History Taught In Pakistan

[acharya]

http://www.uvm.edu/~envprog/madrassah/Te...kistan.pdf



Summary

Pakistan’s public education system has an important role in determining how successful we

shall be in achieving the goal of a progressive, moderate and democratic Pakistan. A key

requirement is that children must learn to understand and value this goal and cherish the

values of truthfulness, honesty, responsibility, equality, justice, and peace that go with it.

The identity and value system of children is strongly shaped by the national curricula and

textbooks in Social Studies, English, Urdu and Civics from Class I to Class XII. The

responsibility for designing them lies with the Curriculum Wing of the Ministry of Education

and the provincial Text Book Boards.

However, a close analysis by a group of independent scholars shows that for over two

decades the curricula and the officially mandated textbooks in these subjects have contained

material that is directly contrary to the goals and values of a progressive, moderate and

democratic Pakistan.

The March 2002 revision of curricula undertaken by the Curriculum Wing of the Ministry of

Education did not address the problems that existed in earlier curriculum documents. In

some cases, these problems are now even worse.

Our analysis found that some of the most significant problems in the current curriculum and

textbooks are:

• Inaccuracies of fact and omissions that serve to substantially distort the nature and

significance of actual events in our history.

• Insensitivity to the actually existing religious diversity of the nation

• Incitement to militancy and violence, including encouragement of Jehad and Shahadat

• Perspectives that encourage prejudice, bigotry and discrimination towards fellow

citizens, especially women and religious minorities, and other nations.

• A glorification of war and the use of force

• Omission of concepts, events and material that could encourage critical self-awareness

among students

• Outdated and incoherent pedagogical practices that hinder the development of interest

and insight among students

To give a few examples:

The books on Social Studies systematically misrepresent events that have happened over

the past several decades of Pakistan’s history, including those which are within living

memory of many people



This history is narrated with distortions and omissions. The causes, effects, and

responsibility for key events are presented so as to leave a false understanding of our

national experience. A large part of the history of this region is also simply omitted, making it

difficult to properly interpret events, and narrowing the perspective that should be open to

students. Worse, the material is presented in a way that encourages the student to

marginalise and be hostile towards other social groups and people in the region. The State of Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan

ii

The curricula and textbooks are insensitive to the religious diversity of the Pakistani society.

While the teaching of Islamiat is compulsory for Muslim students, on average over a quarter

of the material in books to teach Urdu as a language is on one religion. The books on

English have lessons with religious content. Islamiat is also taught in Social Studies classes.

Thus, the entire education is heavily loaded with religious teachings, reflecting in this respect

a very narrow view held by a minority among Muslims that all the education be essentially

that of Islamiat.1



There is an undercurrent of exclusivist and divisive tendencies at work in the subject matter

recommended for studies in the curriculum documents as well as in textbooks. Pakistani

nationalism is repeatedly defined in a manner that is bound to exclude non-Muslim

Pakistanis from either being Pakistani nationals or from even being good human beings.

Much of this material would run counter to any efforts at national integration