Smart syllabus yet to get formal approval

LAHORE:The smart syllabus or Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) for students from Class 1 to Class 10 in Punjab circulating on social media has yet to be formally approved and shared with the examination boards.

The ALP prepared by the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) offers selected chapters from textbooks for students from Class 1 to Class 10 as the academic year has to be shortened this time because of prolonged closure of educational institutions in the wake of Corona pandemic.

The nine Boards of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISEs) conduct matriculation (Class-9 and Class-10) exams and the new Accelerated Learning Programme needed to be shared with all these examination boards as the BISEs are supposed to prepare question papers from the ALP for Secondary School Certificate (Matriculation) Annual Exams 2021. It is pertinent to mention that all the nine BISEs in Punjab are under the administrative control of Higher Education Department (HED) Punjab. Source in the HED said the department did not receive formal request about the ALP from School Education Department or the PCTB.

Sources said the ALP was PCTB’s own initiative for which a huge exercise was conducted. They added that the aim was to facilitate students especially of Class-9 and Class-10 for 2021 exams as this time academic year was badly disturbed because of Corona pandemic. The initiative is being widely appreciated by the students and the parents. Talking to The News, Tariq Hameed Bhatti, Additional Secretary (Special Initiative & Autonomous Bodies) at HED Punjab said that the department could only direct the BISEs to implement ALP once officially received from the SED Punjab. He said so far the SED Punjab had not shared the ALP with the HED Punjab for formal approval and subsequent implementation for Class-9 and Class-10 exams.

When contacted, Punjab Minister for School Education Dr Murad Raas said that the ALP needed to be fine-tuned before forwarding it to the HED for subsequent handling by the BISEs. He said the Accelerated Learning Programme would be shared with the HED by the end of this week so that the same was implemented once the educational institutions reopened.