CAIE removes Israel, Palestine chapters from history syllabus

KARACHI: The Cambridge Assessment International Examination (CAIE) has removed two chapters related to Western Asian and Middle East countries from the history curriculum.

A history curriculum sent to Cambridge affiliated schools has excluded two chapters including “Israelis and Palestinians since 1945” and “why did events in the Gulf matters 1970 - 2000”.

The revised syllabus will be effective from 2024 and continue for the next year years.

How students would learn about the Israeli Palestinian conflict - how Israel was created, how Palestine was occupied, and the Arab-Israeli war - and the issues confronted by the Gulf states, remarked an O level school teacher. She also claimed that it was an attempt on the part of Cambridge system to cater Israeli ambitions by misleading the new generation.

Head of the National Curriculum Council, Dr Mariam Chughtai said, “We are preparing the national curriculum for private and public schools across the country. So far, we have prepared the national syllabus up to 8th standard. However, within two to three months, we will also prepare the national syllabus for Matriculation or O-level system and it will be necessary for the Cambridge system to teach only national curriculum to Pakistani students.”

The News also contacted Uzma Yusuf, Country Director of Cambridge, to inquire about the exclusion of the chapters from syllabus but she chose not to comment.

Meanwhile, Shahid Ashraf, spokesperson for Cambridge International Assessment, has said that he can tell about this issue only by talking to the department concerned, for which time will be required.