Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

egion (see Table 5.1), 73 even as its share in the overall economic output has
been declining. In terms of habitation, health and well-being, this single fact has
great significance, implying the overwhelmingly rural nature of South Asian life.
Rural-urban tension and conflict has long been, and remains, a key feature of the
political economy of the South Asian region (Bardhan, 1998).
Several parts of South Asia have witnessed prolonged armed conflict. While
Nepal and Sri Lanka have faced internal strife, Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan
have also been sites of militancy and violence linked to wider geopolitical
conflicts. Meanwhile, the conflict over forest and mining rights in the tribal
regions of Central India has caused considerable violence over recent decades.
Internal strife in Sri Lanka and Nepal mutated into political extremism and
prolonged guerrilla struggles. In Pakistan, the region bordering on Afghanistan
has been a site of violent conflict between the state and religious extremists.
Indeed, Afghanistan has been a site of conflict for most of its modern history as
a nation, and its recent experience of war has caused long-term damage to its
institutional structures. International aid is a major source of the reconstruction
effort in several domains, including education, extending to curriculum planning.
From this perspective, South Asia presents a complex picture of the modern
state’s struggle to establish a stable, equitable institutional system capable of
pursuing prosperity with peace (Oommen, 2004).
PEACE, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP IN EDUCATION POLICY AND
CURRICULA
A: Challenges of Instrumentalism and Ethics
Primacy of Human Resource Development and Limits to Studentcentred
Pedagogy
The South Asian region has witnessed radical
changes or reforms in recent decades, not least in
the economic arena, that have influenced policies
and priorities in education in ways that are widely
under-appreciated. Among the chief effects has
been to accentuate an emphasis on education’s
role in fostering ‘human resources’ for economic
development. Analysis of policy documents for
the present study points to the high frequency
of references to human resource development as
an official goal across the region. India was the
first state to re-designate its federal ministry
The human resource
paradigm has since
attained dominance
across South Asia,
framing education as a
process of harnessing
human capital through
equipping the young
with marketable ‘skills’.
73 In Afghanistan, Bhutan, India and Nepal, almost half of all employment remains in agriculture
(World Bank, 2011).
Rethinking Schooling for the 21 st Century:
The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia
141