Int’l Students Day Marked on 16th

Like other parts of the globe, International Students’ Day was celebrated in Pakistan on Tuesday, with a pledge to recruit every effort for the promotion of quality and creating a uniform education system in the country.

The students all over the world participated in colourful activities including seminars, rallies, conferences and programmes to highlight the students role in building up a knowledgeable society. A student of Islamabad College of Management and Commerce (ICMC), Ali Mustafa said that the existing discriminatory educational set up and dichotomy in the country are creating troubles among students in their practical life. Although, the new education policy has focused on uniform syllabus and curriculum but strenuous efforts are required to bring changes in existing education system, he said.

The educational system of the country wholly depends on the contribution and dedication of the teachers so their status must be elevated to uplift education standard, Ali said. Another student Ahsan Tariq called for the restoration of student unions so that problems of students can be resolved. The government has announced to lift ban from student unions but still not implemented the decision, he said.

Students hold the key of nation’s future in their hands and it is the responsibility of the state to provide them equal opportunities with regard to quality education, Ahsan added. The date commemorates the anniversary when Nazis in 1939 stormed the University of Prague after demonstrations against the killing of Jan Opletal and the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and the execution of nine student leaders and closing of all Czech universities and colleges.

November 17 was first marked as the International Students’ Day in 1941 in London by the International Students’ Council (which had many refugee members) in accord with the Allies, and the tradition has been kept up by the successor International Union of Students, which has been pressing with National Unions of Students in Europe and other groups to make the day an official United Nations observance.