Curriculum for Compassion

Donor: DAI

Project locale: Lahore

Time Duration: 1st July 2016 to 31st Dec, 2016 (Closed)

Project Team: Shafqat Munir, Ahmad Saleem, Dr. Humaria Ishfaq, Sadaf Liaquat, Saleem Khilji, Sana Khetran

Introduction:

The project, a venture between DAI Pakistan and SDPI, started in July 2016. It mainly focused on educational reforms particularly the removal of hate speech/material from the public school textbooks and curriculum from grades VI to XII. Objectives of the project are as follows:

Objective 1 (Output): To conduct an advocacy campaign to remove hate material from public school textbooks

Objective 2 (Outcome): To enhance stakeholders’ support for removal of hate materials from public school textbooks

Objective 3 (Impact): To develop and empower a diverse network of individuals, organizations, and government leaders who can advocate and implement initiatives to counter extremism in the Punjab

To achieve the abovementioned objectives, textbooks have been studied, reviewed and analyzed. Meetings with government officials in the education department were arranged. In addition, seminars were also held.

Recommendations

Some recommendations put forth are to revise the Education Policy 2009 in line with the National Action Plan (NAP) to counter extremisms, which calls for eliminating hate speech and extremist views from the curricula, imparting non-Muslim students education according to their own set of beliefs and religion, removing all prejudiced and biased content against any religion, belief, sect or gender, incorporating contributions of non-Muslims in the creation of Pakistan in the textbooks, removing negative perceptions about any religion or sect from the textbooks.