Prime Minister Imran Khan said that cultural imposition is equivalent of ‘mental slavery’ and it is very hard to break the shackles of mental slavery, adding that the Afghans had “broken the shackles of slavery”. PM Khan was speaking at the launch of the first phase of the Single National Curriculum (SNC) for students of grades one to five today.
PM’s comments come as the Taliban rapidly take control of Afghanistan.
The Taliban declared that the war in Afghanistan was over after its fighters swept into the capital, Kabul, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday.
Criticising the two parallel systems of education in the country, PM said that the existence of English medium schools has led to the adoption of “someone else’s culture” in Pakistan.
“When you adopt someone’s culture, you believe it to be superior and you end up becoming a slave to it,” said PM Khan.
“I had the vision to introduce the Single National Curriculum, but the elites making the most of the current system will not change that easily,” said the premier.
“When you acquire English medium education, you adopt the entire culture and it’s a major loss because you become a slave to that particular culture,” he said.
“Our class divisions were formed only on the basis of an English education,” said PM Khan.
He said a decision had also been taken to teach the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) from grades eight to 10. However, he told Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood that the plan to introduce the course by 2024 was too far away, adding that it should be implemented in five to six months.
The SNC had been launched from classes one to five in public and private schools as well as seminaries in all provinces except Sindh.
