KARACHI: The vice chancellors and academics from various public and private universities of the country put their heads together to discuss the ‘Best practices for peace building at university campuses’ here on Monday.

The event was organised by the Students’ Adviser Office at the University of Karachi and the Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences Pakistan at the KU Vice Chancellor’s Secretariat.

The question of how to bring peace and tolerance to the campuses also led to the question of how to strengthen student foundations.

Dr Tariq Rafi, VC of Jinnah Sindh Medical University, pointed towards the fact that Karachi’s dynamics were different than other cities of the country. “And the university campuses here reflect society. Since the students are not yet fully mature, they may also react more violently. And this unrest seen in them is also because of deficiency in government funds because without funding the development projects at universities cannot take off, resulting in frustrated students,” he said.

‘If the unions were taken away, there should have been alternatives’

“One also needs to keep an open mind to accept other people’s views. You also need good teachers for good guidance but the culture of visiting faculties at universities these days is also depriving students of individual attention. There is a need to create an enabling environment for creating peace and harmony on campuses.”

Dr Akhtar Baloch, the VC of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University Lyari, lamented the end of student unions. “It is the products of student unions who are sitting in our assemblies now. They were groomed at university.

“Sadly, martial law and the agenda of the leaders of that time did away with student unions. Militarisation came to universities along with the violent component that put restrictions on student unions. But if the unions were taken away, there should have been alternatives,” he said.

Dr Mohammad Mukhtar, rector of Dadabhoy University, said our universities also needed to understand their own worth and the worth and capabilities of our students. “Why do we look up to American universities? They owe their high ratings to their students. Why don’t we look at Malaysian universities? Their education system produces opportunities for their students. There are so many successful entrepreneurs coming out from their universities,” he said.

Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat, the VC of Sindh University, said that it was a positive fact that despite the unrest and violence at rural universities, the students had much respect for their teachers. “But what are the teachers doing for the students?” he asked.

He also said that all over the world university funds are increased but here in Pakistan they are being curtailed. “Public universities don’t have high fees. They depend on government funding,” he added.

Dr Zahid Ali Syed, director of Usman Institute of Technology, said that there was also an element of jealousy that led to unrest among students and that in turn hurt the environment at universities. “When you see your neighbour getting ahead and you are unable to achieve no matter how hard you try, you are bound to feel wronged. Then comes the anger, which if not controlled, turns to violence. Therefore, it is important to make societies, create sports activities, etc, to help students channel their anger,” he said.

Dr Shafiq ul Hasan, VC of Hamdard University, said that as the students respected their teachers, the teachers should also treat them with respect and respect their views. “The teachers, university staff and society too plays a role in the development of fine, educated human beings who respect their peers as well,” he said.

The chief guest, VC of Quaid-i-Azam University Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, said that faculty must back the administration and give full support to their vice chancellors as they have to perform a very stressful job and do not have much support from elsewhere. He said that liberal education is the need of the hour and having peace on campuses is the core responsibility of teachers, students, staff and administration. Hence there should be participatory management.

He also said that the teachers must teach students about the negative impact of the internet and social media. He also stressed the need for an economic advisory section, an academic advisory section and an alumni association. “It all moves towards creating an inclusive environment at universities,” he said.

KU VC Prof Dr Khalid Iraqi said that universities’ basic role is that they are responsible for academic development. “And without academic development peace is not possible at all.”

He said: “We need funds to implement academic development at grass-root level and if it is compromised due to lack of funding then we would fail to establish peace on campus. We have to engage positive activities at campuses to keep peace and have to give due representations to students as without their involvement peace can’t be establish on campus.”

He said that students are the main elements of peace building and administration must have dialogue with all stakeholders of the universities which include teachers, students and non-teaching staff.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2019