Speakers at a workshop were of the view that teachers could play a positive role in taking the country out of intellectual crisis, as they impart values and thinking and communication skills to promote tolerance and understanding in the society.
They said that to enable mutual co-existence in our diverse country, it was essential that disagreements are expressed within the acceptable levels, without resorting to conflict. Teachers could help attain such a level by imparting inquisitive communication skills that would solve conflicts relevant to today’s problems.
These views were expressed by participants at a workshop on the role of teachers in social and religious harmony, attended by over 30 college teachers from Khyber-Pakhtunkwa (KP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), which was organised by Pak Institute of Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, in collaboration with the Iqbal International Institute for Research and Dialogue (IRD), on Tuesday.
Former Chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology Dr Khalid Masood observed that the environment upholding diversity is antidote to extremism.
The foundations of such a society could be built by no one other than teachers, who could encourage students to ask questions, and when a question was asked, shall provide multiple responses, as if opening multiple vistas.
Peace Activist Rashad Bokhari agreed by saying that students were not trained to think critically, let alone to ask critical questions. “We are unable to express differences; we tend to resort to party lines,” he said.
He argued that there was a serious lack of communication skills, due to which we fell for ‘stereotypes and blame games’, without listening to others or for that matter, the context of the discussion.
All these skills especially of asking question, listening to others, and expressing divergent opinions, could be taught by teachers.
In addition to the skill sets, teachers should promote the culture of research, the workshop noted. Director of the IRD Dr Husn ul Ameen argued that universities were called ‘physical and discursive spaces’ to hold discussion, yet, he asked the teachers that whether these institutes were even undertaking research relevant to the need of today’s society.
Meanwhile, peace-building activist Romana Bashir lamented that non-Muslims were not given space in what she said was being taught across the country. For one, the subjects of Islamiat (Islamic Studies) and ethics were often equated; at times, a single teacher teaching both the subjects. This resulted in non-Muslim students being taught about Islamic Studies but not about their own faiths. She asked if that was the right policy. A good teacher of ethics should know about other faiths too.
Saqib Akbar argued that teachers could play a positive role in taking the country out of intellectual crisis. He agreed that the state took decisions that ended up orienting divisive education. Dr Ameen reasoned that because it was the state that distorted education sector, only the state could reform it. Journalist Sabookh Syed observed that the different education systems in the country were producing different classes in the society.
Meanwhile, peace worker Mujtaba Rathore, also shared textbook on peace education, with the participants.
