The state of education

This refers to the article, ‘What educated is not’ (August 30) by M Zeb Khan. The writer has decoded the true nature of education and its salient contours holistically. Ironically, education in Pakistan warrants little attention of the high echelons, who are oblivious to the lower strata of society. The current curriculum promotes xenophobia, racial profiling, ethnocentrism and misplaced, sanctioned notions of forced homogeneity and patriotism.

The National Curriculum 2006 and Article 22(1) of the constitution contradict each other. Rote-learning is the hallmark of success in our current system. The centralised state’s ideology overemphasises national cohesion at the expense of regional diversity. And recently it was discovered that the people of Balochistan were represented as barbaric and savage in intermediate books in Punjab. What is needed is a paradigm shift in education policymaking circles. We must concede to the fact that Pakistan is and shall remain a multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic state. Historical falsification, inaccuracies and manipulations had better be purged from textbooks. Children should be taught love, compassion, tolerance, possibility and diversity. The state must shake off its ostrich-like approach and take the brewing crisis head-on.

Saeed Ullah Khan Wazir

Islamabad