We went to the lender of last resort 22 times over the last fifty years, but to no avail. And it would be too naïve on our part to expect that the on-going 23rdIMF programme would make even an iota of difference to the current state of affairs. On completion, if the three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is not fated to discontinue mid-way through, the country would perhaps slide further down the socio-economic pole.
While the Fund would never accept that its one-size-fit all formula was what had failed Pakistan, on its part having consistently failed to diagnose correctly the chronic ailment that it has been suffering from all these years Islamabad had kept going again and again to the same doctor to get the same prescription that has kept compounding the disease.
Pakistan suffers from chronic shortages of energy and capital and its access to technology has always remained too poor. For such a country to even exist without any foreign aid crutches is like expecting polio afflicted runner to win a 100-meter dash competing against normal kids.
But the one highly valuable asset that we possess but which we have kept neglecting all these years is our ever expanding youth-bulge. Had we focused on educating and training this youth bulge over, at least, the last two decades or so Pakistan perhaps would have managed to acquire adequate modern technology using which we could have managed with limited energy availability, overcoming at the same time capital shortages by resorting to technological innovations enhancing per capita productivity, squeezing in the process the most out of the limited availability of capital.
The World Economic Forum's 2017 'Global Human Capital Report' has calculated that while nearly 84% of the world's talent under the age of 25 can be optimized through education, that figure falls to 45% for those over 25. Developing countries are said to have made great progress in expanding human capital investment in education for younger generations. Education systems around the world continue to emphasize the front-loading of learning during an early stage of life.
According to World Economic Forum's Agenda Weekly dated September 20, 2019 technological innovation is fundamentally transforming education, and updating the skills required for the contemporary workplace. It says building future-ready education systems requires designing curricula fit for the 21st century, coupled with the consistent delivery of a basic education for everyone that builds a solid foundation for a lifetime of adapting and developing new abilities. It further maintains that specialized education should provide in-demand skills, and address the disconnect between economy's needs and existing instruction.
Unequal access to education leads to unequal access to opportunity and can permanently hinder students' potential to learn new skills in the future. As well as providing access to education, concerted efforts will be needed to improve the quality of basic education. This can be addressed in part by introducing clear, recognized global standards that benchmark measurable learning outcomes. The cost of providing basic education is a persistent barrier that contributes to unequal provision. According to UNESCO's final review of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2015, an additional $22 billion in funding is said to be needed - every year - in order to meet basic education targets for 2030. This gap demonstrates that there is an acute need for new financing models, particularly in developing countries. Technological innovation could be one possible way to address the issue.
As noted in the World Economic Forum's 2017 white paper 'Realizing Human Potential in the Fourth Industrial Revolution', educational curricula cannot remain fixed, as career paths change faster, and are less linear, than ever before. There is wide-ranging consensus that no single skill set or area of expertise is likely to be able to sustain a long-term career in the economies of the future. Educational institutions need to provide both in-depth subject knowledge, and an ability to make inter-disciplinary connections.
The Forum's 2016 report 'The Future of Jobs' noted that the core skills of the 21st century - such as complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and digital literacy - are important for enabling people to be flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of the job market. These skills are ideally developed early, in basic education, and then refined at colleges and universities as well as during lifelong learning. Future-ready curricula must deliver a strong base of foundational linguistic, mathematical, and technological skills. However, shifting demand for skills across industries will require that curricula be updated and adapted on a regular basis, as they are informed by the evolution of labour markets. Upgrades to curricula should be built into the system incrementally, thereby avoiding the excessive disruption and implementation time-lag associated with major, infrequent overhauls. In order to ensure that education remains job-relevant, it is critical that more emphasis is placed on collating insights from government, businesses, and civil society in the curriculum design process.
New literature on education says that technology is rapidly altering the ways we interact and work, linking communities and workers in increasingly sophisticated ways and opening up new opportunities. Young people therefore need to develop digital fluency, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills from an early age if they are to be equipped to thrive in the modern workplace - and in modern society. Learners need a deeper understanding of how to apply technology and innovation in order to achieve desired results. Education systems, meanwhile, need to ensure technology curricula are kept up-to-date, while teachers need to have the opportunity to refresh their own skills and knowledge in order to keep pace with external developments. The use of technology should be embedded across the educational experience, to mirror the ways in which technology is now relevant to all sectors and careers.
Most jobs of the future will require a basic understanding of maths and science. Ten-year employment projections by the US Department of Labor, for example, anticipate that of the 20 fastest-growing occupations for the period between 2016 and 2026, many will require an increasing understanding of maths or science. Given the importance of STEM in the growth of future workplaces, it is important to ensure access to related education for all socio-economic groups. Girls and women are particularly underrepresented within high value-added STEM disciplines, and it is crucial to find ways to increase their presence.
Technological innovation is changing the way educational materials are generated, the manner in which educational content is distributed, the way learners engage with materials, and the processes used to evaluate educational outcomes. Technology companies such as Amplify and Knewton are digitizing textbooks and creating content based on gamified learning. Other companies such as Coursera, edX, and Khan Academy are revolutionizing education delivery through so-called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
Still, the education systems, especially at the primary and secondary levels in Pakistan, have yet to incorporate even the most basic, widely available learning technologies.
Technology presents opportunities for countries like Pakistan to deliver learning in new, gamified, and personalized ways, which could change the costly, time consuming traditional role of teachers and facilitate a blended learning experience. Technology has been proposed as a solution for resolving issues related to unequal access to education, for example in rural or hard-to-reach communities that nonetheless have digital access.