Policy recommendations based on a series of in-depth interviews on SNC with education experts (including Madrassah and religious education experts) carried out by Elaine Alam and myself in 2020-21. The concerns expressed reflect the impact SNC would have on our …
How will the government be able to address the structural fault that lies at the heart of not matching up his ministry’s new school initiatives with the teachers’ existing capacities?
Education is subordinated to the class interests of the urban, professional, English-using elite in Pakistan. For its political interests this elite has been using the name of Islam, and has strengthened the religious lobby, in the process. It has also strengthened the hold of capitalist entrepreneurs on education making for its commodification, importing corporate governance into education and devaluing the state system of education further.
There is a need for them to realize that a child should not be inculcated with a sense of superiority over non-Muslim peers. In fact, it would have been better if non-Muslim children were also able to read about their religious roots and practices with dignity and appreciation, instead of feeling powerless and humiliated while taking their compulsory lessons at school.