Over 20 percent of the world population -- every fifth human being on the globe -- is Muslim. If we compare the statistics with the global population of adherents of some other faiths, we find that for every single Hindu there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two Muslims and for every Jew there are 107 Muslims. Yet, some 14 million Jews are more powerful than the entire around 1,500 million Muslims because Muslims, as a community, have lost the capacity to produce knowledge.

The literacy rate in the Christian world is over 90 percent whereas in the Muslim world it is abysmally as low as 40 percent. The literacy rate in 15 Christian majority-countries is 100 percent. In the Christian countries, the number of persons who have completed primary education is 98 percent, while it is only 50 percent in the case of Muslim countries.

Some 40 percent of the population in the Christian countries attended university. On the other hand, a dismal 2 percent in the Muslim countries enrol in universities. Resultantly, Muslim majority countries have 230 scientists per one million whereas the USA has 5,000 scientists per million. The Christian world has 1,000 technicians per million, while the entire Arab world possesses around 50 technicians per million. The Christian world spends 5 percent of their GDP on research/development against only 0.2 percent of GDP of the Muslim world. These statistics explain why the Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.

Another way of testing the degree of knowledge is the degree of diffusing knowledge. In Pakistan, 23 copies of daily newspapers are printed per 1000 citizens, while in Singapore 460 copies of daily newspapers are sold per 1000 citizens. In the UK, book titles per million is 2000, while in Egypt the ratio of book titles is only 17 per million. Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge.

Applying knowledge is another such test. The export of high-tech products from Pakistan is 0.9 percent of its total exports. It is 0.2 percent in the case of Saudi Arabia and 0.3 percent for Kuwait, Morocco and Algeria; while high-tech goods constitute 68 percent of the total exports of Singapore. This leads one to the conclusion that the Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge.

This brings to the fore the paramount need for educating one and all, without compromising on the promotion of education under any circumstances. However, it really pains one to point out that Pakistan’s literacy rate, though low as compared to other countries, has further declined from 60 percent to 58 percent, as revealed by the Economic Survey of Pakistan on February 8, 2018.

At 22 million, the country has the second highest out-of-school children after Nigeria. According to a rough estimate, there are over 30,000 out-of-school children in Islamabad alone and FDE (Federal Directorate of Education) have so far managed to reach 11,029. On February 2, 2019, the Balochistan Assembly adopted a resolution demanding establishment of a large number of community schools in the province to beef up the existing ones so as to provide education to "millions" of out-of-school children there. The assembly was informed that some 40,000 students were already pursuing studies in community schools.

Multiple factors can be cited as the reason behind the low literacy rate in Pakistan. However, the foremost remains lack of sufficient allocations by the successive governments to education despite the constitutional obligation of the State to provide free and compulsory quality education to children falling within the age group of 5 to 16 years.

In addition to feudal system and elite culture, other major contributing factor for the widespread literacy is lack of well-equipped educational institutions, especially in the Northern Areas. As a consequence, students have to move out to metropolises like Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi, resulting in phenomenal increase in admission merit in those cities.

When students are unable to get admission to public institutes, they have no option but to pay fabulously high amounts to get admission in privately-administered institutes. Former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of this phenomenon and the apex court ordered the management of the private schools, charging monthly fees above Rs5,000 per month, to reduce their fees by 20 percent. But, a majority of them have still to implement the orders of the apex court in its true spirit; while the managements of some privately-managed schools have retaliated by curtailing the monthly salaries of their teachers.

In addition, the other major reason is the outdated curriculum being taught in Pakistan’s educational institutions. It is not innovative while it also lacks the capacity to meet our present-day needs and necessities. Resultantly, when students go abroad for higher education, they have to repeat the same course according to that country’s requirements and system of education. This brings to the fore the need to reform the education system on a priority basis.

In 1978, President General Ziaul Haq introduced ‘Masjid Schools Progamme’ with the aim to raise literacy level by establishing 5,000 mosque schools initially. Even the National Education Policy of 1998-2010 called for the utilisation of mosque schools to increase the literacy rate, recommending expansion of the existing network of Masjid schools as a means for providing non-formal basic education on a larger scale by opening 75,000 schools till 2001.

According to a study jointly published, in 2016, by the University of Punjab and Bahauddin Zakariya University, "The experiment of Masjid or maktab schools was cost-effective to achieve the goal of 100 percent literacy rate." But, to achieve this goal it was imperative to equip madaris with modern technology and education system.

Meanwhile, some patriotic Pakistanis have opened model makatab (religious schools) to impart education to the youth both in the religious and other disciplines of life. On such maktab -- Madrassah Darul Huda -- is functioning near Golra Railway Station in Islamabad and catering to the educational needs of some 850 students. Amongst major objectives of this institution is to produce Islamic scholars having proficiency in Arabic and English languages besides subjects taught in public schools.

If we wish to banish illiteracy, there is need to replicate this model and establish such madaris for providing free education to the youth nearer to their home towns. The countries that realised the importance of knowledge and technology for embarking upon the high path of growth now occupy top positions amongst the comity of nations; while some other countries, despite their vast natural resources, lag far behind.

The writer is a freelance columnist based at Islamabad alauddinmasood@gmail.com