KARACHI, Dec 18: Students at a discussion, “Dialogue on Youth with Media,” on Thursday stressed the need for uniform curricula at education institutes in the country and demanded elimination of class-based education system to provide equal opportunities to the youth.

They also urged the government, as well as the private sector, to establish career-counselling centres and to adopt single medium of instruction for all students, besides provision of equal educational opportunities and facilities to the youth.

The discussion was arranged by the Pakistan Voluntary Health and Nutrition Association (PVHNA), and was largely attended by students from the Karachi University, NED University, Sir Syed University, besides private colleges and educational institutions.

Media was represented by health and education reporters from leading local English and Urdu newspapers, news agencies, TV channels and magazines, who answered the queries of students pertaining to their careers.

The students, citing various examples, said that the youths belonging to the middle and lower class had to face several problems in getting quality education and employment owing to variety of reasons.

They declared class-based education system, meagre allocations for education, violence at educational institutions, lack of teaching facilities and absence of career-counselling facilities as cause of frustration among the local youth and termed these hurdles in progress and prosperity of the country.

Some youths demanded establishment of libraries at town and union council levels, ban on cigarettes, Ghutka, mainpuri and other injurious things at educational institutions and more facilities for female students.

Panelists, mainly from media organizations and some PVHNA members, suggested to the students to be determined, optimistic and confident, besides being hardworking to achieve their goals.

“There are cases in recent history when people from lower middle class families, with meagre resources, acquired top positions in the world”, they added.

They further asked the students to play their role in betterment of the society and eradication of certain chronic evils like bribery, dishonesty and extortion.

They also registered their serious concern over absence of educational loan facilities and scholarship programmes for the youth, and demanded representation of youth in the bodies, constituted under government sponsored programmes, right from national to town and district levels.

Lack of commitment among teachers associated with state-run educational institutions, exploitation of student bodies on part of political parties, ultimately paralysing the actual spirit of the former, high fee-structures of private educational and professional training institutions and harassment of the youth was also discussed.

Earlier, Dr Jabeen Abbas referring to a PAVHNA study, undertaken to identify problems being faced by local youth and adolescent problems, said ignorance and confusion regarding the physiological changes among youths attaining puberty, was at the root of varied psychological anxieties and physical complications.—PPI/APP