ICC Note:

Islamic groups in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province have been found to be blocking necessary educational reform. According to the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), KPK’s school curricula is full of hateful and biased teaching against religious minority groups. The NCJP found that this material has led to both religious minorities dropping out of school and Muslims students being more inclined to embrace extremism. In order for Pakistan to tackle both its problems with terrorism and intolerance towards religious minorities, the government has to overcome these Islamic groups and reform the educational system to promote peace and tolerance.  

11/18/2016 Pakistan (Asia News) – Pakistan’s Islamic parties are preventing the revision of school curricula and are spreading hatred and stereotypes against religious minorities, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, this according to a study carried out by the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan.

The research, which covers the last five years, found that Islamic religious parties have become a pressure group strong enough to prevent education authorities from revising school programs for fear of retaliation and protests.

The study notes that Urdu-language history, social studies and Islamic studies are full of biased ideas about minorities.

In the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, hateful content is ten per cent higher than in other provinces. The responsibility for this lies mostly with the Ministry of Education, which is led by a member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Although the party portrays itself as liberal, it has failed to set priorities and show political will according to the NCJP. In fact, the provincial government itself is afraid of the opposition and backlash from religious parties.

School material tends to promote a sense of deprivation and an inferiority complex among minority students, increasing school dropout. Texts with hateful content also promote the radicalization of young people, who end up embracing extremism.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa education is in the hands of the extreme right,” said Aila Gill, an activist and NCJP researcher.

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