KARACHI: Speakers at a conference have underscored the need for creating an educational system that is academically progressive and internationally recognised, yet rooted in local culture, history, and aspirations.
They also shared that a real change in education required a multidisciplinary foundation to shape critical and creative minds.
The conference titled ‘Decolonising Curriculum: Reimagining Education for Equity and Ubuntu’was organised by the College of Education, Ziauddin University (ZU), the other day.
It aimed at fostering unified efforts to dismantle colonial pedagogical practices and promoting self-reliance by developing a reimagined curriculum for Pakistan at school, college, and tertiary levels.
It also sought to replace outdated content with locally relevant material that addresses the genuine needs of Pakistani learners, empowering classroom practitioners to guide young minds towards success with a strong sense of identity, free from the shackles of colonial hegemony.
Addressing as a keynote speaker, Prof Fareed Panjwani, dean of the Institute for Educational Development, Aga Khan University, stated: “We need to decolonise the mindset to decolonise the curriculum and education, bring students together, and not divide them on ethnicity, religion, language and nations.”
While highlighting how economic dominance shapes education, he remarked: “Where there is power, there will always be resistance. Colonisation is not a relic of the past, but a living system, perpetuated today through economic structures, techno-feudalism, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. If we truly wish to dismantle modern-day colonialism, we must begin by decolonising the mind.”
He continued: “Education must not be reduced to a factory producing job-seekers in service of an economic elite; it must unite rather than divide, nurture empathy and love for nature, cultivate critical thinking, and open young minds to definitions of success that go beyond material gain, embracing happiness, creativity, mastery in the arts and sciences, and the search for truth,” Prof Panjwani emphasised.
Dr Muhammad Zohaib Tariq, chief executive officer of the Learning Resource Network (LRN), said: “Decolonising the curriculum is not about rejecting the global standard; it is about balancing global and local standards, creating education that is academically progressive and internationally recognised, yet rooted in our culture, history and aspirations.”
Highlighting the gaps in Pakistan’s education system, Mazhar Abbas, a senior journalist, pointed out: “It is unfortunate that our focus remains largely on higher education, while primary education is neglected. Education is a right, not a privilege, and both education and healthcare should be the responsibility of the government. However, the curricula in government and private schools remain vastly different, and we are failing to teach what truly needs to be taught. As a result, critical thinking has diminished, and in the absence of factual knowledge, disinformation continues to spread.”
Reflecting on the shifting face of colonialism, Kareem Aman, director of the Academic Affairs at the Community Development Foundation (CDF-Pakistan), said the important lesson is not merely to learn from history, but to be liberated from history.
“Real change in education demands a multidisciplinary foundation, where literature, philosophy, psychology, and history come together to shape critical and creative minds.
“This journey begins with learning from our elders, understanding our personal stories, then exploring the history of our localities, and gradually expanding to the history of our provinces, building an awareness that is rooted, authentic, and capable of driving meaningful transformation.”
Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2025
