The province of Balochistan has lagged far behind in the education sector in the past. The current literacy rate of the province is around 41 percent according to Economic Survey of Pakistan, 2017. This has had a rather drastic impact on the quality of human resource originating from the province. Lack of resources and extreme poverty previously had no room for ambitious youth of the province to prove their mettle.
The cutthroat job market and private businesses prefer candidates with a wider skill set and impressive resumes, often lacking in applicants from Balochistan. Since majority of the human resource lacks that level of resourcefulness or competence, it fails to get a fair share of employment opportunities in the job market adding to their frustration. The need for sustained scholarship programs, specially targeted at the marginalized but talented youth of the province, has not been more keenly felt.
Most families are not financially sound enough to afford a decent education for their children. Given the apathy of concerned authorities, coupled with the substandard teaching practices in government institutes, the dropout ratios are consistently rising, engendering a gaping hole in human capital. If left unchecked, this may herald an educational crisis in the province with dire ramifications.
The provision of scholarship opportunities aimed at the youth is the only way to ward off the crisis and equipping Balochistan with ready means for ushering in an era of sustained development. This is one of the most effective means of breaking free from the cycle of poverty, deprivation, unemployment and frustration. However, there has been some commendable efforts on the part of the Federal government.
The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) announced the Aghaz Haqooq Balochistan Package (AHBP) back in 2011. It entailed awarding around 600 local and foreign PhD Scholarships to students belonging to Balochistan. It is yet to see full fruition as only 51 overseas scholarships have been awarded so far, despite the allocation of around Rs. 160 million for the purpose. More concrete steps are required in this regard if sustained development is desired.
In January 2018, during the 11th session of the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC), it was agreed between the two countries to encourage cooperation in the fields of scientific research, exchange of scholarship and experiences in health teaching and medical staff and exchange of student visits.
Consequently, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki in August announced that his country would sponsor 50 scholarships which will be granted to the students of Balochistan, which will be doubled in 2019 from 50 to 100.
Statistically though, it may not be such a big challenge to offer more incentives to Balochistan. There has to be a genuine realization of the gravity of the situation. The total population of the province, as per the 2017 census, is less than 13 million. Hence, it would not strain the federal and provincial budgets to increase their annual budgetary allocations for the education sector of Balochistan, focusing on more scholarship opportunities for the talented youth of the province.
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Excellent write-up with exhaustive analysis. Well done 👍