To move forward in the future as a country, our society must begin to envision its multiple needs from a number of viewpoints. We have been taught to think in a single perspective and this aspect becomes visible in our lifestyles and the choices we make for our family, our community and for society at large. The problem with being insular is that we get disconnected from the many critical issues our communities face: loss of diversity of culture, climate change, rural to urban migration, political upheaval, discrimination and so on. Education typically has been teaching us to accept the norm rather than challenge the norm.
For many years it has seemed that children from a very young age are directed towards making a career in a few disciplines like engineering, medicine, information and communications technology (ICT), business management and accountancy. In fact, this decision is often made as early as the age of 14 when secondary schools traditionally make children choose between science, commerce and arts as a discipline to follow. From that stage onwards, students are then taught specialist subjects. Students may become knowledgeable about their subjects but this approach limits growth in maturity as they are not learning how to question, analyse and form an informed opinion.
For students undecided in their career choice there are further limitations. Students who are not interested in a technical, professional or vocational degree have limited options to choose from in many parts of the country, especially in Karachi. Through lack of choice, students have ended up pursuing business education primarily because there are fewer options available. When deciding what to study after finishing school, many students are unsure of the career they want to focus on. A curriculum that offers students broad-based knowledge of study prior to delving into a specialised focus perhaps could provide the answer.
In the past, the traditional two-year Bachelor of Arts (BA) offered in many public colleges and universities was a popular option. The BA offered students options to select a course of study from a broad range of subjects. The BA could further be pursued in the third year to obtain a three-year honours degree in a specialised programme of study. Time and availability of affordable private education in business schools led to a changing trend. The reason for the changing trend had nothing to do with lack of interest in the subjects offered in the BA but related to the outdated study methods and syllabus. A lot of the teaching of theoretical subjects in higher education still uses rote learning as a way to garner information and become learned, whilst newer private business schools offered interactive teaching methods, a more modern syllabus and better campuses that allowed a student freedom of expression.
Many students today would benefit from studying a curriculum aimed at teaching general subjects and developing general analytical capacity in a more interactive context. It would provide the students with the necessary background to understanding complex global issues and how they relate to Pakistan. By fostering critical thinking and ethical values, students learn how to think in a multi-stakeholder perspective. An interdisciplinary focus can help civil society play an increasingly important role as stakeholders in governance, business and development.
Whilst being a new concept, a select number of institutes today offer the study of Liberal Arts in their undergraduate programmes. Students at the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture take two or three courses each semester to provide them the necessary theoretical knowledge and understanding for the more technical subjects of art and architecture. The Habib University offers Liberal Arts courses as an interdisciplinary curriculum as the premise of its degree. It requires all students to undertake two courses each semester in their degree programmes for both its School of Science and Engineering and the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The premise of Habib University’s Liberal Core is to equip students with basic knowledge ranging from history, politics, modern culture to communication and exploring the importance of science and technology in society with a specific focus on Pakistan and South Asia. The concept is to supplement the major fields of study offered with a polished base of thinking in an analytical manner.
The type of curriculum offered at Habib University, while being the first of its kind in Pakistan, is the general format followed in many of the Ivy League universities in the US. This background has enabled many of the graduates of these universities to become global leaders in their fields. The future professional learns to broaden viewpoints and understand impacts in a wider perspective — an important need in today’s world — that places greater emphasis on considering on an equal footing the impacts on the economy, environment, culture and society.
A well-rounded education can make us learn how to look beyond the horizon towards the future. It can make us more accepting of newer ideas and can help understand the impact of the many issues surrounding us. Society today needs to be given the tools to dream and create the vision of a future society. If there were subjects being taught that made us understand and analyse how to come up with different perspectives, the current divisions in society would then change to unification.
The writer specialises in sustainability strategies and communications