ISLAMABAD - A four-day workshop titled “Art of Parenting” was inaugurated at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) on Monday. The workshop aims to train master trainers on two guides developed by the university, “Aghosh” and “Parwarish,” which focus on effective child upbringing. Dr. Khalid Chauhan, Director General of Research and Development at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Pakistan, emphasized the importance of these books for guiding parents in child development and encouraged the master trainers to share this valuable content with the wider community.
During the ceremony, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Raja Rashid Ali, recited a poem by Amjad Islam Amjad and discussed the increasing challenges of raising children in today’s world. He stressed the critical role of parents and teachers in focusing on character building. Prof. Dr. Fazal Rahman, Dean of the Faculty of Education, highlighted the importance of tolerance and adaptability in shaping children for a better society, urging trainers to treat this task as a national mission.
Dr. Irshad Ahmad Arshad, Senior Professor of the Faculty of Sciences, commended the initiative and congratulated the university for addressing the timely need for training parents in child upbringing. Dr. Muhammad Athar Hussain, Chairman of the Early Childhood Education Department, explained the workshop’s objectives, noting that master trainers would be prepared to train parents and teachers across the community.
The guides, after gathering community feedback, will be reviewed and finalized before being presented to policymakers for broader implementation. The workshop is organized by AIOU in collaboration with various institutions, including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Aga Khan Foundation, and the Prime Minister’s Youth Program.
