Principal Investigator
Dr. Riaz Ahmad Saeed Co-PI: Mr. Aqeel Ahmad
Assistant prof-DITC(FSS)
Pakistan, being one of the most culturally diverse societies, is host to multiple religions, predominantly co-existing in a peaceful setting. The population of Pakistan has always been overwhelmingly Muslim, due to which the culture, idioms, and manners of most of the country are influenced by Islamic ideology. But, this Muslim majority country has many Non-Muslim notables who have contributed enormously to its well-being and have become a source of pride for the society. Besides, peaceful coexistence and acknowledgements to many minority dignities, education has been one such area where identity crisis for non-Muslims has sometimes been witnessed with the Muslim sensibilities being imposed on the rest of society. The state-supervised political Islamization in the 1980s, which attempted to create a monolithic image of Pakistan as an Islamic State followed by designated curricula aimed to teach the same syllabi to both Muslim and non-Muslim students across the country. In today’s ICT-led information society, there are instances where these minority groups face challenges of co-existence and identity crisis, mainly due to either compulsion of studying Islamic Studies or vaguely-defined syllabus in the name of Ethics or incompetence of the faculty to teach ethics. The result is that citizens belonging to minority groups face challenges of survival in the society. The quantitative part of this mixed methods research attempts to understand the challenges for non-Muslim students in studying Ethics in Pakistani universities through a self-constructed survey instrument. The case study approach will collect qualitative responses from the teachers of Islamic Studies in Islamabad-based three private and three public sector universities to get a clear picture on the issue and recommend the universal curriculum for non-Muslim students at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Pakistan.
Completed Activities
1- Project Intiation
Description: Intiation of project to specificy its scope and objectives.
Ongoing Activites
2. Literature Review and Problem Identification:
Description: Completion of a thorough literature review and identification of specific challenges faced by non-Muslim students studying
ethics in Pakistani HEIs.
Future Activities
3. Curriculum Analysis:
Description: In-depth analysis of existing ethics curriculum in Pakistani HEIs to pinpoint Challanging areas.
4. Stakeholder Interviews and Surveys:
Description: Conducting interviews and surveys with students, faculty, and administrators to gather perspectives on challenges and
potential solutions.
5. Recommendation Development:
Description: Formulating recommendations for curriculum adjustments to enhance inclusivity and address identified challenges.
Completetion Status
20%