This book looks at Musharraf’s Education Reforms in Pakistan and analyses the relationship between education policy, curriculum, Pakistani identity and citizenship. It explores changes in the curriculum and how a reformed curriculum has shaped Pakistani identity according to the exigencies of time. The book underscores the significant role that Musharraf’s reforms to revamp the curricula at formal educational institutions, from primary to higher education levels, as well as in the Madrassas, to make the curricula compatible with global education trends. The government aimed to replace all outdated content that promoted hatred, extremism and the status quo, with new themes informed by tolerance, interfaith harmony, human rights, environmental preservation, loyalty, the moderate vision of Islam, and skills orientation. The purpose of these themes in the curricula was to make education market-oriented and to construct a Pakistani identity in the context of Neo-Liberal Citizenship. The book provides an in-depth look into the transformation of education curriculum in Pakistan focusing on the exploration of the intersections between education, politics, and citizenship in Pakistani society. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the impact of education policies on citizenship and political processes in Pakistan. Its insightful analysis and thorough research make it an excellent resource for students, scholars, and teachers working in the fields of anthropology, citizenship studies, education, Islamic studies, gender studies, Pakistan studies, political science, political sociology, public policy and South Asian studies."

This multidisciplinary volume highlights the transformed nature of the relationship between higher education and society in the 21st century. In particular, it argues that the development of the global university, especially in the non-western world, has transformed the traditional understanding of the relationship between higher education and society. This has important implications for the relations of state, as education has not only become an object of national development policy but for many states an important export. The history of the university reflects the decisive social transformations which have given definition and identity to both new nations and modern societies. In the post-war period, universities in the industrialized world underwent a radical shift. The mass expansion of higher education ensured that universities were no longer centers designed to train youth to assume the leadership positions held by previous generations. Instead universities were to become centers where job skills could be imparted and knowledge produced, refined and used in the newly emerging Cold War economies, and where students could develop the skills necessary for employment in a changing world. Rather than focusing on the refinement of future leaders, the task of the university became linked to the development of economically exploitable technical knowledge. A shift of comparable magnitude is now ongoing in the nature of higher education itself. Globalization has led to the growth of knowledge communities around the world, mirroring the rise of centers for global finance in previous decades. In the Middle East and Asia the demands of the knowledge-based economy have led to the opening of new indigenous universities and branch campuses and partnerships with established European and North American universities. Education City in Qatar, for instance, has received or been pledged more than 200 billion dollars since its inception. The growth of new indigenous universities has altered the traditional role of the university further, increasing the emphasis on courses which are close to the marketplace. These new partnerships have contributed to the creation of what is now referred to as the global university.

"This book looks at educational reforms in Pakistan during Parvez Musharraf's tenure as President (1999 - 2008) and analyses the relationship between education policy and curriculum and Pakistani identity and citizenship. It explores changes in the curriculum and how they have shaped Pakistani identity in recent decades. The book underscores the significant role that Musharraf's reforms played in mainstreaming madrassas by abolishing hateful and controversial content and introducing modern subjects to promote the country's development. The book provides an in-depth look into the transformation of education curriculum in Pakistan focussing on the exploration of the intersections between education, politics, and citizenship in Pakistani society. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the impact of education policies on citizenship and political processes in Pakistan. Its insightful analysis and thorough research make it an excellent resource for students, scholars, and teachers working in the fields of citizenship studies, education, gender studies, Pakistan studies, political science, political sociology, public policy and South Asian studies"--

This volume bridges the gap between contemporary theoretical debates and educational policies and practices. It applies postcolonial theory as a framework of analysis that attempts to engage with and go beyond essentialism, ethno- and euro-centrisms through a critical examination of contemporary case studies and conceptual issues. From a transdisciplinary and post-colonial perspective, this book offers critiques of notions of development, progress, humanism, culture, representation, identity, and education. It also examines the implications of these critiques in terms of pedagogical approaches, social relations and possible future interventions.

This handbook is an important reference work in understanding education systems in the South Asia region, their development trajectory, challenges and potential. The handbook includes the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries for discussion---Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka---while also considering countries such as Myanmar and the Maldives that have considerable shared history in the region. Such a comparative perspective is largely absent within the literature given the present paucity of intra-regional interaction. South Asian education systems are viewed primarily through a development lens in terms of inequalities, challenges and responses. However, the development of modern institutions of education and the challenges that it faces requires cultural and historical understanding of indigenous traditions as well as indigenous modern thinkers and education movements. Therefore, this encompassing referenc e work covers indigenous education traditions, formal education systems, including school and preschool education, higher and professional education, education financing systems and structures, teacher education systems, addressing huge linguistic and other diversities, and marginalization within the formal education system, and pedagogy and curricula. All the countries in this region have their own unique geographical, cultural, economic and political character and histories of interest and significance, and have responded to common issues such as overcoming the colonial legacy, language diversity, or girls’ education, or minority rights in education, in uniquely different ways. The sections therefore include country-specific perspectives as far as possible to highlight these issues. Internationally renowned specialists of South Asian education systems have contributed to this important reference work, making it an invaluable resource for researchers and students of education interested in South Asia.

This book offers a fresh and comparative approach in questioning what education is being used for and what the effects of the politicisation of education are on Asian societies in the era of globalisation. Education has been used as a political tool throughout the ages and across the whole world to define national identity and underlie the political rationale of regimes. In the contemporary, globalising world there are particularly interesting examples of this throughout Asia, ranging from the new definition of Indian national identity as a Hindu identity (to contrast with Pakistan's Islamic identity), to particular versions of nationalism in China, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam. In Asia education systems have their origins in processes of state formation aimed either at bolstering 'self-strengthening' resistance to the encroachments of Western and/or Asian imperialism, or at furthering projects of post-colonial nation-building. State elites have sought to popularise powerful visions of nationhood, to equip these visions with a historical 'back-story', and to endow them with the maximum sentimental charge. This book explores all of these developments, emphasising that education is seen by nations across Asia, as elsewhere, as more than simply a tool for economic development, and that issues of national identity and the tolerance - or lack of it - of ethnic, cultural or religious diversity can be at least as important as issues of literacy and access. Interdisciplinary and unique in its analysis, this book will be of interest to scholars of political science, research in education and Asian Studies.

Learning and Teaching Around the World is a wide-ranging introduction to diverse experiences, practices and developments in global primary education. It explores different contexts for children’s learning, and methods and purposes of primary education, in settings across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australasia, and addresses wider issues such as the rise of refugee learners and large multi-grade classes. With an explicit focus on comparative and international studies and improving the knowledge, understanding and practice of effective pedagogies for children’s learning, this book reflects on key issues such as: Standards for learner-centred education Patterns of inclusion and exclusion Defining ‘teacher professionalism’ The impact of global education agendas Language policy for schooling and assessment Learning and Teaching Around the World is an essential text for those wishing to develop a critical understanding of the experiences of primary teachers and children around the world. Aimed at both undergraduate and postgraduate education studies students, the scope of this book will support all students in developing knowledge of primary education and of the diverse needs of learners in an era of global movement of children and families.