INDEPENDENCE OF MIND: A PRE-REQUISITE OF TRUE LIBERATION

Posted by Faizan Shiwani / at 1:06 AM / /

It was through the remarkable efforts of our founding heroes and great sacrifice of the associated recruits that Pakistan was created. No one will contend that it was an effort which involved beliefs, tenacity, devotion and unending efforts.

As acknowledged by the Quaid-i-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, perhaps the very creation of the homeland was easier than its development and preservation.
The creation of Pakistan gave the people a periphery, within which was their homeland where they could exercise their new-found independence. Thus, they had a flag under which they could unite and build a mechanism to acquire the benefits of collective identity. If the creation was a long and arduous process, then to derive the benefits is perhaps even more difficult, entailing an unrelenting contribution of individual effort.

Correct, relevant, and cutting-edge education is the central pillar that can ensure continuity in every aspect. In recognition of this task the Quaid-i-Azam, M A Jinnah addressed the Punjab Muslim Students' Federation (October 31, 1947), and said, "You are the nation builders of tomorrow and you must equip yourself with discipline, education and training for the arduous task lying ahead of you. You should realise the magnitude of your responsibility and be ready to bear it."
In a separate message to the All Pakistan Educational Conference (27 November 1947),
Jinnah pointed out that "Education does not only mean merely academic education..... There is an immediate and urgent need for training our people in scientific and technical education in order to build up our economic life."

This directly refers to the development of values that correlate to dignity of labour. Over half a century ago, the Quaid pointed out that we need to pay "greater attention to technical and vocational education." In another speech in Dacca University (March 24, 1948) he stressed that .... "There is no shame in doing manual work and labour."

Education must provide a suitably equipped workforce for the nation. This can only be achieved if there is a close link between industrial requirements in the measured future and the provision of education today. Jinnah emphasised this when he said "We should see that our people undertake scientific, commerce, trade and, particularly, well planned industries."

While the importance of education was accentuated, it is doubtful that it was fully understood by the people, who misconstrued the broad spectrum covered by 'Education'. Instead, there was continued focus on just academic education, wherein traditional, channelled and dependent thinking did not allow due regard to vocational education.

In many conversations, articles and books, we have discussed educational burdens in Pakistan where we apportion accountability to different organisations; be it the government, private sector organisations, universities or schools. While this may have some credence, it absolves the individual of any responsibility. Therefore, the individual relaxes while the corrective measures are allocated to other parties.

Quaid-i-Azam, M A Jinnah made a speech on 22 December 1947 of which the words are as relevant today. "Despite the progress of civilization, the law of the jungle, unfortunately, still prevails. Might is considered right and the strong do not refrain from exploiting the weak. Self-advancement, greed and lust for power sway the conduct of individuals as that of nations. If we are to build a safer, cleaner and happier world let us start with the individual."

Indeed, let us start with the individual and let us point the finger inwards, to ourselves. But, one can only take initiative if there is creative ability that extends from independent thought; otherwise it is easy to continue repetitive debates that have persisted for so many years. The model of rote-learning has guaranteed the failure to acquire this new thinking. At best, it is possible to reproduce only a percentage of what has been assigned to memory. We may be forgiven for thinking that our teaching experience spans over half a century and, therefore, should amount to something; maybe it is the experience of one day that has been reproduced over the last fifty years.

Independence of mind on a national level can only be augmented through a changed model of education - a paradigm shift from learning by memorization to a real understanding of the subject matter. In other words, instead of just teaching, a teacher is required to help a child to learn. This should be initiated at primary school level and continued throughout the learning cycle.

After considerable discussions on this issue, spanning over many years, the initiation of this cultural change is evident in some schools today. It is clear that this is but a small percentage, but cultural changes never materialize overnight. Some upper grade schools in the private sector are concentrating on this issue and have been successful in initiating this change. The magnitude of this necessary change, from teacher centred classrooms to a student centred classrooms, is immense, and will take much time before concepts are fully understood and adequately practised. Nevertheless, the process has been initiated in some areas, which is one step towards the independence of mind.

Similarly, in the public sector, which comprises the majority of Pakistani students, some efforts are being made to move in this direction. For example, teacher training for all government primary school teachers in Sindh and Balochistan has been initiated through the Education Sector Reform Assistance (ESRA) programme. One of the implementing partners of the ESRA programme, United Education Initiative (UEI) is delivering teacher training in four districts of Sindh, with a firm focus on student centred training. Following full training workshops, a trainer accompanies the participant teachers back to their schools where assistance is provided to ensure that the learned practices are actually implemented. A notable change can be seen in many classrooms.

Again, we should be mindful that the comments above do not relate to a changed educational ethos, but a significant beginning towards that objective.

Education at all levels has a great scope for improvement and, as has been noted above, some work is being done in this regard. As a nation, we have also been looking at other models from the West to update our efforts. This is indeed as it should be as research is one of the key factors in development. But caution is needed to ensure that models are not 'imported' regardless of their application within our society. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had also pointed out that the progress of the sub-continental Muslims would be hindered if the knowledge of western sciences and arts were excluded. This philosophy did not endorse a total adaptation of the western way of life, but actively promoted the strengthening of religion and cultural together with additional knowledge. In spite of tremendous challenges, he managed to create the Scientific Society in 1864, that translated books from English to Urdu. He founded the Muslim Educational Conference in 1886 and developed the Alighar educational model that started from primary level, but later developed into a distinguished university. His philosophy was to attain knowledge irrespective of its origin, and to avoid alienation from the West. These issues are as relevant today as they were in his time. But perhaps we have transcended Sir Syed's philosophy and paid little regard to the facilitation of our societal, industrial, religious and cultural requirements. As a result, we have models of western and international education that provide a qualification in Pakistan but perhaps are lacking in application to the indigenous requirements. This hinders independence of thought on a national level and blocks the pathway to true liberation.