ICC Note:

The Sindh Text Book Board (STBB), has taken steps to add a special book to the syllabus for minority students in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Instead of being forced to study Islam in the school, students from Pakistan’s minority communities, such as Christians and Hindu, they will be able to study ethics. This is a step in the right direction in Pakistan where radicalism and religious intolerance have crept into school textbooks. By changing the textbooks to teach more religious tolerance it is hoped that in the future Pakistan will become more religiously tolerant. 

1/26/2016 Pakistan (Tribune) – The Sindh Text Book Board (STBB), Jamshoro, has decided to add a special book to its syllabus for minority students in the province.

“Students belonging to minority communities in government schools will study the curriculum according to their own religion,” STBB chairman Syed Zakir Ali Shah announced on Tuesday.

The new book which has been named Ikhlaqiat (ethics) will be included in the curriculum of all public schools across Sindh from April 1 of the current year, the chairman said. “This book will be added to the curriculum of grade 7 students and above in the first phase of induction.”

Talking about the contents of the book, the chairman pointed out that the book includes the teachings of different religions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and mystic poetry.

Last year, the Sindh government had announced to include Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s August 11, 1947 speech in the school curriculum from classes 8 to 10 in a bid to teach religious tolerance.

“Quaid-e-Azam’s speech is being included in the curriculum on the directives of Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari,” Provincial Minister for Education Nisar Khuhro had said. “We will include this speech from classes 8 to 10.”

The founder of the nation’s August 11 speech is famous for the Quaid explicitly talking about giving equal rights and freedom to all religious minorities.

However, some have pointed out how teaching ‘ethics’ instead of a subject that relates to minority faiths is inherently ‘discriminatory’.

“Discrimination begins from the point when children are offered [to study] ethics [rather than compulsory Islamic studies] instead of a subject that relates to their faiths,” Peter Jacob, the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) executive director said in 2012.

Jacob says ethics is not a suitable alternative for religious studies. He says considering that the contents are derived from Islamic traditions, the stated purpose of giving students this option is lost.

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