New Delhi: Same-sex parents make for great sitcoms but when tackled in textbooks for schools in Pakistan, they become a problem. The country’s government plans to ask Cambridge University Press to remove a “highly objectionable” chapter on “same-sex family” from the O-level sociology textbooks.
The Cambridge O-Level is an internationally recognised qualification for 14-16-year-olds. It is equivalent to the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCS) and the UK GCSE. Taken over a course of two years, it is required for entry into elite secondary schools in Pakistan.
It became a topic of discussion after two senators. Mohsin Aziz and Faisal Saleem Rehman raised concerns about it this week in the Senate House.
In its syllabus for 2023-2024, Cambridge includes same-sex households in a chapter titled ‘Family’. But homosexuality is illegal in Pakistan. Section 377 of Pakistan’s penal code, which dates to the colonial era, was amended in 2018 to make same-sex marriage a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The senators pointed out that the content was contrary to Islamic and cultural teachings and values of Pakistani society, Geo News reported.
Aziz and Rehman filed a calling attention notice, prompting Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain to notify the Senate that a letter is now being drafted to Cambridge.
The senators said that the material ran counter to Islamic and cultural norms in Pakistan. Aziz claimed that in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the topic of same-sex families was taboo and should not be raised at all. He also questioned the quality of instruction given to students who were only 14–16 years old. Among his objections was the use of the term gay and lesbian.
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A new moral curriculum
“Immoral syllabus was not acceptable at all costs as it was against our social, cultural and religious norms”, Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Rana Tanveer.
Pakistan’s education minister agreed with the notice’s original proponents that the material in question had nothing to do with Pakistani culture or values. He added that the government would ask Cambridge to remove the said chapter or the book would be banned in Pakistan.
Rana Tanveer Hussain used the opportunity to praise a new curriculum that had been formed by his government, and had the approval of all senators. He also added that even countries like Hong Kong now prefer Pakistan’s exam system after reforms over the Cambridge book.
A few citizens took to Twitter to condemn the government’s stand.
Muneeb Qadir, a lawyer in Pakistan pointed out that Pakistan is “perhaps the only country left where we care about ‘sharam‘ and ‘hayaa‘”
“Our commitment to this cause is so unparalleled that 2 years ago a Punjab Textbook Board official proposed superimposing a dupatta/scarf on Sir Isaac Newton’s head to prevent people from getting turned on by his gorgeous Zulfein/tresses,” he tweeted.
Speaking to ThePrint over phone, Human rights activist and founder of Forum for Dignity Initiatives, Uzma Yaqoob said, “Pakistan is being unfair to its young people who have all the right to be educated on diversity and to create sustainable societies. Pakistan is already a few steps backwards on the quality of education by introducing a single national curriculum, which is a mockery to modern science education.”
She added that Pakistan’s Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 is also under by the parliament’s attack, which considers it to be an entry point to promote homosexuality in the country.