UK politician underscores importance of value-based education

Former British Minister for International Development Shahid Malik has said that educational institutions should not ignore value-based education which is a need of today.

A good number of schools in Pakistan are inclined towards education assisted by ultramodern technology and all they worry about are ranks and results in the examinations, he said.

Shahid Malik, who is the first-ever Muslim to be elected as a minister in the entire western world said this during a visit to PakTurk School Islamabad.

He said that schools should produce a cultured lot that promotes the society positively as education without ethics and moral values create people who are apparently successful but a threat to everyone.

In the prevalent scenario, the majority of the schools, teachers and students have focused on marks undermining the real purpose of education which includes peace of mind, refinement of ethics, soul purification and enlightenment, he noted.

We have failed to incorporate the learning of moral and ethical values to our studies for the positive nourishment of our character in the pursuit of a degree-oriented education, he added.

Shahid Malik, who has also served as Governor Asian Development Bank and Home Minister in the UK said that overall degeneration, demoralization and disregard for values can be traced back to the institutions not giving due place to morality in their system.

Many high society schools have been producing successful professionals obsessed with material pursuits aiming absolute luxury and authority while missing the humanitarian element which lead them into unethical and illegal practices which create problems for the society.

Malik lauded PakTurk for including thirty two publications at the primary level teaching basic ethics and responsibilities which will result in production of high quality human resource that can shape our future.

He said that as a minister he had doubled the UK’s aid for Pakistan and he will now strive to support the institutions serving humanity with not an eye on material gains.