Single National Curriculum: where do we stand?

Education is considered to be vital source of nation-building. In order of ensure national cohesion, integration and preservation of the ideological foundation of the state, certain educational functions are the responsibilities include: curriculum, syllabus, planning, policy and educational standards. After 18th amendment education is being devolved to provincial mandate.

Formation of National Curriculum Council (NCC)

Besides capacity issues, working separately on Curriculum by provinces and areas not only created disconnect between the education and training of the children of nation but also affected quality and standards. For a nation to build itself, there was a need to adhere to a certain common sets of lessons based on Islamic ideology enunciated in the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan leading to national cohesion. Hence, there was a great need to devise and maintain common curricula in every field.The National Education Policy (NEP) 2009 continues to be a jointly owned national document ever since the amendment. NEP 2009 assigns Inter Provincial Education Ministerial Conference (IPEMC) the role to oversee educational development including monitoring and review of the NEP. In the light of the aforementioned decision, the formation of the National Curriculum Council (NCC) was approved unanimously by all provinces and areas in the IPEMC held on Feb 11, 2014, with the objective to develop minimum Curriculum that ensures Minimum National Standards in all subjects and emphasizes on national ideology and societal needs.

Goals

The National Curriculum Council (NCC) has started coordination for the development of a 'Single National Curriculum' (SNC) in the country with active participation of all provinces and other relevant stakeholders. NCC is expected to have:

An education system for all, in terms of curriculum, education and a common platform

Social harmony and national unity.

Eliminate disparities in various disciplines.

Equal opportunities for top social mobility

Equality in education.

Holistic development of children

Inter-provincial mobility of teachers and students

Ground Work

Comparative studies were conducted to align the SNC with international standards, including comparison of the Pakistani curriculum with Singapore and Cambridge Curricula. Hectic consultations had been held with the provinces on the matter and efforts are being made to implement the single national curriculum in phases from April next year. The consultative process was carried out with engagement of stakeholders from all the provinces and areas, including public and private sector institutions and the federal government educational institutions (FGEIs). In the phase-1, the first draft of the SNC for Grade Pre-I to Class V was developed and shared with all the provinces/areas and the Cambridge University for their input and feedback. Provincial and area workshops were subsequently held in all federating units from November 2019 to January 2020. The government hired the services of Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) of Aga Khan University to ensure value-addition of the SNC and...