Democracy and education: The
inseparable duo
The majority chunk of the global populace treasure democracy, yet for many, it
still remains an elusive dream. Democracy as representation of the collective
will of people cannot simply be functional by merely pushing a button, rather it
is a process which the people initiate by conscious decisions and sustain it by
subscribing to its principles in theory and practice.
In its modern form, representing the alterations necessitated by the onset of
technology and human wisdom, democracy has evolved in accordance with the
exigencies of the day. Yet, it just bears striking resemblance to 300BC, when it
was first conceived, in ancient Greece. While democracy is sustained through
constitutional and bureaucratic means, it requires an auxiliary socio-cultural
climate to flourish.
The society must be constitutive of participatory governance, political
pluralism, gender equality and an inclusive education system. There exists a
reinforcing relationship between democracy and education, as only a learned mind
possesses the magnanimity and intellect needed to grasp concepts such as
liberty, equality, justice, law, the rights and responsibilities of the state
and its people.
It is true that there is a nexus between parliamentary government and learning,
the democratic system in order to flourish needs a political and critical mass
as the public sphere remains to be its social constituency. “In order to survive
and thrive social equality needs politically-motivated and committed citizens
who have their stake in its survival and efficient functioning are the ones who
sustain the system. Democracy, by and large, is more successful in those
societies where the masses are politically conscious and aware of their rights
as well as of their duties,”
Education and literacy both have a pivotal and transcendental potential to
solidify democracy. The relationship between knowledge and power is explicitly
addressed by Michel Foucault who posits that knowledge produces a certain type
of society. And through his rationale, an education system based on principles
of reason and logical thinking is likely to be recurred within the society as
well.
On the contrary, if an educational system promotes mediocrity, bigotry, rote
learning, siege mentality and intolerance towards other religions and
minorities, the results would be disastrous for the country and democratic
institutions as the citizenry would be narrow-minded and fanatical, seeing the
world through the cynical lens.
“Our educational system” “is actually anti-democratic and does not promote the
democratic system. In my view, instead of impacting any class harmony, it
reinforces class divisions and biases, because of the conflicting streams of
education, i.e., private, public and madressah education.
“Democracy is all about the space and encouragement to ask questions and our
education system curbs even the tendency to question. Pluralism, co-existence of
divergent views and tolerance of the ‘other’ are hallmark of democracies and
these don’t find much breathing space here.”
, “Education is the basic requirement for democratic transition but not the kind
of education which we have in our country which perpetuates the already
entrenched class system. Secondly, the other very important role of education is
to develop the capacity to think on a collective level which, unfortunately is
also lacking.”
If one now is to critically evaluate the recent elections, which have been
hailed as a watershed in the country’s political history, as for the very first
time a democratic government has been allowed to finish its full term.
Additionally, the participation of urban middle classes wholeheartedly
participated in the elections was also an unprecedented event.
These developments have indeed been greeted cordially by many among the
country’s intellectuals. The rise of youth in politics and Pakistan becoming
more globalised have been cited as two important causes for this change in
Pakistani politics. The youth saw elections as a means to institute changes in
their lives for the better, and this confidence in democracy testifies
Pakistan’s yearning for representation within a democratic framework of the
country.
Another notable development within the Pakistani politics is that they rejected
sectarianism and militancy and none of such political parties were able to rise
to prominence. This again is a testament to the fact that despite lacking the
educational capacities, Pakistanis still wish to expel alien values of violence
and intolerance.
“I think magnitude of energy and the economic crisis facing the people of
Pakistan is so severe that it affected everyone across the board. Unprecedented
CNG, natural gas and electricity load shedding during the last five years made
the urban upper middle-class realize, perhaps for the first time, that their
capacity to pay [economic access] would not ensure uninterrupted supply of
energy. For them it was easy to establish linkage of energy crisis to governance
issues and that is one of the reasons they decided to poll their vote.”
There are, however, a few who still believe that education is irrelevant to the
development of a civilization. As a seasoned journalist cynically proclaims, it
was emergence of a one charismatic leader who stirred the country’s polity, and
our youth who are, by and large, apolitical. They naively hoped that a former
cricket captain will resolve all national problems and lead them to victory.
Democracy and education are two virtues congruent with each other, and if our
democratic system reserves strong value for reason and rationality, we can help
in establishing a more humane and literate society, which can stand against
feudalism, religious fanaticism, social inequality and poverty, terrorism and
discrimination.