Female education can change paradigms

It was 1986 and my mother was talking to our late father. Female education can change Pakistan’s economic future going forward she said. These words still echo in my ears after 25 years and it is so true. If we educate a boy, we educate one individual but if we educate a girl, we educate a society whether the girl is a home maker or a working female, she takes care of the children.

STRATEGIC VALUE OF FEMALE EDUCATION
I like testing my idea on different waters to get global insight about economic success. I was attending a session of Ms Christina Romer-former adviser to President Obama Economic team on 9th March,

2009 at Brooking institute at Washington DC (Professor of Economics at Uni. of California, Berkley, USA) on the invitation of my MIT/Harvard friends. I asked her an informal question as to how Pakistan can move ahead economically, politically and socially; she replied female primary/secondary education is the key to success. Countries that have really progressed economically, socially and politically, invested heavily in female education to make a remarkable turnaround for their nation. HRH Prince Karim Aga Khan has always advocated the importance of female education.

Benefits of female education:
Economic productivity
Social development
Intergenerational education
Social equity
Sustainability of development efforts
Lowers infant mortality rate
Improve economic health and purchasing power of the productive labor force
Intrinsic value: Economic & Social efficiencies

ECONOMIC IMPACT
Our policy makers have their priorites all wrong in the last 20 years. Pakistan doesn’t need PhD’s. In fact, we need to focus on primary and secondary education which would make a huge impact on the national economy. IRR is best in primary and secondary education level up to 17 per cent and drops at university level to 11 per cent. Even in USA, after junior college IRR in US has been less than average interest rate (individual discounted cash flows may be positive because of state subsidy). PhD’s are important for university level faculty for improvement in their skill set and capability enhancement. HEC’s myopic vision and non-productive approach is doing more harm than good. They forced the students (sponsored by GoP) who are pursuing PhD to sign a bond to serve Pakistan upon return. This is non-productive approach. The productive and strategic approach (idea of my good friend Izhar ul Haq, PhD from Cambridge University) should be to ask the students who are pursuing their PhD’s abroad to train 2/3 PhD’s in Pakistan upon their return, carry out research work and then they can go wherever they want if they find a job outside Pakistan. That is their fundamental right. The Singaporean universities are following the same pattern. I am sure this approach is not authoritative but harmonious for all stakeholders involved in the process to ponder upon.
I have traveled extensively in the APAC [Singapore/Malaysia/Indonesia] region and North America, having studied the economies, I would like to share few analyses, and how these countries have performed by investing in female education. These countries have remained ahead of the game in economic progression and growth.

Sources
Sonia Raj, Research student at Dow Institute of Health Sciences, World Bank, IMF, IFC, Economist Magazine, Business week University of Chicago, Library, USA, Prof Gary Becker—Nobel Laureate at University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, USA research in human capital.

EMPIRICALLY PROVEN
The above variables clearly illustrate how investment in female education can help the economies to succeed in moving ahead in this era of economic acceleration and prosperity as the markets turn uncertain towards depression. There is a very strong correlation between female literacy and GDP growth rate which is empirically proven. GDP growth rate and economic prosperity is tied to female education as well as emancipation. Educated females contribute 83 per cent to the overall GDP growth rate. This is very conspicuous and proves my point of educating females at grass root level.
In Pakistan, we can make economic progress by investing at the grass root level of female education i.e. primary and secondary. We have to educate our females on war footing in order to get out of this economic malaise and financial repression. We can take assistance of some of the leading female role models of our country including Marina Khan, Shahnaz Sheikh, Naveed Shahzed, Salima Hashmi, Moneeza Hashmi and Dr. Anita Ghulam Ali who are well respected in the country to carry out this mission to turnaround the economy for the betterment of the people in the long run. I would like to utilise my networking including inviting American actress/model Katheryn Swann, Brand Strategist Libby Gill and French/ Lebanese fashion designer Rola Ezzedine to help us in this cause to progress economically and socially. The government needs to galvanise its efforts and hard work to remain focused to improve the living standard of the masses by educating the people of this country. I strongly believe that female education is the only hope that can bolster our efforts to achieve economic and social prosperity in the country. Education investment dividends can come in handy in the next 5-10 years. Based, on what my mother said, the motivation to write this article was mainly due to her, Aftab Saeed and my father, Saeed Hafeez. Happy investing in female education to bring about change in the living standards of our society.

Source:

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/11/female-education-can-change-paradigms/?thick=off&KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=540&width=962

Posted in: Aga Khan,Aga Khan Development Network