ڈاکٹر سلامت اﷲ
مشہور ممتاز ماہر تعلیم ڈاکٹر سلامت اﷲ کا انتقال ۹۰ برس کی عمر میں ۲۳؍ جنوری ۲۰۰۲ء کو دہلی میں ہوا اور جامعہ ملیہ اسلامیہ کے قبرستان میں تدفین ہوئی، جامعہ سے عمر بھر ان کا گہرا تعلق رہا، وہ اس کے شعبہ تعلیم (استادوں کے مدرسہ) کے معماروں اور قومی سطح کے ماہرین تعلیم میں تھے۔ رسالہ جامعہ کے شعبہ ادارت سے منسلک تھے اور اس میں ان کے مضامین بھی چھپتے تھے، انہوں نے اردو اور انگریزی میں متعدد کتابیں لکھیں جن میں تعلیم اور اس کا سماجی پس منظر، تعلیم، فلسفہ تعلیم اور سماج، بنیادی استاد کے لئے، ہم کیسے پڑھائیں: Education of Muslims in thought or Basic اور Secular India can Education do it Education وغیرہ قابل ذکر ہیں، وہ عمر بھر علمی و تعلیمی خدمت میں مصروف رہے، ان کی وفات علمی و تعلیمی دنیا کا بڑا حادثہ ہے، اﷲ تعالیٰ ان کی مغفرت فرمائے، آمین!! (ضیاء الدین اصلاحی، اپریل ۲۰۰۲ء)
Textbooks produce specific minds so are believed the best way to promote peace and harmony in a society. Policymakers draw ideological lines for specific goals and educate the coming generations through the contents of the textbooks. Whatever agenda a nation has, peace and social harmony cannot be compromised so syllabi mean to promote nationalism along with integration. Although history and social studies textbooks address coexistence and tolerance but even then many writers share their reservations about some points. K K Aziz (1993) in Pakistan castigated the governments and the textbook authors on ‘distortion’ of the historical events and deleting important segments of history from the syllabi. Mariam Chughtai shared her reservation regarding the textbooks being published in Pakistan. Romila Thapar in India raised objections against the BJP government’s effort of ‘religionising the syllabi’ and tried her best to introduce non-communal approach based on social harmony in the textbooks while writing history books but her effort remained a mere desire because the ‘religiously’ extremist political party occupying the main corridor of the national government and having no compatibility with her ideas refused to accept the undisputed historical facts. Dr. Mubarak Ali opined while writing on the textbooks that ‘defective textbooks create a defective mindset. Ideology limits people from acquiring new knowledge in order to understand the fast changing world’ (Dawn, April 16, 2016). ‘National History’ reflects national point of view to produce a generation who represents some specific land, culture, religion, political ideology, art and social ethics. Children are taught to grow with their own culture, religion and social norms. This study finds that syllabus of the subjects of History and Pakistan Studies produced by the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) aims at educating the ‘national interpretation of history along with respect for other religious groups’ to the posterity therefore no gaps seem in the textbooks of History and Pakistan Studies. Criticism arises mostly on the old textbooks while the PCTB had revised the textbooks massively and all the historical periods including Indus Valley Civilization, ancient India, Sikh rule, etc. Are being taught at the school and college level. The ‘history textbook’ is not a ‘history’ rather it offers interpretation of the historical events. This article further pinpoints some issues such as communal interpretations in the British India, space in the textbooks, administrative, social, political and religious narrations, and the undeniable position on nationalism and patriotism which cannot be overlooked. The textbooks are playing their role in promoting social harmony and this policy has resulted in a coexistence, tolerance and peace in the society.
The struggle to develop an ideal model for teaching English language has been going on for so many years. English language is the second language in many countries including developing countries like Pakistan. In Pakistan English language has emerged as a powerful medium for communication and learning this language has become the need of the hour for a successful career and life. The students of the developing countries encounter many problems while speaking in English language and the major among those problems is the spoken English language anxiety which hinders the progress of the freshly graduates from getting good jobs.The main aim of the study was to explore confidence of students studying in the Pakistani context in their spoken English skill, with a focus on developing a model of active learning using interactive activities for language usage. It is based on the premise that social interaction is necessary for the cognitive development of mind, as emphasized by Vygotsky (Verenikina, 2010). This research is a mixed method study which was conducted in a private sector university of Lahore city in Pakistan. A quasi experiment Pre-test, post test design was conducted on an intact group of sixty students taken from the first semester. The intervention was based on interactive activities that lasted for two semesters or 32 weeks. The data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative data was gathered through two standardized research tools i.e. a closed ended questionnaire and the spoken English assessment scale. The foreign language classroom anxiety scale developed by Elaine Horwitz (1986) and the adapted version of Conversational skills rating scale by Spitzberg (2007) were utilized for the present study. The qualitative data consisted of the researcher’s observations recorded during the intervention. Results of the study Effect of Confidence Enhancement Techniques on Spoken English showed that the students’ confidence level improved when they were exposed to interactive activities. The students of the control group showed no significant improvement as they had been taught by the routine methodology. Thus it is proposed that such interactive activities handled by trained instructors should be utilized in the classrooms, which can lead to the development of more confident English language speakers.