Sajid Opines

  Education is a basic human right. Article 25A of the constitution provides for a free and compulsory education provision for children of five to sixteen years of age. For this, government has established government schools. Although the quality of education being provided in government schools is questionable, however, that is not the focus or discussion here. The more alarming situation is almost 26 million children are out of school. These children have not attended school in life or have been dropped.  That means a whole generation is deprived of the pearls of education. Yet, our elite politicians are preparing for more universities. They should rather utilize their energies on making plans for admitting these children in schools and try to address the obstacles that deprive children of education.

  Generation Z is referred to people born in a range of certain age groups, especially those who are born after 1996. The behaviors and attitudes associated with Gen Z are different as compared to the ones before them.  The people born in this age group are digital natives by birth. They do not have to learn how to operate social media handles and how to navigate a website. In sum, they are more independent and autonomous than their elders. Hence, to educate them requires a paradigm shift. The age old tradition of considering students as 'Tabula Rasa' or empty minds is not going to serve the purpose. The modern day classrooms should be places of discussion and mutual learning and not just copy and paste platforms. The early we learn and realize this, the better to produce productive minds.

  Out of the many problems that our education system is facing, one is how we educate our children at the primary level. The problem is, we force students to write the answers in a language that is not their own. Irrespective of the fact wether they can speak that language of not, writing in it is a bit different. Since they cannot write on their own, they put their efforts on memorizing what teachers make them to write in classes. This is how our examination system is boosting rote learning. If our policy makers had brains, this was not something impossible to change. We could take oral examination of students up till primary level and put efforts to teach them English and Urdu as language subjects. This way we can give them a good start.

No doubt, writing is an art, which comes through practice and patience. The most important criterion for falling under a writer category is "The will to write" Remember? "Where there is will, there is the way" Then comes observation and analytical skills. This art exists in various forms around us. I will elaborate three major forms mostly seen and talked about. Creative Writing (CW) CW is a form of writing to entertain or aware people. It is purely the creation of head and heart. It includes stories, novels, poems jingles and even essays or opinions. It is the oldest form of writing yet available to us with increasing demand. It is mostly written for traditional media i.e. Newspapers, Magazines, Books etc. One to note is that, a creative writer does not need to possess a marketing mind i.e they rarely consider their readers' ease and preferences, which have changed due to digital media. The other two forms of writing are more close to the field of marketing. Co...

  There are two most common media where you consume textual content by writers. 1) Traditional Media 2) Digital Media Traditional media includes all those media before the internet i.e. Newspapers, Magazines and Books etc. While digital media includes websites, blog posts etc. But the way content is consumed on each media has changed. Readers who are accustomed to reading from traditional media, find it difficult to adjust with digital media. And almost same is the case with digital media consumers. 1) On traditional media, the reader is familiar with the author/writer. Either he/she learned from a friend or read him/her once. But on digital media readers are almost unfamiliar with the writers, as because they rarely visit the same website once again, rather moves on from one website to another. 2) Secondly, readers have enough time and patience to read long paragraphs and even read it thoroughly from the traditional media. But digital media readers are a bit bu...

What is Freewriting? Many times even regular writers get stuck in writer's block  and find no way to get out of it. Many times beginners even do not know where to start. from. That is a big problem for writers of all ages across the globe. Fortunately, there is no problem in the world for which there is yet no solution available. Writing is no different.  Freewriting is a way with the help of which writers can get started and even get out of writer's block. So, let's check out what freewriting actually is. Definition of Freewriting Freewriting is writing constantly all the thoughts which are flowing through our mind while writing. In simple words, freewriting is like talking to oneself with the only difference that you are actually writing whatever you are saying to yourself. In freewriting, we do not focus on the correctness of sentences and even ignore the vast irrelevancy of thoughts i.e. we even ignore the fact that our thoughts are no...

The Process of Design Thinking Design Thinking for Everyone You might have heard about design, many times in your daily life, but have you ever heard about design thinking? What might have come in your mind when you first heard this word? Interestingly, you probably have used design thinking in your daily life but you were unaware of what you just did. Just recall how did you solve a certain problem which never occurred before? Did you gave up or solved it confidently? Ever thought like a designer? What a designer does when he/she intends to design something? Don’t you think that he designs preferring the needs of those who will see or use it? Yes, that is true. Design thinking is a solution-focused way of solving problems, keeping in view the user preferences. It comes up with solutions after considering all the problems which users face and future challenges. Not only organizations but also individuals can use design thinking to make their life easy and interestin...

Self-destruction Self-destructive Life Have you ever felt that we are destroying our life by ourselves? Imagine you are in a leading position, and people working under you have violated your instructions and now you have taken strict measures to get them to follow you. Have you done something wrong with them? Or they themselves created hell? Well, the life of all of us is more like the same. Some culprits around you violate the rules, and you have to face the music. And sometimes we do this for others. So, we are a self-destructive creature.  When Adam (A.S) was created and instructed to stay in paradise and not to go near one particular tree, he was misguided by satan and so he was forced to stay on earth for a specified period of time. Was Allah harsh on Adam (A.S)? No. It was Adam's mistake and so he was punished, though Allah forgave him later, and Adam (A.S) is as dear to us as other Prophets. Maybe that was a message to humanity that "to err is human,...

Words We have heard this phrase many times, A picture is worth than a thousand words. But, why cannot we stop here and give it a critical look? I do agree that, as compared to words, a picture can more easily convey a message. And also that, in today's technological era, people react more to videos and photos than to simple text. But wait! is that all about words? do we mean text when we say "words"? not really. Words mean both simple texts and oral words. When you sit in front of a camera and talk to your followers, that is also the game of words. Let me reveal one interesting thing about words to you. A picture may seem more preferable to convey a message but it cannot and can never Stir an action within a single soul or a crowd. Only words has the guts to stir action. And in the end, the ultimate purpose is Action. So, which is worth? words or a Picture? Let me take you to a real-life situation where words play a significant role to see ...

Creativity Have you ever thought, from where does creativity evolve? what is the root cause of creativity? is it genetic? is it God gifted? If you ever had such feelings or questions, and you wanted to know the reality, you are in the right place. We will make you know all about creativity and solve your worries. Most of the time, people have misunderstood creativity. Mostly, people think that creativity is not everybody's job. It is God gifted and one can not be creative intentionally. In reality, research findings have revealed that creativity is directly related to thinking and thinking can be enhanced through practice. Just as we say, Practice makes a man perfect. Similarly, practicing thinking makes you more creative. so here are some ways which you can adopt to be creative. Creativity through thinking practice Thinking is making judgments through available knowledge. Most of the time you may be out of ideas, that is because your...

a mosque What comes in your mind when you realize that someone is a Muslim? Do your understanding of a Muslim depends upon culture or regional environment? What is my point to raise such a questions? My point is to tell you that most probably you will think something like below when you encounter a Muslim, That he believes in offering five-time prayers, that he believes in fasting in the month of Ramadan, that he believes in heaven and hell etc. You are not wrong. Yes, if you are an Indian or somewhere form the west, you somehow will link Muslims with terrorism, violence creating creatures. I must say here that you may have known an updated version of a Muslim. What made the concept of being a Muslim in this way? Why we (Muslims) have to point in the past for our Excellency? Why the concept of Muslim Ummah has gone worse? After having so many preachers across the globe, why we have not attained our unity as a single Ummat? ...

Book Reading You may have heard about the following line, Readers are Leaders. And you also listen from your book-loving friends that ' Reading books will change your thinking capabilities and increase your mental level.' that, " Books are your true friends." etc. All these claims are true. but, what if I tell you that, " Reading books will harm your creativity. that, " Books can brainwash you." Yes, these claims are also true. Now, you may be thinking that if both claims are true, then how is it possible? So, here I am to present a few tips for you if you are a book-lover or intend to start reading in the future. Before I start explaining my tips regarding "How not to read books", I want to clarify that these tips are valid if you fall under the category of those who read books to gain knowledge with the hope that everything written in the books is as true as the word of God. There is no denying that ...

Pen vs Pencil Dialogue Between Pen and Pencil The grass was green as ever, the sun was angry as never. The air was cool enough to touch the skin and relax it. the place where they were sitting was a garden. Both were looking cool and comfortable to face the scene.  The day was peaceful, Pen and Pencil were facing each other and the arguments begin as, Pen: You are so unrealistic and overly down to earth. You do whatever people say to you and they manipulate you often. Pencil : People are not perfect and they do make wrong choices and commit mistakes, I am just considerate about them. It is your negative mind that you consider people as deceivers and manipulators, However, I just think that it is self-correction and not manipulation. Pen : Wow! It means my judgment about you is justified. Pencil : What judgment? Pen : That you are unrealistic! Penci l : Oh! come on, People are not always behaving as you think. Tell me what if you had written in...

Self Talk Talking to oneself and value. What is the first dimension or aspect of something you look for whenever you intend to invest your time in it? In other words, what benefit do you want in exchange for doing something? For example, if you are going to open a shop, the benefit you would anticipate is profit. in a much similar way, we practice this almost every time for our actions in life. So, when someone tells you to speak to yourself you probably ask him/her what benefit or value this practice will provide you. there can be many values associated with it, among which, self-evaluation, being creative, being motivated, having strong future plans, and being self-sufficient are few. Self Evaluation First and the most important value associated with self-talking is self-evaluation. You start knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and you start ignoring what others say about you. Once you have known yourself, you can choose what to prioritize and what to ign...

7 things on Sundays 7 things to be done on Sundays We mostly look for free time to accomplish something new than our routine time activities, but we fail to find the time. One way to complete routine activities effectively and also attempt something new is by utilizing Sundays effectively. so there are 7 things you can do on Sundays.  First and foremost, after having a sound sleep, you must wake up timely and intend to learn a new skill, polish an already learnt skill, or resume an already started attempt to learn a skill. This will add to your future benefits. Remember, the best investment is an investment in time to acquire a new skill. Secondly, to lessen your burden and stress, you must take some time and visit a nearby place which has a natural scenery. this will make your mind fresh and energize yourself. Thirdly, if you have a vast friend circle and you can approach them, you must also visit a friend and have tea with him. Share your v...