The Integrity Project, a year-long initiative designed to cultivate ethical behavior and community responsibility among students, was launched at Edwardes College, Peshawar, on Friday, 28 September 2012.  The compulsory weekly sessions are an integral part of the personal development that Edwardes cultivates alongside its educational programme.

“Many commentators are lamenting what they see as a decline in personal ethics and civic responsibility in many sectors of social and national life,” said Principal Canon Dr. Titus Presler.  “This programme, part of the ‘Edwardes Edge,’ will enhance the College’s ability to fulfill its mission ‘to educate and develop professionals who will be servant leaders in meeting the challenges and opportunities of Pakistan today.’”

“This is really an advance for us as an institution,” said Vice Principal Prof. Kalim Ullah.  “It will revive and give substance to what we have always understood as the ‘Edwardian Culture’ that has made unique contributions to cultural life and civic leadership in this province and in Pakistan.”

“How can we go about improving our personal character?” asked Project Coordinator Samin Khan, who is also lecturer in Philosophy.  “These are the kinds of questions the Integrity Project is addressing.  We are looking at empirical and philosophical literature in order to help our community develop what the most promising account of Pakistani character might be.”

Topics to be covered in the weekly sessions of the Integrity Project include purposes of education, discernment of personal talents, ethical understanding, moral behavior, gender relations, community responsibility, and servant leadership.  These topics are correlated with community life within the College and with challenges of life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan.

The curriculum is compiled from a combination of sources from within and outside the College, and the classes are accommodated within the normal College timetable.  The project is guided by the team of Samin Khan, Director of Studies Naveed Ali, and Dr. Presler.

On the launch date groups of students met in classrooms with their faculty tutors to cover the first week’s material, an overview of the programme as a whole and discussion of the meaning of integrity.  Vigorous conversation was evident in many classrooms, for the programme emphasizes not lectures but student discussion as a means to come to clear understandings and commitments.