China-Pakistan Education Corridor

Pakistan and China have had strategic relations since the 1960s, supplemented by economic relations since the turn of the century. However, they need to enhance their educational ties, as international experiences show that these are vital for deepening people-to-people contact through education. Pakistan and China started their educational cooperation in 1965 when they signed an agreement on cultural cooperation, including an educational component. Since then, several attempts have been made, but they have not fully utilized their potential. The fundamental reason is their highly divergent systems.

Both countries began their journeys in almost identical conditions in literacy and education at the time of their respective independence in the late 1940s. While Pakistan started its journey with a literacy rate of 16.3 percent in 1947, China’s was 20 percent in 1949. From that point, the two nations moved on to two different trajectories. While China made education a cornerstone of its national development strategy, Pakistan chose other priorities.

While China spent 812.79 billion dollars on education in 2020, 4.22 percent of its GDP, Pakistan’s total spending (both provincial and federal) came to just 4.75 billion dollars or 1.5 percent of its GDP. The result is that China has achieved almost 100 percent enrolment in compulsory education, providing the best quality education. In marked contrast, Pakistan is still struggling with the poorest quality of education and has the second-largest number of out-of-school children in the world.

Considering the pivotal role of education in national development, one could argue that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should have initially been conceptualized as the “China-Pakistan Education Corridor,” with the economic component introduced later. In today’s era of scientific and technological advancement, Pakistan must, like China, shift its educational focus from myths, romanticized historical narratives, and outdated ideas to science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) subjects. Expertise in these fields, as seen in China, can help transform Pakistan’s future.

Pakistan’s higher education system is in dire straits and requires immediate reform. Chinese universities have propelled the country to the forefront of technological advancements in diverse fields, from IT to agriculture. Pakistan can achieve similar outcomes by entrusting its higher education sector to visionary leaders with clear goals.

China’s interest and investment in education soon started bearing fruit in the form of a highly developed and skilled human resource, which served as China’s backbone in its economic development. Enhanced cooperation between the two countries would also result in deeper people-to-people contact, essential for strengthening relations between the two brotherly countries. Pakistan has much to learn from China’s example in improving its education system. In fact, the economic development of a modern nation with limited natural resources, such as Pakistan and China, depends heavily on human resource development.