Evaluating and Designing Active Citizenship Education for Youth Resilience to Preventing Violent Extremism at Public Sector General Universities of Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) in Pakistan have experienced unprecedented on-campus violent extremism. Large-scale research led approach is needed to prevent homegrown violent extremism through transformative active citizenship education at HEIs in Pakistan taking into account that youth under the age of 30 constitutes 63% of the total population of Pakistan. As recognized repeatedly by the UN Security Council, violent extremism poses a significant threat to global peace and stability, with tremendous impact on social cohesion, eroding development progress and hindering future gains. This paper assesses the current state of citizenship education at Higher Education Institutes in Sindh province. The problem, however, is that many countries, including Pakistan, do not give citizenship education the importance it deserves, nor use approaches appropriate to the development of informed and participatory citizenship. (Dean, 2000; Kerr, McCarthy, and Smith 2002; Torney-Purta and Amadeo 1999). Citizenship active citizenship in youth is a social leadership program that promotes intercultural dialogue and social responsibility as key leadership competencies in the 21st century and results in community resilience. For this purpose, institutionalizing active citizenship for developing youth resilience to violent extremism warrants a massive radical reform of the education system to develop critical analysis skills among youth enabling them challenge violent extremist narratives. This is a preventive and initiative-taking strategy to develop active citizenship to be capitalized as glue for social inclusivity, integration and national cohesiveness in Pakistan. Active citizenship encompassing volunteering, democratic engagement, environmental sustainability, community development and reflective thinking is most likely to prevent vulnerability to recruitment of violent extremist organizations.