The recent controversy sparked by the teaching of comparative religions (included in the curriculum of a private school) to class six students has again highlighted the endemic misinformation that exists concerning the purpose and goals of schooling.

Curriculum aims and goals define the refining and increasing of the mind’s capacity to accept and analyse information provided in the form of a diverse group of academic disciplines. Most countries and nations follow a universal path of acquiring initially the three ‘R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic) and then upgrading to subjects covering social sciences and pure sciences.

For religious studies, some educational systems adopt a secular path (construed to mean the exclusion of religion). Other systems include religion which is felt to be integral to humanity’s growth and civilisation; in other words, the value systems of various religions form the foundation by which a moral and ethical code for human behaviour evolves.

Most Western countries adopted a secular approach in their public and private school systems where religion played no role in educating the young. Despite that, many faith schools run by Christian or other religious organisations function in the private sector with religion very much a part of the curriculum. There is no active interference in the affairs of faith schools as long as the curriculum aims of the state education system are followed and standards are maintained.

Yet, countries following a secular schooling model minus a value system dictated by religion realised that there was a gap in the ethical upbringing of students who needed guidance in moral values and citizenship in a certain way. In the 1980s, social studies was introduced as a subject in the USA National Curriculum to fill this gap allowing curriculum goals to be oriented around behaviour — rather than content. The goals were to enable students to understand and participate effectively in their lives and explain their relationship to other people (cultural and religious) and to social, economic and political institutions.

In the context of Pakistan’s National Curriculum, Islamiat for Muslim students and ethics or civics for non-Muslim students was made an integral part of its national curriculum. Teaching of Islamic studies compulsorily to all Muslims, it was felt, should suffice in terms of religious content in the curriculum. By doing so, a secular approach to education was discarded but modern and social sciences included which are taught the world over. Often enough, Darwin’s theory of evolution has been excluded from the content of science or social science subjects in Pakistan’s education system as it challenges religious beliefs taught as part of the curriculum. This is in consonance with Christian faith schools’ opposition to Darwin’s theory, being made a part of the curriculum of Western countries. Nevertheless, it is included in the curriculum of the secular stream of education of public and private schools there.

However, Pakistan took a step forward in visualising a National Curriculum (2006) to develop a global outlook by introducing social studies for classes one to five and re-introducing history and geography for classes six to eight, followed by Pakistan studies for classes nine and 10. The inclusion of social studies is meant to make children understand from a very early age how, as individuals, they can contribute to society which comprises of people from different cultures and religions. They can also develop within the context of social studies an understanding of their world so that they may become rational, humane, participating, effective members of a democratic society.

Furthermore, Pakistan’s National Curriculum, 2006, history syllabus for classes six to eight includes the historical narrative of religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam which are part of our sub-continental history. Explanation of the tenets of all these religions is necessary to understand the historical context of rajas, sultans and emperors who ruled in those times. Consequentially, this information is made available in the context of history. It is the same with geographical knowledge based on countries and climes which opens the expanse of a world view to children who learn the meaning of co-existence on a common planet.

Conversely, Pakistan faces a huge divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ which is sharply reflected in the way privileged education is imparted to a few and the abysmal state of education that exists for the majority and severe illiteracy for the rest. The byproducts of a largely illiterate population — intolerance of the other, and extremist mindsets — are by and large the result of acute feelings of deprivation and the deep-rooted system of rote learning.

Moreover, the problem of widespread illiteracy also impacts on why parents are not apprised of curriculum goals and the importance of subjects chosen to be included in it. There is also a noticeable disconnect in private and public schools’ understanding of the National Curriculum’s efficacy and often enough mindless overlapping of subject content takes place.

The way forward in addressing a balanced and progressive world view at school level is to make sure that social science subjects — social studies, history and geography — in the school curriculum are taught in the right spirit of inquiry and using modern methodology to engage students.

The importance of these subjects in generating open-mindedness and tolerance should be taken seriously by both public and private schools and teachers properly instructed in their teaching/learning methodology. Moreover, educating parents about the curriculum is also a necessary tool of educational policy. Lastly, uninformed and irresponsible media hype on educational matters only serves to harm the cause of education in the country.

The writer is an educational consultant based in Lahore.

Ismatriaz70@gmail.com