Nuzair Ahmed Jamro
It is no new that the foundation of every state is education of its youth. The reason behind the advancement of developed states is only investment in quality education for their generation to come. It is true that though Wuhan city was epicenter of corona virus, China eradicated the pandemic successfully and declared its end. However, China has high literacy rate, is reason behind its 2nd largest economy and advanced technology.
According to the Global Partnership for Education, education plays a crucial role in human, social, and economic development and increases a person’s chances of having a healthy life. Education is one of the most important investments a country can make in its future. Early childhood education prepares children for future learning.
As reported by Mappr, project by a group of cartography lovers, countries with the Highest Literacy Rate includes Ukraine, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Moreover, Uzbekistan is the country with the highest literacy rate as of 2018, with over 99.99% of its population able to read and write. Males ages 15 and above are reported to have a 100% literacy rate, while adult females have a 99.99% literacy rate. There states are much better than Pakistan in development and other aspects due to high education.
It is quite unfortunate that Pakistan is lagging behind in education. Despite lion share of budget goes to education, literacy rate of country as compared to the developing states of world is extremely low. As of 2020, the literacy rate of Pakistan is 58 per cent according to report of World Economic Forum.
In this regards, The Indus Cottage Libraries network is really a blessing in disguise for the young generation of Pakistan especially in Sindh Province where majority of school going children are belong to poor strata of society. A large number of children are enrolled in Public Schools with outdated facilities and broken walls, run by government, in Interior cities of Sindh. It Includes Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kandh-kot, Khairpur mirs, Larkana, Shahdadpur, Ratodero and Kashmore.
It is imperative to recognize that there is no magic bullet or simple answer. According to Mr. Agha Noor Muhammad Pathan, Chief Coordinator, Indus Cottage Libraries network, Islamabad, The ICLN has been established about 915 libraries in Pakistan including Sindh Punjab, KPK and Baluchistan. There are about 400 libraries of ICLN in Punjab. It includes 05 in Lahore, 04 in Rawalpindi and 02 in muzaffargarh. However, about 10 in D.I khan and some of them in Peshawar with advance and modern infrastructure.
Not last but least, Sindh and Baluchistan Provinces are not excluded, the organization has also played pivotal role for the education in Sindh province. There are 125 libraries in Sindh which includes 20 in Karachi, 7 in Badin, 02 in Tando Mohammad Khan , 02 in Hyderabad, 07 in Jamshoro, 02 in Sukkur, 12 in Larkana, 05 in kamber shahdadkot, 02 in Jacobabad, 04 in kashmore, 10 in Kandh-kot, 05 in Mirpurkhas, 05 in Tharparkar. 10 in Khairpur Mirs, 10 in noshero feroz, 04 and 05 in shaheed benazirabad.
It is woefully to say that since 2015 about 30 Libraries have been launched in Shikarpur, Sindh City with modern infrastructure and renowned books. Moreover, 150 in Baluchistan province such as 02 in Panjgur, 02 in Mastung and 02 in Gwadar. Moreover it has also contributed to skills development of children in various government schools in Pakistan particularly in Sindh. About 5000 Session has been conducted in schools of Shikarpur, Sindh and other provinces with full swing; it includes presentations, writing and reading programs and other educational activities besides awarding certificates to position holder children for their confidence building and self-learning.
Buying quality books and acquiring modern education are always day dreams for thousands of students especially those, belonging to poor strata of society. In Pakistan which is struggling for poverty alleviation, a large segment of population lives below poverty line especially in those living in rural areas of Sindh. To cut to the chase, Future of youth looks bright in Pakistan after the efforts taken by dedicated educational organization: Indus Cottage Libraries network (ICLN).
It is no denying the fact that Education is of paramount importance for our youth, flowers of nation, so strong policies initiatives are essential to address such serious issues. The situation facing the country calls for extra ordinary measures. Agha Noor Muhammad, who remained Chief Editor of Monthly Shagird Hyderabad and Associate Editor of Monthly the Universal Message, has left no stone unturned in making dreams of children come true,
Despite the inadequate of development funds and meager resources, Indus Cottage Libraries network, Islamabad owned by Agha Noor Muhammad, Former Resident Director, Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage (Pakistan) had made headways for the betterment of our youth and made attempts to sponsored libraries to government’s schools of Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan and KPK.
In a such challenging situation, our policy makers should have burned mid night oil to chalk out effective strategy for supporting such meritorious and effective organizations like Indus Cottage Libraries network (ICLN ) in financial aspects including developing schemes for libraries and other facilitations so that such organization can curve out future for our generation and nation state.