University Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED)
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Bernadette Louise Dean
is associate professor and head of academic and student affairs at the AKU-IED
Rashida Qureshi
is assistant professor at AKU-IED
Jane F.A. Rarieya
is assistant professor and coordinator of certificate programmes at AKU-IED. Peshawar University Report: Student-teacher politics: forbidden fruit
By Sadia Qasim Shah
The various political differences among teachers at Peshawar University makes it difficult for students to exist in such an environment, writes Sadia Qasim Shah
THE University of Peshawar is a seat of learning where students from all over the province come for education. Once they enter the varsity, they find themselves torn between two sets of approaches, since there is a ban on their taking part in political activities and “petty, but active politics”.
In the Peshawar University varsity, there is another kind of politics. Teachers are divided into three groups including the Tanzeem-i-Asatiza, Friends and Progressive groups and have an elected body of Peshawar University Teachers Association (Puta). There is a clear division between university teachers due to their affiliation with political parties. There is also a group of teachers, which is “pro-vice-chancellor”, while another group which opposes some of the moves by the vice-chancellor. On some occasions this difference is very clear.
One such occasion was the meeting of Puta’s general body held last month. Anti and pro-vice chancellor teachers in a meeting-cum-scuffle thrashed and verbally abused one another.
The meeting turned into a fist fight and abusive words were hurled at one another when one group including Puta’s president Prof Dr. Shafiq-ur-Rehman accused the vice-chancellor, Prof Dr Haroon-ur-Rasheed, of abusing discretionary powers and demanded his resignation immediately.
The Puta president and syndicate member D. Shafiqur Rehman of the progressive front was mistreated and physically assaulted by members of the Friend’s group during the general body meeting, and he announced his verbal resignation owing to the misconduct of his colleagues.
Senior teachers, including a teacher who had been awarded with the Presidential Award for Performance and a teacher who is chief proctor “physically assaulted” their rivals, said one teacher who was witness to the meeting.
“The general body meeting looked like a fish market and it seemed as if animals were fighting,” opined one teacher who agrees with Plato when he said that “educate the educated people” first.
The involvement of teachers in such activities which present a bad role model for their students also poisons the environment of the campus.
There have been efforts to de-politicise education in Pakistan during the military regime of Zia and later on followed by the civil governments. The ban on student’s unions was to purge educational institutions from politics.
But, it is hard to have educational institutions free of politics as some educationists are of the view that educational institutions, where student and teachers interact, curriculum, environment of educational institutions, the knowledge and evaluation and teaching methods play a vital role in producing a certain kind of human being, thus shaping society as a whole. So teaching becomes a “political act” itself
“When students are deprived from forming unions to protect their rights on one hand and the teachers are involved in petty politics on the other hand, it certainly has a bad effect on the students”, said Prof Dr A.Z. Hilali teaching at the Political Science department.
Difference of opinion is okay but responses to it should be educated and tolerant, Prof Hilali said.
The students who come to university with big dreams go out of it as “narrow-minded” and “divided” as the teachers on campus are, said another teacher of the Political Science department.
Most students, especially girls, were as disillusioned with the academic environment and were least interested in other activities. The girl students were apolitical and did not favour lifting the ban on student unions. They feared it could bring violence on campus.
“Our teachers are all the time busy in their issues and their selfish interest rather than teaching us,” complained the female students at the Economics department.
“When I entered the university, one of my teachers advised me to stay away from the issues between teachers as they are sometime so evident that even students siding with their teachers get divided into groups,” said one student of the Political Science department requesting anonymity since his comment about his teacher could affect his marks in the viva examination.
His remark spoke of the partiality of teachers of the Peshawar university varsity where students are advised to not say anything, not just out of respect but to avoid wrath of their teachers.
Another student from the Pakistan Studies department said that students should be allowed to form unions for their rights. There is no forum where students can gather and raise their voice to get their rights.
“Whatever the teachers did in the Puta meeting certainly has an effect on their students,” said another student.
The students affiliated with Pukhtun Students Federation, People’s Student Federation and Islami Jamiat-i-Tulaba, who are student wings of the political parties, are still active on campus despite a ban on their political activities, and favoured lifting the ban on student unions.
They said that teachers have their elected associations to protect their interests so why should students be deprived from raising their voice for their rights at a united platform.
Like teacher like student: the latter have formed associations based on their race and regions due to the absence of a platform to unite these students for the solution of their problems.
Such associations on a racial and regional basis among students promotes factions and creates a hostile and divided environment instead of unity among them, said Prof Hilali.
When students are advised to stay away from politics that, too, is a political demand aiming at to maintain the status quo and accept the things as they are. The ruling classes want them (students) to not cause any change in the conditions around them, said a student of the philosophy department.
Two years after the ban imposed by the Zia regime, a committee of vice-chancellors, headed by Dr Mohammad Rafique, the then vice-chancellor of the University of Punjab, interviewed representatives of student organisations and sought their opinion on the lifting of ban on students’ unions. The independent student organisations, who were not affiliated with the political parties, submitted their separate reports to the committee on the negative effects of ban on the elections of students unions.
Educational institutions have been a breeding ground for politicians, who, later, made an impact on the country’s politics. Most of the firebrand politicians were a product of the Karachi, Punjab and Peshawar varsities who played an important role in the country politics after 1970. Thus, it seems that if universities and teachers played their role in the political education of their students, the situation would not have been this bad today.
The writer works for Dawn, Peshawar
