documents and reports on national and international levels.
Talking about the dilemma of multi-grading in classrooms, Jameel said it was alarming to know that 70 percent of students of class II, III and IV sat together in 2013 and 74 percent in 2014.
Dr Fazlullah Pechuho, the additional education chief secretary, expressed his desire for conducting a policy dialogue involving political parties, educationists and private entrepreneurs. He said the provincial government’s policy of “Adopt-a-School” was a robust one in which institutes were given chance to run schools by signing an memorandum of understanding with the government.
He also said the provincial government was framing a policy for “Early Childhood Education” as well as “Non-formal Education” to strengthen the educational system at the grassroots level using the platform of the public-private partnership mode.
Dr Muhammad Memon, a professor at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development, gave a presentation on curriculum reforms.
He said the curriculum was a mirror that reflected the quality of education being offered to students. He further said the curriculum in Pakistan was devised on a “top-down” model with a “quick-fix” approach on a more or less the same outcomes.
He regretted that the curriculum transmitted the “official knowledge” and that was why teachers were unable to play the role of agents who invoked thoughts into students’ minds.
“With curriculum designed as such, we would be better off without teachers and make do with some preachers.”
Memon stressed the importance of the professional development of teachers to implement the curriculum if the required results were to be achieved. Memon further said Sindh would soon start assessing students not against the textbooks but the curriculum. SEF managing director Aziz Kabani said that it was inspiring to see a slight improvement in access to educational facilities and increase in literacy in the province.