Students Islamic Organisation (SIO), Gujarat and Centre for Educational Research and Training (CERT), Delhi organised a Students Parliament on “Exploring Current Educational Scenario: Issues and Possible Solutions” at Circuit House, Shahibagh, Ahmedabad on August 28.
At the beginning of the programme Ibrahim Sheth (Research Associate, CERT) explained the objective of the programme and said that we understand that issues of education and educational system as well as other issues of students and youth should be included in the manifestos of various political parties as important issues for the upcoming assembly elections. Today at the students parliament, after discussion on the same topics, some key issues and representations of the student community will be put before the various political parties.
Chairman of the first session Dr. Iftikhar Malik (President, Markazi Talimi Board, Gujarat) presented an overall picture of the school education in Gujarat. He highlighted various problems like dropouts from primary level to secondary level, lack of government schools, shortage of teachers, inclusion of Bhagavad Gita in school education, new education policy, etc. Thereafter, the session was opened for dialogue, the students and academicians presented their questions, opinions, solutions on the above topics. At the end of the first session, Munawwar Hussain (State General Secretary, SIO Gujarat) said that education must be made inclusive for the development of the society. Education is a fundamental right of every citizen, be it an urban citizen or a person living in a remote village, everyone should have equal educational opportunities. The Government should take appropriate steps for that. Concluding the session, he said that we will try to convey important suggestions and recommendations regarding school education to various political parties.
The second session of the programme was chaired by Saadat Hussain (Research Scholar, JNU) who presented India’s higher education system in its historical perspective. Along with this, he presented his ideas on the topics of participation of different communities in higher education, quality of educational institutions, privatisation, reservation in education, unemployment, discrimination in the recruitment of teachers, etc. Then the participants discussed each topic in detail.
In the final address of the programme, Javed Qureshi (State President, SIO Gujarat) emphasised the importance of mutual dialogue and said that in a democratic country, everyone has the right to express their thoughts and opinions. Through such programmes, people of different mindsets should foster dialogue and try to find solutions to problems together with a constructive approach. He further said that educational and youth issues should be important issues in the assembly elections and should be included in the manifestos of political parties. He also said that in furtherance of this effort, the SIO will soon release a students’ manifesto under the upcoming assembly elections.
Students, academicians, college teachers, students and members of youth organisations attended the programme and made it a success.