Federal Minister for Professional and Technical Education Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Wednesday rued the fact that the education system in Pakistan was not delivering what was required to promote peace in the country. “During the 64 years of independence, we have become a hostage to religious intolerance that has shattered peace in our society,” he noted. He was addressing a youth conference, organised by the Islamabad Crescent Lions Club, DEVCOM-Pakistan, Saba Trust and Saba Homes and Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) at the Islamabad Model School for Girls F-7/2 in connection with the World Peace Day.
Pirzada said there was a dire need to promote technical and professional education for self-employment, which was the only key to create more economic opportunities in the country. “We need to tap 30 million youth that would lead our nation to prosperity and peace,” he added.
Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Chairman Riaz Fitiana and FDE Director General Atif Kiani also spoke on the occasion. The conference was chaired by Brig (r) Iqbal Shafi, the president of Sir Syed Memorial Society. Students from different schools of the FDE participated in the event. They presented their views on ‘Literacy for Peace’ while some sang songs, highlighting the spirit of the day and the importance of peace in the societies. The chief guests also distributed prizes among the students.
Meanwhile, the Beaconhouse School System also organised a function to mark the day. The representatives of The Message Trust, an equal contributors to and supporters of the event, were invited to enlighten the participants with the idea behind their action by the hosts, which they did so through the medium of an enlightening poem again centred on the value of harmony.
Poetry was given emphasis as both an expression of idea as well as a much-used and effective method to convey that idea to the masses. Keeping the rich literary heritage of Pakistan in mind, Haseeb Zafar presented “Ae Shareef Insano” by Sahir Ludhianvi, as a befitting poetic gem exhibiting the “unruly wastefulness propagated by war” as the root of modern problems.
In respect to the countless lives lost in violence and for paying tribute to the current struggle of the nation as it grapples with both violence and strife, one-minute silence was observed at the gathering.
The World Peace Day, also known as International Day of Peace, is being observed across the globe on September 21 after the United Nations passed a unanimous resolution in 1981.
