Daily Times

Agha Khan University – Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED), Pakistan in collaboration with Deakin and RMIT Universities Melbourne, Australia launched a book titled “COVID-19 and the (Broken) Promise of Education for Sustainable Development: A Case Study from Postcolonial Pakistan” on ‘Webinar’. The book is published by BRILL, said a handout issued by Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) here on Thursday.

The book highlighted some key issues of education, curriculum and teacher education in Pakistan in the emergent situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the responses by governments, NGOs, and donor organizations in that regard. The book was written by three Pakistani researchers namely Dr Javed Anwar Shahwani, Dr Sher Rahmat Khan, Dr Mir Zaman Shah, who recently completed their PhD from RMIT University in Australia, and their supervisors, Professor Peter Kelly and Dr Seth Brown, and senior researcher Dr Scott Philiphs.

The authors also included a detailed analysis of the development of Pakistan as a postcolonial nation-state and examine the legacies of colonialism in education systems and policies, teacher education and development. This mix of theoretical insight and practical experience promises to produce significant policy and development impact in post-COVID-19 Pakistan, South Asia more broadly, and in other postcolonial development contexts around the world as it develops a critique of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) as a global and more local framework for development.

Professor Peter Kelly of Deakin University chaired the event. Dr Farid Panjwani, the Dean of Aga Khan University – Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED), introduced the book and highlighted its potential contributions.

He underlined the different ways the book could contribute to the discourses of education and teacher education in Pakistan. Dr Panjwani pointed out the constitutional promise of education in Pakistan and the challenges in realizing the promise. The three Pakistani authors spoke about the book. They highlighted the background of writing the book, its major themes and its possible contributions and impacts.

Dr Hafeez Ahmed Jamali, the Director General (DG) of Balochistan Civil Service Academy Quetta, shared his views about the book. He pointed out the importance of how this book elaborates on the postcolonial context of Pakistan and why it was important for understanding the current education issues, challenges and solutions in that regard. Mr Ghulam Nabi Marri, an Economist with the UN-International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), also spoke about the book and discussed its salient features.