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The conference was arranged with support from the Strategic
Priority Fund of the Foreign and Commonwealth office of the UK
Government. Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani, Federal Minister for
Human Rights, was the chief guest and Dr. Bernadette Louise
Dean, renowned Civic Educator and Principal of the Kinnaird
College University, Lahore, was the key note speaker at the
inaugural session of the conference.
Speaking on the occasion, Mumtaz Alam Gillani said that the
present government is giving special attention to education. He
said that Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto laid her life in the struggle
for making Pakistan a modern enlightened country. He said
efforts are being made at all levels make people aware of their
basic human rights. The government has tabled the National
Commission for Human Rights Bill in the Parliament which a big
step forward, he added.
In her keynote speech Dr. Bernadette Louise Dean said that civic
education has been overlooked in curriculum and education
policies in Pakistan since 1947. The textbooks are not
providing the knowledge and skills to the students that they
need to become active, effective and responsible citizens. She
underlined the need to redesign the curriculum with special
focus on Civic Education.
Zafarullah Khan, Executive Director of the Centre for Civic
Education Pakistan, said that now there is a greater
realization of importance of Civic Education in the power
corridors and the new draft education policy talks about Civic
Education. He said the government should include more elements
of Civic Education in the textbooks to educate people about
their constitutional rights and responsibilities.
Civic Educators, teachers and school managers from different
parts of the country including Prof. Talat Khurshid, Gul Nafees
Janjua, Shamas Khan, Hanifullah, Ibal Naeem, Dr. Afzal Babur
and Murtaza Noor shared their experiences of Project Citizens
Pakistan’s implementation in schools and how the students
benefited from this civic Education Program.
On the second day of the conference, speakers and panelists
including MNA from PML Dr. Donya Aziz, renowned civic educator
and principal of and Principal of the Kinnaird College
University, Dr. Bernadette Louise Dean, Zafarullah Khan,
executive director of the CCE-Pakistan, Aniq Zafar, executive
director CRS, and Sadia Panni of Faima Jinnah Women University,
said that the young generation need to be encourage to actively
participate in democratic and governance processes at all
levels.
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