HYDERABAD, Oct 4: The vice-chancellor of the Fatima Jinnah Women's University, Rawalpindi, Professor (Dr) Najma Najam, has said that keeping in view the international and national situation , it has become extremely important to focus on education which alone can stem the tide of poverty and disharmony.

She was delivering her keynote address at the "All Pakistan conference on education: poverty alleviation through education", organized by the faculty of education, University Sindh, here on Monday.

She said that there was a conflict every where, leading to persecution of young and old, men and women and the vulnerable, and added that education could bring hope for a safe and prosperous future for all citizens.

She said that globalization had brought the world into their homes and institutions, and added that knowledge played a basic role in economy and poverty alleviation.

She stressed the need for the education of less privileged, women, poor and handicapped to create opportunities and accessibility for them. Quoting Darwin, she said: "It is not the strongest species that survive nor the most intelligent but the ones most responsive to change".

Therefore, she added, education stood for social change and transformation of society. She said that one would have to go beyond the structured curriculum to open minds to think creatively and expand.

She said that a teacher was an important component of the social system as he ingrained social values in the youth. In her scholarly dissertation, Professor Najam said that a teacher, therefore, had to have optimal human values and a strong commitment to impart the values to the young minds.

She regretted that critical thinking was missing in their universities and deplored the attitude of the policy makers towards education and educationists. Speaking on the occasion, professor emeritus Dr N. A. Baloch said that it had been universally recognized that economic well being and educational advancement were interdependent.