Conference highlights weaknesses in SNC

Panellists point out several implementation errors regarding new curriculum

ISLAMABAD:

Panelists at a moot have highlighted several weaknesses in the Single National Curriculum (NSC).

At the conference titled “School of Tomorrow,” the SNC virtually hosted four panellists from the education sector, who discussed the various nuances of its implementation process.

National Curriculum Council Director Dr Mariam Chughtai, Roots Millennium Schools Chief Executive Officer Dr Faisal Mushtaq, Oxford University Press (OUP) Pakistan Managing Director (MD) Arshad Hussain, and Institute of Educational Development-Agha Khan University (IED-AKU) Dean Farid Panjwani were present on the occasion.

According to Dr Chughtai, core standards on education never existed before, and it took immense effort to achieve that. She also talked about the difficulties the government faced in bringing madrassas on board, and that the next priority was coordination with provinces.

Dr Mushtaq stated that instead of setting core standards on education, there should have been a focus on minimum standards instead. He also said that there were several implementation errors regarding the curriculum.

On the subject of implementation, Arshad Hussain voiced a few concerns from the perspective of private publishers. According to him, four months into the new curriculum, many publishers were still awaiting NOCs.

“The core philosophy in the differentiation of teaching has been lost in the SNC. Differentiation engages in a mixed ability classroom by bringing inclusivity through content, language, and progression,” he added.

Talking from the point of view of the government, Dr Mariam Chughtai, said the Council was open to listening to stakeholders. “There is no denial of any problem here. The IED-AKU dean questioned the ideology of the curriculum altogether, saying that the rituals of schools can create an idea of a nation, however, unity has a lot more to do with social justice than education.

The session concluded with the understanding that all stakeholders needed to be properly involved.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2021.