IELTS Reading tips

Manage your time

Don’t try to understand the difficult words, their meanings are not asked

Difficult words or terms are often the answers

Read the questions first

Answers are normally in the first and second lines of a paragraph

Look for the keywords, you can even answer the question without reading the whole passage

Practice the reading part a lot

Try not to spend more than 15 minutes on each passage so that you have enough time to check and transfer your answers

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IELTS Writing tips

Do some brainstorming

Write complete sentences

Proof read your work

Don’t use complex words if you don’t know how to use them properly

You are mostly asked to agree or disagree with a statement

You have to write a persuasive essay

You are advised to spend 40 minutes on the essay part

You are advised to spend 20 minutes on the part 1

You will be required to describe a graph or process for the writing part 1

remember the words for the writing part 1, you will use them often(increase,decrease,greater,more,less,in conclusion,less than)

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IELTS Speaking tips

Revise your 12 tenses

Don’t concentrate on the accent

Speak complete sentences

Feel relaxed, they are not going to kill you even if you say the wrong answer

Don’t memorize the speech

Part 1 is very simple, it asks about you (name,family,education,job,home,)

Part 2 is about something you like for example. Your favorite holiday destination

Part 3 consists of follow-up questions

You can ask the examiner to repeat the question if you do not understand it for the first time

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Corruption

Corruption is a great evil that has spread its poison in almost every single country in the world. As expected, developing countries suffer more from corruption than developed countries. The governments of all these countries are corrupt in almost everything, ranging from policy issues to infrastructure and developmental issues. Prime examples of countries rich in corruption are Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, African countries etc.

Corruption is basically when a person in power decides to exploit his power in making money for himself/herself. A corrupt person also accepts lots of bribes from people, and in return, approves illegal projects. Corruption happens because the government system is so infiltrated by people who have no morals and who come into power just to make money. In developing countries, people suffer so much to make money that whenever they get the chance, they exploit it to the fullest.

Corruption has a lot of disadvantages. The primary disadvantage is that corruption dissuades people in foreign countries from investing. For example, when the corruption scandals were leaked out in Pakistan, many people in the United States and other countries decided to withhold their money, and refrain from making investments in Pakistan. Housing societies are a very good example of corruption. The land is acquired illegally, and when the time comes to hand over the plots to their rightful owners, it is discovered that it was all an elaborate sham.

Corruption also creates a bad image of the country in other countries. Rich countries often give aid in the form of money and goods to the poor countries. If they so much as get a whiff that corruption is being done in the handling of the funds, they decide to withdraw their support, never to offer it again. Pakistan has suffered from this misfortune many times due to its corrupt leaders being discovered by aid organizations and governments abroad.

Thus, it can be seen that corruption is a very big problem for countries across the world, and it has a lot of disadvantages. It discourages trade, investment, and friendly relations between countries. It is imperative that the developing nations should install strict measures that protect against this evil.

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My Favorite Hero In History

History is riddled with figured who have gone to great lengths to do the things they believed in. However, there have been very few historical figures who have actually done what was beat for their nation and the world in general. Abraham Lincoln is one of those figures, and hence, my favorite figure in history.

The first reason why I’ve chosen Lincoln is that he abolished the hated practice of slavery. For hundreds of years, Africans were shipped from their native land to countries all over the world so that they could do hard labor – things the Whites thought were beneath them, or due to their weak stature, were unable to accomplish. Slavery was a horrible practice where the person worked without any compensation or any respect for work hours. It was acceptable for people to toil in the fields from morning to late night. The house slaves fared a little better, but still suffered from the long hours. They slaves were not allowed to use anything that belonged to their masters, and they were expected to behave at all times or risk the wrath of their masters or the local police is things got out of hand. Lincoln was the one person who decided to put his foot down and end the terrible act of slavery. It was through his stand that slavery in Northern as well as Southern America came to an end.

Slavery was such a sore topic among the Southerners that they resorted to go to war for it. Out of the many reasons cited as causes for the American Civil War, slavery was perhaps the biggest. The South resisted any reasonable arguments and were determined to continue slavery. They claimed their plantations wouldn’t survive otherwise. Lincoln, however, stood firm in his beliefs and challenged the Southerners until war finally broke out.

Needless to say, but the American Civil War ultimately defined the new America – a slavery-free America. If it hadn’t been for Lincoln’s determination, the South would have seceded into a separate Confederate States of America, and slavery would have continued unabashed.

Therefore, in my opinion, the greatest hero ever in history is Abraham Lincoln, who abolished the hated and despicable act of slavery. Although he had to go to war to exterminate this evil, he made sure that slavery was eradicated. Unfortunately, Lincoln didn’t live long enough to see the changes he had triggered in America. He was gunned down soon after the Civil War.

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My Best Friends

Close friendships are hard to come by these days. In an ever-changing world with people striving to achieve their interpretation of preordained success, it is hard to know who your true friends are. Fortunately, I found my best pal early at the tender age of seven. We were both enrolled at the same school and were at wits’ ends as we searched tirelessly for our designated classes.

Samantha and I got acquainted as both of us were in the same class and sat next to each other. Samantha was a happy-go-lucky girl who always managed to breathe fresh air into the sometimes arid classroom. She always knew what to say and would voice them at the best possible moments. Both pupils and teachers alike enjoyed her company and liveliness. There was hardly ever a dull moment when she was around with her funny quips and expressions. 

Samantha was born with a silver spoon. Her father was a businessman and her mother owned and ran a boutique. Both her parents were very caring towards her as she, just like I, was the only child of the family. Samantha came to school each day with a perpetual smile. She was a very nice person to be around with. She and I used to go everywhere together and both of us were rarely seen apart. We used to talk about so many things as we walked, thoroughly enjoying our time together.

One day, I went to school and forgot to ask my parents for lunch money. At first, I was not hungry and thought I could bear going without a meal but soon, my stomach began to growl. Without asking, Samantha generously paid for my meal and drinks during recess. The incident revealed to me how lucky I was to have such a caring and compassionate friend.

As time went on, people started teasing us as we were spending more and more time together. We seemed to know what each other thought and we cared for each other deeply. Was I in love with her? I did not know then and we both knew we were too young for all that emotional roller coaster.

Currently, Samantha and I are studying at different schools. It was hard to be apart at first, but technology in the form of instant messaging and e-mails have helped to bridge the gap in our friendship. I sincerely wish our friendship will never end as it would be equivalent to waking up from a beautiful dream.

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Friend

This friend I have is special, whilst young, intelligent and righteous. He lives with me since he was born, a pleasure to have all these years.The strength to face each day can sometimes be drawn from knowing him.

When I watch him dribble around with the ball at the street soccer court then knocking it into the goal leaving the opponent frustrated there is unspeakable pride and joy emitting from the core of my heart. How this fine young man has grown from a novice soccer player just three years ago to a forwarder that instill fear to defenders who have to mark him. A elusive player who pass his opponent with ease and elegant he can match the highest standard of the land.

The fond memories of the time we spend together still lingers in my mind. Bringing him to the movies, watching him fight with his sisters still sits in my mind. When he is younger, he never kept still and even climb out of the cradle that is meant to restrain him. That is when he is only two years old and that time nearly got a spanking from his grand mother.

The coolest transformation is his hair. It uses to be always gelled and groomed into the "curry puff" look that is the trademark look that signifies his childhood days. Curry puff is a local snacks that has ultra ordinary puff when fried. Youth has robbed away that and reinstall a new image to befit the modern time. The "anime" type spike hairstyle is now the replacement. Skinny jeans with a smart tee shirts is the order of the day when he needs to go for a outing. While I would prefer him to be in long sleeved shirt and a business pant, his peer may feel out of place with this sort of strange outfit.

Our favorite chat always centered on his favorite Barclay Premier League Club Chelsea and my Manchester United Football Club. Our exchange on the matter can turn into a feisty with each not giving way to the other. Glorified Manchester United has done it once again but the arrival of Ancelloti this season and the departure of Christano Ronaldo has up the challenge for the rivals.

Every weekend is spent at the soccer field where we conduct soccer lessons for children under ten. He is my coach while I am his manager and together we managed to keep soccer alive for these kids who showed up every weekend. Our effort has rewarded us with two championship through the years and the greatest pride is the one that Chris has played in.

Chris is more of a friend than a son, we spend our time together like most friends do. I am proud of him both as a friend and a son.

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Pakistan Rich in Natural Resources But Poor in their Management

Pakistan is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources but also one of the poorest among them in their management. The country is abundant in the vital resources including that of energy, agriculture, minerals, population, and geography, but unlike the developed countries, these have not been properly exploited due to poor management. This dismayed situation is caused due to several, both chronic and acute, flaws which have led to poor governance of country since its inception except some brief spells of economic prosperity. Prevalent political rivalry and instability, worsening law and order and rampant corruption have catalyzed the situation to resource development impasse. Contrary to economic potential of its natural resources, Pakistan is a depending on foreign aid and debt, it is facing deficit in trade, acute energy crisis to run industry, and water stress for agriculture, to name a few challenges. 

However, the daunting challenges and the mounting public pressure caused due to awareness of civil society are increasingly influencing the political decision making. Eventually, there is sign of hope for devising effective strategy to exploit the natural resource wealth of the country for its self sufficiency and viable economic development. It is suffice to say that the proper exploitation of this wealth would lead to the prosperity of this nation.

Before discussing what natural resources Pakistan possesses, it is important to understand what constitutes natural resources. These occur naturally within environments characterised by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems. Some resources like water and agriculture are essential for survival of inhabitants while others like energy and minerals are secondary in nature but essential for economic development. However, efficient management of these resources is vital to achieve prosperity of nation. Natural resource management is a discipline with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations. It is interrelated with the concept of sustainable development. Pakistan is blessed with huge quantity of resources but lags in management.

Being situated at one of the best geographic and geostrategic locations on the map of world, Pakistan is affluent in the natural resources. It has enormous energy surplus resource potential of both renewable and nonrenewable, which is greater than that of oil rich countries of Gulf. Among the world's 200 plus countries it has the second largest salt mines, second largest coal reserves, fifth largest copper and gold reserves, seventh largest wheat and rice production capacity. It is the sixth most populous country in the world having large share of young population. Had these resources been properly managed, this country would have been one of the richest economies of world. The detailed account of the natural wealth of Pakistan shows how such great potential has been untapped due to mismanagement.

There are plenty of nonrenewable energy resources like oil, gas and coal in Pakistan. It has more than 436.2 million barrels of oil, according to CIA World Fact Book, and 31.3 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves. The current oil production is 65,997 barrels per day while gas production is 4 billion cubic feet per day. Though it is not enough to meet the needs, it can save considerable outflow of currency. Moreover, there is resource potential of 27 billion Barrels of Oil and 282 TCF of gas reserves in the country which has not been explored due to lack of vision and flawed policies.

Pakistan has world's second largest coal deposits of 185 billion tons. These are estimated to be equivalent to 618 billion barrels of crude oil. This is more than twice if we compare it with oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. If it is converted into oil by gasification, it will generate 650 barrels of crude oil which at an average market rate of eighty dollars per barrel, would generate 5.2 trillion dollars. But the policy making elite of the country has not only been oblivious to the potential but also indifferent to the slow pace of efforts to harness this source for energy production and exports. The energy deficit is badly affecting the industry in country but no any serious initiative is taken for electricity production from coal. China imports its 65 percent of coal requirements but despite being 'all weather friend', this giant energy importing economy does not import coal from Pakistan.

Besides, the geography of Pakistan enriches it with the renewable energy resources. Wind and Solar energy are other unused lifelines of Pakistan. 1046 km long coastal line gives potential of 40000 MW of electricity. The vast lands of Balochistan can be utilized for solar electricity generation. But unfortunately these resources have barely been used due to technological backwardness and lack of innovative policies.

The hydropower potential of the country is also enough to satisfy the needs of energy. Only 33 percent of around 20,000 MW generation capacity is produced from this resource which has the potential of producing 40,000 MW. No concrete steps have been taken to harness this resource mainly because of political differences and distrust prevailing in the country.

The lack of vision and policy planning in utilisation of water resource is also severely affecting agriculture. Despite having one of the largest irrigation systems of the world, Pakistan is facing water scarcity for crops. Storage capacity of water reservoirs is quickly depleting because of annual sediment inflow and a substantial quantum of available water is lost in seepage as the canals have not been cemented. Out of 77 million acres cultivable area, only 55.5 million acres have been ploughed. The country is blessed with four seasons and variety of crops but due to lack of research the productivity remains low.

In addition, being an agricultural country it possesses tremendous scope of animal husbandry. Pakistan's breeds of cow like Sahiwal cow are the best breeds of world. Due care to this area can lead to bulk of exports in dairy products. On other hand, fishing industry has an important role to play in national economy of Pakistan. The coast line of 814 km provides ample opportunity to enhance this industry, but poor performance and poor presentation of our cause in WTO have put this industry at the verge of destruction.

The minerals are also vital natural resources available in great quantity. Pakistan has fifth largest copper and gold reserves in the world. The Riko deq project, copper and gold reservoir, have been estimated to be worth of 260 billion dollars, which is ten times the all financial aid received from USA in last sixty year. But instead of exploiting own resources for economic independence, country has been dependent on foreign aid. How rich Pakistan is, and how poor Pakistanis are! There are other partially untapped resources of rock salts, Gypsum, lime stone, iron, marble, and silica sand in large quantities. These resources have not been exploited due to corruption and bottlenecks in political and bureaucratic culture. 

The most important of the natural resources in this globalized world is human resource. Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world having large share of 'young population' i.e. 63 percent below age of 25 years, according to United Nations Development Programme. But the failed policies have caused mounting unemployment of 15 percent. The resource which could be used to enhance the economic activity is left to no use which is adding to the increase in poverty. The lack of opportunities leading to the brain drain of talented minds has further worsened the situation.

The above analysis reveals that Pakistan is not poor, but poorly managed country. The factors which have caused the poor management of natural resources include political instability, political indecision making / divergence, lack of vision and planning, flawed policies, bureaucratic bottlenecks and corruption, lack of human resource development, worsened law and order situation. These factors have led not only to the poor management of natural resources but also to the poor governance of country.

The political instability has been the main cause of such mayhem. Since the independence, no political group in Pakistan has been given enough time to be mature. The military interference in politics and rivalry among political stakeholders are the key features of brief history of this country. This inconsistency has kept the exploitation of natural wealth unattended. The divergence of opinion on construction of water resources has deprived the country of storing the surplus water for agriculture and electricity generation. However, this could be overcome by vision and planning, which is a scarce commodity here. Instead of controversial big dams several small reservoirs could be constructed, had a pragmatic approach prevailed among the decision making machinery.

Coupled with this, the flawed policies of successive governments have caused tremendous problems despite availability of adequate resources. The energy sector is a vivid example of such poor management. The major chunk of the electricity is produced through thermal generation for which almost 80 percent of oil is imported. Whereas the second largest treasure of coal in the world is left unexplored as it contributes only 2 percent of electricity generation. Countries like US, China and India generate electricity by almost 60 percent from coal due to its lower cost. This shows how other countries take cost of electricity generation into serious consideration.

However, it would be unfair to put all the burden of poor resource management on the political factors. The bureaucratic bottlenecks and corruption have been equally responsible for this undesirable scenario. Several hydro power projects, Thar coal project, and oil exploration projects are in doldrums due to bureaucratic bottlenecks. There is no headway in solar and wind energy projects planned by Alternative Energy Development Board. Similarly, corruption has also been extremely detrimental. The standstill in the Riko deq project is an example of this case. Pakistan is ranked at 34 in Corruption Perception Index 2010 by Transparency International, which is a discouraging factor for foreign direct investment.

In addition, the worsened law and order situation has caused severe blow to the economy in general and natural resource management in particular. The volatile situation in Balochistan is harmful to the exploitation of resources. The Gawadar port, despite being located at crucial location, has not been made fully functional. Other projects of mineral exploration are also affected. The terrorism in the northern areas has been harmful for the potential tourism industry. 

These factors of poor management have placed Pakistan in an undesirable situation domestically and internationally. The socio-economic situation remains gloomy as the GDP growth rate is one of the lowest in South Asia at 2.2 percent, trade deficit is estimated about $16 billion, inflation rate continues to be in double digits at 15 percent, population below poverty line is alarmingly around 35 percent, and unemployment is at 15 percent. 

Also, it does not enjoy a favorable position among the comity of nations. It is ranked 123rd out of 139 countries in Global Competitive Index; it is at 134th among 192 in Human development Index by UNDP; and it occupies the critical position of 12th in Failed States Index 2011 issued by Foreign Policy Magazine.

The country has been economically dependent on foreign aid and debt, which has adversely affected her standing in international community. However, despite Pakistan's crucial role in west's geostrategic framework and war on terror, the allies end up donating small amounts of grants which make fractions of what could be obtained from exploiting own natural resources. The external debts and liabilities have nearly doubled from $ 37 billion in year 2000, to $ 59.5 billion in year 2011.

Nevertheless, the worst impact so far is the energy crises in Pakistan. There is serious shortfall of electricity, gas and oil. Electricity demand exceeds supply and “load shedding” is a common phenomenon. The shortfall of electricity reaches at 4000-5000 MW which badly affected industry, eventually leading to decreased exports and diminished economic activity.

These adverse implications, of the extremely poor management of resources, on the economy and society in the country, warrant a serious approach and comprehensive strategy to reverse the trend. The pragmatic approach and policy direction can help the country to be able to rely on its own resources instead of dependency.

Pakistani leadership must focus on exploration of natural resources and their scientific management. Properly managed natural resources can become instrumental in national income and its growth. Extensive geological survey is required to discover the resource potential, planning and vision is needed to explore the proved but untapped resources and effective strategy is essential to fully exploit the resources under use.

In order to take maximum benefits from natural resources there is the need of technical education of people involved in resource exploitation and management. The technical education ensures that there is minimum wastage of the resources. Hence, such education should be made compulsory for the people in concerned areas of activity. 

On the other hand, the politicians, policy makers and all the stake holders must adopt a rational approach not to politicize natural resources. It should be prioritized as the vital national interest and dealt with as such. The controversies on the management of water and mineral resources must be resolved pragmatically for best interest of the nation. 

Last but not the least, worsened law and order situation in Pakistan, which has led to the lack of investment, must be checked. The private firms engaged in resource exploration must be protected by the state. Ensuring the security, would attract investment in the respective areas which would subsequently guarantee the inflow of capital in the national economy and the resource potential could be fully exploited. 

It needs not to be emphasised that Pakistan is not poor but poor management of its natural resources has made it so. The enormous natural resources of all kinds like energy, minerals, agriculture, and human could have made this country a wealthy economy. Instead, there been bleak picture of economy and undesirable image outside due to the chronic flaws in vision and policies. Thus, the daunting challenge of poor management of natural resources direly needs to be addressed not only to overcome the perils caused due to it but also to achieve economic self sufficiency and prosperity of the nation. By surpassing this challenge, Pakistan is destined to have eminence place in the world as a stable, growing and prosperous nation.

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Liberal Education

Education is the most important factor behind the progress man has achieved in this world. It has been the permanent character of human history and evolution of thought. However, in the past, it used to be prerogative of only a few privileged men and the pace of development was quite slow. Since it has been disseminated to common people, there has been rapid growth in every sphere of development: science, technology, sociology, politics, anthropology, etc. Now it is treated as basic human right of every man. Though, it encompasses a wide sphere of knowledge, it has been metamorphosed by man according to his needs. It has been mainly applied as a tool of economic development, which has limited its application. Consequently, people are deprived of the potential education offers for the overall development of personality and stability of society. The chaos in modern world is also partly due to this fault. Therefore, in order to meet the multi-dimensional challenges, man faces in the world, it is essential to impart real education i.e. liberal education. 

The liberal education has been defined in many ways, though emphasizing the similar essential elements. The best definition is offered by the “Association of American Colleges and Universities”.

“Liberal education means to empower an individual and prepare him to deal with diversity, complexity and change”. 

As manifest from the definition, the purpose of education is to enable man to surpass the challenges faced in the world, to know and obtain his rights and to accommodate himself in the constantly changing environment in the present day competitive world. 

The importance of liberal education in this contemporary globalised world is greatest than ever before. The world has become so shaped that every economic and social activity requires modern and advanced means of communication and technology. The transformation of technological development is on a very fast track. There is a demand of more interactive and communica tive manpower to run this complex system. Moreover, despite the interdependence on each other, the diversity in different areas is in sharp contrast. Hence, the man is required to be quite sufficiently prepared to move forward. And the instrument that can enable him to face these challenges is nothing but liberal education. 

This is why the renowned scholar “Skarnovey” says: “Liberal education: the developing countries must adopt it as it is a necessity”. Nevertheless, it is essential for every nation but the developed countries are already ahead in this sphere. The developing countries, which are still far behind, need to forge efforts to transform their education system in order to catch up with the rest of the world. Not only because it helps in achieving economic development but also because it fulfills the need of society in every sphere of life. 

The sphere of liberal education is wide enough to call it real education. Basically, education is aimed to develop whole being of a person. It is necessary to educate man to learn social ethics, cultural values, religious obligations, ways and means of a stable society and skills of professional competitiveness. Liberal education, simply, fulfills all these essential needs. It emphasises the development of a citizen who is professionally capable of living in the society in civilised way - the way which is not only beneficial to himself alone, but also fruitful for other members of his family, community and society.

It is best elaborated in the words of Kurth Kahin; “Liberal education teaches something about everything and everything about something”. His words can be best understood by contrast to the maxim “Jack of all; master of none”. Simultaneously, there are also people who are “Jack of none but master of one”. The people, who acquire general education without proficiency in any specific subject, are explained by the first maxim. While some people who are very skilled and highly qualified in one field like an engineer, scientist or doctor but do not know any other subject or field of life; these are referred to the latter assumption. However, liberal education is a moderate way between both the polar positions. It is aimed at making a person 'a good professional in any one field' and also to 'possess knowledge and skills about other important fields'. More importantly, it makes constructive members of society better described as “Jack of all; master of one”.

In such a way, the objectives of liberal education are multifaceted, which address the requirement of society to a considerable extent. These objectives are briefly discussed here:

Firstly, it is the most important for a man to be an informed citizen. The people who are concerned only with their single professional field of occupation cannot be ideally good citizens. They would only be members and nationals of a community or nation. A good citizen is required to be participatory in the social and political building of community, which is the foundation of any society. As the actions of man are based on information and knowledge, without these none understands the obligation towards community and resultantly remains inactive member of society. However, but if the students are inculcated the knowledge of their needs and roles, they would be quite prepared to foresee occurrences and would direct their thoughts and actions towards social and political participation. This can be achieved when the system of education is made liberal which does not aspire to produce only technical robots in human shape but informed and good citizens. 

Secondly, the philosophy of liberal education envisages the development of creative thinking among the students. Creative thinking has acquired fundamental place in the education system of advanced countries. The students are encouraged to “think a new”. The creative experiments, creative writings and creative art lead to frame the development of thought process. Though, it is practised in western countries, it owes its origin to the most influential scholars and artists of Greek period and early Muslim era. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Ibn-e-Khaldun, Galileo, Khuw-arzmi, Newton, to name a few, all were creative thinkers. In short, whole of the development in the world and education itself is the result of creative thinking. On the contrary, the limited application of education is insufficient to produce brilliant minds. The specific technological development devoid of human values and ethics has failed to form the basis of a viable society. Thus, it is the objective of liberal education to teach the students various subjects like history, sociology, philosophy and psychology besides their professional field, so that creative thought is encouraged to be developed among them. Therefore, we need to introduce liberal education in order to secure our future based on collective ideals. 

Thirdly, liberal education improves the skills and competitiveness of students, which is necessary to enable them to get foothold in the competitive market. For example a typist may have good efficiency in his field but computers have replaced typewriter. People like to get their papers typed on computer in order to save their document and to get good command. Now, the excellent typist is in trouble, he would go jobless in the market unless he learns to operate computer. Same is the case with every field of employment. The modes of technology are being transformed very rapidly. In order to meet the demands of market one should be quite prepared and skilled. Hence, the knowledge of mathematics, science, computer literacy and technological acquaintance are necessary to be imparted to the students, which can be achieved through liberal education. 

Fourthly, as the world has become a global village, the importance of communication skills has been increased manifold. A person must be proficient in national and at least one international language. He must know how to send e-mail, voice-mail or to carryout visual communication. The social change compels the person to change the job for better opportunities. The talented people feel an urge to move towards other countries as well in order to actualise their talent and to obtain maximum result. This is where the communication skills are mostly required. All the communication techniques, basically, listening, speaking and writing are essential ingredients. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the skills of students through methods of listening comprehension and speaking ability tests. All the examinations of foreign languages comprise these elements and even very talented students from developing countries fail to go abroad due to lack of these communication skills in international languages.

These few objectives of liberal education underline its importance and need in the developing countries, including Pakistan. Unfortunately, it has not been taken seriously. 

The system of education in our country is obsolete. It is devoid of the contemporary methodology of teaching and the curriculum is almost from primary to university level. Computer is studied as a field of study only, not as a skill. Even in most of the universities it is taught only to the students of computer department seeking degree in that subject, let alone its use at primary and secondary level. In universities the students of other subjects like sociology, languages, arts and other sciences are not taught the computer skills. This lags them far behind from students of other countries and few quality institutes of the country. 

Same is true of languages. English though introduced from primary level, is not taught according to the modern techniques of comprehension. Only reading lessons and knowing meaning of words cannot enable students to master the language. The methodology of English departments in universities is also in question. The national language, Urdu, is also not focused at any level of education. Learning of both these languages is important to produce capable and competitive students at the national and international level. 

The fate of the students of other subjects is also not much different. On the one hand, they are deprived of computer and language skills; on the other they do not become proficient in their field of interest as the proper methodology is not applied. Faculty members are not well qualified, research is not pursued and creative thought is ignored. 

These defects of our education system are the main reasons of the chaos, unemployment, poverty and social instability in our society. In order to overcome these shortcomings, we must adopt the liberal education system without any further delay. However, this requires a well thought out and comprehensive policy to improve the existing education system.

Primarily, we should redesign our curriculum at all levels. All the major components/subjects of liberal education: sociology humanism, citizenship, history, philosophy, languages, computer and sciences must be introduced in every tier of education from primary to university levels in accordance with the capacity of students and the needs of society. 

Secondarily, all the institutions should be equipped with computer and scientific laboratories and libraries. The research and creative thinking should be encouraged through modern techniques of education. In this regard the accessibility and equality of all sections of our stratified society must be ensured in order to achieve uniform development. 

Lastly, the faculty must be energised by providing skilled and experienced teachers. The existing teachers should be trained to equip them with modern techniques of teaching methodology. Fresh and young blood must be encouraged to join education field as a profession by enhancing the monetary incentives in the education sector. 

This policy will yield tremendous benefits to the future of a nation. The liberal education is hailed because it brings concrete advantages. The young generation of Pakistan makes bulk of the population of country. According to a report of the State Bank of Pakistan 65 per cent of the educated youth is unemployed due to irrelevance of their skills with market. If this portion of population is properly skilled, it will prove to be a boost to the economy as the manpower is considered a resource in all countries of the world. 

Another benefit would be the eradication of poverty. Once our youth are employed, they will naturally add to the income of their families and consequently eradicate their poverty. It will also help in raising the living standard of our common man as it is directly proportional to the income of a family. 

The liberal education would create sense of understanding and cooperation among the people. The contemporary chaos of extremism and isolationism are due to lack of approach towards collective interests and common goals among people. Once they realise their social obligations and think creatively they will initiate participating positively in the stability of society. 

It is quite clearly manifested from the discussion that liberal education, which is the real education, is an essential component of good governance and stable society. It not only helps an individual to progressively achieve goals but also gives impetus to economic, political and social stability to a state. In short, it forms the basis of human development in this complex global world of diversity and challenges. It offers a way towards a better change.

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