The PTI government is determined to introduce a uniform education system in the country and has already launched Single National Curriculum courses up to primary level in August 2021, while text books up to middle and intermediate levels would be rolled out by March 2022 and March 2023 respectively. However, the SNC has been shrouded in controversy and a series of objections from various sections of the society, especially educationists. Bol News asks experts to reflect on the SNC and whether it is the best choice for the country’s education system.

SADAQAT ALI KHAN ABBASSI

Bringing an SNC is a dream come true for Prime Minister Imran Khan and the PTI government. The PM strongly believes that without upgrading the education system in a way where change is not made for a particular segment of society and is instead implemented in a blanket manner, real change in society will not happen. I also believe that the SNC is not just a curriculum but an engine of change which will pull up the middle and lower middle class towards achieving upward social mobility. This is because a well-educated population, where people are provided with quality education across the board is the ultimate way to ensure equal access to opportunities and therefore plays a pivotal role in poverty alleviation.

The change is already apparent. I have witnessed students that had previously been enrolled at private school shift to government schools after the SNC was introduced in my home town of Muree. Once implemented on every level across the country, such a curriculum will bring about a revolution in the education sector and aid in development across all sectors of society.

I do concede that there are some issues with the SNC that need to be addressed, however I don’t think they are very major.

By and large the SNC was deemed acceptable by all the stakeholders that were involved in the discussions around it and the primary textbooks published under it so far have been welcomed by both public and private school sectors. In fact, I am surprised to note even religious seminaries have no posed concerns about the new curriculum and have welcomed it with open arms.

While there is some resistance to such a curriculum, I think the SNC will serve as cornerstone for equal access to education.

In my opinion it will provide children from all different types of socio-economic backgrounds fair and equal opportunities to receive higher education, will enhance social cohesion and national integration, bring the marginalised segments of society to the mainstream and ultimately help us build a stronger and more vibrant nation than before.

RASHID CHEEMA

I think it is a step in right direction and the federal government should continue with its implementation at the secondary and higher levels. However, in my view there is room for improvement and the Centre should incorporate the suggestions and proposals from both private and public sector educational institutions in it.

Some private schools have raised objections that the courses framed under the Single National Curriculum (SNC) are below their standard. I advise them to adjust in the changing situation and suggest that adopt methods such as teaching grade three courses to the students of grade two in their schools. I am optimistic that in the due course of time we will be able to strengthen this unified curriculum for the schools imparting education to different strata of society. In the process we will also save a lot of foreign exchange being spent on the import of printed foreign books which used to be part of curricula in various schools.

However, I do think that the National Curriculum Council should broaden the consultation process as the present issues mainly cropped up because the consultation before the launch of curriculum for primary level was limited and only a few stakeholders were taken on board. Furthermore, I think the government’s decision to allow English medium schools to run O and A-level as well as other Cambridge-based education courses parallel to the SNC will be the negation of providing a level playing field to all the students.

The example of India is before us where the government had not allowed private schools to run a parallel O and A-level education system in their country and ultimately they had managed to establish a state of the art education system. I strongly believe that in case government continues to allow O and A-level or any foreign guided educational system to function side by side with SNC the desired results of providing a level playing field to students across the rich and poor divide could hardly be achieved. The hiccups coming in the way of SNC implementation are understandable and consultations with stakeholders will help spruce up the curriculum and I hope that in due course things will change for better.

RAHAT MASOOD QADOOSI

I think by and large it is a good move. If the target is to bring national cohesion and the provision of a level playing field to the students belonging to different classes the targets will partly be achieved. However,  to get the full desired results some other steps also needed to be taken besides just devising an SNC.

Being in the field for well over three decades it is my experience that just curriculum formulation is not enough the teachers who are imparting education and the environment in which students are studying also matters a lot.

I think to have Single National Curriculum up to matriculation is enough as in Pakistan matriculation is taken as the baseline of the education after which the students moved out to the disciplines of their choice.

For instance, at the moment there is no mention of technical or vocational courses in the SNC and it suggests that National Curriculum Council should incorporate it in the second and third phase of the SNC yet to be launched.

Furthermore, besides providing educational institutions with a curriculum the Federal Education Ministry should also lay focus on the capacity building of teachers in government schools and also spruce up the overall condition of government schools that are currently in a very bad state, as they lack furniture and other basic facilities. If this is not done then the country’s education system cannot move forward.

The general overhaul of schools is a must for bringing real change and just coming up with a good curriculum will not serve the purpose, I sincerely believe.

In my view a better environment, good curriculum and well equipped and efficient technical staff are the main ingredients without which imparting of quality education will remain a dream.

Lastly, I think government must also take adequate measures to bring the roughly 23 million children who are not enrolled in schools across the country, as without bringing them to schools, the desired results of bringing real change at a grass-root level is not possible.

NAEEMULLAH KHAN

I t is a welcome move and will definitely have far-reaching impacts in evolving cohesion among different strata of society. I think the criticism coming from different segments is but natural as it is not possible to make Single National Curriculum meet the aspirations of all the stakeholders.

I think there is room for improvement in it and hope that Ministry of Education will try to address the concerns of the stakeholders before the launch of the second and third phase of the plan.

As the aim of the SNC is to provide uniform education across the board but in certain cases it is beyond justification to rope in all stakeholders. For instance some of the subjects are irrelevant for the students of religious seminaries so in my view the Single National Curriculum should be confined to a few subjects like English, Urdu, Pakistan Studies and Islamic studies, while the educational institutions should be allowed to teach other subjects as per their choice.

I think the SNC should also incorporate the capacity building of the teachers, especially those working in the government schools while buildings and other facilities in the government schools are also in extremely poor condition. So much so well over 40 percent of the government schools are not having the proper toilets facility.

So In my view without upgrading the infrastructure of government schools and capacity building of teachers things will not change for better. On the other hand the private schools are having well qualified teachers and good teaching environment with limited number of students in each class as compared to the government schools where the class rooms are stuffed with up to 80 and even more students in a single class so the parity the government wanted to establish between the government and private schools through this SNC would remain a dream

I think it is not an easy task to come up with single curriculum which will cater to the needs of government and private schools as well as religious seminaries, so all of us must praise the government for their hard work in bringing out curriculum meeting the needs of diverse educational systems operating in the country.

I hope that National Curriculum Council will also incorporate these issues at the second and third phase of the SNC.