Part ofa series on the |
|---|
| History ofPakistan |
 |
| Timeline |
Ancient
|
Classical
|
Medieval
|
Early modern
|
Modern
|
Pakistan studies curriculum (Urdu:مطالعہ پاکستانMuṭāla-e-Pākistān) is the name[1][2] of a curriculum of academic research and study that encompasses theculture,demographics,geography,history,International Relations andpolitics ofPakistan. The subject is widely researched in and outside the country, though outside Pakistan it is typically part of a broaderSouth Asian studies or some other wider field. Severaluniversities in Pakistan have departments and research centers dedicated to the subject, whereas many independentresearch institutes carry out multidisciplinary research on Pakistan Studies. There are also a number ofinternational organizations that are engaged in collaborative teaching, research, and exchange activities on the subject.
As the second largestSouth Asian country, and one of the major actors in the politics of theMuslim world, Pakistan is a focus of multidisciplinary studies.[3] Various universities in the United States and the United Kingdom have research groups busy in academic and research related activities on Pakistan Studies. One such example is theAmerican Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison, established since 1973. An affiliate of theAssociation for Asian Studies, the institute regularly holds events such as seminars, public lectures, and conferences on various topics related to the Pakistan Studies. It also offers annual international fellowships for the research on materials relating to the history and culture of Pakistan.[4]
In April 2004, AIPS organized an international workshop on theSalt Range Culture Zone of Pakistan at theUniversity of Pennsylvania and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[5] The event provided the international audience with an opportunity to understand thearchaeological andarchitectural heritage of the country.
Another academic initiative is the British Association for Pakistan Studies that was established in 1989. The forum has wider views on the topic than the commonhistoriographical contexts, and encourages research and dialogue that involves both the academics and practitioners. The forum acknowledges that the topic has not received the sort of individual attention that the country and its society deserve, and therefore strives to increase international awareness on the subject.[6]
There are also larger multinational and multicultural organizations that provide pluralist platforms for the discussions and debates on Pakistan Studies within the wider contexts of Asia.The Asia Foundation, for example, has launched specific projects for a diverse understanding of the subject through actions on local governance, civil society, human rights, and healthcare[7] as well as political, economic,judicial, and foreign relations.[8]
Pakistan Studies is one of the few heritage subjects[9] forO-level[10] andIGCSE qualifications governed byCambridge International Examinations. The syllabus covers Pakistan's history, cultural heritage,national identity, geography, economy, and environment, as well as the challenges and opportunities faced by the country.[11] It is also one of the compulsory subjects at O level to obtain equivalency from theInter Board Coordination Commission.[12]
In Pakistan, the subject is one of the three compulsory courses (along with theUrdu andEnglish courses) at theSecondary School andHigher Secondary school levels of education.[13] It is also taught as a degree course at most of theSocial Science departments in many universities. There are also university departments dedicated to the education and research in Pakistan Studies.[14]
Many of these departments provide degree programmes for in-depth studies, as well as research facilities forMPhil andPhD scholars. Courses broadly range from the history, politics andlinguistics to the country's geography and economics, and fromforeign affairs andreligion studies to the social relations andliterature.[15] The focused attention on the subject at higher education levels means a wider scope for the research, thus making the subject an increasinglyinterdisciplinary one.
The variable political history of Pakistan shows the country being ruled alternately by the civilian andmilitary leaderships. This lack of political succession has had its effects on the way the history was depicted in the curricula of Pakistan Studies until 2006, which increasingly portrayed what Rubina Saigol termed as 'glorification of military'.[16] However, the occasional attempts to alter the historical texts did not escape criticisms from the academics and scholars in Pakistan and abroad.[17] HistorianAyesha Jalal in her 1995 article also raised concerns over the trends of officialhistoriography in Pakistan's history textbooks.[18]
Yvette Rosser, in an article based on herPhD thesis,[19] regards such curriculum as a composite of patriotic discourses. She identifies significant defects, inherent contradictions and inaccurate information within educational syllabus in general and the Pakistan Studies textbooks in particular.[20] In 2003, Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Pakistan published a report that had emerged from a survey of text books ofUrdu,English,Social Studies andCivics subjects being taught at the secondary and higher secondary school levels.[21] The survey identified inaccuracies of fact and omissions that appeared to distort the significance of actual events in the country's history. Some of the prominent issues included the lack of understanding towards the civil society, religious diversity, and gender relations. The report recommended for major structural reforms and establishment of a National Education Advisory Board to centralise the curriculum development and carry out regular revisions.[22]
About the international perception of the subject, Burzine Waghmar of theSchool of Oriental and African Studies argues that Pakistan Studies is increasingly perceived with sonorous sessions on weapons control,civil unrest,bonded labour,gender inequality and the like.[23] These issues are considered among major hurdles to the wider international interest in the subject. Waghmar concludes that Pakistan and India, among otheroriental societies, are plagued by visceralnationalism and post-imperial neurosis where state-sanctioned dogmas suppress eclectic historical readings.[23]
According to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute report 'Associated with the insistence on the Ideology of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against India and the Hindus. For the upholders of the Ideology of Pakistan, the existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation to Hindus, and hence the Hindus have to be painted as negatively as possible.[21] A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace a non profit organization in Pakistan, found that Pakistan Studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy-makers have attempted to inculcate towards the Hindus. 'Vituperative animosities legitimise military and autocratic rule, nurturing a siege mentality. Pakistan Studies textbooks are an active site to represent India as a hostile neighbour' the report stated. 'The story of Pakistan's past is intentionally written to be distinct from, and often in direct contrast with, interpretations of history found in India. From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious.' Further the report stated 'Textbooks reflect intentional obfuscation. Today's students, citizens of Pakistan and its future leaders are the victims of these partial truths'.[24][25][26][27]
An editorial in Pakistan's oldest newspaperDawn, commenting on a report inThe Guardian on Pakistani Textbooks, noted 'By propagating concepts such asjihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, India's ingrained enmity with Pakistan, etc., the textbook board publications used by all government schools promote a mindset that is bigoted and obscurantist. Since there are more children studying in these schools than inmadrassahs the damage done is greater. '[28][29]
According to the historian ProfessorMubarak Ali, textbook reform in Pakistan began with the introduction of Pakistan Studies and Islamic studies byZulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1971 into the national curriculum as compulsory subject. Former military dictator GenZia-ul-Haq under a general drive towards Islamization, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. 'The Pakistani establishment taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion – that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe-out all of them.'[29][30]
According toPervez Hoodbhoy, a physics professor atQuaid-i-Azam University inIslamabad, theIslamizing of Pakistan's schools began in 1976 when an act of parliament required all government and private schools (except those teaching the British O-levels from Grade 9) to follow a curriculum that includes learning outcomes for the federally approved Grade 5 social studies class such as: 'Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan,' 'Make speeches on Jihad,' 'Collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and national guards,' and 'India's evil designs against Pakistan'. However, according toRasul Baksh Rais, a political scientist, he has yet to see proof of anti-India or anti-Hindu bias.[31]
Referring toNCERT's extensive review of textbooks in India in 2004, Verghese considered the erosion of plural and democratic values in textbooks in India, and the distortion of history in Pakistan to imply the need for coordination between Bangladeshi, Indian, and Pakistani historians to produce a composite history of theSouth Asia as a common reader.[32]
However, international scholars also warn that any attempt foreducational reforms under international pressure or market demands should not overlook the specific expectations of the people at local levels.[33]
Following the extensive media debate and academic reiteration on the need to update the curriculum at all levels of education, theGovernment of Pakistan carried out measures in 2006 to improve the national curriculum for Pakistan Studies.[1][2] These actions were based on the earlier studies and recommendations by the formerUniversity Grants Commission in 2001[34] and then later by theHigher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) in 2003.[35]
The new curriculum, for secondary and higher school certificates, was implemented from 2007 to include the political history from pre-independence to the modern times, international relations, evolution of the country's economy and demographics, diversity of regional cultures and languages, and the status of religious groups with specific reference toMuhammad Ali Jinnah's views that he expressed at his speech of 11 August 1947.[2][36] It also eliminates prejudice against non-Muslims, efforts have been made to exclude all such material that promotes prejudice against the non-Muslims of pre-independence India.[1][2]
Subsequently, the need was also realised to standardise the subject framework across theuniversity degrees. As a result, in 2007, the Curriculum Division at the HEC revised the syllabus for the degrees ofBachelor of Science andMaster of Science in Pakistan Studies.[37] The new higher education course outline goes beyond the literature, politics, history and culture, and addresses the contemporary challenges of urbanisation, foreign policy andenvironment.[38] The recommendations also imply the needs for training the teachers to improve their communication skills in accordance with the new structures.
| By region |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Institutions |
| ||||||||||
| Organizations |
| ||||||||||
| Media | |||||||||||
| Projects |
| ||||||||||
| Related topics | |||||||||||
| History |
| .jpg)  |
|---|---|---|
| Organisations | ||
| Leaders |
| |
| Activists |
| |
| Literature | ||
| Architecture | ||
| In Memory | ||
_without_national_boundaries.svg)
