PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board has decided to incorporate anti-corruption slogans into the textbooks in the light of the Holy Quran, Hadith and wise sayings to create awareness of the evil of corruption in society, according to sources.

They said that some verses of the Holy Quran insisting on the unity among Muslims would also be inscribed on the inner titles of the textbooks for grade-1 to 12th.

They said that the KPTBB had taken this decision with the consultation of the National Accountability Bureau and Directorate of Curricula and Teachers Education.

The sources said that around 100 messages against corruption had been compiled by the board officials from the Holy Quran, Hadith and wise sayings.

A complete verse of Sura-i-Hujrat had been selected in which Almighty Allah insists on the Muslims to be united, they said. The decision would be implemented from the academic year 2015-16 commencing from coming April.

Decision to be implemented in coming April

The NAB had floated the idea of incorporating slogans against corruption into the textbooks while Jamaat-i-Islami had suggested verses from the Holy Quran about unity among Muslims for the purpose.

The sources said that the anti-corruption slogans would sensitise the students to corruption in their early age and inform them that corruption was an evil in the society.

The slogans would also sensitise the teachers and parents of the students. A slogan “we want peace” was incorporated into the textbooks by the previous government when Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was engulfed by militancy.

They said that the verses about unity among Muslims would help reduce the widening gap between different schools of thought in the society. It would also help in reducing hatred among different sects.

The sources said that slogans concerning national integrity and cohesion were also part of the campaign to be launched through textbooks.

When contacted for comments, a senior official in the civil secretariat told Dawn that the initiative of anti-corruption slogans in textbooks would help in creating awareness among the students. However, he said that corruption couldn’t be eliminated through such initiatives.

He said that the bureaucrats were highly qualified people and their appointments were made after tough competition on the provincial and federal level, but many of them were involved in corruption. He said that all the bureaucrats and government officials were well aware that corruption was an evil in the society, but despite that they had not stopped misuse of their powers.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2014