School of Education (SoE), Central University of Kashmir (CUK) celebrated National Education Day at varsity’s Green campus here.
Addressing the participants, Vice Chancellor Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir highlighted the contributions of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad towards education in general and higher education in particular. He said the foundation of the present education system was laid by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, adding, the Maulana tailored the education to the needs of Indian people as the education had suffered badly under British rule. He said that the reason Maulana Azad is celebrated today is that his contribution towards the revival of the education system is immense.
During the first session, Prof. S Irfan Habib, former Maulana Azad Chair, NIEPA in his keynote address on the theme “Maulana Azad in the Definitive Decade of 1950’s”, stressed upon the egalitarian Islamic principle which is based on the equality and intrinsic dignity of all human beings. He said every child has a right to education for developing his/her faculties and stressed that the objective cannot be realized unless we come out of narrow mindedness which has been the hindrance.
He also emphasized education for women, provision of universal basic education, adult education, social education, education opportunities for all. Prof. Habib emphasized that if any citizen is left behind in education for that the society needs to be blamed and not the individual. Prof. Habib added that Maulana highly recommended the role of culture, art and music and thus believed that education has to train our faculties towards the appreciation of beauty and it was evident when he established various academies related to art and culture in India.
In the second session, speaker Prof. Rizwan Qaisar, Department of History and Culture, JMI spoke on the theme ‘Maulana Azad as an Eminent Educationist’. The speaker emphasized that Maulana was able to expose himself to the intellectual world not due to blind imitation, but he used rationality to generate, propagate knowledge and was open to new ideas. He always celebrated science and saw Islam and science as compatible and not in contradiction. Prof. Rizwan Qaisar emphasized the linkage between culture, language and science.
Prof. Rizwan also talked about various institutions which were established by him to impart knowledge about Islam and was also instrumental in establishing Madrasas in country like the one in Ranchi. He emphasized that the Madrasa Education is a part of our national life and the Madrasas need not to produce only teachers, but educationists. “More than 100 years ago he introduced the modern subjects like math, science, geography etc. in the Madrasa Education which depicts his open mindedness towards science.”
Dean, School of Education Dr. Syed Zahoor Geelani welcomed the guests in both sessions while Ms Arokia Mary and Dr. Gawher conducted proceedings.
Prof. Nighat Basu, former Dean School of Education and Dr. Mohammad Sayid Bhat proposed the vote of thanks in the sessions respectively. The rapporteur for the event was Ms. Saima Bashir.
