In a bizarre incident, a reviewer of Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) asked a publisher of a Science textbook to edit scientist Isaac Newton's picture in the book, whom he mistook for a 'lady', and put a scarf on his head.
In her The News column today, researcher Ayesha Razaqque made this unusual revelation.
"Some time back, a publisher submitted a science textbook to the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) for review and approval for use in schools. On one of the pages was a picture of Sir Isaac Newton next to a tree, depicting the scientific legend of the moment an apple fell from the tree that would inspire him to discover the law of gravitation. In that picture Newton was shown wearing a long garment and maybe long hair or a wig, as was fashionable for that era. One of the comments from the PCTB’s review of this book was that the ‘lady’ in the picture be edited to add a scarf on her head, so as to observe proper purdah. True story!," she wrote.
The article has generated a debate on social media about the level of moral policing and censorship those at the helm of affairs in the education sector engage in.
https://twitter.com/AmberRShamsi/status/1381868285835157504?s=20
https://twitter.com/nasirjkhattak/status/1381845675617484801?s=20
In her The News column today, researcher Ayesha Razaqque made this unusual revelation.
"Some time back, a publisher submitted a science textbook to the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) for review and approval for use in schools. On one of the pages was a picture of Sir Isaac Newton next to a tree, depicting the scientific legend of the moment an apple fell from the tree that would inspire him to discover the law of gravitation. In that picture Newton was shown wearing a long garment and maybe long hair or a wig, as was fashionable for that era. One of the comments from the PCTB’s review of this book was that the ‘lady’ in the picture be edited to add a scarf on her head, so as to observe proper purdah. True story!," she wrote.
The article has generated a debate on social media about the level of moral policing and censorship those at the helm of affairs in the education sector engage in.
https://twitter.com/AmberRShamsi/status/1381868285835157504?s=20
https://twitter.com/nasirjkhattak/status/1381845675617484801?s=20