Critical Thinking in Educational Institutes of Pakistan

Critical Thinking in Educational Institutes of Pakistan

The last two centuries have witnessed remarkable progress in science and technology. This course of development is still progressing at a rapid pace. But is it not strange that the contribution of 1 billion Muslims to scientific knowledge is next to nothing? If we compare the scientific inventions environment in Pakistan with the rest of the world, it is easy to realise that we are far behind. With fewer exceptions, such as Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam, there are no prominent scientific figures at all. No real scientific work has been carried out in the country. In the global creativity index of 2016, Pakistan ranked 128 out of 119 countries. There are about 0.1 million educational institutions in the country, and about 0.4 million students graduate from universities each year. But what is the reason that a country with a plenty of natural and human resources is so backwards in scientific spheres? In fact, creative activities prosper in societies where there is a tradition of freedom of speech (religious or otherwise), patience, and most importantly, a tradition of critical thinking. Training in critical thinking makes a man able to judge between right and wrong. In simple words, critical thinking is a judicious and rational evaluation of facts to form a judgment. In critical thinking, meaningful inferences are made after understanding, scrutinising, and analysing information. “West” has developed such an educational system which encourages critical thinking. As a result, they are the leaders in all fields of scientific inquiry, including electronics, space technology and medical science.

Critical thinking is not only important in the scientific world, but in all other spheres of life. The information rush on the internet makes critical thinking more important as we must evaluate much contrasting information available on the internet, especially in social media. It is well recognised that critical thinking can be taught in educational institutions. In fact, it is the desirable outcome of any educational system, and it is the duty of the teacher to train students in critical thinking. But how can a teacher teach about critical thinking if he himself is not aware of the concept? By and large, such a situation exists in Pakistan, where an examination is the test of memory. Students with rote learning are considered more successful. How can we expect innovative and creative minds in such a society? For a similar context in the early 1900s, Bertrand Russell, a well-known British philosopher, said about the educational system of the time, “We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought”. The educational syllabus being taught in our institutions is also poorly designed. University-level research students focus more on memorising steps of research methodology (data collection, survey etc.), even though it is more important to teach them how a scientist/researcher thinks. Newton, Einstein, Darwin, and Neil Bohar are not famous because of their methodology but because of their different scientific thinking approach. In short, there is a dire need to teach teachers and students about critical thinking in Pakistan. Economical and scientific progress is not possible unless we develop a favourable educational environment in the country.