LAHORE: The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) has urged the Punjab government to introduce a comprehensive ‘curriculum for compassion’ to make Muslim and non-Muslim students competitive in accessing equal opportunity to progress.

At the launching of a media briefing note drawn from a quick review and analysis of some selected research studies on the state of school textbooks by various research institutes, SDPI’s quick review and analysis report says that education for peace and interfaith harmony encourages and promotes religious pluralism in educational institutions, as well as in society.

The reviewed research reports on textbooks conclude that some textbooks contain ‘biased’ and ‘hate’ material that is against the spirit of Article 22 of the Constitution of Pakistan; and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that calls for preparing children for a responsible life in a free society without discrimination and religious prejudices. “These reports call for a comprehensive reforms process to delete hate and discriminatory material in line with the National Action Plan 2015 (NAP), as a matter of policy,” reads a press release issued by the SDPI.