Our country’s current problems may be attributed to the criminal neglect of education by successive governments. We spend only about 1.7 percent of our GDP on education, putting us among the bottom seven countries of the world. Most of our children grow up without a proper education, resulting in massive joblessness. The resulting frustration is leading thousands of youth today, particularly in cities like Karachi, to indulge in street crime as they see that as the only path available for survival. Phone snatching at gunpoint marks the beginning of ‘careers’ in crime. The easy money from these crimes leads them to the next step: car theft. And from there they alleviate to serious crimes like robbery and kidnapping.
This is the road that we have paved for our youth; all the major political parties share the blame for their role in the neglect of education that has made Pakistan a living hell for many.
If an international vote was taken today for the worst country to live in due to crime and lack of opportunities, Pakistan would probably emerge as a winner. The reckless theft and plunder of those who have been in power for the last six decades, with few exceptions, has brought this country to its knees – to a point where many now doubt if it will survive.
Our salvation lies in quality education, but first we need to change our priorities. The exciting ways in which science, technology and innovation are changing the face of development can offer opportunities for us to leapfrog and emerge from our present miserable state.
A few recent examples of new technologies are illustrative of what is happening.
It is now possible to grow cells on a large scale in bioreactors; meat cells may one day be produced and processed to offer “meat” without the slaughtering of animals. Recently, a company Organovo based in San Diego, California, announced that it had developed a commercial 3D printer for manufacturing human organs. The 3D printer is claimed to be able to place and organise cells of any type on to a template in a predetermined manner. This will, one day, allow surgeons to have access to human tissues of various types on demand.
About 130-170 million persons worldwide are infected by hepatitis C. Hepatitis is a common viral disease found in Pakistan and many other countries with poor quality water supplies and sub-standard sanitation services. In an exciting development, Michael Houghton and his co-workers at the University of Alberta have developed a vaccine from a single strain of hepatitis C that was found to be effective against all known strains of the disease.
A Madrid-based designer, Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, has developed “smart luggage” that follows you wherever you go automatically. The suitcase or carry-on bag is fitted with a caterpillar track system and a small battery that allows it to roll along in any direction. It can be connected by blue tooth to a smartphone carried by the passenger. A microprocessor calculates the position of the smartphone and directs the suitcase to follow the passenger carrying it.
These are only three examples of recent developments in technology around the world. Technologically advanced countries are progressing rapidly through thousands of such discoveries and inventions every week that soon become commercial products. These researches are taking place either under the umbrella of universities or in research and development (R&D) centres of private companies. The governments of these countries have played a major role in boosting research activities by strengthening universities, establishing technology parks and venture capital funds to promote new start-up companies.
In Pakistan, we have paid little heed to science, technology, education or innovation since its inception and the little that had been achieved has been systematically destroyed by the government in recent years. Biotechnology is changing the face of agriculture and medicine. India established a full-fledged department of biotechnology under the central government in 1986 and has funded major programmes to strengthen biotechnology due to which the biotechnology industry has been growing by leaps and bounds.
On the footsteps of the Indian IT industry that has already grown to $60 billion, the biotechnology industry has grown to over $3 billion and is expanding at a rate greater than 25 percent per year. The famous Nobel Laureate Arthur Kornberg had once stated and I quote: “Much has been said about the future impact of biotechnology on industrial development, but this does not yet apply to the less developed countries that lack this infrastructure and industrial strength. In view of the current power of biotechnology and its even brighter future, there is no question that the less developed countries must now position and strengthen their status in biotechnology – what a tragedy it would be if these enlarged concepts of genetics, biology and chemistry were available only to a small fraction of the world population located in a few major centres of highly developed countries.”
When I was the federal minister of Science and Technology in 2001, I had established the National Commission of Biotechnology. The commission started a large number of programmes and was beginning to lay the foundations of biotechnology, when the enemies of Pakistan came into action. The government that followed not only closed down the National Commission of Biotechnology but also closed down all its programmes.
Another fast emerging field in science is nanotechnology. China, India and many other countries are investing heavily in this and it is already beginning to impact a large number of industries in different fields of engineering, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, transportation, electronic and computer sciences. Accordingly, I had also established a National Commission of Nanotechnology in Pakistan and provided funds through the Ministry of Science & Technology to promote this fast growing field. Alas, it met the same fate as the biotechnology commission. The National Commission of Nanotechnology was closed down by the subsequent government and its programmes abandoned. The attempts to destroy the HEC by corrupt politicians are a part of the same sad story. Its budget is about half of what it should have been and many of its programmes have been severely curtailed or abandoned.
The greatest enemies of Pakistan lie within our country. They are desperate to make sure that Pakistan does not progress in any field and becomes a failed state, while they loot and plunder all its wealth and pile it in the form of foreign assets and foreign bank accounts before fleeing abroad.
The writer is a former federal minister and former chairman of the HEC. Email: ibne_ sina@hotmail.com
Published in The News , November 10th, 2012.
.
In 1960, Singapore was a relatively poor country. Along came Lee Kwan Yew and took charge as prime minister. The key to his economic policies was the development of a highly skilled workforce that could meet the needs of modern industrial research and manufacturing. Massive investments were made in education, science and technology. Yew developed an excellent infrastructure in order to attract foreign investments and established a corruption-free government. He realised that in order for Singapore to emerge from its problems, it had to make a drastic change in its national policies and become export-oriented. The manufacturing sector’s contribution of 14 per cent of GDP in 1964 jumped up to 24 per cent by 1978. The availability of high quality university graduates attracted foreign companies to invest massively in Singapore’s rapidly growing economy and a magical transformation began to occur. The unemployment rate that stood at 10 per cent in 1965 fell to 3.6 per cent by 1978.
During the subsequent eight-year period, the share of skilled employees in the total workforce increased from 11 per cent in 1978 to 22 per cent in 1985. With the establishment of high-tech industries, salaries also grew from an annual average of $18,400 in 1978 to $27,000 by 1985. Many value-added industries were set up with a particular focus on electronics, engineering goods and petrochemicals.
Singapore’s GDP was $12 billion in 1980 but has risen to above $250 billion, well above that of Pakistan. Some 3,000 multinational companies have set up operations and now biotechnology is being given a very high priority in the development plans. In 2000, Singapore declared biotechnology its fourth economic pillar, revamped its National Science & Technology Board (renaming it the Agency for Science, Technology and Research) and spent $570 million in establishing three biotechnology research institutes. In Pakistan, alas, the National Commission of Biotechnology that I had established when I was the minister of science and technology in 2001, was abolished by a subsequent government, as it considered biotechnology irrelevant to our national development. The National Commission for Nanotechnology, also established under my charge, met the same fate. Pakistan is about 36 times bigger in population and has far more natural resources than Singapore. Yet, it has a much smaller GDP than Singapore’s. The reason is rampant corruption at the highest levels and a lack of focus on education that can help us transition to a knowledge-driven economy.
Malaysia’s transformation under Mahathir Mohamad is also an eye-opener. Malaysia’s GDP shot up from $26 billion in 1970 to $300 billion at present, as a result of determined effort to transform Malaysia into a knowledge economy. Today, Malaysia contributes 86.5 per cent of all high technology exports from the Islamic world. The major focus of these is in the field of electronics, particularly microchips and semi-conductors. The per capita income also shot up from less than $1,000 in 1970 to $14,500.
Another single visionary leader, General Park Chung-hee, also made all the difference in one country, South Korea. Under General Park, South Korea’s per capita income rose from $72 in 1961 to above $30,000 and its GDP rose to an astonishing $1.12 trillion by placing emphasis on large-scale manufacturing of high technology goods, including electronics, automobiles, ships and steel industry.
Our present government approved an education policy under which seven per cent of GDP was to be spent on education with 20 per cent (1.4 per cent of our GDP) going to higher education. When will our leaders have the good sense to implement these policies? We must learn from the examples given above before it is too late. One good leader can make all the difference.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2012.