In this article, I make the case that grade I-XII textbooks, prescribed by the provincial and federal textbook boards, should be made available on the Internet for free. I discuss the reasons why this is necessary and the benefits that will accrue from such an effort.
Outdated and Incorrect Curriculum
In a household survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan in May 2009, 70% of the respondents said that they send their children to government-run schools. These schools are often faulted for imparting incomplete, incorrect, and rot education to children. The school textbooks prescribed by the provincial and federal textbook boards are part of the problem. The description of the relevant material in science and math textbooks is at times inadequate whereas the social sciences, religious, and Pakistan studies textbooks have been used by the successive governments to further their political agendas.
Making textbooks available online will allow educational experts both inside and outside Pakistan to easily scrutinize their content for clarity, correctness, and completeness. The feedback received from educational experts will greatly help to improve the quality of these textbooks.
Distribution Problems
At the start of a school year, parents of school going children have to scramble to buy class textbooks. It is often the case that bookstores are unable to meet the demand of textbooks at the start of school year. At times, there may be a genuine shortage of books but more often than not, bookstores, book printing and distribution businesses take advantage of the start of school year and either hoard or do not print and make available enough copies of the textbooks. Further, bookstores may sell books at a price which is significantly higher than the regular price of the books. Desperate parents are either forced to wait for the new copies to arrive or are forced to buy the photocopies of the textbooks at a higher price.
Having textbooks available online is likely going to break the hoarding of textbooks by the printing and distribution businesses. Increasingly, Pakistani households are connected to the Internet which makes it plausible to access textbooks online. Further, students without Internet access can possibly obtain soft copies of the textbooks from other students.
Pakistani’s abroad
Pakistani parents living abroad often wonder how to teach their children about Urdu and the history of their country and subcontinent. While some parents make an effort in obtaining the relevant subject texts from Pakistan, it is not possible for every parent living abroad. Having textbooks available online, especially the social sciences and Urdu textbooks, will allow Pakistani parents living abroad to teach their children Urdu script, language, and the history of their country and subcontinent.
Bridging Differences
Part of the reason for the existing misconceptions between India and Pakistan lie in the historical narrative imparted in the social sciences and history textbooks. The textbooks often present a negative caricature of the other country and its leaders. If the history textbooks of both countries are made available online, the students in both countries can easily compare the assertions being taught to them in their class to what is taught in the same class in other country. As a matter of fact, in India, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which may be considered an equivalent of a text book board, has freely made available the textbooks for each subject from class I-XII online. Pakistani textbook boards should follow in the footsteps of their Indian counterparts, and make the textbooks for class I-XII freely available online, as well.
Conclusion
Making textbooks available will allow independent experts to review the content and presentation of textbooks and help improve the quality of these textbooks. Moreover, it will help address the textbook distribution problems that happen at the start of every school year. Such an initiative is a step towards providing free education to every Pakistani citizen. Lastly, with Indian class textbooks already available online, making Pakistani textbooks available online will allow Indian and Pakistani students to compare and contrast the historical narrative. This may lead towards a quest for finding a truthful and balanced historical narrative, clarification of misconceptions, and a better understanding of each other’s viewpoint.
I would go ever a step further and suggest that the proposed next version of the textbooks should be editable in a Wikipedia-like format (with sufficient moderation). This would provide several advantages. You still retain the transparency, and the efficiencies of online distribution (digital distribution). However, you can also benefit fro crowd-sourcing the text from concerned individuals.
From this post, I gather that the justification for the online availability of text books in PK is based on three simple facts; 1)Substandard curriculum, 2)dishonesty of contents, and 3)dishonesty of supply side business people. Clearly, this is an accountability issue.
Availability of texts for teaching Urdu/history to children of expatriate Pakistanis is only peripheral as the information is available online and there are a number of desi businesses who import these books from Pakistan and even special order them. I know this because we have used their services…
In the US, a large number of faculty members (including myself)use electronic means to supplement the lectures however printed text books have been the backbone of education (and will perhaps remain.)
Furthermore, the online text will put additional strain on the parents… From my personal experience, online access for kids has been more of a distraction. I however fully support the argument that the texts be available to public in general and specifically for quality control
The text books for math and Physics in Pakistan were designed by people like Dr. Abdus Salam, they have been corrupted a bit but they pack enough information for someone to become proficient in Math and Physics at that level. Based on my experience with US students, Pakistani students at that level have been exposed to more relevant subject matter. The real problem is the teachers of these books and first chapters that tries to prove that only “Islamic Brains” were made by Allah and therefore superior to brains with “Devil Inside”.