3-day workshop on cultural heritage education concludes

PESHAWAR: The speakers at a three-day workshop on Thursday called upon the relevant quarters to prepare a comprehensive guidelines and manifesto for integrating cultural heritage including arts, crafts, oral traditions, folk tales and archeological sites in school curriculum.

The workshop was organized by an Italian agency in collaboration with Unesco, THAAP and NISDA – Pakistan at the Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar. The workshop included schoolteachers, academics, curriculum developers, and tradition bearers from the Swat, Mardan, and Peshawar districts. Gohar Ali, head of the Directorate of Curriculum and Teacher Education (DCTE), said that guidelines prepared by the participants of the workshop would be thoroughly reviewed and evaluated for integrating the school curriculum.

He added that KP being a multilingual province was gifted with rich cultural diversity. He said that KP had already prepared books in Pashto, Hindko, Khowar and Saraiki and work on the Kohistani language was under way. Mehwish Abid said that the primary aim of the manifesto was to initiate a process of conceiving heritage education as an important part of the teaching and learning processes within schools. She said that steps would be taken by all relevant stakeholders for promotion of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the region.

She said that there was a dire need to integrate technological advancements within the pedagogies of the school system, adding that teachers’ training modules should equip schoolteachers with the necessary pedagogical tools and skills to make use of all available resources to enhance the interest of students in studying heritage education materials. “There should be a focus on developing entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth to enhance their interest in cultural heritage by connecting it to utilitarian benefits,” Ayesha Imdad, another expert said. Tauheeda Anjum said that cultural diversity should be considered strength and a narrative that strives to find unity in diversity should be promoted. She said that there was a need to make students aware of diverse societies and their related social practices. Prof Owais Khan, Prof Yousaf Khan and M Arif also shared their views at the workshop.