ICC Note: A conference in Pakistan has taken on the issue of biased education which is rampant in Pakistan. As has been pointed out in many studies, the educational system of Pakistan often teaches bias against religious minorities and is a fertile breeding ground for religious intolerance and hate. Will conferences like this help correct Pakistan’s biased educational system?

04/07/2018 Pakistan (The Express Tribune) A conference on the theme of right to education without discrimination was organized by the Centre for Social Justice in collaboration with the Centre for Governance and Policy at Information Technology University on Thursday.

The discussion was led by Centre for Governance and Policy Director Dr Yaqoob Bangash, Punjab School Education Department Secretary Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik and Centre for Social Justice Director Peter Jacob.

The panelists identified various areas in the education system that needed improvement thereby promoting religious tolerance in the country.

They stated that the proposed education policy (2017) relies on Article 31 and 25-A of the constitution of Pakistan, while ignoring the constitutional guarantees under Article 22,26 and 36 of the constitution which safeguard minorities against discrimination in educational institutions.

Further, the current education policy (2009) violated Article 20, 22 and 25 of the constitution and infringed on several international human rights laws.

The participants also highlighted several instances on how the education policy and textbooks themselves discriminated on the basis of religion.

For example, minority students can opt for Ethics instead of Islamiyat, a compulsory subject at most schools and colleges. However, the alternative is an impractical course, which forces students to stick with Islamiyat, they informed.

Besides Islamiyat, 30–40 % of other subjects such as social studies, history and several language courses cover information related to the majority, they added.

The textbooks are also biased and print hate material against religious minorities. This encourages negative sentiments among students which then manifests itself in violence.

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