PESHAWAR: Speakers at a seminar said that Bacha Khan’s vision of education provided an alternative for a substantive social change and a society based on social justice, non-violence, gender equality and pluralism. They said that Bacha Khan was a true statesman and a great social reformer who had envisioned a society free of all biases and social injustices.

The crux of the event was that no education system could work without involvement of the local community and integrating indigenous culture with a global view. It was added that education should aim to ensure participation of all segments of the society beyond any consideration of gender, caste, creed and colour.

The Pakhtun Students Federation, Islamia College University, arranged the seminar at the lawns of recreation centre here on Friday. Students, teachers, rights activists and academicians attended the event.

Speakers say no education system can work without community’s participation

PSF chairman Ali Khan Rajar said that the credit for such a wonderful event went to the coordinator of Pakistan Studies Department Younas Khan and Islamia College University vice-chancellor Prof Habib Ahmad who allowed his organisation to hold the seminar. He said that PSF would continue arranging such activities on the campus.

PSF general secretary Hamza Khan said that cooperation of the administration was essential to promoting such literary and cultural events. He said that students took great interest in such activities. He said that about 15 Bacha Khan Schools across KP had been imparting education to students according to his vision of alternative education system.

The speakers said that Bacha Khan had launched a chain of Azad schools across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a part of his Tehreek-i- Islahe Afaghana (reforming Pakhtuns) in 1920s with a vision to educate masses on their social and political issues. They said that Anjuman Islahe Afaghana had been set up for the purpose to introduce social and educational reforms.

Prof Sohail Khan, the keynote speaker, said on the occasion that launching Azad schools was not that easy in the presence of British Raj which produced servants only to serve their vested interests while the Azad schools were focused on imparting education to the students about their homeland, religion, history, etc.

He said the schools set up by British Raj taught the students to ridicule people of their own land while the Azad schools devised an alternative syllabus comprising subjects of religion, science, technical education, and languages of Pashto, Urdu, English, Arabic and Persian.

Prof Khadim Hussain, chief of Bacha Khan Educational Foundation Trust, in his paper said that Bacha Khan considered ‘Poha’ (knowledge) like a light and wanted to spread it to remove ignorance and other social evils with the support of the local community. He said that in fact Bacha Khan’s alternative vision of education was based on four ideas; human dignity, development of physical, emotional and cognitive abilities of students, gender equity and integrating local particulars with global view.

Mr Hussain said that those Azad schools were managed both financially and administratively by the local community.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2019