The True Measure of a Nation's Wealth
When we envision prosperous nations, we often think of tangible symbols of success: towering skyscrapers, bustling motorways, and bustling factories. Throughout much of history, a nation's wealth was defined by its tangible assets: fertile land, valuable mines, and oil reserves. However, this perspective is becoming increasingly outdated. A 2006 World Bank report, 'Where Is the Wealth of Nations?', offers a more nuanced view, emphasizing the importance of intangible assets. It introduces the concept of 'intangible capital,' which encompasses the skills, health, and institutions that enable a nation's people to convert effort into output.
In today's world, a significant portion of a nation's wealth is intangible. Approximately 80% of wealth in high-income countries and over half in low-income countries is attributed to intangible assets. Nations thrive primarily due to the capabilities of their citizens and the effectiveness of their systems in harnessing those abilities. This realization shifts our focus from seeking a 'magic lever' for development, such as exports, foreign direct investment, or new infrastructure, to investing in our children.
I will concentrate on education as a key component. Education is instrumental in building human capital and shaping the individuals and habits that make institutions function effectively. When teaching occurs in a language that children already understand well, it maximizes the efficiency of human capital development. However, when children are expected to study subjects like mathematics, science, or history in a language they barely comprehend, their efforts are diverted towards decoding words rather than grasping concepts. This leads to a loss of confidence, rote learning, and higher dropout rates.
International examples provide valuable insights. Japan and South Korea successfully modernized without making English the primary language of mass schooling. They adopted a practical approach by translating modern scientific and technical knowledge. For instance, if a Japanese or Turkish novel wins the Nobel Prize, millions of people read it in translation, but few attempt to learn the original language. This highlights the importance of using a language that the masses already understand for mass learning.
History also supports this idea through one of the most powerful learning technologies ever devised: books. The period often referred to as Europe's 'Dark Ages' began to lift as texts and ideas, many of which were preserved and advanced in the Muslim world, entered through Spain and Sicily and were translated into Latin. The invention of the printing press then democratized knowledge, making it accessible to the masses. Books multiplied, literacy rates expanded, and ideas spread rapidly, reshaping societies. In contrast, where printing and publishing were delayed or limited, knowledge remained scarce and expensive, concentrated among the elite.
Books, therefore, are the infrastructure of a nation. A society that invests in writing, translating, printing, and widely distributing books in the native language of its people lays the foundation for mass literacy and capability. Conversely, a society that confines serious knowledge to a foreign tongue builds walls around its own potential.
Pakistan's education crisis has multiple causes, but one inherited design feature is the perception of schooling as a pathway to a limited number of government and elite jobs, rather than a mass learning project. In this context, a colonial-era hierarchy of language and status persists, where the credential that matters is not what a child understands but the signals they can display, such as degrees, exam results, and, most importantly, proficiency in English. Field research across low-income countries consistently reveals that for many families, a government job remains the most secure route to financial stability. Consequently, it becomes rational for parents and schools to prioritize these signals.
The MIT's Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) has synthesized evidence pointing to a practical solution: stop treating schooling as a lottery ticket for distant government jobs. Instead, organize education to deliver visible learning at every stage. This includes teaching children at their current level, prioritizing foundational reading and math, and tracking progress to ensure measurable and motivating gains.
To achieve mass education, knowledge must be democratized in a practical sense. This involves building robust translation and publishing pipelines in Urdu and Pakistan's regional languages, producing high-quality textbooks and books that children can comprehend, and shifting from prestige-oriented credentialism towards learning that yields early, visible gains in comprehension, confidence, and capability. Teach English well as a subject and a skill, but refrain from using it as the medium that hinders understanding, especially in the early grades. A nation cannot progress if its curriculum is unreadable.
The author is a professor at Akhuwat Institute, Kasur.
