The writer is a freelance research writer with interest in education and feminism
A key feature of school education of any country is to prepare the young generation to become functional citizens. The issue is that Pakistan has blatantly ignored citizenship education. In spite of plurality which is prominent in many aspects of Pakistani society, the factors of coexistence, respect, tolerance and peace are absent. The main focus of school education curriculum in Pakistan is to impart factual knowledge and indoctrinate moral and religious values. Furthermore, the management and organisation of schools, including learning and teaching practices, are not conducive to the promotion of citizenship education. This implies an utter failure of major institutions, including family and schools, to play their part in instilling these qualities in the citizens.
At the time being, three strikingly unequal educational systems are operating at a parallel level in Pakistan. These include the English and Urdu medium schools and the religious schooling system of education. Within each type, the governance and management policy varies, having a very negligible focus on the idea of inclusive citizenship despite its significance as highlighted in the 1973 Constitution. All these factors have accumulated to promote apartheid-like arrangements and an exclusionary, passive form of citizenship.
A study conducted by the US Commission on International Religious freedom in 2016 underscored that bias; inferiority and distrust is being propagated through public school textbooks in Pakistan pertaining to non-Muslims. The students from an early age start to identify the non-Muslim minorities population as unpatriotic and interlopers. Lack of in-depth understanding of religious complexities, minority rights and the sacrifices made by the minorities in national development further reinforces the notion of minorities as religiously inferior, untrustworthy and ideologically scheming.
The current state of affairs link back to the school textbook curriculum reforms conducted during the Zia’s regime that fervently promoted religious fundamentalism. Before his regime, school curriculum was largely secular despite the utter failure of the public system to educate most students in the true essence of the word. He exacerbated the quality of educational content in school textbooks through inculcation of extremist ideological orientation. General Zia’s government made it a priority to revise the curricula with the purpose of promoting Islamic ideology. The issue was not that Islam was being accentuated, rather, the concern was that the system propagated intolerant fundamentalism. The name of Islam was used to pass legal amendments, including the Hudood Ordinance in 1979 and the Law of Evidence in 1984 which severely restricted the rights of women. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, strict Islamic penalties were imposed and legalised. Despite the fact that Islam exalts the status of women and provides them a prominent position in the social fabric which is indubitably demonstrated in the Holy Quran, the name of Islam was misused to restrict women’s rights to the very most.
The educational curriculum reforms which took place in Zia years were the bedrock on which militant extremism was founded. Consequently, till date, the minorities in Pakistan are forced to learn the educational content taught in school textbooks which directly targets their faith and they are routinely subject to intimidation and discrimination through the hands of Muslim educators and students. This is an unwavering violation of Article 22 of the 1973 Constitution which states: “No person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instruction, or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship, if such instruction, ceremony or worship relates to a religion other than his own.”
For that reason, the challenge is to devise an educational curriculum which can attain such an inclusive sense of citizenship which encompasses all sorts of plurality regarding religions, ethnic identities, cultures, classes, genders, etc. In Pakistan, this challenge was addressed by initiating curriculum reforms in 2001. But these reforms were considered a failure by many academics. According to the Human Development Report 2014, critics of the officially published textbooks have accentuated repetitively that these textbooks subtly nurture religious extremism by whitewashing the conquests of Muslims in the subcontinent.
There is also a dire need to promote policies which facilitate non-segregated access to public organisations, public funds and egalitarian rights to all citizens regardless of any discrimination by formulating coherent laws. In cases where the government is unable to ensure equality, such as private organisations, the focus should be on granting legal rights to individuals. When the citizens will feel their voices are heard, it will incline them to become more tolerant and share their grievances by using proper channels instead of using violence. This feeling will lead to greater civic participation, increased voter turnout and motivation to participate in government-led reforms. The notion of inclusive citizenship is of little use until it addresses the needs and power relations of diverse social groups because it is not only just a means to the unification of society; rather it is also about tackling the barriers in the way of justice and equality.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2017.
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