By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

IT IS a pity that science which is the antidote to irrational thinking and obscurantist behaviour is being slowly strangled to death in Pakistan, that is if we presume that it had a modestly glorious existence in the past in this country.

One cannot brush aside the giants this country has produced in the years bygone — the names of Nobel laureate Prof Abdus Salam and our genius of chemistry Prof Salimuzzaman Siddiqui come to mind immediately. As the grip of religion tightens on society, science is receding further and further in the backwaters.
Continue reading The death of science →

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

LAST week it was decided at a high level meeting in which both the president and the prime minister were present that the education sector would receive four per cent of the GDP in the fiscal year 2006-07. It has not been reported in the media what stirred the government to suddenly turn its attention to this very important sector of national life which has conventionally not been deemed worthy of our leaders’ attention and precious time.
Continue reading Miseducating the child →

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

THE chapter on education in the Pakistan Economic Survey 2004-05, released in June, is ‘question-provoking’, if one is allowed to use the term. It says the right things about the importance of education for change in society and the progress of the masses.

The goals of the government spelt out are also very inspiring, that is if you believe them. It says that the “Government of Pakistan has adopted this sector (education) as one of the pillars for poverty reduction and benefit of masses. Government is fully committed to provide best Educational Facilities to its people in the minimum possible time.” (Reproduced without editing).
Continue reading Elitist approach to education →