The PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has decided to remove ‘objectionable material’ from primary school textbooks to please the Jamaat-i-Islami. While our national curriculum needs heavy revision, JI as the news author is probably not the direction we want to go in. JI has reservations over pictures of minor girls without dupatta, Christmas cakes, an ambulance crosses and other petty things that they would like to micro manage. A primary school child learning the phrase “Good morning” is now offensive to these men, and as a nation we need to decide how much religion we want to institutionalise. If these changes were made for the preservation of the Pakistani culture, one would still understand. But this is imposition of religion, and we already have religious education as a subject, and Urdu and Pakistan Studies are already rife with religious stories and sermons.
The previous ANP government had revised some of the curriculum to remove overtly religious sermonising. They had replaced some Islamic topics and personalities with Ranjit Singh, Raja Dahir and Abdul Ghaffar Khan to acquaint children with local heroes. Also included in the syllabus were lessons on human rights and tolerance, while hate material and harsh sentiments against non-Muslims were removed. Most of JI’s demands have been met and much secular content will be removed. Additionally, there will be the inclusion of Quranic verses in chemistry, physics and biology.
While many want Pakistan to change into a tolerant and progressive country, myopic conservatism has a tight grip on the minds of our children. What should have been objectionable to a political party is how our textbooks target minority faith groups, how the entirety of a woman’s existence is to be a mother and homemaker, how the history of the people of the subcontinent starts with the Arab hero, Muhammad Bin Qasim, how science never even touches on evolution and chapters on reproduction are missing or censored. We have been immature and cowardly about how we have handled the content of our children’s education and we can never progress if they are not taught the basic lessons of tolerance and diversity. While the story of Khan Abdul Ghaffar will be left out of books, little girls will now wear dupattas and hijabs to the satisfaction of bearded men. Kudos to the KP government. Will we hear Imran talk about this kind of education at his Lahore jalsa today? Of course not. This is the only kind of compromising he seems to believe in.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Pakistan - Islamic Studies Only Please - ‘objectionable material’
The PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has decided to remove ‘objectionable material’ from primary school textbooks to please the Jamaat-i-Islami. While our national curriculum needs heavy revision, JI as the news author is probably not the direction we want to go in. JI has reservations over pictures of minor girls without dupatta, Christmas cakes, an ambulance crosses and other petty things that they would like to micro manage. A primary school child learning the phrase “Good morning” is now offensive to these men, and as a nation we need to decide how much religion we want to institutionalise. If these changes were made for the preservation of the Pakistani culture, one would still understand. But this is imposition of religion, and we already have religious education as a subject, and Urdu and Pakistan Studies are already rife with religious stories and sermons.
The previous ANP government had revised some of the curriculum to remove overtly religious sermonising. They had replaced some Islamic topics and personalities with Ranjit Singh, Raja Dahir and Abdul Ghaffar Khan to acquaint children with local heroes. Also included in the syllabus were lessons on human rights and tolerance, while hate material and harsh sentiments against non-Muslims were removed. Most of JI’s demands have been met and much secular content will be removed. Additionally, there will be the inclusion of Quranic verses in chemistry, physics and biology.
While many want Pakistan to change into a tolerant and progressive country, myopic conservatism has a tight grip on the minds of our children. What should have been objectionable to a political party is how our textbooks target minority faith groups, how the entirety of a woman’s existence is to be a mother and homemaker, how the history of the people of the subcontinent starts with the Arab hero, Muhammad Bin Qasim, how science never even touches on evolution and chapters on reproduction are missing or censored. We have been immature and cowardly about how we have handled the content of our children’s education and we can never progress if they are not taught the basic lessons of tolerance and diversity. While the story of Khan Abdul Ghaffar will be left out of books, little girls will now wear dupattas and hijabs to the satisfaction of bearded men. Kudos to the KP government. Will we hear Imran talk about this kind of education at his Lahore jalsa today? Of course not. This is the only kind of compromising he seems to believe in.
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