Why is Pakistan lagging behind THIS bad, despite having many hardworking and smart citizens?
I think there are several other overbearing personal traits which people from sub-continent are lacking(As India / Bangladesh / Sri Lanka have been lagging as well, when compared to rest of the world). It might be a bitter pill to swallow for many but we overemphasize on what we perceive is our culture and values, which include some good and some not so healthy traditions. We have left behind what forms the backbone of our economy, in the lure of management and IT / CS degrees. How many high aptitude individuals opt for a course in agriculture for example??
One simple area would be womens employment. I know for sure it would come out to be lowest in the world, which simply translates to almost 40% of our citizens baing non-productive and just managing homes. Another example would be. if a study is conducted on the age when you get your first salary. We have this philsophy - First we need to study and then work, whereas if we start working early it is much easier to identify the interest areas.
In studies we have what is termed as "Herd Mentality". MBA is the in thing now, BE in IT and CS was earlier. Student does not ever know what will he be facing in the real world and real work place.
There are many such reasons like the fact that we are constantly living in shadow of our parents. Protected unnecessarily, but somehow that is what we perceive our culture to be about.
THAT and the fact that weak infrastructure and corruption is taking billions away from the our economy is taking a serious toll on our growth and future.
Among non-industrialized countries, Pakistan is a normal country (e.g. average standard of living). The jump from a third-world country to a newly-industrialized country is difficult. It takes hard work and time. However, it will eventually happen.
