“O bard! Sing of a collective song
We have nothing to do with the moaning for your beloved” (Faiz Ahmed Faiz)
Quite a few songs we are left with and even they are so personal, subjective and highly individual.
The song of superiority and righteousness have replaced the tenderness,
That we feel when we bow before our beloved
Or when one commits the sin
And raises the bastard child
That the mother has put on the doorway.
The righteousness relieves us of the guilt
Which so abounds in us
Have we ever stayed for a while
And thought of the very guilt that tortures us?
So sing of the guilt that we unconsciously feel
Sing of those sins which very few among us would knowingly commit.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Introduction of Culture in the Education System
The devolution of education and culture ministries to the provinces in the aftermath of 18th amendment is an opportunity not only to strengthen the federation and address the long standing structural issues within the state but it has also deeper implications for our education system which has so far aggravated the crisis of identity. An autonomous province with having the power to devise curricula in line with its cultural sensitivities would augment the efforts for educational and personal growth.
The real challenges ahead of us are not really related to the capacity of the provinces as some among us would believe. What is done has been done in a good faith and all of us must welcome it with open heart. The real challenge lies how would we translate autonomy into the genuine aspirations of the people. We would need time to ponder over what has to be done on short term and long term basis. As a starter we can begin with reforming our education sector on modern pluralistic ideals.
The current structures of the federating unit are such that not a single ethnic and linguistic group lives within each of them. All the provinces have cultural diversities and our curricula must be cognizant of these diversities. Moreover, we will have to face the language issue not simply as medium of instruction but also as a tool to empower the people and solve the issues of identity. We must also be sensitive enough to the fact that there is embedded wisdom in a culture and promotion, preservation and revival of the indigenous cultural heritage of all the cultures are triggers and catalysts for growth and development. The importance of culture as “right” of homogenous groups is specifically to be understood amid the forces of globalization, corporate sector and the legacy of religious ideology which has seriously threatened indigenous creativity.
Whatever short term measures we would take we would not be able to absolve ourselves of the labels as being prone to become careless and tending to stick to the same ad hocism through which we have be running the state for the last sixty four years. We have to think broader and plan for the future.
Education system is one of the few sectors or perhaps the single most important sector where we have to invest on emergency footing. But education is not merely to build more schools and strive for relatively comfortable and friendly environment for the children. We would need to overhaul the whole system and revise the curriculum in line with the modern and up-to-date researches especially the educational researches which are being conducted indigenously. Recent such researches are available which are eye-opener and which include such work as “Inclusive & Child Friendly Schools in Pakistan Best Practices and Challenges” by the Children Global Network Pakistan. Another important report is the “Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) ASER-Pakistan 2010” by South Asian Forum for Education Development. Yet another marvelous work about the language issue in Pakistan is done by Zubeida Mustafa with the name “Tyranny of Language in Education the Problem and its Solution”. These researches have up-to-date information and concrete recommendation to be implemented by the decision makers.
The social sector is much ahead of the public sector in Pakistan in terms of quality. We need to look for the successful models and take help from them during planning and implementation. One such endeavor in the educational sector is the pilot project the Baacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation is undertaking in its schools. Under the project culture is being introduced in the school system and children from nursery classes are trained in folkloric expression and indigenous visual arts, crafts and performing arts. This is the first ever attempt to reinvigorate the eroded indigenous culture of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA through education system and to pave the way for a futuristic vision in education by providing spaces for indigenous creative expressions. The hallmark of the curriculum is introducing the concepts of knowledge based economy and industry based education to the primary and secondary classes so that the students’ orientation starts from the very beginning and long term policies for poverty alleviation are being implemented by the decision makers.
The real challenges ahead of us are not really related to the capacity of the provinces as some among us would believe. What is done has been done in a good faith and all of us must welcome it with open heart. The real challenge lies how would we translate autonomy into the genuine aspirations of the people. We would need time to ponder over what has to be done on short term and long term basis. As a starter we can begin with reforming our education sector on modern pluralistic ideals.
The current structures of the federating unit are such that not a single ethnic and linguistic group lives within each of them. All the provinces have cultural diversities and our curricula must be cognizant of these diversities. Moreover, we will have to face the language issue not simply as medium of instruction but also as a tool to empower the people and solve the issues of identity. We must also be sensitive enough to the fact that there is embedded wisdom in a culture and promotion, preservation and revival of the indigenous cultural heritage of all the cultures are triggers and catalysts for growth and development. The importance of culture as “right” of homogenous groups is specifically to be understood amid the forces of globalization, corporate sector and the legacy of religious ideology which has seriously threatened indigenous creativity.
Whatever short term measures we would take we would not be able to absolve ourselves of the labels as being prone to become careless and tending to stick to the same ad hocism through which we have be running the state for the last sixty four years. We have to think broader and plan for the future.
Education system is one of the few sectors or perhaps the single most important sector where we have to invest on emergency footing. But education is not merely to build more schools and strive for relatively comfortable and friendly environment for the children. We would need to overhaul the whole system and revise the curriculum in line with the modern and up-to-date researches especially the educational researches which are being conducted indigenously. Recent such researches are available which are eye-opener and which include such work as “Inclusive & Child Friendly Schools in Pakistan Best Practices and Challenges” by the Children Global Network Pakistan. Another important report is the “Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) ASER-Pakistan 2010” by South Asian Forum for Education Development. Yet another marvelous work about the language issue in Pakistan is done by Zubeida Mustafa with the name “Tyranny of Language in Education the Problem and its Solution”. These researches have up-to-date information and concrete recommendation to be implemented by the decision makers.
The social sector is much ahead of the public sector in Pakistan in terms of quality. We need to look for the successful models and take help from them during planning and implementation. One such endeavor in the educational sector is the pilot project the Baacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation is undertaking in its schools. Under the project culture is being introduced in the school system and children from nursery classes are trained in folkloric expression and indigenous visual arts, crafts and performing arts. This is the first ever attempt to reinvigorate the eroded indigenous culture of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA through education system and to pave the way for a futuristic vision in education by providing spaces for indigenous creative expressions. The hallmark of the curriculum is introducing the concepts of knowledge based economy and industry based education to the primary and secondary classes so that the students’ orientation starts from the very beginning and long term policies for poverty alleviation are being implemented by the decision makers.
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