Final Blog: Arrested Development

On 5^th June, 2013 Nawaz Sharif became the first politician in Pakistan’s parliamentary history to make it to the office of prime minister for a third time. The whole world was keen to know what strategies this newly elected yet experienced prime minister would adopt to salvage the country in its troubled times. Among many other topics related to current affairs, one which was analyzed and debated the most by TV anchormen, newspaper columnists and analysts was about the factors important for the development of a country. A country is assessed on how it caters for its most vulnerable citizens. Most people were of the view that the key factor for the development of a country is the provision of education. However, some experts seemed to disagree with the popular perspective. Even though some say education is the most significant factor in the development of a country, however, factors such as history, politics, economics and environment are more significant. 

One of the major contributing factors to the level of development of a country is its history. Countries which had a strong position in the past have enhanced capabilities to climb up the ladder of development with relative ease as compared to newly founded countries. These countries have a chance to learn from their past mistakes and progress easily in the rapidly developing world. China, for example, carries the heavy weight of history on its back. China takes immense pride in its hoary history and civilization. China believes that it can now eclipse the other superpowers and once again restore its position as one of the strongest and most developed nations in the world. WTO confirmed that China is the world’s main exporter. Therefore, it is seen that the reason for China being one of the rapidly developing countries is its history and the strong will of the inhabitants to progress in order to regain the former prestige. 

The political framework of a country, often linked closely to its history, also plays a noteworthy role when it comes to development of a country. The political factors are significant because they are responsible for the progression as well as hindrance towards development. What is it that that Brazil, Ghana, Uganda, Bangladesh, India and Turkey did to sustain development? Every one of these countries did not leave development to chance. Through pro-poor policies and high investment in other merit goods these countries have managed to open up globally. The governments of all these countries made the necessary and sufficient decisions for their respective country’s progress. These countries made the right policies and devised methods to govern their institutions effectively. The politics of a country can prove to be both beneficial as well as disastrous. An example is Nigeria. It has been labelled as the one of the most corrupt countries in the world by BBC. When the governments are corrupt it is less likely that there will be any investments made in the developmental projects. Yes, there are shortfalls and hypocritical masks in politics, but every government is answerable to the citizens. Every developed nation is in its current position because its governments, one after the other, took the responsibility of carrying out development strategies. 

The gist of development is truly grasped when it is discussed in terms of economy. The world witnessed large-scale development after the Industrial Revolution in UK in the late 19^th century. This giant leap towards development was due to the economic factors. A similar example can be extracted from Pakistan’s history. During the military rule of President Ayub Khan (1958-69), Pakistan made the most economic growth than it had ever in the past. This is why his eleven year rule is known as the “Decade of Development”.

It is often argued that education is the most important tool for the development of a country. People who are of this view generally claim education is exactly what led to “The Age of Enlightenment” in the early 17^th century. Education, it is said, is like a pool of mercury. Hit it with a hammer and you end up with ten little blobs of mercury instead of one. It leads to envisioning and critical thinking of multiple minds. It broadens the horizon of how people think. Education not only helps to acknowledge the complexities but also helps to find appropriate solutions to these problems. People insist that it is because of education that people are able to comprehend the problems pertaining to a country and come up with apt solutions and strategies for development. It is to be noted that if education was the single most important factor in the development of a country, then the countries with the highest literacy rates should be amongst the list of the most developed countries in the world. However, this is not the case. Canada has the highest literacy rate, 51 percent, in the world followed by Israel which has a literacy rate of 46 percent. Had education been the most important factor, these two countries would have been the most developed countries in the world. In fact Canada and Israel do not even fall among the top ten most developed countries of the world. 

All in all, one has to shun the stereotypical notion of the “revolutionaries” that education is the single most important factor in developing a country. It is time for the revolutionaries to realise that relying solely on educating the citizens of a country is not the solution. This path is not a straight line and it is not as simple as it seems. It is more like a jagged edge. Therefore, it is time to look ahead, time to mature, time to be practical, and time to broaden the horizon of minds of people. Education is not the solitary factor which will result in developing a country; instead there are multiple other factors such as history, politics, economics and environment, which pave way for success of a country in all aspects.