Rethinking education for pluralism: representation of religious minorities in public and madrassah education

Rethinking education for pluralism: representation of religious minorities in public and madrassah educatio

Islamabad (December 15), During a session on ‘rethinking education for pluralism: representation of religious minorities in public and madrassah education’ in the Sustainable Development Conference of the SDPI in Best Western Hotel,
experts recommended government to negotiate with madrassah umbrella organizations to discuss madrassah reforms and also to allocate funds for financing the process of change. Afsheen Naz of SDPI expressed that ruling elite have encouraged a particular mindset
with using curriculum, which has instilled obscurantist vision in general masses in the name of advancing the ideology of Islam in order to protect their own vested interests.

Peter Taylor of International Development Research Centre, Canada said poverty, unemployment, disruption of social settings, weakening of Sufi traditions and sense of deprivation, alienation and outrage were some of the key social
and economic reasons promoting hatred and militancy.  

The panelists at another session on ‘energy and sustainability: exploring efficient alternatives in South Asia’ panel unanimously maintained alternate energy sources and energy efficiency as the only option to address the energy
crisis in the country. Bilal Ahmed of GIKI University recommended hydrogen fuel which is an environmental friendly solution because of no carbon emissions. Dr. Muhammad Bilal Khan of NUST University urged liaison between major stakeholders of energy production,
industry and academia and suggested small hydro power station, wind energy, solar energy and bio-fuel to meet the energy crisis. Nafeesa Irshaad of Fatima Jinnah University stressed government to provide incentives to major energy intensive industries. Farzana
Yasmin of SDPI underlined implementation of an in-expensive way of solar radiation management method using white roofs on large scale to combat climate change and energy crisis in Pakistan.

In panel “climate change: readapting forest management in South Asia”, the experts identified issue of land ownership in forest covered areas as the key reason for forest degradation leading to unemployment and livelihood problems
for local communities and food insecurity and poverty elevation globally. They highlighted the need of revision of sectoral policies, participatory and integrated forest management. Dr Parkas Taiwari from India, Dr Bashir Wani and Dr. Sultan Rome from Swat
expressed their expert opinions. 

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Posted by Fayyaz Yaseen on Dec 15 2011. Filed under Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry