System of education plays a crucial role in the general behavior of a nation. We used to stop at the traffic light when it would turn red. We lifted our foot off the accelerator when saw a pedestrian passing by in front our cars. Sometimes if we crashed walking into one another, we would pass smiles, and this would never start up a scuffle.
Then the traffic lights went off and we crashed over the traffic sergeant making him bite the dust. We agreed to end a precious life of the only son of a mother in return for an old bike costing few thousands of rupees.
We reared devils in the guise of humans who mutilated the little lilies before they could even discern the pool around. We turned into ultra-reactionary people, ones whose woes defined their destinies. What and where did we go off grid? Is it the filth of politics alone which we all blame or do we need to really look out for some other adversaries, too?
Every education system is spirited in soul through a thought or philosophy which declares the vivid objectives and characteristics which the state would want to instill in its citizenry
The nations which stand civilized today were never so before. They began as brute barbarian and as pitch ignorant as could be possible but then something magical transformed them.
The common factor which turned around their ignorant pathos into civilized ethos was education system. The credit is always mistakenly associated with some heavens dawned inspirational leaders who changed their destinies, but structural analysis reveals it was their educational philosophy which lifted them off the days of darkened draconian idiocy.
Every education system is spirited in soul through a thought or philosophy which declares the vivid objectives and characteristics which the state would want to instil in its citizenry. This also contains the technical and professional classifications which the state would want to order in the country.
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All that which we call values, norms, social habits, attributes and qualities are vividly explained in this saga of educational philosophy. The means and methods to cater for those objectives and milestones, when added to the superstructure of this vocalized philosophy, engineer our education system.
Poor Education situation in Pakistan#One_Education_System_For_All pic.twitter.com/xoCTVakbme
— #ریڈ_لائن_کراس_ہوگئی (@MAli484484) January 8, 2020
This system defines the number, quality and potential of let’s say not only how many but also what type of engineers, doctors, scientists, innovators, entrepreneurs, activists, volunteers and thinkers we require in our state. The education system driven by a faithful philosophy describes both the nature and the nurture of the human stuff we would want to aspire to.
Contrarily, our education, like our society, has fallen to the social statuses and socio-economic classes and all the elements we call social ills are equally rampant in our education system. The system is producing individuals who are either not required in our national stream of national issues or producing the class of individuals which are the source of our national issues in our national stream.
This is a unique education system which has parted ways with the social roots. The effect is that we cannot see ourselves in this system and beguiled by identity crisis we seek ways to find deceptions
Allama Iqbal’s remark “Juda ho deen siayast say tu reh jati hai chengazi” befits our education system with the later compete detachment with our society.
This is a unique education system which has parted ways with the social roots. The effect is that we cannot see ourselves in this system and beguiled by identity crisis we seek ways to find deceptions.
The result is that we may have excellent doctors but no hearts which could feel; expert economists but seriously oriented to making illicit piles of wealth; good entrepreneurs but Master of Social exploitation and vocal academicians but blindfolded by foreign consumerist ideas.
The originality is lost in the way and this provides us with an education system alien to our needs, requirements and demands and one that would never have any social impact in redefining our social ethos and integrity.
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Education system must rest in the society and society is a complex mix of people, beliefs, religions, castes and customs. The system should be liberal enough to accommodate all equally without marking anyone within the social brackets as minority or discriminated on religious grounds.
#China is investing in everything in #Pakistan. And it is a welcoming gesture
BUT
If China wants PAKISTAN to be on its feet permanently, I request China to invest in our education system. Schools. Colleges. Universities.
Teach us how to fish & we will fish for ourselves.
— Mir Mohammad Alikhan (@MirMAKOfficial) February 11, 2020
Since the society is of all, the education system must be such that it appeals to all quite equally. There are social problems within a society and these problems must be understood in social frame of reference without attaching them the so much overused strings of religion.
Education is the medium of self-realization and when it cannot perform that function, it becomes meaningless to the society. Our educational philosophy must be well spelled out.
The philosophy must clearly revolve our current and future national issues and the system to be arranged must base on achieving these ends
It must tell in definite terms what kinds of people are we looking for and how to fall back in love with our motherland rather than being made to fall in this love affair. The philosophy must clearly revolve our current and future national issues and the system to be arranged must base on achieving these ends.
The re-setting of our education philosophy and consequential rearrangement of our education system is the need of the hour. Our best brains and educationalists must sit together to not only locate issues but also come up with concrete suggestions in reclaiming our future which lies in a robust education system.
Giving out this mandate to the clumsy politicians and the fattened bureaucracy would mean nothing more than mutilating the ethos of this audacious activity. It is not the need of the hour but is rather the only last ray of hope left to us if however, we would want to live long and live better.
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Otherwise, it would be the same traffic lights we would be violating and the same people going down our vehicles. Readjusting the educational philosophy and system today would not be a magic work to start harvesting results in years. The impact would take a generation to come off but at least we would be remembered by our generation in some sober words.
Muhammad Jahangir Kakar is a civil servant and socio-political analyst based in Quetta works for the government of Baluchistan. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.