September 17, 2008	Wednesday	Ramazan 16, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Sept 16: Students of various universities have demanded immediate restoration of student unions to provide a platform for democratic civic education to youth.

“Student unions should provide knowledge about democratic system of the country and offer participatory skills to young people so that they can become active and effective citizens”, they stressed.

Participating in a consultation on ‘student unions-a platform for civic education’, arranged by the Centre for Civic Education (CCE), here on Tuesday, they said, “the political parties should not make educational institutions a ground for partisan politics rather the student unions should equip the students with art of leadership and understanding of Pakistan’s governance structure and avenues for active participation.”

Currently our textbooks were silent about the topics like role of political parties, the Constitution and fundamental rights of the citizens, whereas it was important to academically learn about these themes, said one participant.

“Before exercising our democratic right to vote, we need to understand policy choices and manifestos offered by various political parties,” they said. The participants stressed the need of code of conduct for student unions as well as for the student wings of political parties.

They also urged the policy makers and media not to treat student unions as synonymous with student wings of political parties.

“General Ziaul Haq banned the student unions and but not the student wings of political parties,” one participant clarified.

They also observed that after the ban on the student unions in 1984, violence on campuses had increased.

“All successful democracies of the world have vibrant student unions,” they pinpointed and asked not to deny this right to Pakistani students.

Students from Quaid-i-Azam University, Foundation University, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU) and International Islamic University (IIU) participated in the consultation.

Zafarullah Khan of CCE and Murtaza Noor facilitated the consultation.