Govt plans summit to review Single National Curriculum

Likely to scrap Imran Khan’s SNC project, the new government plans to bring provinces into the conversation

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: The new government is likely to axe Imran Khan’s cherished Single National Curriculum (SNC) initiative.

An announcement to this affect was made by the PML-N coalition government saying it has decided to hold a “national curriculum summit” to review PTI government’s single national curriculum.
Although there was a lot of noise surrounding the project under the previous government, it remained to achieve its objectives by the time Khan was ousted through a parliamentary vote of no-confidence last month.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal tweeted, “It has been decided to hold a National Curriculum Summit with top curriculum experts of the country to have [a] final review of the new curriculum.”

Single National Curriculum was a step to put in place one system of education for all in terms of; curriculum, medium of instruction and a common platform of assessment so that all children have a fair and equal opportunity to receive high quality education.

This however doesn’t look possible in near future as the new government devises its own strategy to manage education in the country.

Independent Pakistan talked with a number of educationists to seek their views on the subject. Many of them said that the language of instruction was a major concern for implementation of a Single National Curriculum (SNC), as it allowed the schools to choose language of their own choice.

Professor Zameer Ul Hassan of Bahaudin Zikriya University was of the view that if we want a prototype of China, Iran or Japan, where they are practicing in their own native languages is due to the fact that they have first prepared their quality text books and curricula in their respective languages.

Some of the private school systems working in Pakistan accredited by or affiliated with foreign educational institutions, have already sought exception from following the SNC. Under the SNC, it is mandatory to secure government approval for prescribing textbooks.

“The main theme and objective of imposing uniform curricula on all the educational institutions was to make sure that public schools, private schools, and seminaries have the same learning outcomes, but if students receive education in their native or local language, how can they learn when the medium of instruction is English at the time of higher education”, a teacher talking to Independent Pakistan argued.

Another issue is that earlier students belonging to minorities were taught ethics instead of Islamiyat. But under SNC, a new subject “Religious Education” was added, with content being seen as heavily weighted towards Islam. The various Islamic schools of thought then demanded inclusions of their beliefs in textbooks, as was previously practiced in Federal Board textbooks.

Provinces believe that the federal government must think better of bringing higher-education or education itself under its monolithic control when the function rightfully belongs to the provinces since the 18th Amendment.

Several activists say SNC was a monstrous idea on several counts. For one thing, there can be no magic curriculum to suit all the myriad ethnic identities that constitute Pakistan. The government must therefore desist from any attempts to impose a “one-size-fits-all” model to all children, they argue.

“Another problem with Pakistani curricula is their undue emphasis on religious indoctrination as a part of school education”, a citizen told Independent Pakistan. “This has to end. The Muslim majority of Pakistanis must realize we cannot trust the government with religious education of our children”.

He further argued that the way despots and demagogues from Ayub and Zia to Musharraf and Imran Khan have leveraged Islam to garner support for their unhinged ideologies should be enough to bring home how Islam can become a tool of exploitation in the hands of a government.

“Our homes are where we learn to be Muslims”, he said. “And that is the best, the safest, the surest path that has served us well through generations”.