A focus on the study of humanities

Arts are not considered to be ‘high-earning’ subjects & are often neglected in mainstream education models in Pakistan

Bol, the movie, was peculiar to say the least. The sights were too familiar — too relatable. The movie adds numerous problems to the growing plethora of observable socio-economic and political issues — disgust towards daughters, child sexual abuse, treatment of transgender persons, lack of social justice, honour, and spousal abuse to mention a few. A dear friend calls these issues “swamps” that have to be drained out from the society at any cost, for the development of the country. In an already precarious status quo, where the mere existence of Pakistan remains doubtful in the coming decades, it is absolutely essential to target these swamps as quickly as possible.

It seems hard to even question these socio-economic inequalities and inefficiencies in a society where discussing norms and values is itself blasphemous. A thinly-veiled hypocrisy is supposed to be followed by each and every Pakistani. Who should tell us that having daughters is not a punishment? That social justice is not synonymous with enforcing dishonorable practices and that liberty is essential for all human beings.

A few days ago, Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy wrote about the limitations of education and teachers in Pakistan. Mr Hoodbhoy commands immense respect as a brilliant academic but many, including I, disagree with his overly-liberalistic ideals. However, his discussion of unqualified teachers and the unfortunate lack of conceptual knowledge in education systems were astute. The propagation of education to identify and counter these decades-old swamps in our society becomes more than just a necessity. Education is not acquired merely for the sake of employment or for passing a competitive exam. Education is vital to understanding the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen of a liberal society, where basic human rights and civil liberties are guaranteed for all, regardless of gender, creed, religion or economic status. These are traits that a liberal arts schooling can give you.

There is no solution to the persecution of religious and ethno-linguistic minorities without making sure that there are is a sufficient number of people in society who are capable enough to understand the necessity of basic civil liberties for the existence of a nation. In the history of Pakistan, very few wealthy Pakistanis have committed their wealth and power for development of education in Pakistan. It is no wonder that we are still stuck in a quagmire of incompetent teachers teaching a bunch of students who wish to memorise rather than understand. Rockefellers’ donations were instrumental to the formation of the world’s leading universities in the United States including but not limited to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, The Rockefeller University and the University of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Pakistan has not benefited from its equivalent of the Rockefellers. Had any of the Pakistan’s elite established a solid liberal arts institution with strong focus on philosophy, social sciences and policy studies, the landscape of our country’s society and politics would have been a lot different.

Furthermore, the arts and the humanities are never considered to be ‘high-earning’ subjects and hence, are often neglected in the mainstream education models of Pakistan. High school chemistry and biology is unlikely to be used by students in their practical lives. Humanities subjects, on the other hand, can shape and groom the thought process of entire generations. It is discouraging to see how humanities are marginalised to such an extent that studying these subjects leads to an automatic labelling of incompetence, disinclination and stupidity. This self-selecting mechanism of education leads to loss of intellectual capital, superficial policy approaches and massively inefficient thinkers.

We cannot solely rely on a pristine social belief system to be the sole mechanism to teach people civil liberties and necessity for social justice. In the case of Pakistan, the lack of such belief becomes the root of social decay. The only means to reach out to a wide audience is through systematic educational reforms, which would correct the social norms and values through analysis and critique on a microscopic level. Unfortunately for our country, the government has been consistently negligent towards reforms in higher education. The overall increase in the educational budget for this year is not nearly enough to cater to the growing needs of the population. It is difficult to foresee any long-term development without the Ishaq Dars, Sharifs and other bigwigs of Pakistan grasping the necessity of making education, and specially humanities education, a priority.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th,  2015.

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