Securitizing the curriculum: Education reforms under the Punjab government in Pakistan

The role of education in challenging terrorism and promoting tolerance is being reinforced through the educational reforms underway in Pakistan. According to Pakistan’s National Internal Security Policy (NISP) for 2014-18,... [ view full abstract ]

The role of education in challenging terrorism and promoting tolerance is being reinforced through the educational reforms underway in Pakistan. According to Pakistan’s National Internal Security Policy (NISP) for 2014-18, educational institutions are being used to create “a robust national narrative on extremism, sectarianism, terrorism and militancy,” (2014:7) in order to “strengthen democratic values of tolerance” and diversity. After the 18^th Amendment, provincial governments in Pakistan are responsible for educational reforms within their respective provinces. These reforms reflect a sense of heightened (in)security particularly in the aftermath of the Peshawar school tragedy of 2014, where security measures have physically altered school premises all over the country. These changes not only include the presence of armed security personnel (though such presence is limited in underfunded schools) but also measures such as putting up posters in schools and classrooms that provide information on extremism, tolerance and terrorism. Changes have further been made to the curriculum and textbooks for subjects such as Urdu that include narratives that directly address the issue of terrorism in Pakistan. This presentation examines these changes to the written and unwritten curriculum undertaken by the Punjab government through a discourse analysis of a) Urdu curriculum and textbooks, b) school posters about extremism, tolerance and terrorism that have been put up by the government across schools. This analysis is further supported through in-depth interviews with twenty school teachers that were conducted in schools located in Lahore, as part of an on-going study on securitization and education in Pakistan. Preliminary findings from this study show how recent interventions have further created a sense of (in)security, where discussion around security tends to be more prescriptive. Such reforms have instead increased teacher responsibility without providing the support and training needed to promote such a “national narrative” within the classroom.