A social safety net programme with the name of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was established in the year 2008 to tackle the catastrophic impacts of inflation and price hike on the poor, caused by recession in the world markets and highly increased food and fuel prices. The programme was launched initially for providing a fixed monthly cash grant to millions of poor families. This monthly cash assistance was provided to the families who were most vulnerable to abject poverty. Thus, this grant was a subsistence allowance to make their survival possible by adding between 20 to 50 percent or more to their income.
Cash grants worth billions that have been provided to millions of beneficiary families in the last three years have helped in bringing a positive economic impact in their lives. It must be noted that this sort of cash grant is termed as “Unconditional Cash Transfer”. It means that the amount which is disbursed to a beneficiary is not subject to any condition for its spending. The beneficiary has the right to spend the cash as per his or her requirements.
There is another emerging concept of “Conditional Cash Transfer” which has been successfully launched in various South American and Asian countries. The concept narrates that the amount which is disbursed as a grant to beneficiaries is subjected to the fulfillment of some pre-conditions. The grant is continued in case of compliance of that condition or it is discontinued in case of non-compliance. Even in some cases, penalties are imposed if the terms laid for the grant are not met.
Critics were of the view that BISP’s work would not be fruitful if some long-term measures like provision of livelihood opportunities and education were not ensured. Through its graduation strategies, BISP launched demand driven vocational and technical training programmes along with provision of micro financing to ensure livelihood independence for millions of beneficiary families. For provision of health facilities, BISP is all sent to launch a Health Insurance Programme and it has already provided a Life Insurance facility to millions of its beneficiary families to date. For promotion of education, BISP is in the process of introducing Waseela-e-Taleem.
BISP launched a nationwide Poverty Scorecard Survey in late 2010, which is about to be completed. Along with the identification of beneficiaries, it has helped collect ideal data representing the socio-economic situation of almost 27 million households across Pakistan. This documented data can be used for various poverty reduction projects in Pakistan by organisations the world over.
Careful evaluation of the data collected through BISP’s Nationwide Poverty Survey regarding education has revealed that only 13 percent of BISP beneficiaries send all of their children to school, 50 percent of them send some of their children to school while 37 percent do not send even a single child to school. Thus it was learnt that the primary education of beneficiaries’ children is one of the major issues of the poor class in Pakistan.
A major indicator of the progress and development of any nation is its literacy rate and education. John F Kennedy said, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”
The above-mentioned facts are quite stunning and horrifying at the same time. If a major portion of our coming generation that has to hold the reins of the country is falling into the deep hole of ignorance and illiteracy, how can we expect our nation to flourish in the years to come? How can we claim that we will become a great nation when a large segment of children are not going to schools?
But, it is also true that there are certain inherent problems which need to be considered. There is a vicious circle of poverty that has trapped millions of families in Pakistan. This immense poor class is unable to bear the expenses of the education of their children. Also, most of these children are victims of child labor and instead of going to school they are forced to work to earn for their families. Thus, economic compulsion is the major reason behind millions of non-school going children.
Coming back to the Waseela-e-Taleem programme being introduced by BISP, it is a welcome step for multiple reasons. Also, there are certain reasons why BISP can prove to be an ideal platform for providing education throughout the country. Firstly, over the years, BISP has developed its reach out to millions of families including those whose children are not going to school and secondly, through nationwide poverty scorecard survey, it has compiled qualitative data to evaluate the problem and present a solution for it. Thirdly, as BISP has been playing significant role in helping millions of poor families, it can put some sort of compulsion and condition for the cash transfer for education of the children of such families.
Through Waseela-e-Taleem initiative, BISP is urging its beneficiary families to send their children to school so that they can become literate and become economically self-sufficient in the future.
Through this plan, a maximum of three children from each beneficiary family will be sent to school and they will be provided with a benefit in cash. In case they do not send their children to school, they will not get this additional money and it is proposed that some sort of deduction could be made in the regular monthly cash transfer of Rs 1,000 that is already being provided. It should be noted that the education in primary schools (government and registered schools) in Pakistan is free, so this money will give them an good incentive to send their children to school.
The programme is a huge endeavour and it should be kept in mind that that the capacity building regarding teachers and infrastructure of schools in all areas of Pakistan is vital to make it successful. If implemented as planned, this initiative can bring an educational revolution in Pakistan. It will have a trickle down impact on the socio-economic future of the state once we have an educated generation.
