Uniform curriculum for Kindergarten to grade 5 from today

Islamabad : A uniform curriculum for kindergarten through grade 5 will be formally introduced in government and private schools along with seminaries across the country today (Monday) with the government eyeing the elimination of educational disparity through the initiative.

The first phase of the ‘single national curriculum’ developed by the National Curriculum Council of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training in consultation and collaboration with the education departments of all federating units of the country will be launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan during a special ceremony here.

Under the plans, the second phase of the curriculum meant for grades 6 to 8 and the third for grades 9 to 12 will be implemented in the academic year 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively.

Federal education minister Shafqat Mehmood told a presser here on Sunday that for the first time in the country’s history, a uniform curriculum was being introduced.

He said the prevalent current education system was based on injustice.

The minister said all developed countries had a uniform national curriculum for their people, but Pakistani society was divided by different curricula followed by parallel systems of education.

He said the uniform national curriculum had already been adopted by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The minister said textbooks would be allowed to be taught to students even if they were published privately in line with the new curriculum.

According to officials, the single national curriculum was developed in line with the internationally accepted education standards and following consultation with stakeholders, including the public and private sectors, seminaries and experts, and holding of workshops across the country and a national conference.

Besides model textbooks based on the SNC, teacher training modules have also been developed for grade Kindergarten through grade 5. The federal government has shared them with all federating units for action as education is a devolved subject.

Under the uniform curriculum, English will be taught to schoolchildren as a language with a focus on skills, while Islamiat books have new themes of ‘muamilaat’ and ‘Islam aur daur-e-hazir kay taqazay’.