ABSTRACT
In the late 1980s, Pakistan's average per capita income was very close to the line that separated the low- and middle-income countries. At that time Pakistan should have achieved a relatively high level of social development. Economists agree that the cycles of poverty and economic backwardness cannot be broken. The social, cultural, and political orientation of this class differed from that of the rest of Indian and Pakistani Muslim society: Its ethos and disposition were much more Western. Pakistan's educational problems result from a combination of social, economic, and political factors. Over the years the educational system evolved in a way that produced deep fissures in the society. As further social and economic changes occur, the government must respond to them in ways that are productive and not destructive for the society. The economic boom in the Middle East began within a half a decade of the start of the green revolution, and its income distributive impact was equally pronounced.
