ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government took exception of the discreet inclusion of pro-India and anti-Pakistan material in the textbooks of Afghan refugee schools in the province by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the federal government has taken stringent steps to rectify the undesirable changes in the syllabus, Pakistan Today has reliably learnt.
The ministry of Home & Tribal Affairs of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has written a letter to Afghan Refugees commissioner, referring to Letter No 6/10/2017-PE-II Dated 12-12-2017 by Ministry of Interior raising the matter and has directed an immediate action.
The documents suggest that the interior ministry has warned the UNHCR that the recently changed syllabus of the Afghan Refugees schools running under Community Oriented Primary Education (SCOPE) includes content that is highly objectionable to Pakistan.
“The new syllabus includes the flag of Afghanistan at every page of English books, India has been projected as a friendly country of Afghanistan and Pak-Afghan border has been mentioned as Durand Line. Gilgit Baltistan and Disputed territory of Kashmir are shown as a part of India in social studies books of Grade-6. This change in the syllabus is of a great concern,” the documents read.
The letter states that the changes in syllabus were made without the permission of any provincial or federal department.
“It is, therefore, requested to take necessary action and submit a detailed report for onward submission to the ministry of the interior at earliest,” the letter added.