The young people of Pakistan must be able to question, analyze and evaluate information and news before communicating it to develop an informed judgment and well-informed opinion on national issues. This critical thinking is particularly important for young minds to solve the country’s problems in a creative and effective manner, as well as to safeguard the country’s image.
This was observed by Khalid Rahman, chairman of IPS, during an interactive session with the undergraduate students of National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, who visited IPS on February 23, 2023 on an exposure trip. These students from the NUST Public Administration Society (NPAS) were in the second semester of their course and their visit was aimed at introducing them to IPS and its activities on several topics related to public administration and governance.
Addressing the students, Khalid Rahman emphasized that the role of youth in the nation’s development and image-building is crucial. He underscored that the trend of forwarding sensational news through social media has done much damage to the national image across the world.
Moreover, in this time of information bombardment, while young people must keep themselves abreast of what is happening around them, they should also be able to distinguish between facts and opinions. To be able to do this, he apprised the students of the importance of critical thinking in order to develop a reliable and informed judgment on any topic. It would not only solve national issues but also safeguard the national image around the world, he stressed.
Responding to questions raised by students, Khalid Rahman mentioned that it is true that Pakistan is facing severe issues of bad governance and political instability, but the problems are not just limited to Pakistan. For example, a developed country like the UK faced political chaos due to the fast turnover of three leaders in less than two months, along with the issue of Scottish independence. The reason why no one talks about the UK breaking apart or suffering from ethnic disintegration is because of the selective communication of information for narrative building.
He concluded the talk stating that Pakistan’s problems are not meant to be run away from but rather to be solved; and young minds must reflect with reason to generate new ideas to solve the issues.
Before the talk, the students were introduced to IPS’ background, its areas of research, its contributions to numerous issues, and its strong institutional relationships and linkages with several top-notch universities and educational institutions in Pakistan to facilitate students’ research in various policy-oriented topics.
At the end of the session, Afshan Hanif, assistant professor at NUST School of Social Sciences & Humanities, thanked Khalid Rahman for an impactful interaction with the students and IPS for hosting them.
