Pakistani Students Hone Analytical Skills

In Pakistan, IWPR’s youth project, Open Minds, received an enthusiastic response from students keen to develop their analytical skills and learn the principles of journalism.

The scheme is working in 42 educational institutions including 12 madrassas, religious schools known for their conservative approach. But IWPR teachers said they were using Islamic principles and stories from the Quran in their lessons.

Sudhir Ahmad Afridi, a project trainer at the Madrassa Darul Quran Namak Mandi in Pakistan’s north-western city of Peshawar, said he had pointed to anecdotes from the Quran and the life of the prophet Muhammad to explain basic journalistic principles.

“For example, someone once asked the prophet while he was riding a horse how many legs did his horse have. The prophet Muhammad did not respond from the top of the horse as he was on its back, but came down and counted the legs and then said that his horse had four legs. This is a lesson that every journalist should speak or write only after getting accurate facts rather than false stories or hearsay,” Sudhir said.

Students were also encouraged to develop critical thinking and knowledge of international affairs through the project’s in-school discussion clubs. In July, several schools and madrassas in the southern city of Karachi held sessions on “Human Rights in Islam”, each of which was attended by about 70 students, and in five schools in Swat, discussion clubs began to address the history of human rights.