BASIC SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF PAKISTAN 2021

• BACKGROUND:

Geographically, Pakistan is a South Asian country. It is an agricultural country and it accounts for 18.9% of GDP. It employs about 42% of the labor force. It is the world's 5th most populous country with a population of more than 212.5 million. Since independence, Pakistan has remained a culturally richer and resource-full country in the region. Historical changes have occurred for the last several decades and have led to progress in certain areas. When it talks about textile, sports, and surgical products, Pakistan is renowned worldwide and has galvanized international attention. There are several natural resources that could push the country in the race of competitive markets. A large portion of the country's manufactured exports is dependent on raw materials such as cotton and hides that are part of the agriculture sector, while supply shortages and market disruptions in farm products do push up inflationary pressures. Textile has a pivotal position in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan.  

In Asia, Pakistan is the eighth-largest exporter of textile products, contributing 9.5% to the GDP and providing employment to around 15 million people (some 30% of the 49 million people in the workforce). 

Here we majorly focus on a few of the important sectors that plays important role in development. One of them is education, there are more than hundreds of private and public universities working in different provinces. The overall educational infrastructure is despicable and needs attention and capital for improvement.  

• LOCKDOWN IN PAKISTAN, AND IMPACTS

Before the outbreak of pandemics, Pakistan was progressing along with available resources. The current outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to impact the lives of the people in Pakistan. The country has witnessed a significant increase in its confirmed cases from the initial two cases on 26th February 2020 to approximately 734,423 as of 14 th April 2021 and 15,754 deaths. 

The social and economic effects of COVID-19 are being felt with greater intensity across the least developed, developing, and emerging market economies irrespective of their income level. Most of them will experience a drop in the GDP and losses in employment and income leading to greater poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. Concurrently, capacities and resources vary across the world to overcome this pandemic and its intertwined health, social and economic impacts.

• Tourism suffered by Covid in Pakistan

The initial measures to contain the spread through quarantines, travel restrictions, and lockdowns of cities have resulted in a reduction in aggregate demand with an impact on the service sector, including tourism, retail, hospitality, and civil aviation. International demand for commodities also fell, especially for oil, further contributing to economic and financial uncertainty and instability. Depressed domestic consumption, a fall in remittances, and a reduction in global demand are leading the private sector to delay or cancel investment plans. 

• Impact of Covid-19 on education in Pakistan

Education is one of the vital means of economic development and the most important determinant of earnings. There are two kinds of educational systems, O-level and A-level. it plays an important role in human capital development. Pakistan’s progress in improving its human development indicators has been uneven. Education in Pakistan is essentially a provincial responsibility. It is a major challenge in Pakistan, as public spending on education is less than 2.5% of GDP.  

Educational infrastructure has not given attention to upgrading and standardized. Most schools were unaware of e-learning before Pandemic. During lockdowns, a big number of institutions were bared with internet facilities and proper teacher training. Teachers can not use laptops and computers to upload lectures.  Students suffered from missing their classes and can not avail of the internet facility optimally. The scenario has rapidly changed and now students don't like to go to schools but prefer to take online classes. A drastic change brought by Covid and all educational institutions has dented the old teaching methodologies by transforming them into e-learning. On the other side, it brought negative impacts on the job sector. Many teachers, who don't have computer knowledge, have been fired from the schools. Every single day, there is downsizing at schools and other institutions. There are certain issues with an education system that needs to be addressed at a prior level. 

• Unemployment in Pakistan 2021

While horrors of the rising number of Covid-19 cases and sudden painful deaths in isolation wards instill fear into the bravest of hearts, the pandemic-induced economic insecurity is now pushing families to the edge in Pakistan. Like elsewhere, the protection and creation of jobs is perhaps the second biggest challenge after the health crisis in Pakistan. The neglect of this issue in the current environment may prove to be suicidal as dismissing the coronavirus as a sham.