Change in Pakistan's syllabus

[Nelson]

Islamabad—Our children have been
misinformed for decades due to
absence of a clear vision in the
national text book curriculum,
observed Amir Riaz, the author of the
research report titled “What are we
teaching to our children?” The report
launch coupled with a discussion on the
national curriculum was held in
Islamabad on Wednesday by ActionAid
Pakistan and its local partners, to
coincide with the Teacher’s Day.
Factual blunders and confusing ideas in
the text books were pinpointed in the
Report, which is the result of a survey
of 34 Punjab Textbook Board’s Urdu,
English, Social Studies and Islamiyat/
Ethics text books being taught at
Class-I to X level.
In a way that was both mocking and
surprising, Riaz identified a series of
mistakes that range from overall
wrong information, misinformation and
lack of most recent information.
“These mistakes are creating
confusion, widening rural-urban divide
besides causing biases at cultural,
communal, sectarian and gender
levels.”
Highlighting multiple lacunas and
anomalies in the syllabus designed for
students from grade one to ten, the
speakers stressed for the need to
purge the curriculum of all sorts of
discrimination, glorification of war, as
well as gender, urban and cultural
biases. Among the speakers were
Aamir Riaz, author; Samina Imtiaz,
Executive Director PEAD Foundation;
Dr Afzal Babar, President Private
Schools Networks; Ahmed Saleem,
Senior advisor SDPI and Dr Tariq
Mehmood, Deputy Education Advisor,
National Curriculum Wing.
Students of Karlot Residential College
were also present at the seminar.
Talking to Pakistan Observer, Numair
Hafeez, a 10th grade student said that
“it is our misfortune that we are being
taught decades-old curriculum which
has no practical implementation in
today’s technological world.”
Samina Imtiaz, speaking at the
seminar, deplored that the text books
recommended for both public and
private schools were devoid of content
to assist students in critical thinking.
“The textbooks are based on the past
history and do not ask the students to
look on present and into the future.”
Dr Afzal Babar told that “publishers
usually do not take into Pakistan’s
local context while publishing our text
books because there is no check and
balance system.” He added that “it is
the sole responsibility of government
to oversee whether the curriculum was
designed in context of Pakistan.”
In a multimedia presentation, Riaz
informed that “all the 34 books had
871 lessons, while only 11 per cent
content was related to peace and
tolerance.” He added that in the
Punjab text book, “there were only 35
lessons out of 871, that contained
information about Punjab”, which was
less than five per cent. There are
overall 90 lessons introducing and
promoting scientific achievements and
very few lessons, 35 in all, which were
based on information about developed
nations, Muslim world and South Asia.

 

[DK Run]

I have been saying the same things on this forum since so many days.

1) Kick the false ghazi ilmudeen out of school text book
2) Stop teaching 2nd Grade school kid the "How to identify non-muslims from muslims"
3) Stop showcasing false bravardo and Stop glorifying barbaric invaders like, ghauri, kasim etc as islmaic heroes who killed, maimed and raped the locals.
4) Appreciate the fact that the world existed before the invasion of muhammad bin kasim and that was a period of Hindu and buddhist culture and dominance.
5) Teach correct history of India pre and post partition and stop paintaing Indians as villains at every availble oppurtunity.
6)Stop feeding zia version political islam in young minds.

etc etc....

 

[Nelson]

Structural changes in curriculum urged

 

[Nelson]

Finally the truth will be told. Good news for pakistan's students.

 

[AMRITSAR]

none of the pakistani pdf member has replied on it perhaps they are the breed of these hatious curriculam.

---------- Post added at 12:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 AM ----------

Finally the truth will be told. Good news for pakistan's students.

good but too late

 

[Nelson]

none of the pakistani pdf member has replied on it perhaps they are the breed of these hatious curriculam.

Truth hurts to them. Moreover, they have nothing left to say. They have been taught this wrong history from decades and now some good people in pakistan trying to improve the situation.

 

[Meesna]

Intolerance in the curriculum

There have been several shocking incidents over the past week or so that go only to highlight the kind of intolerance we are facing in our society and the manner in which this is spreading. Worst of all the spirit of hatred has also seeped into classrooms, and is being used to poison the minds of children.

This process will of course lead to the emergence, even before our watching eyes, of yet another generation persuaded that it is acceptable to discriminate on the basis of beliefs or other factors, or that minority groups are inherently inferior to the majority – deserving no place in mainstream society.

Just a few days ago, 10 Ahmadi children, seven of them girls, were expelled from a school in the Hafizabad area, simply on the basis of their religious identity. The incident took place soon after preachers promoting anti-Ahmadism had visited the town and lashed out with familiar vitriol against a religious group that has been thrust out of the mainstream and then subjected to years of vicious discrimination.

The feeble plea by the principal of the private school, that he did not wish to turn away the children from the school doors but had no choice in the face of threats made by villagers, just goes to show how weak we have become.

No one has answered the question of the distraught father of three of the girls driven away from school who asks how his daughters will now receive an education. Beyond the representatives of the Ahmadi community in Rabwah and some human rights groups, no one has spoken out in their support.

The issue has not been discussed by furious media anchors, even though the Constitution of our land lays down in unequivocal terms that every citizen has a right to education and cannot be denied this under any circumstances.

Such silence is perhaps the most dangerous element of all. The streets and other public places have been left to bigots, such as those who have been on the streets demanding the immediate release of Mumtaz Qadri, the man sentenced to death for the murder of Salmaan Taseer.

Precisely the same silence prevailed after yet another horrendous incident at a school a few weeks ago when an eighth-grade Christian girl was turned out of a POF-run school in the town of Havelian after making a minor spelling mistake in an Urdu paper.

Her teacher interpreted the mistake as an act of blasphemy, publicised the matter – which essentially revolved around one dot in a paragraph about a ‘naat’ – and as clerics staged protests the powerful POF management chose not only to expel the girl, but also to transfer her mother, a nurse at a hospital.

Such incidents have occurred elsewhere too. Ahmadi children have been punished in schools, their faith ridiculed and admission denied simply on the basis of their religious beliefs. Amidst all this, we talk of ‘the silent majority’. But do we really know what people believe and think?

It is true that many, indeed most, do not agree with the rabid views of the extremists. We would like to believe this is true. But popular thinking has been warped over the years by all kinds of factors that began essentially with the deliberate and evil distortions initiated in the early 1980s when our society first began its most serious transformation into an uglier, nastier place.

Discrimination is not based on religious beliefs alone. At an elite Lahore private school, a child from a different ethnic background was mocked and subjected to continuous ridicule for his appearance. It seems that the school management didn’t do very much to check this behaviour or persuade the majority of students who had resorted to uncivilised conduct towards the student to correct their ways.

Racism and bigotry of course need to be stopped using some degree of force within an environment in which the two have spread quite far and grown deep roots. African students based in colleges in Lahore and other cities will no doubt testify to the kind of treatment they face, solely on the basis of their skin colour.

One question that we all need to ask is why the government sits by as a silent spectator while all this happens. It needs to play a far more proactive role. We stand where we are today as a result of carefully thought out behaviours and policies put in place in the past. They succeeded in twisting minds and creating an atmosphere in which hatred, distrust and intolerence could blossom.

The need now is to begin an immediate reversal of this process. In the first place, the relevant authorities need to take notice of the instances of expulsion from schools on the basis of open and undisguised discrimination; this would put in place a good example of what should be done and where right separates from wrong, like oil from water.

There is no time to lose. It is quite obvious that things are growing worse and worse virtually by the day. Our only hope for the future lies in nurturing a generation that is able to think more openly and adopt an approach which is different to the destructive one that has become a normal part of our society today.

The provision that all citizens are equal needs to be turned into reality and not just a clause in a document that fewer and fewer people seem to be very bothered about.

How do we begin this? Schools are a good place to start. Government schools are perhaps the best, given the number of children attending them and the control the administration should have over them. Through curriculums and training for teachers, both children and those entrusted with the delicate task of educating them need to learn to think differently.

This is not an easy task of course. But it has been done elsewhere; Ireland, where Protestants and Catholics were deeply divided in the north for so many years, is one example where attempts towards greater harmony through schools have met with some success.

There are other examples in the world. We need to emulate them and move towards building a place where people are ready to speak out for what is right and refuse to allow extremist elements – who attempt to validate their intolerant ways by citing a distorted version of religion – to dictate how we live and what we do.

The News: Intolerance in the curriculum - Kamila Hyat

 

[kas786]

none of the pakistani pdf member has replied on it perhaps they are the breed of these hatious curriculam.

Bro, stop trying to start something here. Take it easy. We need to change a lot of things in Pakistan and we admit it. A good start would be to appoint a leader that cares for the well-being of Pakistan and is willing to sacrifice his life if need be. And then we could move on to education and the sorts. There are international students here in Canada that come from Pakistan, and given some time, they adjust well despite the "hatious curriculam" from their home country, as you claim. So, maybe you are wrong.