Daily Times

Sir: I would like to condemn the decision taken by the Education Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to eliminate a critical and significant chapter from primary school textbooks, which detailed global issues pertaining to human rights. After in-depth content analysis, I came to the conclusion that the subject matter of the chapter is close to reality and is extremely important to share with students. Global issues are part of today’s dynamic society and every child has a right to learn about them. In today’s digital world our children are still detached from global issues because the curriculum they are taught does not prepare them to have an open-minded attitude. The lack of integration of global topics due to political and religious interference is only creating narrow-minded individuals. The decisions taken by our children are adaptive rather than creative. A lack of acceptance towards other religion and culture, hatred for other countries, a pessimistic approach to solving local and global issues — all these are the outcomes of sharing selective knowledge. Unless we expose children to reality, they will never understand sensitive issues and will be more prone to misconceptions. Contemporary issues should be made part of the curriculum. Learning about global issues can never harm any individual and has no link with decoupling an individual’s beliefs. The inclusion of topics such as human rights, population control, the study of comparative religions and other issues across society and the world can build confidence and decision-making skills and develop critical thinking amongst students that will help them find solutions to multiple challenges effectively. Instead of building barriers, we must try to build bridges through the medium of education. The decision taken by the KP government in selecting rigid content will only produce dependent puppets that will think and act without accepting pluralism and diversity. It is therefore the responsibility of the government to involve children as well as teachers in designing a new curriculum. Global issues such as human rights must be taught from school up to the university level. It is also recommended that they revise the entire outdated curriculum at the earliest. Talking is not going to help — the time has come to act with real spirit.

MUNIR MOOSA SEWANI

Karachi