Are we a failed state? It is not only the violence and virtual absence of governance that strengthens this notion, the joke that we have made of education is enough to prove that the pudding has gone sour. The recent revelations in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on errors in school textbooks are eye-opening. The textbooks distributed free of cost to state-run schools are not only grammatically faulty, they contain a distorted version of history. According to these textbooks, 9/11 occurred in 2011. The next general elections in Pakistan will take place in 2008. A startling assertion that General Zia’s death was a watershed in the history of Pakistan, changing its political landscape, annoyed MPA Mufti Said Janan of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal so much that he felt constrained to point out the fifth grade Social Studies error-ridden textbook in the assembly. The Pakistani national curriculum has been drawing serious criticism from experts since long. They argue that this curriculum is incapable of generating analytical thinking. The syllabus, especially of Social Studies, Islamiat and History gives rise to denominational thinking. The unusual emphasis on Islamic values interpreted along narrow lines is arguably at odds with the true message of Islam. The bias against India, glorified Mughal persona and the ‘ideology of Pakistan’ (not explicated to date) perched on a high altar are the crux of our textbooks. With grammatical and factual information distorted, education is enshrouded in its coffin, ready for burial. Textbooks are not a mere reservoir of information; they are considered the engine for cognitive growth. Subject matter, script quality, and selection of visual art make textbooks interesting, durable, and a resource for better understanding. Influential lending agencies like the World Bank have given special emphasis to textbook development, earmarking special loans under the National Education Assessment System to facilitate improvement of textbooks in developing countries. This is not a generosity in vain; it is a realisation that the shape and structure of a society largely depends on the type of knowledge it is exposed to. Primary textbook information directly impacts a young budding mind. Terrorism today is traced back to Pakistan. Are we not victims of our system that has gone berserk owing to intolerance, extremism and religious bigotry? The twisted version of Islamic values has developed a psyche that is forever ready to ‘fight’ for Islam but cannot tolerate dissenting views. General Ziaul-Haq in his ten years of dictatorial rule made education a victim of his political sorcery. The so-called jihad that he propounded through textbooks unfurled emotions that landed the entire nation into the mess called terrorism. It is about time that we shed the label of a failed state. For that we have to bring the dumb driven cattle, our students, out of the straitjacket in which their minds have been constrained. We must give them the liberty to ask questions and allow them to think. The best place to start this reformation is in our textbooks and curricula. *