Textbook Questions

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Thanks for the article...I was told about the jehadi mathematics that was being taught in the madarsas....but this is really dangerous................I think this is a real mess- I cannot see Pakistan coming out of it for atleast another decade. It would remain the breeding ground for the jehadis!!!

This is ridiculous. How can the government defend such acts? Does anyone know what percentage of students study in government schools in Pakistan? Are most of these books for government schools or for private ones as well?
It seems that the fundoo`s are now taking the next step i.e. moving from the madressas to government schools. This crap has to stop otherwise this cancer will spread like crazy.
I guess the people who supported the MMA are delighted now......

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There is a message here for the dictator and his stooges that if army wishes to survive as a political entity is Paksitan:

Hands off Madrassahs

Hands off curriculum

The message is simple, that your masters will only support you until you become a political liability for them, however, you have to live with us, no matter what. If army wants to change peoples` perception of it as a foreign stooge that oppresses and kills its own people whom it is supposed to protect and serve then it must stop this dictator and his minions from interfering in these matters.

My only comment after seeing 4 + years of debate on this textbook issue is - the only thing certain chowkies are good for is for drowning yourselves in the Indus or Chenab or Sutlej or Jhelum(your choice). Chullu bhar pani is also recommended. And making your moonh kaala beforehand is appropriate procedure.

We tend to look at the things from our own ideological glasses. I think in every country fundamentalists have as much rights as the liberals to influence the society in whatever way they can. We see this here in the US and other democratic countries too. If I were to ask a Christian fundamentalist in the US, he would have a laundry list of complaints against the education, text books and educational institutions in the US.

We can argue that what is being dished out in Pakistan is wrong and that will just produce more fundamentalist. This precisely is the goal of the fundamentalist. What is the point of showing some empty hatred and restating the obvious?
Their methods are crude but then how much political training others have in Pakistan?

We should really treat opposition to fundos attempt to change the text books as a political struggle now. If we insist that text books should reflect liberal and secular teaching then fundos have the right to influence that process too.
Writing editorials and making people aware of the fundos goals and stupidity is a good method. Cringing, bitching and moaning about life in Pakistan is dense.

Fundamentalists have as much rights in a country as any other group. In some countries they fail to assert and in some they do. Pak is in the later group. We should oppose the violent methods that they use to fight their political battles. But then again, haven’t we seen left, liberals, and communists taking up arms to further their cause in the past?

A closer look at the questions will reveal that their context and the references that they have seem very out of place for a student six or seven years of age. It should be noted that in most cases other than the content and contextual references, the language itself was riddled with wrong diction and grammatical inconsistencies.

wouldn`t these questions be extremely out of place for any student/person of any age? i personally would be more concerned with the content than with wrong diction and grammatical inconsistencies.

HP: so what exactly are you defending here? the right for such textbooks to have questions like these?

This education technique can be used positively too to reform societies:

Q1: If Hamid beaten his wife only once and he is in 3rd layer of hell, where will Shahzad go if he beat his wife 2 times a week?

Q2: If Maulana A eats 6 pounds of halwa each day, and his cholestrol is 350, what would be cholestrol level of Maulana B if he eats 3 pounds of kheer each day?

Q3: Rashid stole Minhaj`s bicyle and he was sentenced 3 years of imprisonment for that. If you stole Sameer`s scooter, how many years will you be sentenced in jail?

HP Wrote: If we insist that text books should reflect liberal and secular teaching then fundos have the right to influence that process too

Fundos have a right to influence that process too!!!!! You really think that what was written in the article above is ok for children to study? Would you want your kids to study such things?

Has anyone done anything about it in Pakistan. I guess not as all the fundoos need to do is to grease someone palm and get away with whatever they want.

sadna ... don`t leave out the nile ... that river in egypt ...
(sorry, couldn`t resist)

I think what`s most important in this context is the participation of parents in running government schools. They are the biggest stakeholders since future of their kids is in question. Unless change comes through actual empowerment of people, it cannot be permanent. What’s happening is a shift of government policy due to US pressure. This has nothing to do with Musharraf’s vision, because he doesn’t have one. Thanks.

Let us add the importance of birth control to textbooks from the Inter level......

Interesting article, as always. Questions which come to mind . . .

1) What does it say that is/was new? Or did the Pakistani media therein pick up a Pakistani textbook for the first time?

2) Who gives publicity to the fringe ````more conservative and obscurantist elements in society````, if not the Pakistani media?

3) If a Mullah Sandwich has a total of 7 participants, then what is the maximum number of insertions possible and in how many orifices?

Hoooold on a sec....what`s wrong with this question? Why was it deleted?

* Question on page 21, ex. 2.1: In the month of Ramadan Ali
spent 327 rupees on Rooh Afza, 123 rupees on dates and 246 rupees
on fruit for Iftar. Find the total amount he spent on Iftar.
(Deleted in new edition)