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Killing Pakistan Softly

muse

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Education in Pakistan— killing it softly!
Dr Haider Shah




The devolution of HEC has resulted in a fierce debate over the future of higher education in Pakistan. Replying to the emerging chorus of criticism Mr Raza Rabbani declared in a recent press conference that those who were opposing dismemberment of HEC were the agents of a strong Centre. As a neutral observer, I find substance in the arguments of both advocates and opponents of HEC devolution. To begin with, even though research is my bread and butter, ironically I do not cherish the idea of spending billions on research in Pakistan when millions of children do not have a decent school to go to. Arguably ‘research’ is an expensive luxury which better be left to the countries that really understand what research is and how to benefit from it. In a poppy field you should not expect daffodils growing. A country where a great majority firmly believes that Zakir Naik is the brightest scientist of the Muslim world and where murderers are garlanded by lawyers in the court, spending money on higher education would hardly change anything. The source of the problem is in the early education which can never be remedied by higher education at a later stage as early brain injuries are the most difficult to heal. The counter-argument to my thinking is also persuasive though. If billions can be spent first on raising irregular armies of jihadis and then on dismantling them, what is wrong if a few billions are spent on higher education? Potentially, it is a much more productive use of our taxpayers’ hard earned money.

Mr Raza Rabbani was very eloquent and fiery in his speech. His glittering eyes exuded defiance of a revolutionary and face radiated zeal of a determined warrior. I was naturally impressed. Then I heard in the news that the defence committee had approved 18 percent hike in the already whopping defence budget for the next year. The news almost coincided with the leaked story via WikiLeaks that the army chief had vetoed the likely agreement reached between the governments of India and Pakistan on Kashmir in the recent past. Cynics can say that our politicians are good in showing their valour to people like vice chancellors, as they do not carry any guns. Where their chivalry is most needed, they simply cave in under the soothing beat of the ‘reconciliation’ song.

The debate over HEC devolution has two sides of the story. Those who support the decision are persuaded by the devolution scheme of the 18th Amendment. This opinion, led by Mr Raza Rabbani, contends that since education is a provincial subject, the devolution of HEC was a natural consequence of the 18th Amendment. It is argued that standards setting will be overseen at the national level by another body that would replace HEC while syllabus and other micro-level issues will be devolved to the provinces. Sceptics point to the international practices in this regard. They cite the example of the Bologna process launched by 30 European countries in 1999, which aimed at establishing a central authority for regulation of higher education at the European level, ultimately culminating in establishment of European Higher Education Authority (EHEA) by 2012. The sceptics point out that instead of working towards the establishment of a Higher Education Commission at the SAARC level to ensure common standards with India and Bangladesh, our policy makers have taken a giant leap in the backward direction.

At a broader level, if the government is keen on transferring authority from the Centre to provinces, it should then first regain authority from a central organisation which happens to be the biggest consumer of budgetary resources and to whom government has almost outsourced real public policy making. Pakistan’s defence spending amounts to 20 percent of its internally generated resources, one of the highest in the world. On the contrary, education spending is less than two percent
. The alarming disparity between defence and education spending has been rightly highlighted by UNESCO’s recently released EFA (Education for All) Global Monitoring Report 2011 titled The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education, which states that “just one-fifth of Pakistan’s military spending would be sufficient to finance the universal primary education”. The war on terror is a convenient excuse for not rationalising our military spending. The UK’s military is also not only engaged in war on terror but is in the forefront in other NATO-led operations as well. Still, the UK government has not spared military spending from its austerity drive. Mr Raza Rabbani and his government should show similar valour when dealing with the budgetary requests originating from the biggest consumer of monetary resources at the Centre.

Unlike many other commentators, I do not have any personal attachment with the HEC. I would have been more welcoming to the devolution plan if it was a part of a more coherent national strategy on education. If the government had announced that it had reduced defence spending by rationalising its ambitions in the region and consequently education would be made the major consumer of budgetary resources in the near future, we all would have welcomed the new strategy. If the government is genuinely serious in vindicating its stand, it should do so by increasing expenditure on the education sector in a big way. It also needs to modernise the primary level syllabus and improve teaching quality at the foundation stages.

Plato’s ideal state was built around education system in his Republic. No ideal of a prosperous and progressive country can be achieved unless the education sector is adequately financed by the policy makers and a forward looking education policy is implemented. If the public policy makers are reluctant to match words with money, then they better bury the education sector forthwith
. This will be an act of mercy, as the education sector will be saved from its slow and agonising death.


The writer teaches in the UK and is the founding member of Rationalist Society of Pakistan. He can be reached at hashah9@yahoo.com
 
Education in Pakistan— killing it softly!
Dr Haider Shah




A country where a great majority firmly believes that Zakir Naik is the brightest scientist of the Muslim world


i stopped reading after this bull shitt, i dunno why muse's posted articles contain anti religious BS because i thought finally after a long time he got some sane topic to post after posting nadeem paracha every time and nearly pressed the thank button
 
A country where a great majority firmly believes that Zakir Naik is the brightest scientist of the Muslim world and where murderers are garlanded by lawyers in the court, spending money on higher education would hardly change anything. The source of the problem is in the early education which can never be remedied by higher education at a later stage as early brain injuries are the most difficult to heal


Seems this is rather a reasonable statement - Sure some find it uncomfortable because it highlights a reality these persons would rather not have any light shed on, after all, these same individuals are primarily supporters this end result - Why do so many Pakistanis seem to think that science and faith are at war and why are so many Pakistanis persuaded by certitude and not faith - clearly the quality of education is important and while higher education is certainly important, we might not lose sight on the absolute need for creating a good foundation for Pakistanis - those who get their education in Arabia or inspired by ideas in vogue in Arabia, we must agree to live with as best as we can and certainly the army and the police have a role to play in keeping these away from the schools and lives of ordinary peoples.
 
Pakistan is in dire need of lower (younger) level education but that doesn't mean you destroy anything for them beyond lower level education.
 
I never saw Zakir Naik talking about Science :lol::lol::lol:

maybe its a satire...

anyways

he is right in saying that you cannot expect change if its not done in the early stages of our educational system(s)...

however comparing to the spending on higher education is simply showing how he is seeing things....

the only problem in higher education that I find is that we invest on scholarship that goes to pure sciences and alittle bit on IT. whereas we require to invest in social sciences. and atleast if they canot change the mindset of the country yet can influence the mindset of the country. which is a fair deal
 
Readers who have been following some of these articles will note that once again, the piece is about a "transition", a "shift", a Paradigm Change" --- what does all this mean:


Our textbooks and the lies they teach
By Raza Rumi
Published: April 14, 2011

The writer is consulting editor, The Friday Times

Due to the 18th Amendment, a momentous shift in Pakistan’s governance arrangements is taking place through a politically mediated and largely consensual manner. The federal government is being trimmed and 10 ministries have already been devolved to the provinces. A key development pertains to the devolution of education — lock, stock and barrel — to the provinces. Most notably, the odious era of setting poisonous, centralised curricula in the name of a ‘martial’ nationalism is finally over. Whether the past practices of turning Pakistan into a jihad project will end is uncertain, unless the provinces take the initiative and reverse the regrettable trajectory of the past.

Pakistani textbooks have preached falsehoods, hatred and bigotry. They have constructed most non-Muslims, especially Hindus, as evil and primordial enemies, glorified military dictatorships and omitted references to our great betrayal of the Bengali brothers and sisters who were the founders and owners of the Pakistan movement. It is time to correct these wrongs.

However, this shift will be daunting for many reasons. The provinces are not well-prepared and would need to build capacities at their end. Similarly, generations of pseudo-historians, inspired by state narratives, exist who are willing to perpetuate the culture of weaving lies. Other than the ideological issues, bureaucratic slovenliness has also marred past performance. While the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa textbook boards have been updating curricula, those in Sindh and Balochistan have not done so for nearly a decade.

So it is heartening to note that the Sindh government has finally made some headway now on the issue. The education department is working to update and align textbooks with the 2006 guidelines agreed to by all provinces. In addition, efforts are underway with the expertise of civil society to introduce critical modes of teaching, with supplementary learning material for both teachers and students.

The Sindh education department and the textbook board under the 2006 policy will be following a transparent process, inviting private publishers to submit books for subjects such as English, Mathematics, General Knowledge and Social Studies. For the first time, private publishers will be submitting transcripts for approval. The draft textbooks will then be reviewed by a committee comprising government and private experts and will finally be published in time for the April 2012 academic year.

What are the chances of this brilliant idea being implemented? Despite the odds, there is a strong likelihood that it may work. Largely, because the ruling coalition has an agreement over this issue and the 18th Amendment give full powers to the province
. It is critical that other provinces also take note of Sindh’s initiative and set up similar reform committees.

Extremism in Pakistan has grown beyond belief and radicalisation of the young minds is a great challenge for Pakistan’s future. The provinces need to move quickly and undo the wrong committed by central authorities in the past.


Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2011.
 
i stopped reading after this bull shitt, i dunno why muse's posted articles contain anti religious BS because i thought finally after a long time he got some sane topic to post after posting nadeem paracha every time and nearly pressed the thank button

Zakir Naik is a clown...
I'm a Pakistani does this counts?

What a trash article.
 
Pakistani textbooks have preached falsehoods, hatred and bigotry. They have constructed most non-Muslims, especially Hindus, as evil and primordial enemies, glorified military dictatorships and omitted references to our great betrayal of the Bengali brothers and sisters who were the founders and owners of the Pakistan movement. It is time to correct these wrongs.

finally someone acknowledges truth....earleier the changes are made, better for pakistan...totally agreed with the author..
 
The root cause of terrorism
Syed Kamran Hashmi



Studies on the demographics and criminology have shown that the single most important factor in the future criminality of the child is low maternal education. Other strong predictors for the child’s future unlawful behaviours include childhood poverty; growing up in a single parent household (not an important factor in our society) doubles the risk and so is teenage pregnancy.

These studies have not been conducted in Pakistan and do not always reflect our social paradigm but they clearly underscore the importance of maternal education in the development of a stable, prosperous and peaceful society .These studies also reveal the domestic causes of increasing violence in our country where some of these acts of aggression are even encouraged by society in the name of religion, political associations and ethnic backgrounds.

Although there are several other factors that contribute in the prevalence of crime in society and can range from innovative policing to tougher gun laws and the well-timed capital punishment, their task is limited because of their curative and surgical approach when compared with the most preventable and fundamental role of educated and informed mothers in bringing up non-violent, peaceful individuals as members of a community.

In Pakistan, the debate on the escalation of terrorism — a violent crime — has typically focused on the erroneous policies of our security establishment and has somehow ignored the discussion on the pivotal role of stable and more educated families in reducing these crimes.

The conduct of our military in the Afghan war is denounced strongly and their support of the Afghan Taliban is condemned intensely throughout the nation from newspaper editorials and columns to political discussion forums but the outrage on the lack of educational facilities to the citizens is almost negligent.

We reckon an unequivocal diversion from our previous security policies and anticipate the formulation of an improved strategy to deal with the menace of extremism but are appallingly quiet on the issues of teenage marriages, poor schooling apparatus for the youth and the absence of social support structure for women in society.

We also do not contemplate the population burden of Pakistan, which has a growth rate of 2.2 percent and total fertility rate of 3.17 children born per woman in Pakistan. The total population in Pakistan is estimated to be more than 180 million people and per capita income of $ 1,000 per year. We commonly overlook the impact on our society of more than 60 percent of the population who live on less than $ 2 per day. And we forget that if our population continues to grow at the same pace we will have a population of more than 300 million in less than 20 years.

We do not realise that we spend less than one percent on our health, two percent (roughly) on our education, closely 20 percent [according to some estimates even higher] of our national budget on our security. Our economy has essentially plummeted in the last few years and our gross domestic product (GDP) has shrunk substantially. Although we jiggle with the numbers and claim the opposite to prove the expansion in GDP, even if true, is unable to keep up the with our population surge in the years to come.

By putting all these numbers together, we can easily envisage that in the next 10 years our education and health standards would deteriorate further and employment opportunities would diminish even more. Our national food requirement would soar, energy crisis would worsen and the writ of the state will be further compromised. It will result in further increase in the crime rate, targeted killings and terrorism that we still recognise in many parts of the country.

It will be in sharp contrast to those countries that have focused on education and successfully curtailed their population growth, which ultimately led to a sustained economic growth and drop in violence in their societies. India and China are the prime examples in this region and in them economic growth can simply be compared with their demographics, literacy rate and charted against their crime rates. Yet, the relentless growth in our population remains unheeded and ignored without any futuristic vision on economy, education and health.

The data is simply undisputable to remind us that we need to urgently take revolutionary measures to bring up the level of education of our population in order to combat the potential threat of escalating violence and terrorism in our society.

In the absence of which, unfortunately, we would rely upon more army operations like that of Swat and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) but this time instead they might have to be launched in Sahiwal, Gujranwala, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan
.


The writer is a freelance columnist residing in the US. He can be reached at skhashmi@yahoo.com
 
Heaven Knows just exactly what we do



The ideology of thought control in Pakistan
By Maheen Usmani | DAWN.COM


Denial is not just a river in Egypt. It has become something of a personality cult in Pakistan. Nowhere is this cognitive dissonance more visible than amongst the educated who refuse to accept facts and logic, clinging instead to a neurotic persecution complex.

Columnist Khaled Ahmed says: “The vast majority of literate Pakistanis take comfort in ignorance, skepticism and conspiracy theories. The self-glorification of an imagined past matched by habits of national denial have assumed crisis proportions today when Pakistan’s existence is under far more serious threat from fellow Muslims than it was in 1947 from rival non Muslim communities.” [COLOR="darkred"What lies beneath this inability to critique and lack of intelligent analysis? Undoubtedly, one’s education influences views on politics and society.[/COLOR] As Robert Frost aptly puts it: “[I]education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”
[/I]
[B]To sift the chaff from the grain[/B], [B]let us consider a ubiquitous slogan about the ‘[I]ideology’ of Pakistan[/I]. A staple of our school textbooks, it echoed in massive public rallies as well as debates on secularism. [I]Pakistan ka matlab kiya? La illaha il lallah[/I] (What is the meaning of Pakistan? There is no God but Allah) has become the rallying cry of the campaign to Islamise Pakistani society. Ironically, i[COLOR="blue"]t is a slogan that was coined long after the creation of Pakistan[/COLOR], but it is now being falsely ascribed to the leaders of the Pakistan movement in 1947.[/B]

Religion has often proved to be a powerful binding factor which has merged heterogeneous groups into a distinct nationality. Through appeal to supernatural authority, religion promotes national unity as a divine command. Examples abound in contemporary history: the Greek church as a source for Greek nationalism, the Catholic church as a factor in Irish separatism, Judaism and the state of Israel, Islam and Pakistan.

Soon after he seized power in 1977, General Zia ul-Haq sought to create a nation based on religion rather than on secular principles. An important part of the Islamisation agenda was defining the Islamic ‘ideology’ of Pakistan. In stark contrast to modern textbooks, no textbook written prior to 1977 mentions the ‘Ideology of Pakistan’.

Since education was a key factor in Zia’s Machiavellian manoeuvrings, a presidential order was issued that all Pakistan Studies textbooks must “demonstrate that the basis of Pakistan is not to be founded in racial, linguistic, or geographical factors, but, rather, in the shared experience of a common religion. To get students to know and appreciate the Ideology of Pakistan, and to popularise it with slogans. To guide students towards the ultimate goal of Pakistan – the creation of a completely Islamised State.”

Instead of being a Muslim state as envisaged by its founders, Pakistan was recast in the mould of an Islamic state, where Islamic law would reign supreme. A state sponsored and systematic purging of liberal and secular values of future generations of Pakistan ensued.

History was rewritten to redefine Pakistani as an Islamic society, and no research on ancient India, the medieval period or the colonial era. Our history was linked with the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, thus alienating it from ancient Indian history. This interpretation creates a Muslim consciousness that seeks it’s identity outside India.

Historian Mubarak Ali cautions “History should not be influenced by religious beliefs since history has no religion. Pakistan came into being in 1947, but our history existed before this which cannot be deleted.”

History textbooks written soon after Partition – a time when the grief of shattered families who experienced communal killings was at its peak – show a more liberal mindset. The history of the subcontinent was taken to start with the ancient Indus valley civilisations rather than with the conquest of India by the first Muslim invader, Mohammad bin Qasim, in 712. In contrast to today’s history books, these books contained discussions of the empires of Emperor Ashoka and the Maurya dynasty. Has there has been a deliberate revival of communal antagonism over 30 years after Partition? Undoubtedly, the permanent militarisation of society requires a permanent enemy.

Although Edward Everett may state that “education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army”, the task of defending Pakistan’s ideological borders has been entrusted to the military as they are defenders of the ‘faith.’ Textbooks extol the achievements of Muslim conquering heroes, as well as those of the Armed Forces. In sharp contrast, no contributions by any heroes in fields like education, medicine, law or social work are highlighted.

September 6 commemorates the defense of the country against an Indian attack in 1965. According to our textbooks, it was India which attacked Lahore in the middle of the night, without any provocation, but our army won this war. The reality is that Pakistan started the 1965 war on August 5 by sending soldiers into Kashmir and India retaliated the following day.

Instead of the soul searching and accountability undertaken by nations like Japan and Germany after devastating wars, our history textbooks explained the separation of East Pakistan in 1971 as an evil design by India which created the guerrilla group Mukhti Bahini in order to seize Pakistani territory. Although we lost half of Pakistan, there was no mention of the gross inequalities which led to the grievances of the Bengalis. Tens of thousands died, millions were displaced, atrocities were committed and the country was rent asunder. But the guilty were never punished.

The seeds of the distortion of history and the preponderance of religious dogma which were sown decades ago are bearing fruit today. Examples from the curriculum designed by the Federal Ministry of Education abound. The Social Studies textbook for Class 7 says: “European nations have been working during the past three centuries, through conspiracies on naked aggression to subjugate the countries of the Muslim world.”

14-year-old students of Pakistan Studies are being taught that: “one of the reasons of the downfall of the Muslims in the sub-continent was the lack of the spirit of jihad.”

13-year-olds are instructed: “In Islam jihad is very important…..The person who offers his life never dies….All the prayers nurture one’s passion of jihad.”

Thus, a primary and secondary school environment is being created which is nurturing prejudice and extremism. “College and university come much too late; change must begin at the primary and secondary school level,” sums up physicist and lecturer Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy.
Although religious schools or madrassas in Pakistan are often blamed for breeding extremism, only 6 per cent of children are educated in these schools. Furthermore, research does not confirm the link between madrassa education and terrorism. The cause for the intolerance experienced by Ahmadis, Hindus and Christians lies in public education, structured as it has been to defend Pakistan against some phantom enemy. Non-Muslims are forced to read the same textbooks which contain derogatory remarks against Hindus, e.g being eternal enemies of Muslims. Our myopic educational system discourages questioning and causes ethnic and religious minorities to be viewed with suspicion.

Pakistan is primarily a young country, so it is the youth which is severely impacted by rampant unemployment, inflation, corruption and violence. Many amongst this disenchanted segment have started seeing religion as their anchor and are attracted to demagogues like Zaid Hamid. A self-proclaimed jihadist who claims to have fought against the Soviets in Afghanistan, Hamid banks on the insecurity and frustrations of college students and television viewers. Just as Adolf Hitler dwelt on Germany’s ‘wounded honour’ in his famous beer-hall oratory in Munich (where he promised that Germany would conquer the world), Hamid calls for the Pakistan Army to go to war against India and liberate Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya and Afghanistan.

Our curriculum stresses the formal and ritualistic aspects of Islam, as against those which emphasise social justice. Science and secular knowledge are regarded with contempt. Dr Hoodbhoy says, “I have never seen a first-rate Muslim scientist become an Islamist or a terrorist even when he or she is a strong believer. But second-and third-rate technologists are more susceptible. These are people who use science in some capacity but without any need to understand it very much—engineers, doctors, technicians, etc.—all of whom are more inclined towards radicalism. They have been trained to absorb facts without thinking, and this makes them more susceptible to the inducements of holy books and preachers.”

The steady diet of religious fundamentalism and blind faith has clouded objective and rational thinking, and transformed Pakistan from a moderate Muslim-majority country into one where the majority wants Islam to play a key role in politics. A 2008 survey by World Public Opinion found that 54 per cent of Pakistanis wanted strict application of Sharia. The British Council polled 1226 young Pakistanis between 18 and 29 in 2009 and found that ‘three-quarters of all young people identify themselves primarily as Muslims. Just 14 per cent chose to define themselves primarily as a citizen of Pakistan.’

Pakistan’s skewed priorities may account for the huge amount spent on its ever increasing “defence needs” and only 1.5 per cent of it’s GDP on education. But lost in the brouhaha over the lack of access to education is the dire need to revise the dogmatic and distorted school curriculum. As the pendulum swings in Pakistan between radicals and moderates, we need our friends to stand with us and demand that Pakistanis don’t need an education which stunts, blinds, distorts and deadens any more. As Alvin Toffler said, “The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn.”


Maheen Usmani is a freelance journalist. She has reported on varied subjects, ranging from socio-political issues to sports, travel, culture and counter terrorism.
 
I think I missed thread earlier. I have this link saved 3 years back when I found it online. All Indian should read this before answering some members here. Its called 'The Subtle Subversion' http://sdpi.org/sdpi-old/whats_new/reporton/State of Curr&TextBooks.pdf

I was especially amazed by following paragraph on page 79. .

"It is interesting to note that this started in the 1970s when the civilian and
democratically elected regime of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto introduced a full two-year course on
‘Fundamentals of War’ and ‘Defence of Pakistan’ for class XI and XII respectively"


This is unimaginable in India!!!
 

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