Speakers at a two-day conference berated the government for adopting poor policies toward the youth, leading to diminishing critical thinking and promoting radical trends among them.
They also urged the need for the revival of student unions in educational institutes of the country, underlining that this is the only way to promote diversity and inclusion among the youth.
These views were expressed at a consultation titled “Promoting Narratives of Diversity, Inclusion, and Peace among University Students in Sindh”, organised by Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) on Friday and Saturday.
Lawmakers, academicians, students, journalists, human rights activists and representatives of the civil society participated in the event.
Dr Naeem Ahmed, chairperson of the Department of International Relations, the University of Karachi, said that universities were considered to be the nurseries of political young minds. “It is the duty of the state to provide them facilities to develop critical thinking among them.”
He said there was a need for reorientation, at a large scale, of policymaking towards the youth. Arsalan Taj, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA, said that there was an ever-increasing social divide in the society which was also reflected in the education system. “Our education system discourages questioning among our students,” he said. “The same was necessary to promote critical thinking among the youth.”
Dr Sajida Zaki of the NED University of Engineering and Technology underlined that they didn’t have academic freedom on campuses. She said the teacher couldn’t raise questions about certain issues in the classroom.
Dr Zaki Rashidi of Iqra University said they had connected certain degrees with money and that society was running after them. “We are preparing a curriculum keeping in mind the needs of the industry.”
MPA Mangla Sharma said the youth usually shaped up their thoughts at the primary level and they first needed to focus on this system of education. She deplored that the education system was flawed because the youth saw everything from the telescope of religion. She added that the content of civic education was absent from the present educational curriculum.
Dr Sikandar Mehdi, educationist and researcher, said that the youth of Pakistan were born slaves and they could not revolutionise themselves within no time. He pointed out that the education system was class-based. “If we need to change things, we should revive student unions.”
“A teacher's work was not a transfer of knowledge but he has to become a mentor,” he said. “The purpose of teaching is not indoctrination among students; rather, it means that you can question, think critically, and issues are identified and their solution is found.”
Asad Iqbal Butt, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s co-chair, said the students were facing an identity crisis and they had no platform to carry out positive activities. “All this has resulted in promoting violent trends among them.”
He called for enhancing funds for public sector universities. Senior journalist and activist Sohail Sangi, in his concluding remarks, said that the problem with Pakistan was that the state did not want to give rights to citizens, wanted to diminish progressive ideas among them and promoted the idea of centralism. He also supported the proposal for the revival of student unions in educational institutes, saying that unions promoted diversity and tolerance among students and had the capacity to accommodate all ethnic and other groups.
Senior journalist and intellectual Ghazi Salahuddin said education was the only means to provide equal opportunities to citizens. “Education is meant to be an equaliser, but it has become a divider in Pakistan.”
Kapil Dev, a rights activist, said the slogan of the state was not inclusive as it represented the majority only. “The state should make its slogan inclusive. This could help the youth to become diverse and inclusive.”
Senior journalist Wusatullah Khan said the class difference had increased in the wake of the rapid growth of private schools in the country’s education sector. He stressed that the policymakers should look into this problem.
Senior journalists Zia Ur Rehman and Veengas also spoke at the event. Earlier, Muhammad Amir Rana, PIP’s executive director, in his introductory remarks said that the purpose of the exercise was to identify loopholes in the education system and the issues faced by the youth.
Ahmed Ali, PIPS’ programme manager, shared the findings of the report with the participants.
The report underlines that Sindh, the second largest province of Pakistan, had been seeing an upsurge in incidents of violence against religious, sectarian and ethnic minorities since the beginning of the 21st century.
The Sindh province, which has the largest Hindu population in the country, is also grappling with issues like forced conversions of Hindu girls and vandalization of Hindu temples, according to the study report.
The research study says that there is a massive need to upgrade the education system by making classes more interactive and inclusive. The curriculum must be sensitive about the portrayal of minorities, and it should encourage critical and rational thinking among the youth, it adds.