The Baloch Students Action Committee (BSAC) said in a recent statement that its members organized an education festival and a book fair in the industrial city of Hub Chowki on Tuesday. The festival was attended by hundreds of students, teachers and curious civilians.
BSAC said that the festival included all sorts of programs for the entertainment and education of the participants, like career counselling, reading and writing, a council on youth leadership and a discussion panel on the education system in Balochistan.
Several speakers addressed the gathering and applauded BSAC’s efforts for an “intellectual awakening” in Balochistan. In the career counselling session, the speakers criticized the conventional academic fields – medical and engineering – that thousands of students opt for and tried to inform them of all the other innovative and heavily demanded modern fields of education. The speakers said that most students choose a career at such a point in their lives when they are either uninformed or simply unaware of their latent talents.
A discussion was also conducted on the importance of book reading and writing and its applications in the day-to-day activities of life. A book fair was organized to promote the practice of book reading among the participants. Hundreds of books from several world-renowned authors were stacked on a bookstall and an art corner was also organized which featured paintings, sketches and other artistic designs from aspiring Baloch artists.
Another panel discussed the issue confronting the education system of Balochistan. They said that the academic institutions – schools, colleges and universities – lack the required facilities and transparency to implement a modern education system in Balochistan. The panel resented that the Baloch children are not being educated in their mother tongue which is why they are not able to discover their hidden talents and capabilities for a very long time.
The festival ended with the youth leadership program where BSAC Vice-Chairman Shabir Baloch and Secretary-General Asif Baloch addressed the participants. They said that student politics is facing a crisis in Balochistan. They said that it has now become crucial for Baloch students to read more books and develop an informed worldview.