International Colloquium, Institute of Social and Policy Sciences

Session Chair: Way Forward
Prof. Dr. Nasser Ali Khan, PhD
Member O & P
Higher Education Commission, Islamabad.

Prof. Dr. Nasser Ali Khan did his MS from Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium. Later he has done Ph.D. (Economics) from University of Peshawar in 2003. He also served as the director of Institute of Management Sciences (IMSciences) Peshawar, as Assistant Professorship Department of Economics University of Peshawar from 1995-2003, Assistant Director/Economic Research, Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan from 1986-87 and Staff Economist, Centre for Applied Economic Studies, University of Peshawar from 1984-86. Previously he had also served as Chairman for Committee for Development of Social Sciences and Humanities in Pakistan by Higher Education Commission, Islamabad.
Till now, he has eighteen publications in reputed national and international journals and his major area of research is Economics and International Relations. He has attended various seminars, symposiums and conferences inside the country and abroad during his academic and professional career. He is also member of various national and international societies.

I-SAPS International Colloquium 2013

Societal Transformations: Pakistan Now and in the Future

I-SAPS Colloquium 2013 aims at deepening the understanding of societal changes taking place in Pakistan and South Asia. Societies have always been changing but the pace however appears to have accelerated in the last three hundred years. The social and human sciences have taken up the task of understand
ing and explaining the nature, direct
ion, consequences, and ramifications of these changes for individuals, communities, states, and inter-state institutions and organizations. The scientific revolution, colonialism, the globalization of the state, the supra-state alliances of multinational corporations, the initial retreat and the subsequent global assertion of tribal/pre-modern identities under the rubric of multiculturalism are some of the major signs and sites of societies being reconfigured. Societal transformations can result in major shifts in collective and individual subjectivities. Are the drivers of change endogenous or exogenous to a society? The answer to this question raises useful issues related to the role of religion, technology, state and other agents producing conflict or consensus. In case of Pakistan in particular and South Asia in general, should a society attempt to control the way in which it is being transformed? Societal transformations, sustained over time, can give completely new meanings to attitudes and values. Through 2013 Colloquium, I-SAPS seeks to contribute towards a nuanced understanding of the agents, causes and consequences of societal transformations with a special focus on Pakistan and South Asia.
I-SAPS invites papers from academics, public intellectuals and policymakers addressing the multi-dimensional transformations that are taking place in Pakistan and South Asia. The papers can belong to any of the following major themes or a theme of relevance to the general topic of I-SAPS 2013Colloquium.
Major Themes:
1. Role and relationship of an individual with societal transformations
2. Approaches/dimensions of societal transformations/drivers of societal transformation: legal, economic, cultural, technological, global, political
3. Agency, strategy and policy in societal transformations
4. The politics of social change
5. Building sustainable communities
6. Measuring societal transformations
7. Divergence and convergence of societal transformations in South Asia
8. Inter-civilizational contact and societal transformations
At the first stage, please send an abstract of 300 words at [email protected]

KeyNote Speaker at Collqouium Dinner

Honorable Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday
HOC Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan.



Having secured a law degree from the Punjab University with Special Certificate of Honour for best all-round activities in academics, debates, sports and in the literary field, Mr. Justice Khalil ur Rahman Ramday joined the legal profession at Lahore in the year 1969. He was appointed as an Assistant Advocate General for Punjab in the year 1976 and then having remained an Additional Advocate General, he finally rose to be the Advocate General Punjab in March, 1987.
He was elevated to the Bench of the Lahore High Court in October, 1988 and was elevated further as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in January, 2002. He laid down his robes on reaching the age of superannuation on January 12, 2010 but was then requested by the Chief Justice of Pakistan to continue as an Ad-hoc Judge of the Supreme Court for one year which he did till March, 2011. During his tenure in the Supreme Court, he also had the honour of presiding over its 13 Member Bench in the year 2007 which restored Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhery as the Chief Justice of Pakistan after quashing the reference filed against him by President Pervez Musharraf.
Acquiring knowledge and sharing it with others has always been a passion with him. He was member of the visiting faculty of the Punjab University Law College and deliver lectures at the Civil Services Academy of Pakistan, the Administrative Staff College, the National Institute of Public Administration, the National Defence College, the Air Force War College and the Naval War College. He also had the privilege of delivering lectures at Harvard, Columbia and George Washington Universities U.S.A.
He was, on the Board of Governors/Syndicate of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), the Lahore School of Economics (LSE), the Quaid-e-Azam University, the National University of Modern Languages and of the Air University.
He is an ardent advocate of Inter-Faith Harmony and has delivered talks at Gurukul Kangri University, Haridewar (India); at Rotary International Goodwill Summit, Delhi (Feb., 2007), at Oslo and at Amsterdam on the subject.
In recognition of his services in the field of education, law and administration of justice, Guru Nanak Dev University (India) honored him with a degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris causa) in the year 2005 and in 2012the National Law University at Delhi also honored him with his appointment as an Honorary Professor of Law.

Dr Javed R. Laghari
Chairperson HEC

Dr. Javaid R. Laghari is chairperson Higher Education Commission , Pakistan. Previously, he was a senator in the Pakistan Senate from 2006 to 2009. He is also the recipient of the distinguished leadership award, 1987, the IEEE award for leadership and dedicated services, 1994, and the coveted national award 'Tamgha-e-Imtiaz' conferred by the President Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1998.

Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi
Executive Director
Higher Education Commission
Islamabad, Pakistan.
Dr. S. Sohail Naqvi is the Executive Director, Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, HEC. He
has been the Member Steering Committee on Higher Education formed by the President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan that helped with the transformation of the University Grants Commission into the Higher Education Commission. He co-authored the vision document for programs of the Higher Education Commission. As a member of Human Resource Development and Strategic Planning of the Higher Education Commission, Dr Naqvi oversaw development and implementation of over Rs. 15 Billion worth of higher education programs. Dr Naqvi did his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, USA. He is also the founding member of Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortium, ISTEC, which is a non-profit organization comprising of educational, research and industrial institutions throughout the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula. Dr Sohail Naqvi is the member Board of Trustees for the Endowment Fund for Higher Education and R&D for IT and Telecom Sector at Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad, and also at National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad. He is the Founding Member of Engineering Education Trust, Islamabad that has established the Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering, and member PTCL R&D Fund Committee, Member Advisory Board for IT & Telecommunication Division, Member Punjab Networking Project Study Committee constituted by the Governor of the Punjab.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Pakistan (SSHRCP), Higher Education Commission (HEC)

Quality education in Social Sciences & Humanities plays a major role in the socio-economic development of any country. In Pakistan there has been sporadic development in this sector over the past years but no substantial effort has been undertaken until recently. The Higher Education Commission since its inception in year 2003 has taken a number of initiatives ranging from human resource development to providing research grants, and developing linkages at both National and International level in order to revive quality education in Social sciences and Humanities. Towards this objective Higher Education Commission established the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Pakistan. The council is governed by the Committee for Development of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities in Pakistan comprising of eminent social scientists. The committee has been given the task to deliberate upon, identify the problems and to recommend immediate, short term as well as long term measures to make social sciences education, vibrant, dynamic and attuned to the present and future needs of Pakistan. The committee is currently chaired by Dr. Muhammad Nizamuddin,Vice Chancellor, University of Gujrat, Punjab.
At present the council is focusing on three key areas which include:
1. Faculty/Human Resource Development in Social Sciences
2. Institutional Development
3. Promotion of Research Culture

Abstract: Ms Roshni Kumari

Apathy and Anger: Tracing the Roots in Education

For any positive societal transformation to take place, an important purpose of education should be to produce 'empowered', 'progressive', 'forward looking', 'critical thinking' attitudes and action orientation. Is our educational system producing such attitudes and action orientation? The answer, as we see the situation is, 'Not Really'! On the contrary, what the educational processes end up propagating is apathy and anger as far as public action for positive societal transformation is concerned.
In this paper, we briefly analyse the educational processes in Pakistan to describe the various policy provisions and processes, the very conception of education and schooling, the curricular approaches, the dominant teaching and learning approaches, all reflect an educational setup which is designed to dis-empower and frustrate & encourage fragmentation and isolation. This results in the limiting of the circle of influence and action giving rise to apathy and anger.
While exploring the limits and limitation of our educational system, we underscore the need shift from its current, pre-dominant focus and emphasis on deficit models of development to strength-based approaches and futuristic orientation, so as to develop a desire for positive action and societal transformation; thus, developing forward-looking attitudes and progressive thinking. This, we believe, requires a complete overhauling of the educational thinking and underpinning theories and models.

Ms. Roshni Kumari
Founding Member
Exploring Leadership and Learning Theories Association (ELLTA)
Sweden


Roshni Kumari is an Educationist and Researcher Consultant, with an extensive experience of research, strategic planning, organizational learning and leadership development. She has worked with the public as well as private sector in Pakistan and in other developing countries. She is the founding member of the Exploring Leadership & Learning Theories in Asia Association (ELLTA), and the co-organizer of the ELLTA Conference 2011, Malaysia. She has worked on a number of research projects and published both, nationally and internationally.

Abstract: Dr Shahid Siddiqui

Inequalities in Education: Source of Apathy and Anger

There is a growing realization about the political nature of education (Illich, 1971; Freire,1972; Apple, 1990; Postman, 1974-79) that has a direct relationship with ideology and power. School, thus, is considered to be an important social institution engaged in constructing, validating and perpetuating certain st
ereotypes. The relationship of education and society is interdependent as both influence and get influenced by each other. In the last three decades, education, under the influence of globalization, has changed rapidly in terms of its objectives and dynamics. The corporatization of education (Hill, 2003) together with privatization has made quality education far more expensive which hasfurther augmented social stratification in Pakistan. This is becoming a major cause of anger and apathy in the society. Currently about seven million students are out of school and 28% students drop out until grade 5 (Government, 2011).Those who manage to go to schools are exposed to the stratified school system where schools for the rich and the poor are poles apart in term of their infrastructure, facilities, curricula, fee structure, faculty, and assessment practices.
The education policies (Government, 1970, 1979, 1998, 2009) were largely personality driven and prepared on the outlines designed by foreign consultants and generally lacked broad consultative processes involving the stakeholders. Most of these policies underplayed the challenge of reducing the economic disparity and bringing about social justice. As a result of unequal distribution of educational opportunities, a large segment of population does not have access to quality education and thus feel marginalized. This economic, social, and educational marginalization leads to the feelings of disillusionment, rejection, and despondency. The two potential responses, vis-à-vis the social change in the society, emanate from these feelings are (a) complete conformity and silence (Illich, 1971) that strengthens the status quo or (b) sheer anger and antagonism that leads to feeling of extremism, destruction, and annihilation. It is important to note these responses are not just confined to those who are deprived of schools but can be seen among the literate that are unable to get jobs or have to accept underpaid jobs.
The important factor, thus, is not just providing access to the marginalized groups but ensuring quality education, in terms of contemporary curriculum, competitive syllabi, critical pedagogy, effective assessment and enabling school environment that contribute to their academic development and life chances. Social exclusion, a major cause of anger and apathy, need to be dealt with institutions at academic level by educational institutions and at social level through public action. It is through such a holistic approach that marginalized groups can be given recognition, confidence and social space to participate in public action and contribute in improving the living conditions.