Seeking a clarification from the Centre over whether provinces are expected to adopt the Single National Curriculum (SNC) for every subject, Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah stated that the Sindh government would only adopt a curriculum containing core subjects and further enrich it through the provincial curriculum.
This he stated while presiding over a meeting discussing the Federal Ministry for Education and Professional Training's proposed SNC at the CM House on Thursday.
During the meeting, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani informed the CM that in September 2019, the National Curriculum Council (NCC) had recommended that provinces gauge the feasibility of a SNC and, once approved, this would be implemented nationally.
Ghani claimed that, following detailed discussion on the matter during a Sindh Curriculum Council meeting in March, it was decided that the development of curriculum and syllabi had become the responsibility of the provinces.
The CM similarly pointed out that with the introduction of the 18th Amendment, education became part of the provincial mandate. He added that following this, the Sindh government had adapted the National Curriculum, 2006, and revised it based on international models.
Shah stated that in light of the 18th Amendment, it had become necessary to seek clarification from the federal government regarding the extent to which the curriculum will be standardised under a SNC.
"Sindh may adopt a SNC containing only core subjects with minimum standards and the curriculum for the remaining subjects, such as languages and social studies, would be developed as part of a provincial curriculum," he said.
He further directed the Sindh Education Department to compare the curriculum proposed by the Centre with that of the province, to see which of the two best incorporated `21st Century Learning Skills'.
"We [the Sindh government] can adopt a portion of the SNC which might be missing from our newly designed curriculum, but the adoption or introduction of a new curriculum can only be done by the provincial government," he concluded.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2020.
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