HYDERABAD: In the wake of global events where Muslim youth are being influenced by religious extremism, there is an urgent need to channel them in the right direction and also positively influence their career choices, said Andrew McAllister, deputy British High Commissioner in Hyderabad.
He was speaking at a press conference that marked the conclusion ‘Empowering Young Global Citizens’ workshop designed to make young students self aware and turn them into responsible global citizens. Supported by the British Deputy High Commission, Hyderabad, the project was a collaboration of MS Education Academy, Al Mahadul Aali Al Islami, (The Institute for Research and Specialisation in Islamic Sciences), and Rubaroo, an NGO.
The programme is an adaptation of a project created by UK Race and Europe Network designed to combat racial discrimination in Europe.
Convinced that a programme like this will help create global leaders, retired IPS officer AK Khan who is the vice chairman of Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society (TMREIS), said, “We would like to adapt and introduce this to students from class 8 in the 201 schools which will start in 2017 and will have 51,000 children. Young leaders from this programme can turn into mentors. Disharmony in the society is due to lack of empathy and a programme like this will enable to bridge that gap.”
“The objective was to offer a constructive alternative, of empowered civic engagement, to the siren calls of those who play on division to plant extremist ideology,” said McAllister.
While Rubaroo, that works with young people created a tailor-made handbook, ‘Young Muslim and Global Citizen’ after scrutinising the requirements and the nature of the community, it was implemented by MS Education Academy and Al Mahadul Aali Al Islami. The handbook was launched on Thursday and is now available on the MS Education Academy website, accessible to all.