Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

small children for entry to English-medium private
schools has also emerged as a substantial shadow
industry in urban centres. As a study by LaDousa (2014)
shows, the division between English and vernacular
medium schools is indicative of social incoherence
thriving amidst a dominant ethos of great insecurity
and competitiveness.
Language learning at primary level means acquiring
skills of reading and writing. Discussion of these
processes is conspicuously absent from policy
discourse across South Asia, except in the national-level Indian document. The
persistence of old methods of teaching reading, which emphasise decoding and
sounding out rather than comprehension and enjoyment, has been noted by
scholars across South Asia. Despite the relatively high rate of enrolment now
achieved in all South Asian countries, lack of functional literacy in the adult
population, especially among women, religious minorities and tribal groups,
remains a serious problem associated with acute social inequality.
Religion and Values
The role that English
plays in maintaining
and reproducing the
class divide between
the richer and poorer
sections of society
is an issue on which
policy is generally
silent
The question of how values should be taught has been debated throughout
South Asia’s modern history. During the colonial period, this question had
already become highly political. Values were widely portrayed and perceived as
associated with distinct cultural and religious communities, which in turn were
generally portrayed as impermeable and immutable. Whether schools should
teach any values explicitly became a matter of contention because many were
run by groups representing a particular caste or religion. Colonial policy adopted
a posture of equal distance from all religions. This evolved into the framework of
a ‘secular’ approach when India became independent. Something quite different
happened in Pakistan, where religion was treated as a legitimate source of values
to be taught in schools.
Regular class time is provided for moral education in elementary schools in
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, religion is taught as a
separate main subject all through elementary classes. Bangladesh mandates
the teaching of ‘Religion and Moral Education’ all through classes 1 to 8. The
Bangladesh NEP (2010) explains one of the objectives of Religious and Moral
Education as follows: ‘Students will be encouraged to acquire noble virtues,
honesty and courage. They will be infused with patriotic spirit. Students will build
up their characters with moral and human values that will be reflected in their
social and national consciousness’ (p. 30).
In Pakistan, the study of Islam starts in Grade 1 for all children; similarly, the
study of the Holy Quran in Iran and Islamic Education in Afghanistan also begin in
Grade 1. India has no such provision in its state-run schools. In a recent curriculum
Rethinking Schooling for the 21 st Century:
The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia
163