Quaid had a great vision for Pakistan on many fronts. This piece looks at his basic vision regarding the educational system, which should have been developed in our country. The intention is to give a wake up call to all of us as stakeholders so that we can revisit our total education system, reform it and reap the benefits of his guidance provided by him through his various speeches.
Education as an Economic Driver. There is a positive relationship between education and economic development. The acknowledged fact is that education and training are considered as strategic variables in planning economic development. An elementary education for the mass of people in society leads to great economic gains. Scientific knowledge is a basis for improvement of techniques of production in various industries.
According to the famous educationist Mr Benson: "A sharp rise in quality of education produces economic returns, even when it is not possible to specify what skills and attributes be created or precisely how they would be used". A tested hypothesis has emerged from the study of the World Development Report 2010, which shows that countries with a high literacy rates have a high per capita income. In the light of the above, it is apparent that a sound educational system serves as an economic driver in a country. This piece now reviews Quaid's Vision of Education.
Literature Review:
For developing Quaid's vision of the educational system in Pakistan , we have carried out an in-depth study of the selected speeches delivered by him from time to time relating to his vision of education in Pakistan. Accordingly, some aspects are reviewed below:
Purpose of Education
Several countries of the world have achieved socio-economic development by using education as an economic driver. Quaid's vision in respect of using education as an economic driver was contained in his several speeches.
However, we have selected his two speeches. The first one has been extracted from his message to the All Pakistan Educational Conference, Karachi on November 27, 1947. He emphasised on the purpose of education and laid stress on technical and vocational education and on character building.
This was his vision. Extracts in this respect are quoted below:
"We must earnestly bring our educational policy and programme on the lines suited to the genius of our people, consonant with our history and culture, with regard to the modern conditions and vast developments that have taken place all over the world. There is an immediate and urgent need for training our people in scientific and technical education in order to build up our future economic life and we should see that our people undertake science, commerce, trade and particularly well-planned industries. But do not forget that we have to compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction.
Also, we must emphasise that greater attention should be paid to technical and vocational education. In short, we have to build up the character of our future generations, which means the highest sense of honour, integrity, selfless service to the nation and the sense of responsibility and we have to see that they are fully qualified or equipped to play their part in various branches of economic life, in a manner which will do honour to Pakistan".
Emphasis on Specialised Education
On April 18, 1948, he emphasised on specialised education. An extract from his reply to the address of welcome at Edwards College, Peshawar is quoted below:
"That instead of turning more clerks and government servants, your college is now offering suitable subjects for students, which would enable them to take their place in commerce, trade, industry, banking and insurance business. It should be the aim of our colleges to produce first-class experts in Agriculture, Zoology, Engineering, Medicine and other specialised subjects. Only thus shall we be able to come to grips with the problems that are now facing us in the task of raising the standard of living, especially of the common man".
Human Resources for Economic Development
Human resource (HR) development is considered as a pre-requisite for economic development. It is firmly believed that the man behind the machine is very important. Nations who invest in HR continue to develop and exploit the resource to their advantage. Human Capital has emerged as a driver for economic development. The Quaid had visualised these aspects. Extracts from his speech, delivered on September 26, 1947 (quoted from "Glimpses of Quaid-e-Azam Page 99) are stated below:
"Funds are, no doubt, necessary for development but, at the same time, national growth and regeneration do not depend on funds alone. It is human toil that makes for the prosperity of a people and I have, no doubt, that we have in Pakistan, a nation of industrious and determined people whose past traditions have already distinguished them in the field of human achievement".
Quaid's vision on HR was absolutely clear. He had visualised the use of HR for the increase in prosperity of the people. Events which globally followed showed that the world famous scholars namely, Harbison and Meyers, acknowledged and celebrated educationist and economists, declared human capital during 1970s as vital for economic development. Later this term "Human Capital" got into big currency.
Advice to students:
The education system has a dominating emphasis in the development of students so that their qualities of head and heart are developed for utilising the same for socio-economic and cultural development of a country. In his address, delivered in a public meeting in Dhaka on March 21, 1948 he delivered the following advice to students:
"My young friends, students who are present here, let me tell you of my love and affection for you, who has served you for ten years faithfully and loyally, let me give you this word of warning: if you allow yourself to be exploited by one political party or another - Your main occupation should be - in fairness to yourself, in fairness to your parents, in fairness to the State - to devote your attention to your studies".
Quran: A General Code for the Muslims
In his Eid message delivered in September 1945, the Quaid urged upon Muslims to adopt the Quran as a general code of life for Muslims. In our opinion, this is the basis for the development for a positive role of all stakeholders in general and the generation in particular to study the Quran, to follow its principles and be the beneficiaries out of it. In this respect, an excerpt from his above message is quoted below:
"Everyone, except those who are ignorant, know that the Quran is the general code of the Muslims. A religious, social, civil, commercial, military, judicial, criminal, penal code, it regulates everything from the ceremonies of religion to those of daily life; from the salvation of the soul to the health of the body; from the rights of all to those of each individual; from morality to crime, from punishment here to that in the life to come, and our Prophet (PBUH) has enjoined on us that every Musulman should possess a copy of the Quran and be his own priest.
Therefore, Islam is not merely confined to the spiritual tenets and doctrines or rituals and ceremonies. It is a complete code regulating the whole Muslim society, every department of life, collective (ly) and individually".
Way Forward
The crying need of today is to study the foregoing advice given by the Quaid and reform our educational system, which eventually will result in widespread prosperity across-the-board in Pakistan. As the democratic Government of Pakistan may be developing productive thoughts at the federal level and at the provincial levels, this piece can give to-the-point and crisp guidelines for re-orientating our educational system to our advantage. Let us be committed to accomplishing this mission and revisiting our educational system and reform it in the light of his guidance as explained above.
(The writer is: Professor Dr Khawaja Amjad Saeed, Professor Emeritus and Principal, Hailey College of Banking & Finance, University of the Punjab, Allama Iqbal Campus, Lahore.)
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