Our children are our biggest asset. They are the ones that will create the sustainable future we so passionately long for. Decades from now, they are the ones that will control the reins of our government, businesses and will practically reshape every walk of our lives. Therefore, it is extremely crucial that our children have the ability to dream and the capacity to turn their dreams into reality.
Whatever we see today in our daily lives was once a dream. But then there was someone who loved to think out of the box and had the audacity to turn dreams into reality. From printing books to light bulbs and electricity, and finally personal computers, all these things were once dreams. But someone dared to think unconventionally and challenged the status quo, and thus today all these things are a part of our everyday routine. We need to teach our children the ability to think out of the box, dream big, and turn their dreams into reality. Encouraging our children to become painters would be a much-needed step in the right direction.
It will certainly add to our cultural legacy in Pakistan, and simultaneously, it will craft an ability in children to dream things that aren’t there and to turn them into reality. By doing so, our children might carry on the cultural legacy left by the great painters of Pakistan. Sadequain, Zubeida Agha, Ustad Allah Bakhsh and Anna Molka Ahmed are a few examples in this regard. We don’t know, but many of our children might follow their footsteps and will brighten Pakistan’s name in the field of fine arts across the globe. We have what it takes to make this happen.
There are a few policy actions that we can take to encourage our children to become painters. If not already implemented, every school should be encouraged to organise an art lesson each day. Sparing half an hour for creativity should not be a big deal for schools and will certainly reap multiple benefits for our children. According to The Pennsylvania State University, painting helps children in conveying ideas, expressing their emotions, using their consciousness, experimenting with colours, and discovering processes and outcomes.
We need to teach our children the ability to think out of the box, dream big, and turn their dreams into reality.
In my opinion, when a painting is completed by a child, it will give him or her the confidence that he or she can get things done correctly. This self-confidence will then help our children to be even better and will eventually improve our society as well. Do you know that the University of Northampton (UON) conducted research on the impact of art on children’s educational and personal development? The researchers found that children’s self-belief, motivation, compassion and critical thinking were improved by 25% through practising painting. Thus, practising painting has a clear positive effect on the personal development of our children, and therefore, it must be made an integral part of our education from pre-school to 10th Standard.
There are several policy actions that we need to implement if we want to encourage our children to be painters and craft an ability to think out of the box. A much-needed step in the right direction would be to kick-start municipal art schools across the length and breadth of Pakistan, where children, regardless of their financial circumstances, pay a bare minimum fee and could then learn how to draw and paint as a skill. By doing so, we will reap multiple benefits for our society. First and foremost is that we could hire fine arts (painting) graduates in these municipal art schools as teachers and could provide them with the task to empower our children with imagination, motivation, self-discipline and grit to get things done.
Secondly, we would decrease the inequality in our society since children from both strong and otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds could learn on equal grounds. Similarly, we can make art museums free for children from pre-school up to 10th standard and could charge only a 50% fee from adults accompanying the child. This will encourage our children to visit art museums and observe the great works done by the painters of previous and current generations.
Art training can also prove to be an effective tool, bringing Pakistan even closer to the rest of the world. Do you know that the United Nations in Armenia structured an art training for 40 children (aged 6 – 14) and provided them a chance to know Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), learn new creative skills and use these skills to imagine and draw Sustainable Development Goals.
An excellent example of allowing our children to learn something new, think out of the box, and make the world a more sustainable place for all. We can easily replicate this idea in Pakistan and encourage our schools to collaborate with the United Nations (UN) and organise workshops on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Pakistan. We have what it takes to empower our children with knowledge regarding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To conclude, our children are our biggest asset. Therefore, it is crucial for us to invest in them as much as possible. Encouraging them to become painters is a much-needed step in the right direction to foster their critical thinking, motivation and self-discipline.
It is equally crucial that the Government of Pakistan establish municipal art schools across Pakistan, make museums free of cost for children and provide art supplies at subsidised cost to children. We have what it takes to offer the best to our children in Pakistan. By investing in our children, we will invest in our future and create a resilient society and sustainable Pakistan for all. We have what is needed to make this happen. Choice is ours and will always be.
The writer is a Stockholm-based policy analyst and the Founder / Operations Manager of Project Green Earth (www.projectge.org). He can be reached at aubhameedi @yahoo.com.