KARACHI, April 5: Speakers at a symposium and workshop discussed the potentials of home economics as a discipline of education and held that it was a combination of physical and social sciences and technologies leading to the betterment of family and community. The symposium and workshop was organized at Raana Liaquat Ali Khan Government College of Home Economics on Tuesday as one of the series of events being conducted to mark the golden jubilee of the college. The celebrations began on Monday, wherein the Sindh education secretary was the chief guest.
The symposium on “Home Economics and nation’s economy” was held, with Sindh Information Secretary Mehtab Akbar Rashdi in the chair, while a workshop was also held to prepare recommendations for improvement of home economics.
The principal of the college, Dr Rubina Hakeem, said that home economics should not be taken just as cooking and sewing. The objective of home economics education was betterment of individual, family and community.
She said that its strategy was to extract usable subject matter from physical and social sciences and technologies, and to deliver it to the learner, so as to empower individuals, families and communities, to make judicious decisions in their daily lives.
The principal maintained that home economics recognized homes as the foundation of human development and integrity of family as an inevitable requisite for the establishment of homes. Home economics means: making best use of available knowledge and skills for the optimum functioning of homes and betterment of family members.
Ms Rashidi lauded the college for maintaining high standards of education and congratulated the administration, staff and students for holding the golden jubilee events.
Dr Abid Husnain, Abdul Razzak Teli and Professor Muzaffar Hussain Malathvi spoke about educational needs for nation’s development, while Dr Salma Badruddin, Quratulain Aziz, Munazza and Anushka Daroga described how home economics could fulfil those educational needs.
At the workshop on “developing strategies to utilize the potentials of home economics education”, various recommendations were made. Those recommendations included starting education about food, clothing, hygiene and family relations from preschool age and continue till primary and secondary levels, with the thrust to project home economics as application of physical and social sciences and technology for betterment of family and to increase opportunities for higher education in home economics.
The participants also stressed for offering home economics in more colleges, providing opportunities for doing quality researches in the subject.
They also called for raising the status of the RLAK College to a university as it fulfilled the entire criterion for a degree awarding institution.
The other events of the golden jubilee celebrations included award distribution ceremony, a mela for women and a talent show.
City Nazim Niamatullah Khan will be the chief guest at the concluding ceremony on April 6.
A coordinator for the events said that the award distribution ceremony, which was scheduled to be held on April 6 at 10am would be a memorable gathering involving alumni and senior retired and existing faculty members of the college, in addition to founders, pioneers and torch bearers of the college.
Among others, the college has decided to give an award posthumously to late Dr Zahida Anjum Ali, who remained principal of the college from 1964 until her retirement in 1985.
The late principal had been awarded the Fulbright Scholarship in 1951, also represented Pakistan at the International Federation of Home Economics (Germany) for many years and was elected to its executive committee. She was the founder president of the Pakistan Home Economics Association and active in the Pakistan Nursing Council.
