Daily Times

In the modern world, busy with the actively evolving in the 21st century, the question of critical thinking is highly relevant for people, groups and societies. It allows one to think critically, make logical conclusions, and come up with sound decisions. Since education, especially in schools and universities, is essential in the development of a country like Pakistan, it becomes significant to encourage critical thinking. However, the reasoning skill, which is a crucial component of Celt’s philosophy, goes largely unrecognized in the context of educational practices in Pakistan on account of rote methods and memorization, which are the more pervasive and dominant pedagogical approaches combined with overemphasis on the testing culture. This paper aims to review the current scenario of critical thinking in Pakistan: its advantages and measures required to improve the incorporation of critical thinking in educational context.

Pakistan’s education system faces challenges such as a lack of school buildings and infrastructure, inadequately qualified teachers and a teaching-learning process that focuses primarily on rote learning rather than comprehension. This practice of rote learning entails students memorizing information primarily regarding facts and figures without understanding the fundamentals. This suppresses innovation and analysis, hence preparing the students ineffectively for real-life challenges.

Actually, critical thinking is not about questioning others but is a holistic approach to problem-solving and decision-making. It involves Analysis, Evaluation, Inference, Explanation, and Self-regulation. These skills help individuals in their daily lives, specifically their careers, and in the functioning of democracy. These factors are more topical in a country such as Pakistan, given the numerous social, economic, and political issues. This critical thinking ability enables an individual to analyze problems and arrive at reasonable solutions, taking into consideration the possible solutions and their implications. This is especially true when it comes to solving problems in the workplace since these processes largely presuppose critical thinking. Critical thinking helps individuals involved in decision-making processes make well-thought-out decisions with less bias. It is an essential skill in practically all areas of professional activity and in everyday life since the consequences of decisions vary.

This makes critical thinkers able to express their ideas in a logical and convincing manner, as communication is crucial in everyone’s life. This is particularly the case when explaining the basis for arriving at a conclusion and illustrating the evidence in both writing and speaking. Though critical thinking is connected with accurate data analysis, it also has a positive impact on creativity because it teaches people to look at things from different perspectives and come up with hitherto unthought-of solutions to problems. Critical thinking is an asset in an age where people are often fed half-truths and unadulterated falsehoods; hence, being able to dissect the received information and questioning its validity reduces the chance of the population falling for a particular political agenda.

To integrate critical thinking into Pakistan’s educational system, several steps need to be taken: To integrate crucial thinking into Pakistan’s educational system, several steps need to be taken:

The current curriculum needs to be modified, and it must place more emphasis on knowledge rather than cramming. This can be done by asking many questions that have no right or wrong answers, carrying out projects, and utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, whereby students will be able to relate what they are learning in class to other topics being taught.

Teaching and learning involve many areas of a student’s life, and the teacher is responsible for nurturing the student’s critical thinking skills. Lecture and practical courses should be initiated to enhance teachers’ thinking abilities and introduce them to techniques that may be employed in the classroom setting.

The scientific types of assessments that require memorization should be accompanied by the assessments that promote critical thinking. These can be essays, assignments and oral group works, which require the students to express their analytical and evaluative skills.

It is important for students to be encouraged and allowed to argue about issues and seek opinions from different standpoints. This may be carried out through discussions, debates and the Socratic method, where the student is directed to start questioning his or her premises and gain further insight into the topic.

In my experience and through research, I understand that technology is very helpful in the development of critical thinking skills. Computer programs that solve problems facilitate virtual classes, and involve students in critical thinking activities also reduce pollution levels by enhancing the learners’ learning experiences. Therefore, integrating critical thinking within the Pakistani Educational system has its own difficulties. Standardization is another major challenge that continues to favor test preparation to the extent that memorization takes precedence over analysis. To alter this situation, a change in the policies and paradigms of education is required, with an introduction to the importance of critical thinking. It is herein recommended that there is a need to reform the competencies encompassed in the educational policies and that critical thinking be included among them. This calls for the use of collective effort between teachers, policymakers as well as relevant stakeholders to develop a curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking. Education reform is relevant and largely dependent on the parents’ and community’s support. Schools should involve parents by providing training forums and pertinent materials that assist them in fostering critical thinking at home. Reasonable provision has to be made to schools to enable them to off-fund critical thinking programs. This encompasses expenses for teacher professional development, lesson plan design, and the adoption and application of technology in the learning process. It is important to work on reinforcing the learners’ agency and questioning. This will entail a social change, which will ensure that people realize that education is not about accumulating information but about the methods used to acquire it.

Since Pakistan is struggling to cope with the outcomes of the modern world, the requirements for specific thinking skills will definitely increase as time passes. The generation is yet to come across formidable problems that will call for out-of-the-box and well-researched solutions. To that end, ensuring that critical thinking remains a prominent component of Pakistani education can help students not only gain the tools and knowledge necessary for an individual’s success and fulfillment in life but also become valuable members of society.

Therefore, on the basis of the facts presented in this paper, it is possible to assert that critical thinking, as one of the key components of education, should be at the center of educational processes in Pakistan. Reasoning helps the person to overcome the challenges of the modern world, make the right decisions, and solve problems. By introducing critical thinking into the curriculum, being a part of Pakistan’s educational framework, and developing an environment that is conducive to analysis, evaluation and reflection, students will be prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Now is the time for action to make effective training of critical thinking skills a central component of education at all levels.

The author, a seasoned professional in the field of education (Political Science), holds the esteemed position of Director of ORIC and is an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, MY University, Islamabad.