January 17, 2026
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
Sarah, a student in one of Punjab’s government high schools, had learned long ago that drawing attention to herself in class never helped – especially not when she was one of the only three Christian students in a class of 40, and the classroom was not exactly all-encompassing for children of religious minority communities.
Sarah’s class had been studying a chapter – in English language – about the life and teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). It was the opening lesson of the English textbook, spanning several pages. However it is not unusual for students of other religions to study about Islamic teachings in subjects meant to be religiously neutral.
This issue has been recently highlighted in an intensive study conducted by the Cecil & Iris Chaudhry Foundation (CICF). It is one of the most notable findings of this research – how common religious content in subjects where it is not contextually relevant. Religious instruction has become deeply embedded in Pakistan’s public-school textbooks—even in subjects where it has no academic relevance. English, Urdu, General Knowledge, Social Studies, and Pakistan Studies textbooks across all four provinces routinely include Quranic verses, Islamic prayers, and religious narratives, without alternative content for non-Muslim students.
Most students experience the violation constantly but silently bear the cross. They do not complain for fear of being seen as difficult, or drawing attention. But by having their own faiths ignored and ‘replaced’ by another, they are repeatedly being told indirectly that they do not belong.
A significant percentage of these books include prayers, Quranic verses, and Islamic moral lessons without alternatives or exclusions for non-Muslim students. Chapters on citizenship, ethics, and moral values in social studies textbooks are predominantly framed on Islamic teachings, rather than using a universal ethical perspective applicable to students of all faiths. Some English and Urdu textbooks include stories and essays with religious themes, reinforcing Islamic viewpoints rather than fostering a pluralistic learning environment.
The inclusion of Islamic content in non-religious subjects directly contradicts Article 22(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan, which guarantees that no student shall be forced to receive religious instruction in a faith other than their own.
The study finds that minority students are not only compelled to study religious content outside their belief systems, but are also largely absent from the national story being taught.
In Pakistan Studies and history textbooks, religious minorities—Hindus, Christians, Sikhs—are frequently depicted as adversaries in the subcontinent’s past, or erased altogether from narratives of nation-building, science, and public service. This selective history leaves little room for children to imagine themselves as equal citizens.
Gender bias compounds the exclusion. The report documents how male figures dominate textbooks as leaders, thinkers, and heroes, while women—when they appear at all—are confined to domestic roles. The achievements of Pakistani women in politics, science, and social movements are largely absent, reinforcing a narrow vision of who matters and who leads.
Ideological uniformity
The research highlights that while education was devolved to provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, ideological uniformity persists. Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa textbooks were found to contain more explicit religious nationalism, while Sindh showed slightly more cultural diversity—though no province was free of bias.
Despite multiple curriculum reforms, including the Single National Curriculum (now renamed the National Curriculum of Pakistan), the study concludes that ideological framing has intensified rather than diminished. Religious content in non-religious subjects has increased, minority perspectives remain excluded, and critical thinking is often replaced by rote moral instruction rooted in a single faith.
These practices place Pakistan at odds not only with its own Constitution, but also with its international commitments. The report notes violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—all of which guarantee freedom of belief and non-discriminatory education.
The report warns that the consequences of such exclusion extend far beyond individual classrooms. When children grow up learning that one faith defines citizenship, that some identities are central while others are peripheral, society itself absorbs those lessons.
While education should be an equaliser, Pakistan’s textbooks have become instruments of quiet segregation—teaching uniformity where diversity exists, obedience where inquiry should flourish.
Accroding to Dr A.H Nayyar, the history of biases in textbooks starts with the genesis of Pakistan in 1947. Dr Nayyar whose article makes up part of the study, says that Pakistan had inherited the British colonial public schooling system, both administrative and pedagogic. The administrative part survives to this day, but the pedagogic part went through several changes.
“In the domain of school education, at the inception of Pakistan, the curricula of disciplines like mathematics, science, Geography, the British history and English were left unchanged, but South Asian history, except for the British rule, needed to be updated to give it a Muslim perspective. Although ancient Indian civilization remained in school books, but the narration of the post-Muslim- conquests period was more partisan. The post 1857 history was all painted in a joint British- Hindu scheming against the Muslims. The strong political movement and the Muslim League-Congress political rivalry of the 20th century was all painted as Hindu-Muslim rivalry, with a liberal hate expression against Hindus, which has continued in textbooks since then. It came handy during the 1965 war, and more so in 1971 war, and continued vehemently into the 1980s. Late 1970s and 1980s were the times of Islamic Jehad, and of consolidation of the Islamic identity through a move for a rule by Shariah, and hence emergence of Shia-Sunni polarization.”
Dr Nayyar adds that things changed drastically during the military rule of Ziaul- Haq, who embarked on Islamising the society. The charge of Islamising education was given to a religiopolitical party which assumed full control over the entire spectrum of education; from designing a new school curriculum to writing textbooks, managing assessment system, and managing departments of education, etc. The party worked on the principle that it was defining public education in an Islamic society, following the dictum put forward by its founder: