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| November 10, 2005 | Thursday | Shawwal 7, 1426 |
Curriculum teaching liberal values urged
ISLAMABAD, Nov 9: There is an urgent need to introduce drastic changes in the curricula with main focus on inclusion of liberal values of peace and tolerance to make younger generation educated in real terms.
This point of view emerged from the two-day conference on “Education as the Basis for Freedom and Democracy” which concluded here on Wednesday.
The German political foundation, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung (FNS), organized the conference in collaboration with the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) and the Liberal Forum Pakistan (FLP) to discuss the issues related to education and to assess the current political situation regarding education, training of teachers and examinations.
Education should mean more than getting a degree to secure a better job and achieving higher living standards. Education means a civilized society, where every one enjoys basic rights without any discrimination of cast, creed and colour, the participants of the conference argued.
They also called for reforming the education sector, more allocation and judicious spending of resources at the primary level education, and advancement of examination system on a par with the developed world.
At the conclusion of their discussions in the context of moderate education, the participants drafted a resolution which called for highlighting the liberal values of peace and pluralism in the curricula than promoting thoughts which demonize others and indulged in blatant ethnocentrism.
Students should be provided a broader global world view to encounter the challenges of the present times, the resolution said.
In a world that has become a global village, students are facing more challenges than any other section of the society. They have to learn every new knowledge keeping their identity intact, they said.
The draft also affirmed that citizens have a right to choose educational options for themselves and that choice must always be available to them.
In the first session on “Thinking outside the box on education for all”, Unesco Country Director Jorge Sequeira spoke on the literacy rate and curriculum importance in education system.
He said that every one has the right to education and the concept and wording of ‘education for all’ was first used in Unesco’s constitution as full and equal opportunities for education for all.
Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages, and elementary education shall be compulsory, stressed the Unesco official.
“The state should be responsible for eradication of illiteracy and provision of free and compulsory education up to secondary level, within minimum possible time,” Mr Sequeira said.
He suggested that all funding parties should adopt common approaches across the education sector.
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