Speakers stress uniform education system for national unity

PESHAWAR: The speakers at a function called for introducing a uniform education system in the country as that would lead to national unity.

They were addressing the Shoora-e-Hamdard, a monthly regular interactive session, arranged by the Hamdard Foundation, Pakistan.

The topic was “The national unity and system of education”. A writer, columnist, cultural activist and Shoora-e-Hamdard Speaker, Dr Salahuddin, presided over the programme.

The main speaker was Professor Dr Dost Muhammad Khan, a former director of the Sheikh Zaid Islamic Centre, University of Peshawar.

He said the Holy Quran and Hadees had given us the concept of Millat. According to the Holy Quran and Hadees, Millat means unity of all the Muslims and their collective problems and resources, explained the academician.

Referring to the past, Dr Dost Muhammad Khan said, unfortunately, conspiracies in the third decade of the 20th century led to the abolition of Khilafat that weakened the Muslim rulers and their power the world over.

He said the Muslims were now divided into various states, no doubt, they were members of the organisations such as Organisation of Islamic Cooperation but the concept of Millat had faded away.

The professor said the system and medium of education in all the Muslim societies could take them to the common interests. “This will provide unity to the Muslims,” he elaborated.

Dr Dost Muhammad Khan said, “If we look at the educational system of our country, we see that people speaking different languages.”

The main speaker said teacher, syllabus and the state have importance to the educational system. He believed the state was not fully shouldering own responsibilities in various fields and that included education as well.

The speaker believed that the different syllabi were leading to the young generation to mental confusion.

The professor lamented that a teacher receives a salary but does not fulfil his responsibilities keeping in view the needs of the students.

Earlier, Hamdard Speaker Dr Salahuddin introduced the topic to the audience. He said the government had been busy in dealing with the political issues since the day it assumed power, ignoring other sectors.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised to implement the uniform education system in the country during his election campaign. There is a need to remind him of his promise and enforce a uniform education system,” he argued.

Other participants, including Syed Mushtaq Hussain Shah Bukhari, Professor Dr Fakhrul Islam, Sardar Farooq Ahmad Jan Babar, Ghazala Yousaf, Kanwal Aftab Khattak, Dr Iqbal Khalil, Professor Roshan Khattak, Dr Rashid Mahmood, Anjum Siddiqui, Abdul Qadeer Najafi, and Samina Effat also expressed views on the topic when the house was open.