our long-neglected social sector, with the defence forces receiving new anti-terrorist capability. We all saw how this initiative was greeted in Pakistan. Another event to provoke media ire in the recent past was the delayed restoration of the chief justice. Here, too, we saw much heat being generated. Now, it is the issue of the infamous National Reconciliation Ordinance that is getting the large population of our TV studios worked up. Returning to my original question, why are there no public demonstrations against illiteracy, hunger and disease? Why doesn't our army of TV hosts and their panellists consisting of retired generals, diplomats and bureaucrats fulminate against poor governance? Why is parliament not besieged by mullahs, NGOs and civil society activists demonstrating against our treatment of women and the minorities? Surely these are issues worth taking up with the same passion that we display in our loud condemnation of political corruption. So why don't our politicians and our concerned citizens rise up for the poor and the marginalised sections of society with the same fervour as they did for, say, the judiciary? One reason for this narrow focus among educated Pakistanis is, I suspect, the sheer scale of the problems on Pakistan's plate. Faced with the magnitude of unmet needs, many feel they can do little about it, so they prefer to pass the buck to the state. In order to grasp the true dimensions of the real issues confronting Pakistan, one could do no better than read the recent British Council report on Pakistan. Called Next Generation, the report focuses on the issues and concerns of a large cross-section of young Pakistanis. One of the striking (and deeply depressing) facts highlighted by the authors is that Pakistan's population has grown threefold in the last 50 years, and will grow by a further 85 million in the next 20 years, to around 265 million. More than half of them will be living in cities. Our urban centres have virtually collapsed under the weight of their present inhabitants; how will they cope with these growing millions? Another frightening statistic to emerge from the report is the need to create 36 million new jobs in the next 10 years to absorb the rapidly rising workforce. Does anybody seriously think this is likely to happen? With a stagnant economy, a burgeoning power crisis and low investment, what will be the fate of these job-seekers? Understandably, the young respondents who participated in this survey are deeply disillusioned, with only 15 per cent believing that Pakistan is moving in the right direction; 72 per cent feel they are worse off than they were a year ago. Given this level of despair, it is hardly surprising that only two per cent are members of any political party. Just half of the respondents have bothered to get themselves enrolled on the voters' list, and only 39 per cent voted in the last election. A vast majority (92 per cent) believe that the first priority ought to be the improvement of the educational system. This is not surprising, seeing that only half of young Pakistanis enter primary school, and a quarter go on to receive a secondary education. Only five per cent get a higher education of any kind. Children in the rural areas are worse off than their urban cousins; in Balochistan, half are not educated at all. Surely these are issues that ought to receive far more attention than they do from our policymakers, politicians and media. Another reason we are so indifferent to the plight of the poor is that their daily struggle for survival slips below the elite's radar. After all, our kids are privately educated in English-medium schools, and are on track for the best jobs on offer. If we fall ill, God forbid we should get ourselves treated in our ramshackle public hospitals. We do not use public transport, so we could not care less about how the masses travel. And while we are in a constant state of fury over tales of corruption in high places, we are indifferent to the daily bribery that lubricates our inefficient bureaucracy and keeps the files moving. In fact, our rich are perfectly happy to pay off the inspectors from sundry departments as these payments permit them to avoid or minimise their legal dues. This system is shrugged off as the cost of doing business in a Third World country. While on the subject, let me say we do not have a monopoly on corruption. This disease exists around the world, and will be with us as long as human nature is not transformed. And my advice is not to hold your breath for this change to happen. One reason for our consistently high score in the corruption sweepstakes as reflected by our standing on the Transparency International index is the institutionalised nature of our venality. Today, it is virtually impossible to get a new project off the ground without paying off tiers of the bureaucracy. But even if we could end this state of affairs by some miracle, we would still not overcome the problems described in the British Council report. Just because our bureaucrats, politicians, judges and generals (let's not forget them) stop sticking their hands out each time a sucker passes by, does not mean our educational system will be suddenly reformed. The reality is that we have virtually blanked out our real problems, and concentrate instead on issues that may make for good television, but do not advance the core national agenda. Among the recommendations made in the Next Generation report, two have stuck in my mind: "Policymakers need to start planning for the long term"; the second one suggests: "Pakistan must start to build momentum behind a national mission for change." Frankly, I don't see us doing either, given our unhealthy preoccupation for pulling the chair from under every (civilian) government. [email protected] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
