The Student Parliament organized by SIO – Gujarat and CERT to discuss issues affecting students and youth in the context of the upcoming assembly elections.
Students Islamic Organization (SIO), Gujarat and Center for Educational Research and Training (CERT), Delhi organized a Student Parliament on “Exploring Current Educational Scenario : Isuues and Possible Solutions” at Circuit House, Shahibagh, Ahmedabad on Sunday, August 28.
At the beginning of the program Ibrahim Sheth (Research Associate, CERT) explained the objective of the program and said that we understand that issues of education and educational system as well as other issues of students and youth should be included in the manifestos of various political parties as important issues for the upcoming assembly elections. Toady at the student parliament, after discussion on the same topics, some key issues and representations of the student community will be put before the various political parties.
Chairman of the first session Dr. Iftikhar Malik (President, Markazi Talimi Board, Gujarat) presented an overall picture of the school education in Gujarat in his speech. In which he highlighted various problems like dropouts from primary level to secondary level, lack of government schools, shortage of teachers, inclusion of Bhagavad Gita in school education, new education policy etc. After that, session was opened for dialogue, the students and academicians presented their questions, opinions, solutions on the above topics. At the end of the first session, Munawwar Hussain (State General Secretary, SIO Gujarat) said that education must be made inclusive for the development of the society. Education is a fundamental right of every citizen, be it an urban citizen or a person living in a remote village, everyone should have equal educational opportunities. Government should take appropriate steps for that. Concluding the session, he said that we will try to convey your important suggestions and recommendations regarding school education to various political parties.
The second session of the program was chaired by Saadat Hussain (Research Scholar, JNU) who presented India’s higher education system in its historical perspective. Along with this, he presented his ideas on the topics of participation of different communities in higher education, quality of educational institutions, privatization, reservation in education, unemployment, discrimination in the recruitment of teachers etc. After that the participants discussed each topic in detail.
In the final address of the program, Javed Qureshi (State President, SIO Gujarat) emphasized the importance of mutual dialogue and said that in a democratic country, everyone has the right to express their thoughts and opinions. Through such programmes, people of different mindsets should foster dialogue and try to find solutions to problems together with a constructive approach. He further said that educational and youth issues should be important issues in the assembly elections and should be included in the manifestos of political parties. Along with this, he said that in furtherance of this effort, the SIO will soon release a student manifesto under the upcoming assembly elections. At the end, he thanked all for their active participation.
Students, academicians, college teachers, students and members of youth organizations attended the program and made the program a success.