KARACHI, Sept 10: As illiteracy breeds intolerance in society, experts from different fields speaking at a seminar on Monday highlighted the need to focus on the education sector to advance the cause of peace and harmony in the country.
The seminar on the theme ‘Literacy & Peace’ was organised by the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) to mark International Literacy Day.
Over 100 people attended the event to talk about how literacy and education have an impact on the state of peace and harmony in a country. A panel of experts discussed the different forms of literacy and how the situation of the nation could be improved by focusing on education.
Baela Raza Jamil of Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi said it was sad to see religious intolerance in the country. She believed that questions need to be raised and asked about the current conditions and not just be borne quietly by the people.
She said that our ability to think, rationalise and imagine was being constructed by today’s curriculum and needed to be set free, fostered and nurtured.
This was essential in bridging the gaps that had been created and people must come together and work towards their own betterment, she added.
Representing Society for the Advancement of Education, Abbas Rashid said that literacy was a necessary condition for fostering peace and harmony. He said in the country, there were a lot of divisions that could be addressed through the power of education to a great extent. He stated that education was a very powerful tool in encouraging tolerance as was evident throughout history and should be utilised to advance the cause of peace.
Arshad Mahmud from the National Academy of Performing Arts said that children should be given exposure to all fields of education so that they could decide what they would like to pursue in their lives.
He regretted that there was a sense of paranoia and intolerance that had pervaded the country. He said education, especially art and music, had a part to play in softening the harsh divides that had been inculcated in the society.
Karamat Ali, executive director of Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, said that the ruling class in the country had always ensured that the majority of the nation did not get the benefit of education.
He said it was our responsibility to improve the current situation of the country. In this regard, he said, efforts should be put in to ensure that all children get education.
While the overall state of literacy in Pakistan was dismal, there were isles of excellence present in the country, said SEF Managing Director Prof Anita Ghulam Ali.
She added that people were working hard to improve the field of education though it was mainly government’s responsibility to better the state of education and literacy in the nation.
She said literacy did not only mean reading and writing anymore but encompassed visual, media, cultural, civic and technological literacy as well.—PPI