Daily Times

Lack of critical thinking is one of the many flaws of Pakistan’s education system. Concerns have been raised by experts time and again about the content of textbooks which in some cases promotes racial hatred and division on the basis of religion. While there have been efforts in the recent past to amend the educational curricula to add lessons of tolerance, the state as a whole appears to be hostile towards the idea of critical thinking. Students who engage in activism on campus are seen as a threat by the administrations.

In January, several student activists of Punjab University were arrested after a violent clash between two student groups. Most arrested students belonged to the ethnic minority groups and were later charged with terrorism. They are still in jail.

Progressive student groups of the university allege that Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), has been practicing hooliganism on campuses. The activists of IJT have been able to get away with violence supposedly because of their religious affiliation. The group has long been acting as the de facto moral police in the universities where it has presence. In recent instances, clashes have taken place due to IJT students’ act of forcibly stooping what they call “mixed gatherings” and cultural events. Pakhtun and Baloch students of the PU have mostly been on the receiving end during the violent clashes, but the administration as well as the law enforcers side with the IJT.

While there have been efforts in the recent past to amend the educational curricula to make it inclusive, the state as a whole appears to be hostile towards the idea of critical thinking

The impunity which such violent religious groups enjoy can be judged from the incident whereby a professor of Punjab University who wanted his students to think critically became target of a smear campaign by the said group. Ammar Ali Jan, a progressive professor, was fired by Punjab University in March after students of IJT ran a campaign against him for speaking to Pakhtun students of the university about peaceful resistance. As teacher,  Ammar used to hold study circles where students were encouraged to think critically and take part in progressive activities, for which he was declared “anti-state” and “Indian agent”.

This nonacceptance for alternative views says a lot about why our educational institutes are not producing individuals who know how  to reason with facts. Given the hostility towards critical thinking, students of prestigious universities getting involved in extremist activities (as has been witnessed in the past few years), should not come as a surprise.

Objective analysis and critical evaluation of course content is the need of the hour, because the growing intolerance and extremism in the society can be countered through an inclusive curricula free of religious, ethnic or racial bias. Much has been said on the need to introduce reforms in textbooks, but there has been little to no effort in this regard by successive governments. A number of NGOs like Alif Ailaan and Rabbt are working towards promotion of critical thinking, but governmental support is needed in this regard. However, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the provincial government of Awami National Party (ANP) did add secular content in the textbooks, but the changes were later reversed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s government. An inclusive curriculum with lessons of tolerance and interfaith harmony can serve as an effective counter-narrative to extremism. We as a state need to undo the results of decades of Islamisation to fight the menace of extremism. For this to happen, the culture of critical thinking in educational institutes should be promoted at the state level and experts should be consulted for introducing textbook reforms across the country.

Published in Daily Times, August 27^th 2018.