Uniform curriculum efforts mired in devolution argument

Education minister says all stakeholders to be included in curriculum council

ISLAMABAD: The desire of the federal government to roll out a uniform, national curriculum for the country come under criticism in a Senate panel on Tuesday with the federal education minister’s motives questioned in light of the 18th Amendment.

The matter came up for discussion during the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training with Senator Rahila Magsi in the chair.

During the meeting, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood expressed his dissatisfaction about the prevalence of multiple educational systems in the country and different curriculums being taught in different private educational institutions.

Noting that those operating private educational institutions have crossed all limits, Mahmood lamented that they prepare their own curricula. Moreover, he said that the religious seminaries have their own unique education system which is quite different from other existing education systems in the country and a different curriculum as well.

Blaming the class-based education system for dividing the nation, Mahmood reiterated the need for introducing a uniform curriculum.

"Although it is a big challenge for the government to prepare a uniform curriculum for public and private sector educational institutions, we will make sure all stakeholders are taken on board," he remarked.

In this regard, he said that they have formulated a National Curriculum Council (NCC) for which they have also taken the Wafaqul Madaris into confidence while religious scholars such as Mufti Muneebur Rehman and Maulana Hanif Jhalandari are its members.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Mian Ateeq Shaikh posed that why, in the presence of the 18th amendment which made education a provincial subject, was the education minister so keen on bringing the subject back to the centre?



Mahmood tried to respond by saying that they "will create a consensus amongst the provinces and the federation while preparing the new curriculum."

“The participation of all provinces will be ensured in the NCC" he assured.

The debate began after Shaikh tabled his “Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions (Registration and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2016”.

Describing the silent features of the bill, Shaikh said that some private schools in the federal capital were not teaching students Pakistan Studies, ethics and Islamic Studies.

He said that these subjects were critical for the character development of students.

"We should teach Islamic values and norms to our children,” he said as he clarified that the bill was only for schools in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) Senator Muzafar Hussain Shah tabled the ‘Area Study Centre (Amendment) Bill 2017’.

The bill aims to make area study centres, affiliated with different universities, independent again just like they were from 1974 to 2002 when they were brought under the universities by an amendment.

He argued that area study centres should be given complete liberty since the policies formulated by lawmakers was based on the results of the research conducted by these centres. The committee members also accorded their consensus to dedicated maximum funds for these centres.

The education minister observed that before moving ahead with the bill, the ministry will conduct a comparative study of the performance of these area study centres before and after 2002 and present a report to the committee by mid-January.

During a discussion on ‘Right to free and compulsory education (Amendment) Bill, 2018’ moved by Senator Samina Saeed relating to providing a better environment for children with dyslexia, the committee and minister were of the view that this should be presented as an independent legislation instead of an amendment to the current law.

They further suggested that it should be an overarching legislation for children who have problems with learning, reading, writing or understanding.

On the demand of Senator Shamim Afridi for establishing a women campus for Kohat University of Sciences and Technology along the Dera Ismail Khan Road in Kohat, the committee recommended that the education ministry and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) send a revised summary to Prime Minister Imran Khan asking for a separate area to set up the campus.

WITH ADDITION FROM APP

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2018.