Speakers at the meeting of Shura Hamdard Karachi chapter urged the government to make arrangements for imparting education in mother tongs and national language to the children and take on board the teachers while drafting new education policy.The meeting was held on the theme ‘Outdated and class-based education system is an impediment in progress of the nation’, presided over by Justice Haqizul Khairi at Hamdard Centre, Nazimabad, Karachi. Speaking on the occasion, guest speaker and seasoned journalist, Zubeida Mustafa said that children could learn easily in national and other languages of the country as they would often listen them in homes, mohallahs, streets and on TV channels as well but not English, so they would find much difficulty in understanding the English. The children of English medium schools learned only through rote learning, thus lost their capability of thinking and deliberation, she added.
The class-based system of education is creating further divide in our society. Education improves mind, makes values and no society can make progress without education. But it is 2-edge sword and if doesn’t use adequately it can harm the society’, she said, adding: ‘what we teach to our children they would become the same, it is therefore essential to change the education syllabi by deleting the controversial things for the sake of national unity.
She lamented that there was rampant corruption in education departments, standard of education had fallen down, ghost schools and teachers were there to spoil the education and the direct victims of this illegal practice were the children. It did not matter how much children were being taught, but what was being taught to them, it mattered, she added.
Justice (Rtd) Haziqul Khair said that the Pakistan movement and two-nation theory were the powerful voice of Muslims of subcontinent against the social, economic and political injustices, done by the majority. It was not a war of Islam verses infidelity as was being painted in syllabi of Pakistani children.The area on which Pakistan has now been established was acclaimed as Indus Valley of civilizations where several civilizations were born and Islam was introduced here by the Muslim saints. But all these historical facts were not mentioned in books of children’s syllabi, he added ‘We listen too much about English, but there are few people in our society who can understand English, that’s why the only two English TV channels could not service in our country and were closed, he maintained.
Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan said that if the elite class of Pakistan would make a point to spend only one percent of its income on education there would be no illiteracy in the country within short time. Setting up schools and colleges in their respective areas should be made mandatory for the feudal lords, he added.
Khalid Ikramullah Khan was of the view that until we followed the first order of Allah to read (Iqra) we were the leader of the world. Members of National Assembly and provincial assemblies were always very keen to increase the budget of education in order to plunder it but they didn’t spend it on opening schools and colleges in their respective constituencies, he said, adding: ‘If one educated person takes responsibility to educate an illiterate person it would make a great difference to illiteracy in our country’ professor Muhammad Rafi was of the opinion that education system would not change in the country unless a change in mindset of ruling class was not occurred. In-put of teachers in education policy was quite necessary as they taught and had practical experience of teaching and dealing with students. Commander (Rtd) Sadeed Anwar Malik said that no nation could develop and progress through a borrowed language and without qualitative higher education.