Soap Box: Cause & Effect - Zahid Husain

The innocent people of this Motherland, inherited from the will of intentions of Mohammad Ali Jinnah Quaid e Azam, have been both intentionally and carelessly led down the proverbial garden path, by the 2nd and 3rd generations of Baboos who run this Motherland, seriously believing that they have be ordained into the ruling elite, conveniently forgetting who pays their wages and all their benefits , fringe and stolen! They are in fact, in the simplest of terms,

civil servants in the employ of the state, to manage it. Just like the Armed Forces are likewise employed to defend it! No the establishment or the Bureaucracy!

How and why you ask, aghast at such a suggestion! Simply put in one word, EDUCATION.

Having grown up going to a range of schools from some that had class rooms without roofs and doors to 'tatties' (toilets) in Gujranwala (late 1949-51)! to the posh upper class ones like Trinity School, Karachi, run by the great old lady Miss Dickens, (early 1950 s), Saint Josephs Convent (Sister Cecelia), Saint Francis Grammar School, Quetta ( Father Cadeireo, later Cardinal), Saint Marys PAF School, Peshawar (Father Grant) where I got the basic grounding in my EDUCATION and went to College at Edwardes College, Peshawar, (Phil Edmonds, aka Baba) my greatest Teacher and Mentor in EDUCATION and life!

While this was unfolding, I noted how my family ensured that the children of the cook of many years, were also getting an EDUCATION, not just at school but at home with exposure to a better life style!

While this was unfolding, I noted how my family ensured that the children of the cook of many years, were also getting an EDUCATION, not just at school but at home with exposure to a better life style! The result was that they all studied to BA level before one son became an executive in an Insurance firm in the 1960 s, one daughter married a Businessman living in East Pakistan, one daughter joined the Nursing Services in the PAF Medical Corps and married an airforce officer! the youngest was still studying when I lost track of them; the father was a young tea picker in the Kangra Valley who got a job as a masaalchee before I was born. He retired as the Head Chef of the PAF Officers Mess, at Mauripur in the 1970 s!

Now coming back to the realities of today, EDUCATION has failed us or we have failed it, and in turn failed the entire Motherland; have you noticed, how I avoid the use of the word Nation, and choose the word Motherland? reason, we are NOT a Nation yet after 60+ years! sadly.

Upon analysis, I concluded that over the last 60 years, our EDUCATION system has steadily deteriorated, despite everything the money pumped into the sector by entrepreneurs, wishing to make a buck did not provide EDUCATION. How, well for starters we did not research or

develop our syllabus to keep pace with modern times, we did not spread it to the lower levels of the population and if we tried it was too little too late!

More importantly, the delivery system for EDUCATION has been 'nakas' as we say in the vernacular. We have nuclear scientists, aviators, miners, medical men, you name them we have them, and we have Baboos but we do not have top level,high grade teachers! not enough of them at all for 16 million population!

There are not enough Top Quality colleges and Universities for the profession of EDUCATION.
Why? its obvious!!! the wages they get don't draw or attract the finest brains in the land! so there isn't a demand for EDUCATION institutions; and that's where we have failed our Motherland and the hapless EDUCATION fraternity.

We are still continuing to give little priority to EDUCATION in the budget and unless more generous allocation is made we will slide further down the tube to oblivion among the lessor developed states in the world, sad but true!

I returned to the Motherland in the mid 80s and very quickly realised the problem, first I went

around requesting people to make me the minister of EDUCATION, and they laughed when I told them why! then I went around wanting then (Baboos) to make teachers the highest paid cadre in the land, they laughed again!! I ask who's laughing now! not me! I ground my teeth with frustration and my dentist got rich! but still I wasn't able to make the difference.

So, here is, what we all must do, put one child/person through school so they can develop in to contributing members of society, at any level, along side that push for more allocation in Federal and Provincial budgets in EDUCATION and only elect those to the Parliament who have a sworn commitment to further the cause of EDUCATION!

Maybe, one day, someone who is a daily wage laborer will sit down at his home and browse the net and say, Amen!

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About Zahid Husain: Formerly, Head of Business Development with various Multi-National Companies, a senior and experienced, conceptually literate management professional, his career has spanned over 39 years encompassing both executive marketing and head office management roles. A result driven “Serial Start-up Professional”, He has developed, guided and implemented successful strategies for the various Multi-Nationals belonging to both Manufacturing and Services Sectors, in which, he was a highly contributing member of the management team. For the Past 10 years he has managed his own HR Services & Solutions firm.