Abstract
Students of religious minorities face problems in accessing education.
The element of discrimination as faced by the religious minorities in
the field of education is reported by research. This narrative case study
aims at exploring the school-through-university experiences of four
Christian students (2 male and 2 female) in Pakistan. The purpose of
the study is three-fold: (a) to explore the challenges experienced by the
minority students studying in the mainstream education system in
Pakistan (b) to find out similarities and differences in their experiences
(c) to explore the ways in which these students coped with those
problems. The study revealed that several challenges faced by the
respondents, were due to their religious minority status. These included
issues in social adjustment with their teachers and peer group
especially at the school level; pressure from peer students belonging to
the majority religious group and teachers to follow their ideas; and
instances of discrimination by teachers and classmates. Findings also
indicated that the respondents faced more bias at the school level but
the perceived bias seemed to have receded gradually as they went up
the education ladder through college and university. The respondents’
common resistance strategies against discrimination included keeping
quiet, remaining less active and becoming back-benchers in their
classes. The study suggests need for curricular changes for developing
sensitivity and recognition of minorities’ issues in educational
institutions and for changes in teacher training in the country.
Mashal Naeem Khan, Arshad Ali. (2017) THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING A MINORITY GROUP MEMBER: THE CASE OF FOUR CHRISTIAN STUDENTS IN PAKISTAN, Pakistan , Volume 53, Issue 1.
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