Vocational or professional education

Vocational or professional education is that provided to students going to join definite professions.Is also offered to those already working in these professions or vocations.Vocational education is different from general education of the arts and the sciences.

Vocational education is of different kinds.It may be technical for those intending to engage in industrial work.It may be agricultural for those going agricultural or farming as a profession.Then,it can be education or the engineering,medical,legal,teaching,business,banking,insurance and other professions.

Vocational education is generally given in vocational or professional schools,colleges or universities.In industrial or technical schools,the basic skills in the use of different machines and the processes of maintaining,working and repairing them are taught.Such schools may also have classes for ordinary workers and helpers working on different kinds of machines,carpenters making furniture of a high quality,tailors,painters,welders,blacksmiths,goldsmiths,handicraft works etc.

Our education system should aim at expanding technical or professional education.Under the system,technical subjects can be introduces in the arts colleges.Students can be imparted special professional training in the fields of industry,agricultural business,education,electronics,dairy farming,vegetable farming,nursing,etc.

Our country needs properly educated and trained engineers,mining experts,scientists, and technicians for quick development and scientific progress.We require properly trained teachers,lawyers,bankers,business experts,journalists and so on for quick social and cultural progress.We can have these through vocational education in different fields.

Both men and women should try to receive suitable professional education.Our country will make rapid progress when most of our people can work efficiently in their professions.

School education in pakistan

For a developing country like ours,education is necessary for all kinds of progress.Benjamin Disraeli,a famous British Prime Minister,said in 1874,

"upon the education of the people of this country the fate of this country depends".

This very well applies to Pakistan where about 75% people or more are still uneducated.It is school education that needs to be modernized and streamlined(systematized)if we want to achieve any respectable level of progress and development in any part of this century.Let us examine the condition of school education here in its basic details.

The school sector of education is divided into the kindergarten,the primary stage and the middle and higher school stages.When a baby is sent to a kindergarten or nursery at the age of 4 to 6,his education begins to have permanent impressions on him.Psychologically,the mind of a child is the most receptive and impressionable at the earliest age.Except for the very rich people,it is not possible for an ordinary person to send his small children to standard kindergartens for their very basic education and training.

The next stage of our school education is the primary stage from Class I to Class V.We know quite well how the rich send their children to well-established English schools where education is given in English except for the subjects of Urdu and Islamic studies.The poor children get admitted to ordinary government schools,common private schools and religious academies,maintained by mosques or religious centers.The children in the English schools learn English very well and are taught the sciences and arts in modern ways.

The courses of studies in Class IX and Class X are,more or less,a continuation of the courses of Class VI to VIII.While all the science and arts subjects have the matriculation courses in standard form,it is surprising that the students complain of difficulties in learning mathematics,physics,chemistry, and other science subjects.These are not easily understandable,as they have been introduced without proper arrangements for their teaching.That is why the students find it difficult to understand all their parts without special guidance in private coaching centers.

Industrial or technical education

Industrial or technical education means education about different kinds of machines ,their parts and their repairs.Students learn in industrial and technical schools and workshops how to maintain machines,what oils to use in them and how to check their working mechanically with modern equipment.In order to use computerized machinery,computer education up to certain levels is also necessary.The use of computers and the best mechanical processes in the operation of machine increases production or output and income.The efficient working of machines as individual units leads us to the setting up of plants,factories or industries which are nothing but groups of machines of the same kind engaged in the production of the same kinds of goods.Thus,China,a world of industrial power,has set up machines in groups in different areas that industrially trained labor operates and controls in regular and planned ways.We can do the same provided that we have first-rate industrial labor.

Why do we require industrial education so badly?Ours is an industrial age.We produce things of daily use like bicycles,radios,TVs,electric fans,cooling equipment like air-conditioners and refrigerators,agricultural equipment like tube-well engines and electric generators,sports goods,surgical instruments, and so on with different kinds of machines.We have well-established industries from which we get goods like sugar,cloth,medicines,shoes,furniture etc.We have started assembling cars,trucks,tractors,other vehicles and planes in big plants.Later,we shall be producing and exporting them.For all this industrial education is necessary.

Our defense industry needs specially trained technicians and workers.Special training institutions may be set up to meet the requirements of our armed forces in the production of arms and ammunition.

We may not need any foreign experts in our industrial establishments when we have well-educated and trained industrial professional workers.

The importance of scientific education

Ours is a scientific world.We have made use of scientific principles in almost every field of life of our practical life.We have made life easy and comfortably by developing machines and instruments that provide us the maximum comfort in the home and outside.At the same time,we have created possibilities of destroying ourselves and our civilization by developing complex weapons of wars.For all the positive and negative uses of science that we have to make,we need scientific knowledge of the highest order.

Firstly,we need scientific education that can promote our industrial development in the best possible ways.Scientific education,in this sense,should be given in two levels-for the smooth running and maintenance of the machines used in our factories and for the designing and production of new and more effective machines.

Secondly,we need to learn the latest methods of agricultural production.For this,we should have theoretical and practical knowledge of different methods of growing crops,of protecting the crops and plants from insects and diseases and of various ways of mechanical farming.We have special institutions like the Faislabad Agriculture University where students research on ways of improving food production and developing new varieties of food grains and fruits.

Thirdly,scientific knowledge is essential to the maintenance of communication-railway,air and sea transport,radio,television and telephone.We need people having specialized knowledge and training to maintain the whole system of communications.

Fourthly,scientific knowledge is needed to maintain private and public health.Continuous study and research in the advanced countries have resulted in the development of highly effective drugs and medicines that can cure most of our diseases.We,too,should have medical education of the highest order.

Scientific knowledge is needed even to maintain health and condition of the animals and birds under our care.We should be in touch with the latest research in medical science to keep our farm animals and birds in good health.

Fifthly,scientific knowledge is essential to the preparations of weapons of war.To defend ourselves and to remain prepared against foreign attacks we need to have modern technology.In this connection,we have made the best use of modern scientific knowledge for becoming a nuclear power.

In fact,the whole structure of our civilization rests on scientific knowledge.We should offer scientific education of the highest order and on modern lines in our schools,colleges and universities.

Adult education

Adult education is education given to the adults or grown-up people of a country in different forms.It generally means teaching uneducated adults how to read and write.But it also means teaching them the ways of working efficiently in their different professions or places of work.It may also mean teaching them better ways of living,enjoying life or making use of their time.

Adult education is necessary in a country likes ours.About 75% of our adults are uneducated and illiterate.They cannot easily learn new ways of doing work in their different professions.Consequently,they cannot easily progress or earn much.

Through proper adult education,our working people can become more useful for the society and the country.They can serve their nation well by learning better ways of working on their jobs.Educated laborers can easily learn ways of working new machines.They can read books about the different techniques of production.Thus,they can become efficient industrial workers and can increase the production of their country.

Educated adults know or understand their rights and duties and the laws of the country much better than uneducated people.They can read newspapers and magazines and can learn about social and natural problems.They can discuss the political,social and economic aims of the government and the programs of political parties.Then they can elect the most suitable candidates for for positions of power.

Minister,members of Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies,educationists,social workers and economic experts should discuss the ways of educating the common people in the mass media.

Under the national education plan,literacy centers can be set up in every part of the country.All kinds of buildings,like those of schools,factories,Union Council Halls,hotels,restaurants and government offices can be used.Temporary structures for teaching can be erected,especially in the villages.Teaching can be more effective through television and radio programs,films,discussions and practical demonstrations of teaching materials.

Our schools,colleges and universities can provide adult education.Special classes for adults can be held there after the regular classes are over.There adults can be taught languages like Urdu and English.

In India,apart from lack of education among the younger generation there is also the problem of adult illiteracy.Many people in India do not receive educationn because of poverty,lack of educational facilities or social conditioning,especially in case of girls.The Nation Literacy Mission(of India) was started in 1988 and they have many adult education programs now running in all over the India.The aim was to provide functional literacy to ten crore people by the year 1997.Thus,many adult education centers and libraries have been opened.Many non-conventional methods like theatres are being used to help make adults literate,particularly in villages.Many voluntary agencies have done good work in this field

Universal education

Universal education means education for all the people of the country.It means educating the entire nation-men,women and children in the cities,villages and at all places.There is a great need to educate our people.More than 70% of our people are still uneducated.

If most of our people get educated,they can understand the value of unity and discipline.They can co-operate in different fields of life.They can understand and work for their own high aims and those of their nation and country.They can understand and obey the law of the land and become good citizens.

Universal education is urgently needed in the present social and political context of terrorism.Terrorism can be checked and brought to an end only in three ways-by providing economic equality,equal chances of progress and proper universal education to the people in the shortest time.

Educated people can understand the political problems of their country and those of other countries.They can follow the policies of their government.They can also follow the programs of different political parties.In elections,they can wisely vote for those political parties or candidates whose programs or policies they find to be beneficial and useful.

Universal education will enable our people to make proper industrial,agricultural and technical progress.Educated people prove to be more efficient and useful than uneducated people.

We should open big education centers at central places in villages,towns and cities.These centers should having morning,afternoon and night classes.All kinds of buildings,even those of banks,government offices,clubs,shopping centers,besides those of schools and colleges can be used for classes on holidays and at late hours.

There can be a common fund for universal education.Rich landowners,industrialists,banks and commercial organizations should contribute to this fund.The government can levy a special tax on people with higher incomes to meet the expenses of universal education.Then the government can itself provide money from its treasury.

Universal education will bring the light of knowledge to many of our dark homes.The government and the people should co-operate to make universal education a possibility and a fact.

An ideal college

It is in the interest of students and teachers to have ideal or perfect colleges in different parts of the country.Most colleges,which are quite imperfect and defective in several respects,will then try to become perfect like the ideal colleges.

First of all,an ideal college is ideally or most suitably located.It is quite far from the crowded city or town life,but not so distant as to make it difficult or expensive for students to reach it.

Secondly,an ideal college has several blocks fulfilling the requirements of different subjects.The arts block has several departments housed in separate sub-blocks.For example,English,Urdu,Persian,Arabic,etc.have their departments with the staff of the individual subjects with their heads sitting in separate rooms.The classrooms for the subjects are in these sub-blocks.

The science block,in addition to having classrooms and offices,has modern laboratories.The latest scientific apparatus and equipment available.The students,with the help of their teachers,go on experimenting on new methods and procedures.In physics,chemistry,botany,zoology,and other science subjects the students and teachers go on learning the results of studies and research in the advanced countries.The libraries of these departments have the best books published all over the world in English.Some translations of these books into Urdu are also available.

Computer teaching and training has special importance.The college maintains computer center of international standards.The students learn the latest computer programs.They are also taught computer technology and the maintenance of computer hardware and software.They are prepared for the manufacture of these in factories.

The ideal college of the above description has the best facilities of sports.The playgrounds are vast and well maintained.Players get special and prolonged training in sports,especially in cricket,hockey,football and swimming.

The ideal college promotes public speaking of the highest order.It trains students,through debates and public discussions of national problems and issues,to become later national leaders and parliamentarians.

My dreams

Dreams,pleasant and unpleasant,are indicative of one's personality.It is so because what a person thinks about usually or what lies in his mind as desires,hopes or regrets is easily reflected in his dreams.

Firstly,I may describe my dreams related to my desires and hopes.I had once desired as a child to be a famous political leader.Now when I lie down and go to sleep,I sometimes begin dreaming that I am a member of a political party and the common people like me very much.

The second dream that I often have relates to visits to the most interesting cities or countries.I am very fond of traveling,though I do not often get enough chances of doing so.In my sweetest dreams,I am often voyaging on the high seas to distant islands like Sindbad the sailor,Ibn-e-Batuta or Robinson Crusoe.There I live in forests with wild people,eating fruit and roasted meat and drinking spring water and then dancing around trees for hours on end.

The third dream that I sometimes have is very frightful and horrible.It concerns floods bringing about large scale destruction all around and causing a huge loss of life.In my sleep,I find my house surrounded by floodwater.As the house is at a considerable height,it is beyond the reach of the street water.Somehow,a boat reaches our family with some helpers,and we board it.

The fourth dream is perhaps most horrible,and it concerns flying and forced landing.In my dream,I fly to far off places up to Iceland,Greenland,North and South poles.I visit all the advanced countries,but,on return to my homeland,the airplane engines develop some trouble.

Somehow,I have come to accept the Chinese proverb:"To believe in one's dreams is to spend all one's life asleep."And,further,"In dreams and in love nothing is impossible."

More than half of our life we are sleeping or dreaming.We even daydream as we go on building castles in the air,lost in our imagination.My greatest hopes,which are most difficult to be fulfilled,make me daydream,It is not so pleasant to have this experience because when I wake up I find the world mostly ugly,unpleasant and painful.The fairy world of dreams melts into the everyday ordinary world of realities.

A memorable function

It was in March last year that the debating society of our college arranged the final function for the third and fourth-years debaters.Most of our teachers,debaters and prominent students of both the classes were present.When I reached college at about six in the evening.I was happily surprised to find quite a few of my best friends there.

We were sitting on the green lawns with some fine beautiful flower trees around.Cold drinks were served to the guests who were busy talking.

We were sitting.

The principal stood up a few minutes later and made a brief speech.He introduced some new teachers and students to the listeners.Then he invited the most successful debaters to speak to the pleasure of the audience.

The debaters spoke in a light,humorous way and tried to do their best.One of my friends among them made us laugh a good deal.He said college debating was going to help him to select a girl to marry,as woman liked fine speakers.Soon afterwards,a girl debater stood up and said that she liked able thinkers,men who had good brains.

The function continued lat into the light.We had dinner,and then listened to music and songs.A girl and a boy of our college and two guest singers from other colleges sang to the music played by our music club.The audience joined the singers in some love songs and we forgot for some time where we were.After the songs,we heard pure music,which was also quite enjoyable.

After the music,we had some time for photographs,I still have some shots of the party that I have kept on my study table.I refresh myself with sweet memories of this party whenever I feel upset.

It was after ten that people started saying goodbye to each other.I did not feel like leaving the place as I was still enjoying the pleasure of the company of my friends,companions and teachers.However,like every activity,pleasant and unpleasant,the party had to end.I stood up,and with unwilling steps started towards the college gate.While returning home on my friend's motorcycle,I was still hearing the music and noise of the party in my mind.I still enjoy it at times and desire to see all of those who were with me on that memorable night.

What I do not like in life

I think my likes and dislikes are not so uncommon.But there are somethings that I dislike more than others.

Firstly,I dislike telling lies.I think it is better to talk against a person to his face than to lie to him or to misguide him nay way.Our Holy Prophet SAW once said that if everyone started speaking the truth most of our personal and social problems would be solved.

Secondly,I hate bribery and cheating just as I would hate having the most dangerous disease.When we give or get a bribe,we set an example.Others do the same and bribery spreads around.Then those in authority will not easily help a poor person who cannot bribe them.In the same way,cheating others is an evil practice that spreads fast.When,for example,someone cheats a person in business,he may begin cheating other to make good his losses.

Thirdly,I hate making a show of one's wealth,position or power.It is the weakness of most human being to desire to look rich or important to others.Thus,we find people buying cars that are more expensive and buildings and houses that impress their neighbors.This kind of show makes many people spend more than they earn.Thus,we find quite a few people spending on marriages beyond their means and getting into debts.There are government servants who impose their position, not only are they disliked but hated.They become corrupt when they like to collect a lot of money to live in luxury or to buy lands,houses and cars.

Another quality that I hate most is ugliness.I like beauty in everything.Therefore,when anyone makes an ugly picture or sings a song in an ugly way or does anything in an unpleasant manner,I dislike it.However,in human beings I dislike ugliness of character,not ugliness of the body.