Curriculum conundrum: Provinces oppose proposed body’s sweeping powers

Provincial representatives say regulatory body should have an advisory role.

ISLAMABAD:

Provincial representatives raised objections over the ‘sweeping powers’ the proposed National Curriculum Council (NCC) may wield once it starts functioning.

At the second meeting of the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers’ conference held on Friday, provincial representatives said that the body should have an advisory role for recommending a uniform curriculum across the country.

Minister of State for Education Balighur Rehman explained the purpose of establishing the council in light of the National Plan of Action for Education whereas Additional Secretary Allah Bakhsh Malik in his presentation outlined the broader contours of the council.

Malik said that the council would have 27 members with up to three members from each province, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and three members from the federal government.

He also said that the council would have the authority to review and approve textbooks and supplementary reading materials and the power to direct any agency or authority to delete anything repugnant to Islam or ideology of the country.

Sindh Education Secretary Dr Fazlullah opposed certain provisions of the proposals saying the NCC should not have the authority to impose its views but an advisory role instead.

He also said that the Sindh chief minister wished that the proposed body should be discussed at the forum of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) before final approval.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Minister for Secondary and Elementary Education Atif Khan also disagreed with the tone and tenor of the proposals saying they should be amended. “Provinces should not be bound to follow recommendations of the NCC,” he said.

Some bureaucrats from Sindh and Punjab also disagreed with some provisions of the proposed body.

K-P Joint Education Secretary Afzal Latif pointed out loopholes in the proposed document.

The federal education minister told the participants that they should not call the NCC merely a federal body as it has ample representation from the provinces.

“It will surely have a supervisory role and will set minimum requirements to avoid national disconnect,” Rehman said.

He also urged the provincial representatives to forward their recommendations as soon as possible.

Education parks, cities

Meanwhile, three provinces shared their future education plans. Punjab Higher Education Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal said that the provincial government has identified 852 acres near the Defence Housing Authority in Lahore and Rs500 million has been set aside in the current budget to set up an education park there.

The Sindh Higher Education secretary said that the provincial government was planning to set up an education city near DHA Karachi.

The K-P Higher Education secretary said that 3,750 acres has been identified near Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway to establish an education city and park.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2014.