Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to address biased or hate material in textbooks and curricula as part of her Department's sponsored education support programmes in (a) Punjab, (b) Sindh and (c) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan.

DFID has supported the provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in Pakistan to revise specific textbooks including replacing any content that promotes prejudice and discrimination against religious or other minorities. In KP the subjects covered are English, mathematics, general knowledge and science. In Punjab, the focus is on English, Urdu, science and mathematics. DFID technical assistance to both provincial governments is also increasing the capability of the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board and the KP Textbook Board to carry out this work. In Sindh, DFID only supports education through non-state sector schools run by BRAC, The Citizen’s Foundation and Family Educational Services Foundation. An internal DFID review of texts books used in these schools in 2017 did not identify concerns.