Constitution and the SNC

A lot has been written about the proposed Single National Curriculum (SNC) and how it is detrimental to the 18th Constitutional Amendment which has devolved education at all levels to the provinces. This amendment was the result of a democratic process that involved all major political parties in the parliament over a decade ago.

There is another constitutional aspect of education which is being violated by the model textbooks that the government is preparing for primary schools. As an educationist, I have gone through not only the SNC but some of the model textbooks as well. First, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training has taken upon itself something which is not constitutionally in its domain. It should be focusing on what it is supposed to do – managing educational institutions that are constitutionally in the federal purview; and it should be working for the promotion of professional training in the country.

Rather than doing this, the ministry has prepared textbooks for English and Urdu, which it is recommending to all primary schools in the country. A detailed review of all the textbooks on English and Urdu for grades I-V shows that they contain some material that is defined by the SNC itself to be part of religious education. This violates Article 22 (I) of the constitution, which is part of the chapter on Fundamental Rights. This article is absolutely clear, and the framers of the constitution fortunately had kept in mind a likely situation in which this right could come under threat.

Article 22 (I) reads as follows: “No person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instructions, or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship if such instruction, ceremony or worship relates to a religion other than his (sic) own.”

The use of ‘No person’ of course includes all children and youth belonging to any religion and studying in any educational institution be it under federal, provincial, or any other tier of governance and that too at all levels of education from primary and secondary to tertiary and higher education. The Article further makes it clear that if a ceremony is taking place at an educational institute which has religious overtones of one particular denomination, no educational authority or institution from elementary school to university can force any pupil or student belonging to another denomination or religious group to attend that ceremony.

The same applies to all sorts of instructions that may have religious content, irrespective of the fact that the instruction comes in an English class or an Urdu period or in general knowledge or social sciences classes. That means constitutionally in Pakistan all children and youth have a right to get religious education pertaining to their own religion and no other religious instruction can be imposed on them under any disguise. This Article of the constitution clearly implies that learning material for students of all faiths in subjects prescribed as compulsory including English, general knowledge, mathematics, Pakistan studies, physical and social sciences, and Urdu must not contain material belonging to any one faith.

The violation of the constitution was challenged in the Supreme Court of Pakistan and after several hearings it declared that it cannot accept any violation of the constitution. In its ruling the Supreme Court unequivocally declared in February 2021, that the government must implement Article 22 (I) in letter and spirit. It means the court had no hesitation or reservation about the sanctity of the constitution especially when it involves the fundamental rights of religious minorities in the country. The unanimous decision further cemented its authority and clarity in this matter across the country.

The Supreme Court in no uncertain terms directed the Ministry of Federal Education to comply with the constitutional provisions and requirements to protect the rights of religious minorities in regard to their educational preferences. The Supreme Court also instructed the ministry to submit a written compliance report to the court by the next hearing. Surprisingly, when the next hearing took place on February 15, 2021, the report was incomplete and without substantial evidence about the compliance of the order that the Supreme Court had earlier issued. At this negligence, the court expressed its displeasure.

On the same day, the SC directed the education secretary to be personally present at the next hearing. By the next hearing that took place on March 31, 2021, the ministry had not yet complied with the SC, orders triggering a prompt response from the court expressing its annoyance. The Supreme Court did not take this noncompliance lightly and reiterated its order that Article 22 of the constitution calls for a complete – not a partial – compliance. The SC once again directed the ministry to fully implement the order of compliance.

The court then issued a stern warning to the higher officials of the Ministry of Federal Education that any further noncompliance would result in dire consequences. The hesitation of the ministry officials in obeying the order of the highest court in the country smacked of at least two things: one, that they are too adamant in their own convictions; and two, they are over-zealous to impose the learning material of their own liking on students of all faiths. They seem to believe in a one-size-fits-all approach irrespective of the diversity of faith that makes this country a cornucopia of multiple creeds.

The ministry is apparently convinced that the entire learning material should have a tinge of just one set of beliefs. If you peruse the model textbooks, it becomes clear that one-faith based education is not confined to just one or two lessons. Such material is spread all over the model textbooks. This type of material should be confined to religious education and textbooks that deal with it exclusively, rather than inserting them throughout textbooks of let’s say languages and social sciences.

The constitution has outlined well that students belonging to any one particular faith have a right to study books of their own faith alone. So, if you include lessons about personalities of one particular faith in textbooks of languages or social sciences, it is a violation of fundamental rights of religious minorities. The SNC itself describes that lessons about the early Islamic history are part of Islamic education.

The ministry in its report to the Supreme Court tried to circumvent the order by saying that students from minorities will not study any material based on religion other than their own. “In this regard, instructions for teachers have been added. Moreover, for assessment the teachers have been asked to give alternate (sic) questions for minorities’ students in case of any assessments from the chapters containing text from religion other than their own religion”.

While submitting this response to the court, the ministry failed to recognize that these actions are discriminatory in themselves and will result in singling out minority students in front of other students and promote a sense of otherness. Keeping in mind the fanaticism that is spreading too fast in the country, this response in mind-boggling.

Some education managers have even said that the teachers should ask non-Muslim students to leave the class if they do not want to study anything not belonging to their religion. Perhaps they don’t realise how discriminatory and embarrassing that will be for students of minority groups.

The writer holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK and works in Islamabad.

Email: mnazir1964@yahoo. co.uk