I have written this book in an effort to explore how the history of Pakistan has resulted in the critical problems weighing down its education system. The book examines the questions: Why and how has a small elite class come to rule Pakistan? And how has their rule worsened the country’s problems? The focus will be to critically examine the elements of the Pakistani national curriculum and madrasas and their effects on Pakistani society. The book represents the fusion of my experiences in Pakistan with extensive literature analysis, interviews, and textbook analysis. This research began when I came to the United States in January 2015 through the SAR program. I wanted to know the answers to profoundly unsettling questions. How can a society be so intolerant that a scholar educated solely in Pakistan is disregarded and assassinated while many Western-educated scholars with traditional insular thoughts are not only appreciated but flourishing? I wanted to know why Pakistani elites have so much power and freedom while lower classes are profoundly oppressed. Elites who barely pay taxes have been in power for generations while those that pay taxes suffer from sky-high inflation. The influential religious leaders mostly belong to the elite class while their followers are mostly lower class. Ruling families and social classes mostly control appointed positions. Do those in power not have a responsibility to speak on issues of social justice rather than limiting themselves in claiming that theirs is the only true form of Islam? Why don’t they work to end the disparity of quality education between classes in Pakistan? Instead, many elites run their own lucrative elite Islamic schools. More importantly, why do the ulama (which literally means “those who possess knowledge [ilm], particularly of Islam”) maintain a tight hierarchical system in the madrasa (Islamic seminary) community that rarely allows poor intelligent students to attain leadership positions? Why are the ulama silent in the face of ruthless murder of and discrimination against Pakistani minorities? Book Review: "Pakistan Educational Reforms is a major study of education in Pakistan and its national and madrasa curriculum that fosters national and religious sectarian divisions, intolerance and conflicts. Dr. Amna Afreen documents the political, socio-economic and religious causes-limited government funding, widespread poverty and illiteracy and the poor training and performance of teachers- that have produced a failed educational system at urban and rural government and religious schools (madrasa) and offers a series of potential solutions and reforms." -- John L. Esposito, University Professor and Founding Director of The Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University.

Washington seems to be in a season of worrying--some might say "obsessing"--About the education system in Pakistan. The 9/11 Commission, whose final report has become a fixture on the bestseller lists, has highlighted the links between international terrorism and Pakistan's religious seminaries, or "madaris", and recommended that the United States support Pakistani efforts to improve the quality of the education it offers its young. The The American government, with the U.S. Agency for International Development as the lead agency, plans to spend tens of millions of dollars this year alone on primary education and literacy programs in Pakistan. The international donor community has been active on this front for decades, but has significantly expanded its activities in recent years. But most of all, Pakistanis themselves have raised the alarm and encouraged this newfound interest in their schools. This volume explores an issue that Pakistanis themselves have identified as vital to their national well-being. Essays include: (1) Educating the Pakistani Masses (Shahid Javed Burki); (2) Education, Employment and Economic Development in Pakistan (Ishrat Husain); (3) Challenges in the Education Sector in Pakistan (Salman Shah); (4) Reform in Higher Education in Pakistan (Grace Clark); (5) Against the Tide: Role of The Citizens Foundation in Pakistani Education (Ahsan Saleem); (6) Reasons for Rage: Reflections on the Education System of Pakistan with Special Reference to English (Tariq Rahman); (7) Education Sector Reforms in Pakistan: Demand Generation as an Alternative Recipe (Jonathan Mitchell, Salman Humayun, and Irfan Muzaffar); (8) Report for Congress on Education Reform in Pakistan; (9) Education in Pakistan and the World Bank's Program (Michelle Riboud); (10) The Punjab Education Sector Reform Program 2003-2006; (11) Pakistan's Recent Experience in Reforming Islamic Education (Christopher Candland); and (12) Pakistan: Reforming the Education Sector. An introduction by Robert M. Hathaway is included. Individual papers contain tables, charts, notes and references.

This open access book is a comparative analysis of recent large scale education reforms that broadened curriculum goals to better prepare students for the 21st century. The book examines what governments actually do when they broaden curriculum goals, with attention to the details of implementation. To this end, the book examines system level reforms in six countries at various levels of development. The study includes system level reforms in jurisdictions where students achieve high levels in international assessments of basic literacies, such as Singapore and Ontario, Canada, as well as in nations where students achieve much lower levels, such as Kenya, Mexico, Punjab-Pakistan and Zimbabwe. The chapters examine system-level reforms that focus on strengthening the capacity to teach the basics, as in Ontario and Pakistan, as well as reforms that aim at building the capacity to teach a much broader set of competencies and skills, such as Kenya, Mexico, Singapore and Zimbabwe. The volume includes systems at very different levels of spending per student and reforms at various points in the cycle of policy implementation, some just starting, some struggling to survive a governmental transition, and others that have been in place for an extended period of time. From the comparative study of these reforms, we aim to provide an understanding of how to build the capacity of education systems to teach 21st century skills at scale in diverse settings.

The need to reform secondary-level education to prepare young people for new economic realities has emerged. In an age of constant career changing, cognitive flexibility is a top-priority skill to develop in today’s students. This shift requires methodological innovation that enhances children’s natural abilities as well as updated, focused teacher education in order to prepare them adequately. Educational Reform and International Baccalaureate in the Asia-Pacific is a collection of innovative research that examines the development and implementation of IB curricula. Highlighting a wide range of topics including critical thinking, student evaluation, and teacher training, this book is ideally designed for educators, curriculum developers, instructional designers, administrative officials, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.

This book reviews the state of education in Myanmar over the past decade and a half as the country is undergoing profound albeit incomplete transformation. Set within the context of Myanmar’s peace process and the wider reforms since 2012, Marie Lall’s analysis of education policy and practice serves as a case study on how the reform programme has evolved. Drawing on over 15 years of field research carried out across Myanmar, the book offers a cohesive inquiry into government and non-government education sectors, the reform process, and how the transition has played out across schools, universities and wider society. It casts scrutiny on changes in basic education, the alternative monastic education, higher education and teacher education, and engages with issues of ethnic education and the debate on the role of language and the local curriculum as part of the peace process. In so doing, it gives voice to those most affected by the changing landscape of Myanmar’s education and wider reform process: the students and parents of all ethnic backgrounds, teachers, teacher trainees and university staff that are rarely heard.

This book presents empirical research on teaching, learning and assessment, and teacher development practices in Pakistan. Despite extensive academic research conducted in Pakistan over the last decade, there is a dearth of internationally published literature on English language teaching in the country. This book covers current research priorities and initiatives concerning English language teaching, learning and assessment, empirical developments, and major professional development initiatives, both in Pakistan and involving the work of Pakistani scholars based in abroad. It highlights the impacts that development efforts are having in the ELT world in Pakistan. The respective chapters cover a diverse range of topics, including: continuous professional development (CPD), identity construction, English language policy, curriculum development, and innovative ELT approaches and methodologies used in Pakistan. This volume provides valuable insights for TESOL and applied linguistics scholars and practitioners working in the field of ELT, both in Pakistan and elsewhere in the globalized world.

This Open Access volume by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) is an outcome of the ICMI Study 24 and gives a status-quo of school mathematics reform around the world and what we can learn from this movement. Each theme and section of the book offers descriptions and analyses of multiple case studies in different countries and contexts, along with opportunities to compare, contrast and learn from these diverse experiences. The volume provides a synthesis and meta-analysis of the different historical, geographical and global aspects of school mathematics reforms and explores in which way curricula are elaborated, proposed, changed, and reorganized. It offers a more informed and comprehensive analysis of the roles of different actors and of the many aspects influencing and shaping mathematics curriculum reforms that are taking or have taken place. It also explores the possibilities and means to tackle a curricular reform in the current scenario we live in and how to unfold future developments. This book will be of interest to practitioners and scholars with an interest in school mathematics curriculum reforms. It will also be a useful resource to those involved in school mathematics curriculum reform initiatives by providing current information about the curriculum changes that are taking place in respect of content, teacher education, educational materials, and a range of implementation challenges across diverse contexts.

This edited volume brings together historians of education and comparative education researchers to study the educational reconstruction projects that Americans have launched in post-conflict settings across the globe.

The India-Pakistan rivalry is one of the five percent of international conflicts that has been labeled as intractable. Cohen draws on his varied experiences in South Asia as he develops a comprehensive theory of why the dispute is intractable and suggests ways in which it may be ameliorated.