School Leaders Confronting Anti-Democratic Education Policy: Policy Enactment and Resistance in Pakistan

• In Event: Navigating law, policy, and power: Schools as arenas for democratic citizenship, social control, and resistance

Proposal

In recent years, there has been a global resurgence of anti-democratic forces, which have taken varied governmental forms ranging from outright dictatorship to authoritarian democracy (Levitsky & Way, 2002). Pakistan, the world’s fifth most populous nation, is undergoing a rapid process of autocratization (V-Dem Institute, 2025). Lührmann and Lindberg (2019) observe that nearly one-third of the world lives under autocratic rule, with 31% of countries now classified as elected authoritarian regimes—a figure that continues to grow, with Pakistan among those moving further toward autocratization. Currently, Pakistan is classified as an electoral autocracy—a system where elections exist but are manipulated, and the media, civil society, and democratic institutions are tightly controlled (Bajpai & Kureshi, 2022).
Education under authoritarian regimes is frequently used as a tool of control, emphasizing patriotism and adherence to state-approved narratives. In recent years, Pakistan has faced deepening political polarization, including attempts to reshape educational curricula to promote specific ideological narratives (Hadi Chaudhary & Panjwani, 2022).
Although a substantial body of research exists on the dynamics between democracy and dictatorship in Pakistan (Ganguly & Fair, 2013; Malik & Tudor, 2024; Raja, 2024; Younus, 2024), there has been limited attention toward the education sector—and, more specifically, there has been limited research examining how authoritarian governance impacts education and what challenges school leaders face in navigating this environment (Bufalino, 2017). This study aims to explore the effects of rising authoritarianism on education in Pakistan and to understand how school leaders are confronting these challenges while implementing state-driven policies.
The research is guided by the following questions:
1. What are the historical and emerging trends of authoritarianism in education in Pakistan, and how are school leaders responding to these dynamics?
2. In what ways does authoritarianism contribute to marginalization and exclusion among students, difficulties in curriculum implementation, and school governance, and what factors explain the limited resistance of the school leaders to these effects?
To frame the study, we draw on two main theories. First, we rely on resistance theory (see Apple, 2012; Giroux, 2003; Sriprakash, 2022), which in this instance means positioning school and district-level leaders in Sindh, Pakistan as (potential) resisters of educational policies and/or ideologies arising from higher levels. To complement and deepen our analysis, we also draw on policy enactment theory. We did so as we recognized, following Ball and colleagues (2011), that there is always at least some interpretative and discretionary space around different policies (and/or combinations of policies) shaped by contextual, sociocultural, and historical factors. Within this space educational actors serve as importantly as important, ethics/politics-laden mediators and translators in their respective contexts.
We use case study research design, aiming to explore a specific unit and to connect empirical data with research questions, ultimately providing insights for drawing conclusions (Yin, 2018). We purposefully selected two districts — Khairpur and Sukkur, in Northern Sindh, Pakistan — to investigate school leaders' contextualized perspectives on rising authoritarianism, existing leadership challenges, autonomy, and support from the federal or national government. We used semi-structured interviews for data collection, choosing to do so given their versatility and flexibility for allowing participants to respond openly to questions (McIntosh & Morse, 2015). The sample included two regional directors (primary and secondary), two District Education Officers (DEOs), and nine secondary/higher secondary school principals. Subsequently data were analyzed thematically to capture patterns in leadership responses to authoritarian education polices.
The findings of this study highlight the complex challenges school leaders in Pakistan encounter due to the increasing authoritarian educational landscape and top-down policy, and over-centralization. These policies often miss the contextual and historical nuances. The rising authoritarianism has also undermined education and the authority of school leaders. It is revealed that state-dominated policies are disseminated to the school level through an authoritarian approach without taking/keeping in account the school leaders’ input. The bureaucratic governance of education, which shows little regard for democratic process in Pakistan (Ganguly & Fair, 2013) has also hindered public participation and empowerment of school leaders. As findings highlighted, school leaders in Pakistan too often merely remain as compliance managers, following the rules without strongly questioning them.
The findings of this study have also highlighted the external political influence in education. This has also created an environment of patronization and injustice. This resonates with research by Hickey et al. (2019), which suggests that deeper political and power relations distort the institutional shape and undermine the potential for social delivery. Another prominent insight relates to the curriculum, which remains disconnected from critical democratic values, gender equity, and local cultural narratives. School leaders instead identified the curriculum as a mechanism of ideological control, prioritizing conformity over inquiry and excluding minority perspectives. The lack of curricular emphasis on critical thinking undermines the foundational goal of education in a democracy—to produce engaged, informed, and ethical citizens (Apple et al., 2022; Sen, 2014). School leaders’ marginal role in curriculum policy formulation and perceived discretion regarding how to enact the policies have created an environment where they are unable to meaningfully promote democratic practices.
The lack of government spending in education cause government schools underfunded which also causes the poor transformation of the democratic values in the education system (Banuri, 2024). School leaders are navigating these and other constraints with limited autonomy and support. The disconnect between official policy ideals and their on-ground enactment underscores the need for systemic reform rooted in decentralization, accountability, and stakeholder participation.
To counter these trends, it has been suggested by participants and relevant studies that democratic education in Pakistan requires not only a structural overhaul of governance mechanisms but also a normative shift toward valuing local voices, especially those of school leaders. There must be a political commitment to re-empower educational institutions and professionals, invest in inclusive leadership, and create curricular spaces for critical dialogue. Democratic accountability mechanisms play a significant role in defending the erosion of democratic values. The media, civil society, parents, and other actors can be powerful tools against external influences and autocratizations.

Author

• Gul Muhammad Rind, Univeristy of Autonomous Barcelona VAT/NIF: ESQ0818002H