ASSESSING THE NEED FOR PROMOTING STUDENTS’ RESILIENCE TO VIOLENT EXTREMISM FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE IN PAKISTAN

Resilience is the ability of an individual to achieve desirable outcomes in the face of any adversity, violent extremism for example. Secondary school students as a representative of the youth, the larger segment of the population, and the asset of world hold critical position for the very purpose. Focus of the present study was to assess the need for promoting students’ resilience to violent extremism. This was done through the perception of 28 head teachers, 140 teachers and 280 students of 10th grade from public secondary schools of district Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. An interview schedule, a focus group discussion guideline and a questionnaire were used to collect the data. The vulnerability of students to violent extremism was measured through a questionnaire which revealed that a larger segment of students was likely to be affected by the violent extremism. It was further confirmed by the findings of the focus group discussion with teachers and the interviews of the head teachers who recommended the need for promoting students’ resilience to violent extremism.