FROM his plea for deciphering the true essence of life to questioning the effectiveness of (conventional) education, Abdul Hameed Kaloi in his letter ‘Restoring peace to Sindh University’ (Dec 11) has alluded to the absolute dearth of moral education and, therefore, morality.

The moral decay of society is best reflected in the plight of our educational institutions which have fallen prey to petty politics being frequently played by vested interests whose agenda is to milk rather than contribute to these institutions.

Deriving inspiration from totalitarianism, some myopic and charlatan scholars and administrators running the administrative/academic affairs of many ill-fated educational institutions, like Sindh University, resort to shenanigans with impunity just to perpetuate their hold, deeming it their inherited right.

Because such elements take moral values for granted, morality in our institutions, whether educational or otherwise, remains a far cry.

Proverbially put, moral education is a horse, while conventional education is a cart and by ignoring the former and focusing only on the latter we are doing nothing but putting the cart before the horse and thus accelerating the pace of our nation’s destruction.

Growing incidents of violence on campuses and callousness and corruption in society is just a precursor.

M. SHAHID DAYO Islamabad