November 14, 2018: CODE PAKISTAN held a consultation with the students and faculty of the Bahria University, Islamabad, on countering on-campus violent extremism in Pakistan. The consultations focused on exploring inter-university coordination for promoting CVE research and promoting university-madrasah interaction.
The students and faculty members of Bahria University suggested that lessons needed to be learnt from initiatives aimed at enhancing interaction between university and madrasah students from across the world. They were of the opinion that best international practices from the field could then be applied to Pakistani context. The students and faculty members of Bahria University also suggested inviting international scholars and practitioners of the field to speak about their efforts and experiences.
The students and faculty members of Bahria University recommended greater faculty-to-faculty interaction between universities and madrasahs to exchange views about their teaching styles and structures. They suggested to split university-madrasah interactions into two separate segments: start with faculty-to-faculty interaction followed by student-to-student interaction. The students and faculty members of Bahria University also called for extracurricular activities, such as competitive sports. Another suggestion given for promoting university-madrasah interaction during the consultation was to introduce student exchange programs between the two education systems on the lines that exist at Bahria University with international universities. The students and faculty members of Bahria University were of the view that it would mutually benefit them by strengthening their skills in respective areas. For instance, they said that since madrassah students were strong in public speaking and verbal communication, those skills could be shared with university students.
The students and faculty members of Bahria University suggested introducing a special quota in universities for a certain number of madrasah students and called for the introduction of contemporary subjects like English, science, and math in madrasahs. The students and faculty members of Bahria University further suggested that to promote joint activities between university and madrasah students, special joint competitive and entrepreneurial activities could be introduced in areas such as art, where madrasahs could enter with calligraphy and universities with art mediums of their choice to share at an exhibitive forum where art could be auctioned. This, they argued, would be an interactive activity that would also promote entrepreneurship among students.
Alongside the students, the participants of the consultation included the following prominent faculty members of Bahria University: Dr. Atif Jafri, Dr. Faisal Bashir, Dr. Kashif Naseer, Dr. Jafar Hasnain, Dr. M. Asfand-e-yar, Dr. Shahzad Hassan, Dr. Sujjat Khan, Dr. Sherbaz Khan, Mr. Adnan Khan, Mr. Zain Bin Khalid, Mr. Umer Khattak, Ms. Kiran Latif, Mr. Irfan Qaisrani, Mr. Sabahuddin Waqar, Mr. Usman Shafique, Mr. Taimur Hassan, Mr. Adil Ali Raja, Mian Mujtaba Ali, Ms. Jabina Sadiq, Mr. Khwaja Bilal, and Ms. Romana Talat. The consultation was part of a series of consultations that CODE PAKISTAN has planned with the faculties and students of various universities across Pakistan.