National Art Education Association

The Changing Function of Art Education in Pakistan

Author(s): Alan Peshkin
Source: Studies in Art Education, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring, 1964), pp. 12-20
Published by: National Art Education Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1319749
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THECHANGINGFUNCTIONOF
ARTEDUCATIONIN PAKISTAN

Alan Peshkin /University of Wisconsin, Madison

Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the changes
which have taken place in art educationat the elementaryand secondary
level in Pakistan during the brief span of years since winning its inde-
pendencefrom Englandin 1947.
The school system in Pakistan, during most of the period since 1947,
was generally a ten-year programwith a curriculumwhich varied some-
what from region to region and which served a small percentageof the
population. (Literacy in this nation of 90 million is estimatedbetween 15
and 20 per cent.) The five years of primary school and five years of
secondary school created a unit which essentially prepared students for
entrance to higher education. The content of education in Pakistan, as
well as its form, was a legacy of its colonial period: hence the schools
had been criticizedby educatorsand governmentofficersbecause they were
of anotherera and because they were not fashionedin light of the needs
of the newly independentnation. In addition, the schools were criticized
for their narrowpurpose: they were overly literary and academicin char-
acter, neglecting the technical and scientific subjects; they ignored the
individual differences of the learners; and they provided an education
primarilysuited to the work of clerical assistants.
Widespreaddiscontent with the schools is evident in the numerous
reportsof educationalreformand reconstructiongroups publishedthrough-
out the period since 1947.1 Underlying the proposals made by these
government-authorized reform groups is the notion that schools must serve
national ends by preparing individuals with the knowledge, skills, and
attitudesrequisitefor political unity and economicgrowth.Art education's
role in this effort is establishedin the 1957 Karachi syllabus for art and
particularlyin the 1960 national syllabi, the product of a then recently
establishedreform government.
Changesin art educationcan be discernedmost clearly by examining
the curriculumfor the period between 1947 and 1960 and for the post-
1960 period. I use 1960 as a turning point because of the significantedu-
cational events (to be describedbelow) which occurredin that year. The
as yet undeterminedconsequencesof these events preclude labelling these
periods "traditional"and "modern,"although it is tempting to do so.
Pakistan is primarily a Muslim nation with a large Hindu minority

12 STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION

 13

residing in the eastern wing of this geographically divided nation. She has
inherited a rich artistic tradition from her Islamic forebears who ruled
India for many centuries prior to the arrival of the British in the early
17th century. This tradition is particularly rich in architecture and
calligraphy, although quality design is observed in varied craft products.
Paintings from the Mughul era, which lasted approximately from the 16th
to the 18th century, look highly stylistic and unimaginative to the 20th
century viewer.
In both pre- and post-independence Pakistan, art as a subject in the
elementary and secondary schools is largely a western import, but this is to
be expected, considering the importance of the British in shaping the
schools of the subcontinent. In addition to the influence of the west, art
education has been affected by the availability of materials and also by a
growing desire among educators and political leaders for education to
reflect indigenous traditions and contribute to practical ends. While retain-
ing its western flavor and a particularly intellectual character in the
upper grades, nine and ten, art education in the post-independence period
exhibited the effect of varying if not contradicting intentions. This will be
demonstrated as we examine the curricula of art education.

Art Education in Pre-1960 Pakistan

Holding 1960 as an apparent turning point in elementary and secondary
education in Pakistan, I will first discuss the course of studies in art
education prior to that date. It should come as no surprise to the art
educator to learn that in terms of the number of hours devoted to art and
of the importance attached to its study, art is clearly a second-class citizen
among educational subjects. The study of some content termed "art"
appears in every class from one to ten, generally as a compulsory subject
in classes one to eight and one of a number of optional subjects in classes
nine and ten. The subjects studied in classes nine and ten have special
importance because they form the basis of the matriculation or final
examination given at the termination of the high school period. Success on
this examination provides entry to higher education and the best job oppor-
tunities; failure condemns the student to relatively less attractive work
and to restricted further educational choices. In East Pakistan as of 1957,
two of approximately 39 periods in a six-day week were set aside for art
education. At the same time in Karachi, West Pakistan, two 45-minute
periods were devoted to art and three 45-minute periods were devoted to
practical art.
By and large, art education as found in Karachi and in East Pakistan
represents the range of differences in the content of this subject in Pakistan
prior to 1960. Karachi was the capital city of Pakistan, located in the
western wing of the nation, and had its own director of education and its
own syllabi. There were other syllabi and other directors of education in
the different areas of West Pakistan. In contrast, East Pakistan was a
politically unified province since 1947 and operated under a single educa-
THE CHANGING FUNCTION OF ART EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN
14
tional administration and a single course of studies. The syllabi in
Karachi and in East Pakistan are compared for the year 1957 because of
the availability of parallel data, although there is sufficient evidence to
document the fact that only minor if any changes had been made since
1947 or even earlier. For example, the 1957 syllabus3 for education in
East Pakistan includes verbatim the 1939 letter of the director of public
instruction regarding the time to be spent on art in grades three to ten,
indicating that its provisions were still in effect 18 years later.
The 1957 syllabus for schools in East Pakistan in describing the
content of art education provides directions for prospective textbook writers
and for the classroom practices of both teachers and students. Art, or
drawing as it was called, was to consist in classes five and six of (a)
drawing of objects-simple objects "based on the square, cone, cube, and
triangular prism;" (b) nature study-sprays of leaves and flowers, animals,
and insects; (c) fruits; (d) memory drawing-simple objects which should
be exhibited and then removed before students begin to draw; (e) copy
-simple patterns, easy designs for borders, etc.; and (f) mass and
color-"light shading in pencil and in water color of objects and nature
study drawing included in the course." The work for classes seven and
eight is similar, except that work with fruits and copy is replaced by
design-"easy design for book cover, almanac, plate, etc." and geometrical
drawing.5
At the matriculation level-classes nine and ten-where art is an
elective subject, the syllabus for two years has a practical and a theoretical
section designated as such. The practical part, worth 40 marks of a total
800 for all subjects on the matriculation examination, consisted of black-
board drawing, free-hand drawing, drawing from memory, foliage, lettering,
and simple still life. Worth 60 marks, the theoretical part included appre-
ciation of sculpture-"Analysis of typical examples of Asiatic and European
Sculpture based on the study of a limited number of standard works of
Sculptural Art with special emphasis on Asiatic Sculpture," and of
architecture and painting-"Saracenic, Moghul, and Indian. Painting-
Elements of Pictorial forms. Principle of Composition and Design. General
Principles of Color. Analysis of typical examples of Asiatic and European
Painting . . . with special emphasis of Indian painting. Introduction of
Art in Industry."6 This latter reference to the study of art in industry is
the only trace of practical emphasis (as defined in my terms) noted,
although concern for the practical is manifest in the 1952 East Pakistan
educational reform committee's suggestion that weaving and spinning should
be introduced in art at class four and that in classes six to eight art should
be converted to "art and handicraft," wherein a student would select one
subject from a list including drawing and painting, needlework, wood-
work, metalwork, etc.7 A similar reform group recommended in 1957 that
at the primary stage the subject of arts and crafts should be "entirely
practical."8
Unlike the syllabus for East Pakistan, the one for the city of Karachi
STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION
 15
in West Pakistancontainsa statementof purpose,an uncommonpracticein
this countrywheresubject contentand examinationsare usually determined
from ends which remain, at best, implicit. The Karachi syllabus asserts
that "the aim of teaching Art at this stage [classes six to eight] is to
cultivate the aesthetic sense of the pupils and to develop their creative
abilities throughself-expression.Practical Arts will provide a medium for
the applicationof Art and will give the pupils a general training in using
their hands with skill and will thus prepare the groundfor future crafts-
manship."9An explanatory statement follows to the effect that student
artistic ability should be applied to "practicalobjects" and that "in the
final stages Art may wholly merge into Practical Arts."10We see in the
above a clear blending of the aesthetic and the practical end, with the
practicaltending to dominate-a precursorof things to come in art educa-
tion in the 1960 reforms.
In class six, student activities are listed under two headings, art and
practical arts. Under art is prescribed free expression, colored sawdust
work, and clay modelling-all three using everyday objects and articles
from nature study such as leaves and flowers as models. Practical art
includes stencil cutting, potato carving,and cardboardwork, with domestic
arts such as needlecraft,sewing, and knitting added for girls.
In class seven under arts is found drawing and painting, clay model-
ling, and marble paper making. Under practical arts is book binding,
clay pottery, paper machine (sic) work, artistic leather work, fretwork,
and domestic arts for girls.
Interestingly,at class eight art and practical arts are no longer listed
separately.Under the combinedheading of "Art and Practical Arts" we
find drawingand painting,posters,cartoons,stencils, book binding, artistic
leatherwork,workshoppractice ("use of commontools in preparingsimple
articles of everyday use" in wood and metal), and domestic arts for
girls." From all appearances, the directive that art merge into the
practicalarts in the final stages of educationhas affectedthe heading under
which activities were subsumed,but not the activities themselves.
Art in the matriculationclasses is an elective subject in Karachi as
in the rest of Pakistan. Interestedstudents were given a choice of either
free-armdrawing or painting. Free-arm drawing required student work
(a) "in pencil pastel and water color from objects of daily use based on
rectangular,cylindrical,conical, and spherical and elliptical forms . . .;"
(b) in perspectivedrawing; and (c) in object drawing,in which students
were to draw groups of objects "showingperspectiveand light and shade,
in pencil or color media."l2
The syllabus for painting is divided into a practical and theoretical
section. The theoreticalexpectationsare clearly intellectual in character,
emphasizinga knowledge of technical points such as ostwald standard,
octol with neutrals,definitionsof art symbols, and the like, although even
in this section the influenceof the practicalis apparentwhere the syllabus
notes that studentsshould learn the practicaluse of art in everydaylife.
THE CHANGING FUNCTION OF ART EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN
16
In the practical section we see not so much the influence of the
educator's desire to improve the technical and handicraft skill and knowl-
edge of their students as to instill what may be called a nationalistic
disposition, which adds a more indigenous flavor to painting. For example,
students were asked to paint in water color and pastel "portrait sketches
of famous poets, singers, and artists;" "to prepare paintings and posters
. . . on national ideas, illustrations connected with stories, famous
poems, and songs;" and to do "lettering and illumination writing in Urdu,
English, and other Pakistani languages."13 The matriculation examinations
developed from the courses of study just described clearly reflect the
theoretical character of the content, but not the nationalistic dimensions to
any appreciable extent.
Art education in the pre-reform 1960 period in Pakistan varied from
place to place in the country in keeping with the relatively decentralized
control of education. The traditional art programs, because of their formal,
intellectual character, appear similar to those of an earlier period in the
United States. Furthermore, in their provision to use a wide variety of
materials for relatively brief time spans, they are inclined to promote
breadth as opposed to depth skills; they stress the inculcation of student
creativity and free expression,14 essentially in writing only; and they mani-
fest a tendency to incorporate activities which relate to the traditions and
needs of the nation. The latter tendency is particularly strong in the
Karachi syllabus, while the syllabus of East Pakistan is more representative
of art education in the earlier pre-independence Indian subcontinent.

Art Education in Post-1960 Pakistan

After a number of years of painful and persistent political confusion,
General Ayub Khan in 1958 accomplished a coup d'etat which placed the
country under military rulers and martial law. General Khan, currently
President of Pakistan, at least temporarily halted the more glaring
national crimes-corruption, graft, black marketing, profiteering-and
created a feeling of optimism and well-being throughout the land. Among
his many ameliorative measures, he appointed a commission to study the
entire educational system and make proposals for reform. The outcome
of this commission's labors was an excellent analysis15 of the traditional
educational system which led in 1960 to the establishment of committees
of educators to frame a course of studies for the entire nation based on
this analysis and the commission's recommendations. Pressed for time
and at work on an unprecedented task, the committees produced the first
national syllabus for Pakistan, classes one to twelve, for all subjects except
a few exotic electives. Both the elementary16 and the secondaryl7 education
syllabi are open in their intention to fashion the content of education in
order to achieve goals which particularly contribute to national well-being.
To illustrate, note these ends among the general ends of primary education:
"to equip a child . . . with the basic knowledge and skills he will require

STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION

 17
as ... a citizen,""to awaken in a child a sense of citizenship and civic
responsibility."'8Note these as the general ends of secondaryeducation:
"(a) Productionof trained manpower,educated citizenry, and competent
leadership for the country. (b) Training of students to lead productive
public lives .... (c) Maintenanceof freedom, integrity, and strength
of Pakistan. (d) Preservationof the moral and spiritualvalues of Islam."19
The question of the extent to which these new goals can be realized by
"old" teachers is indeed meaningful,but it is not appropriatefor discus-
sion at this time.
At the primarylevel the particularobjectives for art educationpoint-
edly emphasizethe developmentof creativity and self-expression,but the
final two objectives in this list of six state that "a respect for all forms
of useful productivework and manual labor" should be inculcated and
studentsmust understand"how art and craft contributeto everydaylife."20
Again we see the blending of the aesthetic and the practical, as in the
earlier Karachi syllabus, with the differencethat these ends now relate to
the entire nation. Predictably,this blend is reflectedin the actual syllabus
prepared for each class.
The first activity listed in the syllabus for each primaryclass, one to
five, is "expressionalpainting;" and some of the other activities, such as
finger painting and clay modelling, are also supposed to stress free ex-
pression based on the children'sexperience.Other activities include paste
marbling, writing patterns, cutting pictures and pasting in albums, stick
printing, and potato and onion printing. There is no practical activity
listed as such in class one, but in class two and three there is weaving;
at class four there is weaving,basketry,and needle work; and at class five
leatherwork and fretwork have been added to the aforementioned list.21
The truly curious characterof art education at the primary stage is not
apparentin the actual descriptionof the curriculumfor each class, but in
the introductionto the section on art. Table 1 below is taken from this
introduction.
TABLE1.-CONTENTAND NUMBEROF PERIODSPER WEEKDEVOTED
TO ART AND PRACTICALARTS EDUCATIONIN THE PRIMARY
CLASSES'
Content Class 1 2 3 4 5
Numberof periodsper week
Manualwork 1 1 1 1 1
Music 1 1 1 1 1
Arts and crafts 8b 8 5 4 4
Totalnumberof periodsper week 10 10 7 6 6
aTaken from Curriculum for Primary Schools . . . p. 145.
bFifteen minutes of each arts and crafts period is to be devoted to free or directed activities such
as (a) games with blocks, paper, beads; (b) looking after pets; (c) make-believe playing police-
man or bus driver; (d) field trips to museums and zoos; and (e) making wall bulletins and the
like.

THE CHANGING FUNCTION OF ART EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

18

No description is offered of the manual work and the music, although

the inclusion of manual work somewhere in the curriculum is understand-
able in this country where the educated have been criticized for their
repugnance to manual labor of any kind. However, it is inexplicable that
either of these activities is included in the art syllabus unless we note
that art is no longer art but "art and practical arts,"-music is certainly
an art and manual labor is practical. Who suffers but the purist if manual
work does not quite fit in this broadened heading? For the Pakistani
planner it suffices that the educated develop a respect for work which
dirties hands, regardless of whether art remains art or becomes arts and
crafts, art and practical arts plus free and directed activities and manual
work, or whatever.
At the middle stage, classes to eight, art per se no longer exists as
a compulsory subject, having become absorbed in "Practical Arts and Art
and Crafts." It is available, however, as one of 14 elective subjects offered
to students at this stage. Students must select one subject either from the
art and crafts category, such as clay modelling, toy-making, basketry, pot-
tery, fabric printing, leather work, or book binding; or one subject from
the art and practical arts category, such as woodwork, metalwork, applied
electricity, agriculture and gardening, fish culture, or pottery. The single
subject selected from these two categories will engage a student for four
40-minute periods each week, and one of the four periods is to be devoted
to art. The submersion of art is not quite as complete as it appears, for
the craft activities are to be chosen with a view to their potential as "media
of artistic self-expression." In brief, at this stage every student is com-
pelled to select one subject from a list of subjects of which art is a built-
in dimension; in addition, a student has time in his program for one of
14 elective subjects. Art is included among the electives.
The practical strain in art education in Pakistan is satisfied by the
three periods a week arranged for a craft or practical art. The syllabus for
the single day to be spent more or less exclusively on art education in
classes six to eight resembles earlier syllabi except for its greater emphasis
on art appreciation and art history. Following is the course of studies for
class seven (the syllabus for classes six and eight vary only in minor de-
tails): (a) flower painting; (b) still life; (c) design-applied to pottery,
plaster casts, fabrics, etc.; (d) expressional paintings-imaginative pic-
tures, story illustration, events from everyday life; (e) sketches-rapid
sketches of objects around as an exercise in note-taking; (f) art appre-
ciation-works of notable painters to be shown; and (g) story of art-
including Moghul, Persian, Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek works.22 In
general, the syllabus for elective art in classes six to eight, and in classes
nine and ten as well, is like the one described above. However, even in
the upper classes where art is intended to be art and not art and crafts
or practical arts, the influence of the practical is evident in its objectives
which state, among other things, that the student should develop "co-

STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION

 19

ordinationof hand and mind in relation to the constructionand design

of a wide variety of practical articles;" should "attemptto beautify and
adorn his surroundingseven in the least favorable circumstances;"and
should "develop an appreciation of the traditional craft skills of Pak-
istan."23Art, in whatever class at the secondarylevel, places particular
stress on encouragingstudent creativityand free expression.Thus, there
is in the new 1960 syllabus, as in those of an earlier period, a considerable
mixing of aesthetic and practical motives in both art as an elective sub-
ject and in art as merely an aspect of a compulsorycourse in crafts and
practical arts, with the practical dominatingwherever art, in any form,
is a compulsorysubject.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that art educationin some form will persist as a
subject in the schools in Pakistan. But we can see that what was par-
tially true in the past is now true for all of Pakistan: art, along with the
other subjects in the curriculum,has been placed in the service of na-
tion-buildingefforts. At the primarylevel, art is characterizedby an in-
creasing infusion of practicalactivities.At the secondarylevel, art has be-
come a minor element of craft and practical or technical subjects, under
the rationalizationthat in fact the qualities of art can be manifest in such
subjects. Even when "art"is the designationof the subject to be studied,
a practical flavor is added.
Art in Pakistan does not speak with a powerfulvoice. The numberof
artists with professionalambitions,while growing,is still extremelysmall.
Although the governmenthas given official sponsorshipto artistic efforts
in the supportof artists, attendanceat exhibitions,circulationof Pakistani
art work abroad,and, perhapsmost strikingly,in the establishmentof an
attractiveart school in Dacca, East Pakistan, the voice of art for its own
ends is barely audible. Not only are art teachers not universityor college
graduates (this at once precludestheir parity with their colleagues), but
art is merely an elective subject in the powerful matriculationexamina-
tion, and any subject which does not hold a central place on this ex-
aminationis considereda minor subject. Thus, both art and art teachers
are peripheral to the educationalenterprise. Furthermore,given the ex-
press intention of Pakistan to marshal its total national resources in
planned action (five year plans have been in effect since 1950), and given
very limited finances, art educationpursuingits own ends, as opposed to
national ends, appears as a luxury. Consequently,if art is to be a school
subject, and traditionas well as reason dictates that it should be, it will
bow in the direction of the aesthetic and free expression, but truly pay
homage to the practical.
REFERENCES
1. See especiallythe Government of Parkistan.Proceedingsof the Advisory
Board of Education for Pakistan. Karachi: Manager of Publications. The
boardmet eighttimesbetween1948and 1958.

THE CHANGING FUNCTION OF ART EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

20
2. Unless shown otherwise by the context, I use the word "practical"to desig-
nate those activities included in the curriculumwhich reflect the desire to
achieve some economic, political, or other societal end. The Pakistani art
educator uses "practical" to contrast with "theoretical."In this instance,
practical refers to doing or making something,with no visual product, other
than a written exam or a homework assignment, resulting. "Practical," in
my usage, is used at times to describe both the Pakistani theoretical and
practical sections in an art syllabus.
3. Governmentof East Bengal. Syllabuses of Studies for SecondarySchools for
Boys and Girls in East Bengal. Dacca: East Pakistan GovernmentPress,
1957. p. 35.
4. Ibid., pp. 31-32.
5. Ibid., p. 32.
6. This informationappears on a single page distributed by the East Bengal
SecondaryEducation Board, Dacca, and was to take effect from 1953. There
is no further publication informationon the page.
7. Governmentof East Bengal. Report of the East Bengal Education System
ReconstructionCommittee.Dacca: East Bengal GovernmentPress, 1952. pp.
42 and 267.
8. Governmentof East Pakistan. Report of the Educational Reforms Commis-
sion East Pakistan, 1957. Dacca: East Pakistan GovernmentPress, 1957.
p. 10.
9. Prospectus Curriculumand Syllabi for Secondary Schools Karachi (Classes
VI-X). Karachi: Board of Secondary Education, 1956. p. 166.
10. Ibid. The advance of Karachi, if "advance"is an appropriateword to use,
over East Pakistan in directing its art education to practical ends may be
explained by the Karachi educator'sproximityto the flow of ideas from the
federal governmentwhich, in essence, expected of the schools an increas-
ing contributionto the attainmentof economic growth.
11. Ibid., pp. 166-168.The syllabus offers no descriptionof "cartoons"and "sten-
cils" and simply indicates that book binding and artistic leather work in
class eight will be more advancedthan in class seven.
12. Ibid., p. 106.
13. Ibid., p. 107.
14. This emphasis on free expression is curious because it conflicts with the
generally authoritariancharacter of the schools. Student reflection, discus-
sion, choice, or creativity were given verbal approval,but were honored by
their absence in classroom practice.
15. See the Governmentof Pakistan, Report of the Commission on National
Education. Karachi: Managerof Publications, 1960.
16. Governmentof Pakistan. Curriculumfor Primary Schools in Pakistan With
Detailed Syllabuses. Karachi: Ministry of Education, 1960.
17. Governmentof Pakistan. Report of the CurriculumCommitteefor Secondary
Education (Classes VI to XII). Rawalpindi: Ministry of Education, 1960.
18. Curriculumfor Primary Schools . . ., p. 1.
19. Report of the CurriculumCommitteefor SecondaryEducation, p. 16.
20. Curriculumfor Primary Schools . . ., p. 144.
21. Ibid., pp. 146-154.
22. Report of the CurriculumCommitteefor Secondary Education, pp. 146-147.
23. Ibid., p. 322.

STUDIES IN ART EDUCATION