During my schooldays in Canada, I was fortunate enough to have studied in a multicultural environment, where participating in each other’s religious and cultural festivals was the norm. Teachers with different belief systems and hailing from different countries ensured that students learned inclusive behaviour. On returning to Pakistan, the education system that confronted me appeared entirely alien. From the syllabus itself to the sheer bureaucracy. I had to prove that my schooling was done in Toronto and that Urdu was not a familiar language of instruction. Yet more than anything, I missed interacting with people from distinct backgrounds; as education institutions here lacked an environment where students could not only grow but also learn to co-exist.
According to Article 25 A of Pakistan’s Constitution, everyone has the right to free education irrespective of gender, region, ethnicity or disability. However, the ground reality is very different with Pakistan failing to facilitate the enrolment of students with disabilities, transgender persons and minority communities into mainstream education institutions, even as fee paying students.
Now, as a journalist I sometimes interact with students from various religious minorities groups and they always express frustration and disappointment in the way educational institutions discriminate against them. Those belonging to the transgender community complain that while they wish to study, they are neither welcomed at an institutional level nor by the majority of their classmates and teachers, despite protective laws being on the books. Those with disabilities are often forced to drop out of school or university due to access issues.
Prime Minister Imran Khan often speaks about rising Islamophobia in the West, yet marginalised communities here in Pakistan are victims of home-grown extremism
The beginning of this year offered a flicker of hope. In January and March, respectively, two events were held to specifically address the exclusion of religious minorities and other marginalised communities and to develop mechanisms to bring these groups into the mainstream education framework. The first was the National Conference on the Challenges and Prospects for Minorities in the Education System. The second, the Vice Chancellors’ Conference “Equity and Inclusion of Marginalised Communities in Higher Education. Both identified the need to for in-depth research not only on the part of education institutes themselves but also by the government. Other recommendations included: the need to create awareness about opportunities for marginalised communities; inter-faith celebrations of important religious festivals; sensitising faculty on gender, religious and cultural issues; and lastly, the need for the media to highlight these as public service messages.
Pakistan’s Population Census 2017, which has since been disputed, found that Muslims represent 96.28 precent of the population, Christians 1.59 percent, Hindus 1.6 percent and Ahmadis 0.22 percent; with Scheduled Castes 0.25 percent and others 0.07 percent. It is worth mentioning that the minority count has never been made public. In 2018, a parliamentary body rejected The Minorities Access to Higher Education Bill, seeking a fixed quota for religious minorities within the university admissions system. Last year, both the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments approved 2 percent reserved seats for minorities in public sector higher education institutions. Other provinces are still lagging behind.
There are 371,833 persons with disabilities (PWD) in Pakistan, according to the latest data by NADRA and a quota had been fixed for them in the education sector. In 2019, the British Council produced a report, “Moving from the Margins — Mainstreaming Persons with Disabilities in Pakistan”, recommending that Pakistan develop and implement laws to protect the rights and dignity of PWDs in all areas. Unfortunately, there is no clear data on the transgender population even though the law protects their right to education.
Regrettably, allocating reserved seats at the higher education level will remain ineffective as long as marginalised communities are excluded from the mainstream school system. Economic and societal discrimination contributes to students dropping out at an early age, which, in turn, allows upper institutes to downplay the need for reserved seats.
Students from marginalised communities attending college or university often face issues of co-existence with other students. This is because text books act as propaganda tools against monitory religious groups, thereby circumventing the sensitisation question. It also highlights how critical thinking is not promoted while radicalisation remains widespread. When education institutes do not think of equipping themselves with facilities to assist students with disabilities, they send the message that some human rights are worth more than others.
We have reached the stage where students are not comfortable in publicly stating their belief systems, religious or otherwise, in large part due to the lack of on-campus protection. The tragic lynching of Mashal Khan four years ago bears devastating testimony to this. Silence is considered the best option.
Prime Minister Imran Khan often speaks about rising Islamophobia in the West, yet marginalised communities here in Pakistan are victims of home-grown extremism. The concept of an inclusive society is missing in this country. Amongst the UN Sustainable Development Goals — the right to Quality Education; Gender Equality; Reduced Inequality; Peace, Justice & Strong institutions need urgent attention.
Under the recently announced Single National Curriculum minority pupils will study Religious Education from Grade 1 onwards. However, a new curriculum will not be helpful until the government, society at large and, more specifically, the education sector are sensitised to the plight of marginalised communities. Unless this is tackled at the grass root level, any policy change will be purely cosmetic and minorities and marginalised communities will continue to feel unsafe as citizens in their own country. It is time that Pakistan recognise these groups as assets to both the country and national economy and start investing in them. .
The writer is a freelance journalist and contributes to local and international platforms. She tweets @UmaimaBlogger