‘New curriculum short-sighted, shallow in thought’

Experts say introducing theological studies at higher level will lead to religious friction on campuses

ISLAMABAD:

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and Working Group for Inclusive Education (WGIE) have raised their concerns after reviewing the final core curriculum issued recently for classes 6th to 8th under Single National Curriculum (SNC).

The policy and education experts and civil society members expressed their concern about the content of the SNC at a seminar held in Islamabad.

Leading academic and researcher Dr A H Nayyar while referring to Punjab where Quranic teachings at the college and university levels had been made compulsory, remarked that it would not remain confined to learning the principles and practices of the Islamic faith, but would likely delve deeper into sectarian and theological difference.

Read: Conference highlights weaknesses in SNC

He said that introducing theological studies at higher levels will most likely add religious frictions on educational campuses. These missteps will neither serve education, nation, nor Islam, he said.

Dr Nayyar noted that those who have introduced these new trends in education have, at best, been short-sighted and shallow in thought. They know not what harm they have done.

The experts noted that the curriculum designing has totally disregarded the repeated pleas of avoiding the loading of the curriculum with religious content. This is likely to translate into a narrow worldview of students besides impacting teachers and the overall education system in Pakistan.

While highlighting gaps in the curriculum and violations of the constitution, CSJ Director Peter Jacob said that the Punjab government is turning schools into seminaries reducing the scope of education in science, mathematics and social science.

He said that minority students must not be forced to study Islamiat and arrangements must be made to teach them their religion.

Researcher Zeeba Hashmi analysed the recently approved curricula for classes 6th to 8th against basic learning principles of cognitive abilities, critical and rational thinking, diversity, inclusivity and gender parity. She observed many shortcomings in the curricula, for instance, lack of inclusivity in the history curriculum evident in failures to mention even a single member from minority communities as a national hero, and put emphasis on interfaith harmony. She pointed out the disturbing aspect of the history curriculum included controversial figures as national heroes, known for their sectarian views.

Zeeba Hashmi remarked that religious topics in compulsory subjects are repeated that take away important space that could be used for teaching relevant knowledge concepts of the subject. There is no diversity of religion, ethnicity or gender to be seen in geography subject. This is concerning because geography cannot be comprehended fully without understanding human demographics and settlement trends, she said adding that the curricula did not provide enough concepts on global citizenship, regional cooperation and climate change.

The experts recommended that religious content from compulsory subjects must be removed since it takes away room for critical inquiry and argumentative reasoning.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2022.