Sindh agrees to develop curriculum for English, sciences on standards of National Curriculum Council

Sindh has agreed to develop curriculum for some of the subjects in coordination with the National Curriculum Council (NCC).

The agreement was reached in a meeting between Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah and NCC Director Mariam Chughtai on Thursday. According to a statement issued by the education ministry, the provincial minister agreed on implementing the core standards of the National Curriculum for four subjects — English, mathematics, science and computer science.

The two sides also agreed on entering into a partnership for the professional development of public school teachers. The third major development in the meeting was an agreement on the adoption of standards for textbooks for minority communities belonging to seven faiths — Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Baha’i faith, Buddhism and Kalasha.

Shah said he was happy that Sindh’s stance on curriculum had been recognised by the Centre. The recognition of provinces was a symbol of national unity, which the previous government tried to influence in the name of a single curriculum, he added.

The education minister asserted that efforts were being made to ensure that factors promoting violence, intolerance and extremism in society would not be made part of the textbooks. After the meeting, the Sindh education ministry and NCC Secretariat would partner to implement a teacher professional development project in selected districts of Sindh. This would help the NCC model similar trainings for other provinces.

These major decisions would be formally announced in a joint press briefing in Karachi in the next few days. It is expected that Shah would hold a joint press conference with Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Rana Tanvir Hussain on the matter of single curriculum.