LAHORE – Compiling and publishing the syllabus for schoolchildren is a key step in the framing of education policy and the education department is supposed to exercise caution with the nuances of this process, a responsibility that is sometimes not met: the Islamiat book for class five is one of the glaring examples of the carelessness of the Punjab Textbook Board.
Firstly, the cover of the textbook depicts the interior of the Mosque of Cordoba, which was converted to a cathedral after the fall of Muslim Spain, and the crucifixes are clearly visible on the chandeliers in the building. The historic mosque was built by Muslim conquerors but Muslim religious activities have been banned there since the end of Muslim rule.
A panel of 15 scholars had revised the textbook and it would have been simple to avoid this depiction. PTBB Secretary Asifa Murtaza told Pakistan Today that it was an “unacceptable mistake” on the part of the board, however, it would have to do for the next academic year because the books had already been published.
Education expert Aamir Riaz said that such a problem was rooted in curriculum review committees, which existed at the federal and provincial level. He said bureaucracy exerted complete influence over parliamentarians and the civil society but it had no role in the committees.
