Religion is being excessively used as a cover to hide many holes in our system, and it is major public distraction aimed at keeping the conversations at bay from making the Right to Education a possibility. Pakistan needs to appropriate more budget and resources towards it if it is serious enough in securing its future. There is no other way.
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.