Hazara Islamicus (Dec 2014)
Towards the De-radicalization of Pakistani Society: The Need for a Balanced and Progressive Education System
Abstract
The spread of violent extremism, known as radicalization, is one of the major challenges that the state of Pakistan is confronted with. Thousands of people, including women and children, have lost their lives either in the hands of terrorists or in the global war on terror, waged by a number of countries. The major focus of researchers, both in the West and the rest, is on finding out ways and means to arrest radical tendencies in the Muslim world, disengage the extremists from terrorist outfits and help Muslim countries initiate programmes for deradicalization of their societies. A lot of investment has been done by all important western capitals, USA, NGOs and some developing countries as well to conduct research on various aspects of radicalization and spread of religious extremism in Muslim countries, including Pakistan. There are a number of factors which are responsible for the spread of extremism and radicalism in Pakistani society. An unbalanced education system is one of them. The role of education in the development of the outlooks and behaviors of citizens in any society needs no emphasis. A cohesive, purposeful and well planned / organized education system produces a responsible citizenry, whereas, a divisive, ineffective and disjointed education system produces confused and directionless citizenry. This research examines the dilemma of education in Pakistan and its role in preventing the spread of extremism of various kinds in our society. The objective of this paper is to draw the attention of researchers and policy makers towards a major cause for diffusion of intolerance, extremism, despondency and criminality in the society i.e. the lack of provision for an efficient and adequate education for the citizens of Pakistan. The gist of the study is that prevailing education system of Pakistanis is ‘divisive in nature’. It has many streams without any common guiding principles. Barring the elite educational institutions, most of the public sector as well as private sector educational institutions lack the infrastructure, programmes and educational wherewithal to provide sound education, balanced outlook and adequate skills to their graduates. This, in turn, results in unemployment, spread of extremism and criminality in the society. Therefore, any effort to address the issue of radicalization in society is unlikely to achieve significant results, unless a cohesive education system, with a broad consensus on principles, goals and objectives, is developed. The focus of such an education system should be on the provision of sufficient technical skills for the employment of youth and sound citizens’ skills to make them future responsible citizens, both at home and abroad.
