‘School syllabus needs to be purged of extremist content’
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ISLAMABAD: Social activists and parliamentarians on Friday called for purging the school syllabus of extremist contents.
The speakers from various political and social backgrounds and religions demanded the government eradicate extremism from the educational system.
The speakers at the national caucus, ‘Quota issues and resource reservation for non-Muslim communities in Pakistan’, called for making ‘Ethics’ as a compulsory subject for all students.
Also read: KP govt restoring old syllabus
At present, the subject is being taught to non-Muslim students in place of Islamic Studies.
Asia Nasir, a JUI-F MNA, said there was political discrimination in the past as a result “we lost a part of the country on December 16, 1971.
Then there was radicalisation of the education system and we faced the gruesome school attack in Peshawar on December 16, 2014.”
She said Pakistan was made by the minorities of South Asia as they feared that the majority community was not fair with them.
“But now they are facing the same situation in Pakistan,” the Christian MNA from the JUI-F added.
PTI minority MPA, Shanila Rooth, said reforms were needed in the educational system.
“There is a law under which only Muslims can get admission to the Punjab Vocational Training Council Institutes,” she said.
She said non-Muslims had been kept out of the 170 technical training centres because they were run through the Zakat fund. However, the centres also received foreign, mainly European, funding, she added.
“There was a time when Christians in Pakistan were seen as an educated segment of society but now their status has been reduced to sanitary workers,” Ms Rooth said.
Eminent poet Kishwar Naheed said Pakistani society was not a bunch of radicals.
“With or without niqab, all of us are part of this society,” she said.
She said there was a need to look into the school books, as Islamic Studies and social studies are almost the same.
“These teachings were leading towards making suicide bombers,” she added.
Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2015
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Comments (29) Closed
Feb 28, 2015 07:22am
Jab jago tabhi sawera. Never too late.
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Feb 28, 2015 07:39am
It is high time to get rid of extremism in all its forms and shapes at any place.
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Feb 28, 2015 07:48am
Islamic studies never prompt terrorism. You don't need to change the studu quota just because people teach it otherwise. Producing good teachers who can present the studies in their actual form is the foremost need of the hour
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Feb 28, 2015 08:36am
Wow their display of stupidity and ignorance is astounding,I've studied Islamiyat and I didn't become a terrorist neither did any one of the thousands of student from my School,The fact they don't get is that terrorism is like an industry it has a proper infrastructure it's mostly the Misleading clerics that brainwash children not schoolteachers!
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Feb 28, 2015 09:12am
Why keep extremism to strengthen Islam? Will the religion collapse without these religious clerics and hate mongers?
Purpose of religion is to elevate us, however what we see is that the entire nation is on verge of instability.
Sane voices are still too few to counter this radicalization.
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Feb 28, 2015 09:13am
The conference only intends to promote secular ideas. Criticizing islamic studies means criticizing islam.
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Feb 28, 2015 10:24am
@NaveenWaqar Totally agree with you, almost hundreds of thousands of student had studied Islamiat in my school and none of them became terrorist, what a idiotic blame on Islamic studies by these social activists. God forgive us. Pakistan had lots of people who wants to destabilize Pakistan from all axis.
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Feb 28, 2015 10:47am
No one became terrorist due to Islamiat. Yes they became terrorists due to Madrassas. However, there is yet a need to make such a syllabus that is agreed by all the Muslim sects and society. The irony is that we were taught a wrong islamic history making heroes of villains like Mohammad Bin Qasim etc. Moreover we teach about personalities that had nothing to do with this part of the world. We just need to rationalize our syllabus
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Feb 28, 2015 11:03am
One can only laugh by reading this. What terrorist literature is there in Islamiyat books?. The biggest terrorist are corrupt paki political parties with huge stockpiles of weapons. They need to be taught Islamiyat and ethics.
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Feb 28, 2015 11:06am
We should be ashamed of our recommendations against religious teachings. Islamiat and terrorism are two different poles. In addition, our youth has all the right to learn own history.
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Feb 28, 2015 11:34am
It is not only the content childrenshould have controlled access to the internet, stop watching movies with voilence,stop playing viollent video games, keep home atmosphere peacfull there are many other factors effcting not only course content !!!
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Feb 28, 2015 11:45am
Good step forward Minority MNAs...lets see how the Majority powerfuls listen.
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Feb 28, 2015 11:53am
@hussain684 - my friend mo one is against islamiyat. But we need to see how it is being taught and who is teaching it. Radicalization is a reality. It is also a fact that secular nations do not such serious symptoms of radicalization. We are doing something wrong....probably by over dozing religion in every day life.
As some one rightly said....If we continue to do same thing we do every day, we will continue to get the same result.
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Feb 28, 2015 12:25pm
What about those hundreds of British, Canadian and other western countries students who were studying in those 'secular' godless institution and yet they get passed to the level of radicalization that they even went to join ISIS physically ???
Education has nothing to do with getting radicalization but the way people are treated
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Feb 28, 2015 12:31pm
I see no extremist based book in the curricula of Muslim children in Pakistan. The suggestion is only being made to please our foreign masters. Any sane elements can see the over doze of English based material in the curricula of our children and nobody is raising any objection on this. Why we define extremism only with Muslims and Islam whereas the whole West is utterly extreme and prejudice towards Islam and Muslims. The people at the helm of affairs in Pakistan be made themselves aware of the reaction from common Muslims of Pakistan if any alteration with bad intention is introduced in the curricula of children pertaining to Islamic subject. What to say of curtailing Islamic subject from the curricula, I would suggest study of Holy Quran should be made compulsory for Muslim students from class one of masters level in Pakistan.
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Feb 28, 2015 12:31pm
There is more to Islam. We need people to learn that Islam also teaches tolerance which our education does not.
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Feb 28, 2015 12:57pm
Majority of times religion is used for bad things, and I am talking about 99.9% of times. So, it is better to just get rid of it. Being human is the way to go!
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Feb 28, 2015 02:00pm
i dont know y people dont undetstand that Islam and teachings of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W has nothing to do with extremism. radicalism also exist in other religion as well look at the history ull find it ur self if a person has bad intentions its the person himself responsible not any particular religion behind it majority of our people are unaware of the real teachings of islam its like throwing a dart in the dark. and there will be a day when they have to pay for their deeds. there are ahadis which proves that terrorist who use the name of islam to fulfil their personal revenge or hatred are not muslims killing of an innocent man woman and especially children leads them out of the religion plus there are many cases where the criminal turns out to be a non muslim paid by a certain agency to create a propaganda so kindly taking out islam from the people want solve ur problem dont mislead the already misled.
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Feb 28, 2015 02:46pm
All Pakistanis must read the results of an indepth study "Connecting the Dots:Education and Religious Discrimination in Pakistan A Study of Public Schools and Madrassas
By Azhar Hussain (ICRD) and Ahmad Salim with Arif Naveed (SDPI)".
The Pakistani think tank SDPI is one of the foremeost such institutions in Asia.
Only after reading this research study can someone make an educated comment in this blog.
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Feb 28, 2015 03:14pm
Extremism is a lucrative business for Pakistani leaders. I do not think the so called leaders and others in power will ever agree to these changes. The PML-N and PTI do not even condemn terrorists. How can one expect them to makes these changes?
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Feb 28, 2015 03:16pm
@bilal I disagree with you.
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Feb 28, 2015 03:19pm
Is it compulsory for non muslims students to study Islamiyat in Pakistan?
Please enlighten.
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Feb 28, 2015 03:51pm
@Random thoughts Yeh, I agree with you, however is there any one who became terrorist due to Islamiat? NO, NONE. However we must call off the madrassa system and teach the right history in our syllabus and align the syllabus with subject neutral topics acceptable to all sects. Yes you are also right about over dosage
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Feb 28, 2015 04:42pm
School-syllabus for all schools, including Madrassas, should be the same.
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Feb 28, 2015 06:23pm
@BigBoss "Jab jago tabhi sawera. Never too late."
But, if someone don't want to wake up??
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Feb 28, 2015 06:28pm
@Mian Shahid Mehmood "I see no extremist based book in the curricula of Muslim children in Pakistan. "
You are WRONG. Search internet and you will find proof.
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Feb 28, 2015 06:30pm
They had better be.
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Feb 28, 2015 06:38pm
@Kashmiri
Western knowledge will be taught mostly on the internet in a few years, and there will be a choice - so it up to parents if the parents are literate in Arabic, Urdu or any language. Mullahs and religious bigots are already falling behind. They spent too much time already trying to assemble drones out of old plastic, cardboard, wood and rubber bands.
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Feb 28, 2015 08:18pm
We heard such demands, many suggestions, speeches and promises. Why dont administrators, politicians and school officials make genuine efforts to reach an agreement amiacably, what is good for the nation. You hear same news over and over again, but no solutions, no agreements, no resolution of the issue. Is it competency or incompetency?
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