Parents concerned over new curriculum

LAHORE: A group of concerned parents of schoolchildren from different walks of life held a consultation in which people participated in-person and virtually on the likely impact of Single National Curriculum (SNC).

They expressed their dismay and reservations on the textbooks being published under SNC and the narrow world view being presented therein. The parents complained that the Punjab government is taking away their right to choose which education was good for the future of their children.

“While SNC would impact millions of children, parents were not taken on board in the matter related to their children,” said Kanwal, a parent of a grade 2 child.

The new educational year began in August 2021 with the introduction of textbooks for schools under SNC. The Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board which published millions of books and authorised publishing to private companies has been under harsh criticism on social and the mainstream media over the content which has been included in the textbooks. The government of Punjab has vowed that they will impose SNC in all schools irrespective of medium of instruction and system of learning and pedagogical choice followed earlier.

The consultation concluded on the resolve that the parents refuse to be treated as non-entity and if the government continues to ignore the best interest of their children, they will be forced to approach the court regarding their reservations. The meeting was addressed by education and policy advocates, Dr Anjum Altaf, Dr Abdul Hameed Nayyar and Peter Jacob.

The meeting was coordinated by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) which has been involved in policy advocacy for the past few years. The CSJ has also approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan, along with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and the Cecil & Iris Chaudhry Foundation, seeking relief against the violation of Article 22 of the Constitution of Pakistan.