‘Curriculum of hatred’: Biases in school textbooks remain strong, says report
Quoting these textbooks as the “curriculum of hatred”, the report claims that they not only lack creativity but also fail to stimulate a child’s imagination. “The most serious charge against them is that the content, wholly or partially, is biased, selective and inculcates in the child a parochial and subjective outlook.”
A number of studies done in the past on the subject have also revealed that the content of textbooks of public schools and colleges are full of prejudice against non-Muslims and incite sectarian hatred and violence.
The Jinnah Institute report analysed the content of the books which were reviewed by the government in light of rising intolerance and compares it to the previous ones, pinpointing the areas which have been neglected.
Flawed textbooks
The textbooks of Social/Pakistan Studies, Urdu and Islamiat, even after being revised according to the Textbook Policy of 2006, still contain elements which may be detrimental to a child’s perspective of religion and the world.
In Social/Pakistan Studies textbooks, the material on jihad and supremacy of the Muslims over non-Muslims has been “discreetly removed”. However, the ideology of Pakistan, giving a strong link between the creation of Pakistan and the ‘atrocities’ of Hindus, was found extensively.
The chapter on ideology of Pakistan in the Grade VIII textbook reads,
“The Hindu belief was that only a Hindu nation could live in the Indian subcontinent. Other nations should become a part of the Hindu nation or leave India. Many Hindu extremist parties such as the AryaSamaj were working against Muslims since the nineteenth century and even after fifty years after the creation of Pakistan, these organisations continue working to erase the ‘Muslims’ existence from the region.”
The Urdu textbook for Grade VIII, which should be aimed at teaching students about the language and the poets and authors, emphasises on the “importance of Islam, ideology, nationalism and anti-India sentiments” instead. Failing to mention even a single female writer in the textbooks for Grade IX and X, the books also subliminally uphold gender discrimination.
In Islamiat textbooks, jihad has been toned down but not completely eliminated from the syllabi.
Pedagogy
The report states that the source of extremism cannot be diminished solely by changing the text in the books as the information which the student receives is also manipulated greatly by the teachers transmitting it. The teachers may fail to transmit their knowledge fully, resulting in the students forming a warped version of the content in their minds.
Another hurdle which lies in the process is the solved question papers, also known as “keys”. The students heavily rely on the keys to rote-learn for their exams. But, where the content of the textbooks has been revised, the content of the keys still remains the same as before.
The keys continue to incite religious extremism, as one of them states,
“Reasons for the separation of East Pakistan: In East Pakistan the education sector was entirely under the control of Hindus. They incited the students against the western wing by lectures and writing. India, Russia and America wanted to split Pakistan. Their successful schemes transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh.”
The report also holds madrassa teachers and mosque leaders responsible for spreading a “xenophobic worldview”.
Recommendations
The report recommends that the content of school textbooks should continue to be revised and “produced by professionally trained academics/writers” to ensure good pedagogy.
On the other hand, the government should devise policies for madrassa reforms to prevent religious extremism, and also set up guidelines for mosque leaders and the media on issues relating to religion, violence and intolerance.
COMMENTS (29)
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@Nand: You wonder what has the future for the children? The answer is bright—as bright as a thermonuclear supernova.
@ayesha_khan: Thank you for your response. Firstly Truth is a matter of perspective. Secondly I have commented that bias is always fed in national curriculum which does not mean telling lies but simply hiding some of the truth. I am concerned as to what should be improved in the syllabus to foster a better nation. I am not defending the syllabus as it is, what i am aggrieved about is that these so called reports look for problems and never provide the solutions and have no constructive input. Your point about creating an enemy is well made but it seems quite moot once you consider that India just test fired a ballastic missile which can reach all parts of China. Surely if there is so much love between neighbouring governments there is no need for such measures. People will immediatly reply that China is a threat and Pakistan also with its war mongering. I include everyone in this when i say, we always think, "its other persons fault". Thats how we justify the things we do.
I believe History will indicate trends which most often predict the future.
If you look at the Jinnah speeches in the 1940s he too speaks in a similar fashion. He paints Congress as a Hindu party, despite the fact that its president was a Muslim- Maulana Azad. He says Islam is under threat, Muslims are given a raw deal by, not Britishers who were actually in power, by Hindus who hadn't enjoyed power in centuries.
In March 1944, addressing the students of the Ailgarh Muslim University Jinnah declared: “Pakistan was born when the first Muslim landed in India in 712 A. D.” He asked the students to be prepared to shed their blood, if necessary, for achieving Pakistan. Isn't the same repeated in the Pakistani textbooks?
The seed that Jinnah had sown has now grown into a tree. Accept it.
When preaching hatred gets state approval, all you get is a very violent nation. A few generations of Pakistanis have been brainwashed into hating everything that is not like themselves. Nobody need be surprised that there is a civil war happening in Pakistan.
@Haseeb: "so we can aspire to be a better Pakistani (Muslim) and citizens of this world".. Lol..since your definition of a better pakistani seems equate to religion (muslim) discounting the fact there are sizable non-muslims in pakistan, you can NEVER be a citizen of this world..we call those as extremists..
@Hassan @TheHassan.TK
Violent jihad is no part of any human being's faith. Spread your word with the pen and not the sword. This is the message in you book and from your prophet. But spread only the words of tolerance, peace and humanity. The greatest blasphemy is taking God's law, and God's many children lives, into your own hands. Who gave you the right to become judge, jury and executioner?
The right wing will always try to distort facts and manipulate the nation into become nationalists without any principles. That's essentially what nationalism is - vying for a piece of real state over morals, ethics and personal values.
@A2Z:
Your knowledge of Pakistan’s history (let alone history of the world) appears to be limited to the half truths and full lies taught in Pakistan studies only. Search for and read up ‘Justice Munir Report on Punjab Disturbances 1953’ which explains the reasons for the first Marshall Law in the history of the country. Then come and tell us if you still think there were no terrorists before 9/11. Problem is, in Pakistan terrorists are called by alternative names such as scholars and charity workers and are considered heroes. Are you blaming 9/11 for murder of Salman Taseer by Mumtaz Qadri too?
@Umer: And if I may add a footnote to your wonderful statement, remember there was a man with a half moustache in Germany who distorted the truth and historical facts. We saw what he did not only to the minorities but also to his own nation, part of which languished for much of the Cold War under the communist yoke. By changing facts into fiction, Pakistan's educators have pandered to a minority of leaders -- be it civilian, military and religious -- to serve their individual agenda. It is dangerous and we saw the consequences in the end. The nation can never be at peace if such lies are allowed to flourish with the tacit or overt support of the establishment. Check with any Indian Muslim if he still wants to live in Pakistan! You will get an answer that will tell you the real story of minorities in India. Is there any country in the world where minorities have achieved such resounding success -- ranging from four Muslim presidents through countless numbers of ministers, MPs, etc. to success stories of industrialists and academics, not to mention Bollywood? And ask yourself why most people from the minorities would love to leave Pakistan.
@Ali Tanoli, the difference is that Islamophobic literature is not part of the curriculum in U.S high schools. People make crackpot books everyday, you can go on the internet and order books by KKK and Taliban members (won't ammurker regulate the internet!!12) but teachers aren't using them as part of their lessons. It's not the same argument at all.
Just look at the way we treat our own people and neglect our native languages (I was once criticise for not speaking Urdu, I'm an educated Punjabi speaker, but speaking my own Pakistani language makes me less Pakistani?), we have so much hatred for our own people, and our leaders love to stir hatred against India, which we continue to label a "hindu" nation (and we use the religion as an insult, yet we don't like it when someone criticises our belief system!) while completely ignoring the fact that we have minority religions in our own country (Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and even a few Jews) we continue to disrespect.
The fact that it's part of the Curriculum is upsetting, I can't imagine what it's like to be a Hindu student and see those passages pop up. As a British Muslim, it upsets me when I see Islam portrayed in a bad manner in the media, I could imagine my teenage self leaving the classroom crying if religion was defamed in school.
That East Pakistan thing is amazingly stupid, are racist 9/11 conspiracy theories a part of the curriculum to? God, what is going to happen to Pakistan. Allah save Pakistan, and make it a great nation, ameen.
Wow...The two subjects Islamic Studies and Pak Studies which are being prepared by students two three days before exams are creating terrorists and extremists. But they failed to mention there was no terrorism before 9/11, there was no terrorism before America's invasion in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nobody was condemning Jihadists when they were fighting against Russia. But now US has to face the music so everybody is terrorist. And our so called liberals(extremists) who are in love with America they started to find problems in our text books. We lived in that society in 80s and 90s, we studied the old curriculum but never faced such problems. We are also the products of that curriculum but we had Shia, Hindu and Christian friends.
It is better to find the flaws where they exist instead of creating picture which does not exist. I hope ET would publish my comment. I found them more biased in moderation of comments than these text books.
Love my awesome India even more. Never have I read hatred for Pakistan and muslims in a single book in India. We were all taught of the glory of Mughal empire and empires before it. We all hate what Pakistan stands for. But it is because of current events like mumbai and attacks before. Never from a history book though because India is awesome and Pakistan is not.
@Malick Umer: Wrong. The US actually will trash talk itself in historical studies, if not in the book, the teacher. Rights groups have temper tantrum otherwise. Also your "undeniable fact" is quite deniable.
Wonder what will be the future for the children .
@Ali Tanoli: Those literature in Barnes and Nobles are not a compulsory curriculum for any educational institutions and are just for individual references. While Pakistani "Education Institutes" have books which are "within curriculum" which feeds young minds nothing but xenophobia.
@Haseeb: Are you just guessing that countries education system spread lies or are your just hoping ? I do not recollect in any of our text books anything bad written about Pakistan. even the mentioning of Indo-Pak war is in brief and without any religious angle. I studied history in USA and I say this country is far honest enough to document the mis steps taken by their countrymen and ex-presidents. Something most of countries are not honest about. So before you start making smart comments to defend the fundamental flaw in Pakistan's education system please do some real search and quote any true references.
@Haseeb: "Books in all countries carry bias that is how sense of nationalism is created. We are all given something to believe in and to figth for"
If however the books say blatant lies like Hindus believe that India is only for Hindus, surely that is unacceptable? The 2 nation theory was prposed by Muslims, not Hindus. All natins need a common idea to kep them connected and strive together as a nation. I am not sure all nations need to manufacture an enemyto stayunited. This is precisely what your books seem to be doing. Do yuor books tell people that tehre are 150 million Muslims that DO live in India?
@PoKer Face:
You should be so lucky. Most Pakistanis and Muslims, including even Maualans, would love to become Americans. Feel free to check visa queues outside US consulates.
Please use your brain for god sake (just once!).. Barns & Nobles and Borders has nothing to do with school curriculum while in Pakistan state is sponsing such hateful content (see any difference!)!
Cool, Removing Jihad from Islam. Removing our history, Removing our own language as a medium of instruction. Removing our national identity.
Wonder what we see in future? calling ourself Americans?
Right and left wing of the society want to impose their views, yet in personal view there are many things which be re-written instead of removal. There must be clarification of the facts. For kind information in the premier constituent assembly members too stated for many ideas from left right and the secular school of thought. While for Bangladesh it is fact in my personal research that the Hindu teachers and businessmen in former east Pakistan had a strong effort against pakistan. It is undeniable fact. While the onground discrimination of hindus in pakistan is a fact and we should discriminate this attitude. The state curriculum always states about their interest, even if you look into the US curriculum as well as institutions they too are not better.
Appears more correct in reverse; now that Hindus have almost been eliminated from Pakistan while Muslims are thriving in India.
Lies... hatred... discrimination.. religious extremism... terrorist nurturing at the very grass roots level... never ending denials.. phew.. This is my country.. Should I be proud of her??
Books in all countries carry bias that is how sense of nationalism is created. We are all given something to believe in and to figth for. What these books should do is also tell us where we went wrong in past and how we can improve upon ourselves and most importantly of all it should provide a leadership so we can aspire to be a better Pakistani (Muslim) and citizens of this world. Is there any study being carried to find out if the books are providing us a framework for future development and help the children become better Pakistanis? Is the scientific curriculum up to scratch and up to date? Does the scocial studies/pak studies political history stop at General Zia?
Jihad is part of Islamic faith. You can teach it in different ways but to eliminate it is like eliminating a fundamental part of faith just because you don't like it.