PRIMARY EDUCATION & ADULT LITERACY:

The current focus on Education and attempts on the part of Particular Interest Groups to
standardize Education in is a very serious issue. The control of a decadent clerical class that
grew up to take over the Institutions of Islam had a monopoly on education before the advent of
the British in the Indo Pak Sub Continent. They were largely responsible for the poor state of
progress amongst the Muslims. The advent of the British and their mastery over the entire Sub
Continent led to a feeling of despondency amongst the local populace. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
adopted the mistaken conception of acquisition of English education as a means of emancipation
and progress of the Muslims. This resulted in cementing the bonds of slavery, the shackles of
which have not been broken to this day and serve to cap the state of development amongst the
people. Rather a system of education that first acquired knowledge where it was lacking and then
translation to local languages and subsequent imparting of this knowledge through a rejuvenated
educational system would have been the correct path to prosperity. As this was not done and
teachers were not afforded terms of service that would have served to attract the best minds to
this noble profession the result was development of an elite class of English speaking pseudo
intellectuals who entrenched themselves in positions of power and led the Nation towards
servitude and client status to the developed West. This dichotomy has served to foster a deprived
class that is leaning towards extremism through desperation. What is the Islamic concept of
education and what is the ethos that should serve as a beacon of light to guide the Nation towards
progress and prosperity needs to be highlighted.
"Education in Islam is a comprehensive whole, and education is that which brings about a
harmonious development of mind; body and soul. It purifies the soul. It sharpens the intellect; it
builds up the body. Religious; moral; scientific and physical education goes side by side in the
true Islamic educational system". Due to the prevalent apathy this edict is nowhere enforced. To
provide complete support for the poor, a system of education, on the lines of the above quotation
from Fasool-Fee-Tarbayatul Shakhsyat Al-lslami by Dr. Jeezawip, is required. The Holy Prophet
Mohammad (Upon Whom Be The Peace and Blessings of Allah) has said: "Piety is very
good but it comes from knowledge; knowledge is very good but it comes from patience;
patience is very good but it comes from kindness". Thus the essence of educational theory is
propounded and clarified even further by enjoining: "Teach politely and make everything easy to
the child and do not make anything difficult, in case you get angry keep silent. Teach and dont
shout because a teacher is better then a shouter". Both these quotations of the Holy Prophet
(SWS) are from Jami Bayan Al-lslam by Abu Abd-el-Barr. The Universal Islamic Educational
System had sunk into decadence and was dismantled and a foreign structure was enforced. With
the abandonment of Traditional education, by the elite, came decay. Thus our system has been
reduced to "a fixed body of knowledge which the pupils had to master whether they understood
it or not and which was frequently not related to the lives of the pupils". On the other hand
Western Education moved ahead and evolved the concept of: "what is taught in the schools
should contribute to an understanding and appreciation by each pupil of the environment in
which he is to live and play his part". As a rational mix curricula "must represent selections
from the social heritage and culture, not to be memorized and stored away for some future use
but as those experiences and activities which society considers most desirable and best adapted
to the needs of the pupil".
To the Western World, Bismarck said that the Battle of Sedan (1854) was won by the

German Schoolmaster. The aim of elementary education, as stated in 1887 by Octave Gerard,
was to learn well in each of the branches that of which we cannot be permitted to be ignorant.
According to the Collier's Encyclopedia, Vol. 8 Education, History of: "The child is an active,
sentient being exposed, even before he comes to school, to a great variety of experiences
through which he acquires a body of active personal interests, instead of "the prison doors of the
school closing about the child" the school must start with the interests which the child brings
with him, expand and enrich them in range of meaning. The task of education is to relate the
experience provided in the schools to those outside the school and by making the pupil an
active participant in what is going on to broaden his interests. In this way the pupils interests
become intrinsic and have meaning for him. Because they have meaning they are capable of
expansion to interests and activities of ever increasing value. Since the pupil is an active
participant in what is going on in the classroom he may be expected to put forth effort in his
studies without the compulsion of external discipline; or in other words he learns to discipline
himself. Resulting in An awareness of education as a tool of living; of learning; and of thinking;
whereby the social environment, not merely knowledge for its own sake, becomes the main
objective. Thus the spirit of modern education is practical; functional; human; social;
flexible and not primarily intellectual, the purpose of education is to help the learner attain an
ever-expanding supply of understood ideas so that these may cumulatively become
instruments for reconstructing experience if necessary and for augmenting the store of ideas
with those ideas that have evolved from new experience. To summarize the above quoted lines,
educators have realized that the growing child lives in an environment, which provides a great
variety of experiences and interests. The task of education is to start with the interests and the
curiosity of the child and select from the many sided cultural environment those experiences
and activities which will train the growing child through various stages of education into a free
and responsible member of society. Thus it is evident that Education is life and not a
preparation for life. Essential instruction starts with the interests of the pupil and makes them
over and enriches them in accordance with their future needs as citizens; workers and human
beings. The second implication is that the pupils must actively participate in their own education
by fully understanding and appreciating the meanings of what they learn. From the foregoing we
can pick up a few principles of education:
a)
Graded, Stage by Stage Instruction.
b)
Motivation through interests.
c)
Sense perception as the basis of understanding.
d)
Provision of cumulative experience as an educational Background.
The ideal for education is that all children have free access. It should be supported by
Public Taxation and supervised by Public Authorities. Teachers Associations must be encouraged
and empowered to develop courses of study. Emphasis must be place upon local environment
and on activity based methods of instruction. In short an indigenously evolved curriculum will
be the only tool for imparting true education. Moral underpinning of education is a factor that
cannot be overlooked. Moral education means creating in man the concept and insight of
moral sense which helps him to differentiate between good and evil and to understand that
goodness lies in virtuous behavior and badness in evil actions according to Kant.
The picture that emerges is that we sorely lack curricula; textbooks; training aids; teachers;
facilities and even environment for such dynamic education. Never the less such an effort is the
crying need of the time. It is thus proposed that a Nursery and elementary school on model basis
be established. Research and actual practical education be carried out and aimed at producing the

requisite material for education. Thus new and well-suited curricula can be developed and
tailored according to the practical requirements of boys and girls. This would be pioneering work
of great significance. With adequate funding and interest, the aims can be readily met. As the
requirement for such activity is extremely pressing the project should be sponsored and launched
immediately. In Sweden, Vocational training in primary education was started in 1877 while
France followed suit in 1882. The application of Science to manufacturing; communications
and transportation with the constant need of a growing supply of skilled workers, spurred
on this type of education. The Industrialized West and the Far Eastern Economies have all taken
advantage of these concepts and have successfully built up strong; vibrant; dynamic and selfperpetuating economies, while ours lies in shambles. If we are seriously interested in providing
means of self-support to the unemployed masses we must educate them in their own language
and in a manner most suited to their immediate and long-term requirements. This can be tackled
in a two-pronged manner in order to extract the maximum from the facilities that would be
erected, for example Nursery and elementary classes in the daytime and Adult Literacy in the
evening. This, accompanied by vocational training for youth in technical and agricultural
fields, should cater for the requirements of entire families and provide them with security for
the future. The advent of Digital Electronic Communication and Data Processing devices
makes the task of the Educator that much easier. It is now possible to adhere to a central
curriculum and ensure implementation, interactive Computing through simple electronic
games and programs on simple computers with local language keyboards must be
developed. It should not be imagined that Education consists of Rustic Themes and is conducted
with crude methods. When you start with a clean slate the advantage is that you can start either
with the archaic "Thakhti and Sallait" or an electronic easel! Dubbing facilities for making the
many educational films available in the West more meaningful should be encouraged and
supported by the Government. Secondly these films should be made available to the various
schools and institutions that exist in the Country.
All the above leads to the need of elucidation of the underlying ethos that guides the lives
of a Nation, the absence or confusion over which results in blind groping rather than a
determined march towards progress. The world is presently beset by a ruthless; materialistic;
existentialist; exploitive and highly competitive economic order. The All Mighty Allah (SWT)
never created the world for us to set up shops and establish mutually exclusive and cut-throat
competitive regimes involved in domination and power hungry celebration of the lower or
animal self commanding to evil (Nafs-e-Ammara Bil Suu). The egalitarian World View enjoined
by Islam demands denial of self and concentration towards moral excellence. Mutually
supportive and all inclusiveness is the very essence of our religion. We are enjoined to eschew
ostentation and ascertain the well being of all over narrow self interest. Does this smack of
idealism and thus thrown into oblivion, certainly not! The inherent good and capacity for positive
development in all human beings needs to be nurtured and supported. It is this and only this that
will ensue long term survivability and ensure that Mutual Assured Destruction is avoided.
Sardar Taimur Hyat-Khan (Chisti-Qadri).