Education Movement of 1962 in brief
In 1959, then president of Pakistan Ayub Khan formed a commission headed by education secretary SM Sharif to make a framework of an education policy. The commission's report was published in 1962 and provoked a student's agitation in former East Pakistan (Now peoples republic of Bangladesh) because of some anti-poor biased feature. Finally Ayub Khan suspended activation of that policy.
Police action against mass demonstration. |
After independence of Pakistan, central government showed step motherly attitude to its eastern part, Bangladesh. Even number of educational institutes also decreased. As a result dropout rate increased within a short time. In 1958 General Ayub Khan proclaimed martial law as well as became president. His government formed a commission on national education lead by SM Sharif, the then West Pakistan Education Secretary. There were ten other members of the committee apart from the chairmen. In its report they defined education as a productive activity and suggested other points like:
- To make the Urdu language of whole Pakistan
- Education should not be available at a minimum price
- Extension of bachelor degree course 2 to 3 years
- A pass mark of degree course should be 50% where first division mark was 70%
- The concept of free compulsory education is Utopian
- Compulsory 'English' course for secondary schools
- Priority to residential school
Though the commission classified education as an investment, people had to spend more money. People of then Pakistan react negatively to this report specially in former East Pakistan. Students of 'degree' protest to 3 year degree course proposed by the commission. Later students of other classes join them and in august 1962 movement become noticeable with participation of common people. Agitators called a 'hartal' on 17 September, 1962 and successfully observed with the unavoidable loss of life. As the situation was worse, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a prominent Bengali politician played a conciliatory role among students and governments on condition of an immediate end to implementation of that report.
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