Shah Shoaib Hashmi
The motive and intention of Education is development of people for life while equipping them with the knowledge and skills which will contribute to a thriving society, ultimately. If we observe this happening on the national spectrum, Education must be the engine of our nation’s economy, it must be the foundation of our religion & culture and it must be an essential preparation for adults’ lives. Successful placement and disposition of these three objectives at the heart of Pakistani Educational System, will give birth to the national instinct and intuition which will deliver the social justice in Pakistan, eventually. Educational System in Pakistan, very uniquely, should provide young people firstly with the grasp and perception of knowledge & skills and secondly should nurture the young people with motivation for further professional studies. Prime element of Pakistani Educational System should enable our young people to fabricate the attitude of “willingness to learn”, that will give birth in them, a power to make informed decisions in their everyday lives, including about their employment, personal, national and regional targets. We all have a responsibility to educate the next Pakistani generation as informed citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought & said, and instilling in them a love of knowledge & culture, for their own sake. Education must also be about the practical business of ensuring that young people receive skills they need to secure a good job and a fulfilling career. Pakistani Educational environment must enhance features of resilience and moral character in our young people to overcome upcoming future’s national and regional challenges presented to them as a Pakistani nation. I like to mention here some international facts and figures. Articles 28 and 29 of the “Convention on the Rights of the Child” published by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in 2018, not only elucidate and highlight a child’s right to an education but also explicate on the quality and content of education. Article 28 spells out that “state parties should recognise the right of children to education” and “should take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity.” Article 29 focuses on the aims of education and says that governments must agree that “the education of the child shall be directed to the development of the child’s personality, the development of respect for human rights, the development of respect for the child’s parents & their cultural identity and the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society”. In my point of view, the most important essence of Education and educational system of Pakistan must be creating “willingness to learn” in the students. In my professional experience, I have observed thousands of students with willingness to learn who then excelled very well in their personal and professional lives than the students who were intelligent but lacking willingness to learn. Education should enable all students to develop the knowledge, interest and skills that empower them to connect and apprehend with the incidences happening around them with confidence and pleasure. Then, these high quality Intelligence Quotient (IQ) students with elite conscious will make evidence-based decisions to shape their personal and national future, magnified by adventures & inventions of medicine, science and technology. I will take a chance to restate a statement from the “Education 2030 Framework for Action (FFA)” published by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which describes education as consisting of essential learning tools such as literacy, numeracy and problem solving combined with knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required by human beings to survive, develop potential, to improve the quality of their lives, to make informed decisions and again, to continue learning. In my way of analytical thinking, national identity is formed by a society that exists in it. Therefore, all the science of education in terms of skills, academic content and personal development, is very important to the country, in forming the personality of today’s Pakistani youth. Education received by our students today is what shapes the identity of the country in future. Hence, quality education is a dynamic concept of change. Quality education evolves over time and changes in the context of a nation’s social and economic scenarios. Wehmeyer (1996) states that self-assertiveness is the foundation of one’s life. Through quality education, individuals can understand their hearts’ desires, build self-esteem among them and build confidence to face the world & society. Assertiveness and confidence is a knowledge derived from a nation’s educational system, with firm application of which, individuals are capable of making choices, decisions and reactions on external events. Pakistani individual should be able to break free from outside unwanted socio economic influences or interferences. Unfortunately, at the nick of time, Pakistani nation lacking all these attributes in their national personas and it is only because of fundamental lackings in the Pakistani Educational System. Article 29 focuses on the aims of education and says that governments must agree that “the education of the child shall be directed to the development of the child’s personality, the development of respect for human rights, the development of respect for the child’s parents & their cultural identity and the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society”. I take this chance to urge provincial and federal governments of Pakistan to take emergency measures to introduce quality education for the Pakistani youth. Pakistani youth are one of the best talent on the planet but regrettably being wasted only because of lack of quality and purpose built Educational System. I yearn on Pakistani relevant educational authorities to act and act fast, according to the dictate and ultimatum of our Pakistani youth’s educational needs, so that our next generations can accomplish all socio-economic challenges of both Metro and Cosmo levels.