Single National Curriculum 2020
Pakistan is a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic country where around 74 different languages are spoken. Out of these 74 different languages, 66 languages are indigenous while the remaining 8 are non-indigenous. Urdu is the national language while English is the official language of Pakistan.
Similarly, Pakistan is the thick and second-largest Muslim-populated country in the world. Approximately 96.5% (≈210 million) people are Muslims, out of which around 85-90% are Sunni and the remaining are the Shia sect Muslims.
These two major sects are further subdivided into different groups on the basis of their particular schools of the so-called Islamic law. On the other hand Pakistani nation is divided on the basis of political parties, ethnicity, sectarianism, culture, customs, traditions, rituals, socio-economics, and educational differences.
The current government has therefore developed and devised Single National Curriculum (SNC) aiming to create equality in education, national cohesion, unity, tolerance, respect, peaceful coexistence, equal human rights, sustainable development, fair and transparent democracy, intra-provincial harmony, etc.
The Single National Curriculum of Pakistan is going to be implemented in three different phases from 2021 to 2023. In the first phase of 2021 government has implemented SNC at the primary (I-V) level while VI-VIII and IX-XII will be implemented in the successive coming years.
Initially, the Sindh government and some private sector institutions refused to follow the SNC, however, the other three provinces as well as the capital territory, Gilgit Baltistan, FATA, and Azad Kashmir are going to follow it.
Therefore to understand various dynamics of SNC, through this blog article, we will go through some basic concepts including an overview of the curriculum, national curriculum, and pros & cons of the national curriculum in the context of Pakistani society including drawing our conclusion on the basis of certain facts so that you may grasp the basic understanding and develop your personal viewpoint regarding SNC that whether it should be implemented and adapted or not.
Introduction
The national curriculum is generally understood as a common framework, set, or program of study especially, developed and designed for primary & secondary schools in order to ensure national uniformity and equality in access to education so that the larger interest of national unity and cohesion can be achieved. The uniform contents and standards of the curriculum are usually designed and developed with the proper consultation of all the key stakeholders including regions, states, or provincial authorities.
There are various countries around the globe including Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Scotland, America, Japan, India, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Malaysia, etc. which have their own specific national curriculum. However, most of these nations have developed different Standardized Aptitude Tests (SAT) systems to observe and ensure the effective implementation of national curricula.
Secondly, all of the above countries have very low populations except India and America as compared to Pakistan. On the other hand, most of these advanced countries already have well-established education systems and highly professional and well-trained teachers who provide quality education including maintaining a high (above 90%) literacy ratio. More importantly, the majority of such countries spend a handsome amount of GDP on education and are quite less corrupt societies as compared to Pakistan.
Their judicial and socio-economic structure is well established and they believe in national solidarity. Although the government of Pakistan has envisioned a single system of education for all through SNC where there will be a uniform curriculum, medium of instruction, and assessment procedure yet there are so many challenges and issues which need to be addressed as no country can progress merely on the basis of developing SNC rather positive role of civil society and other stakeholders make it possible.
What
is Curriculum?
There is no single definition of curriculum however it is generally regarded as a specific but well-planned sequence of instructions. It is taken from the Latin language which means running, a course, or a career. Professional interpretation of the curriculum is done through the research findings of Smith, Dewey & Kelly, and on the basis of their interpretations curriculum is defined as a set of four different types including explicit curriculum, implicit curriculum, hidden curriculum, and null curriculum.
Smith has devised seven steps to proceed and implement the curriculum. In the first of those steps, he emphasized the diagnosis of needs before writing the curriculum. In the second step, he asks about the formulation of objectives so that curriculum can be developed on the basis of formed objectives. In the third step, Smith describes the selection of content which is a very important step as the curriculum’s effectiveness heavily relies on its content.
The fourth step is about the organization while the fifth step is about the selection of learning experiences or simply course objectives and outcomes. The sixth and seventh steps describe the organization of learning experiences and the determination of the process of evaluation (assessment & analysis) respectively.
On the other hand, the curriculum is also described as written curriculum (textbooks), taught curriculum (teachers who teach curriculum), learned curriculum (students who learn it), and assessed curriculum (examination, testing, and assessment). In general and in simple understanding, the curriculum is defined as an overall set of activities that a learner comes across inside school during the course of formal learning.
Why
National Curriculum?
Broadly speaking, national curricula are developed for two main purposes. One of the two purposes is to create uniformity, equality, and cohesion among all the citizens of a state and the other is to control the aims and objectives of education for specific purposes including promoting certain national ideologies, philosophies, dogmas, and beliefs.
However just developing and writing a national curriculum is not enough, rather proper teaching, learning, and assessment are equally important as all these processes of education (curriculum, teaching, learning & assessment) are like the wheels of an automobile, and if any of the wheels is missing or got punctured the automobile (education process) will not be able to move smoothly.
Pros
of the Single National Curriculum:
1. SNC
of Pakistan will bridge the educational gaps and differences among the private
sector, public sector, and Madrasah sector learners.
2. SNC
will provide equal opportunities for students of all classes and
communities irrespective of their socio-economic condition and other cultural and
traditional differences.
In the near future, SNC will provide an equal platform for the segments of society to
compete and get high ranks jobs on pure merit basis.
4. SNC
will pave the way toward a more united and cohesive nation and promote equality, respect, fraternity, and patriotism.
5. SNC will make the implementation of national ideology, philosophy, dogma, and belief as possible as well as the concept of one and united nation will also be sustained and implemented.
Cons of the Single National Curriculum:
i. SNC will reduce the importance of regional and local languages except for Urdu.
ii. SNC may impact badly on the importance of the English language which is after all an international language and a major source of information and content generation.
iii. Implementation of SNC will certainly create problems for hundreds of thousands of traditional teachers who are teaching inside Deeni Madrasahs and public sector schools, particularly in countryside areas. Immediate replacement of traditional teachers is also impossible in this regard. The government of the day though has proposed a development plan for teachers but such plans are only effective for short-term goals and ineffective for long-term goals.
iv. SNC will surely affect badly the private sector institutions and hence millions of people may lose their jobs all of sudden.
v. SNC may also challenge certain cultural norms and values which eventually create chaotic conditions among different communities.
vi. Every region and province has its own dynamics and requirements which through SNC can not be achieved.
Conclusion
The government of the day needs to realize and understand that merely developing a single national curriculum is not enough to provide equal and quality education as well as improve world ranking in education where Pakistan currently stands at 150th position, rather it equally requires proper infrastructure, quality teachers, equal access to facilities, consensus of all the direct and indirect stakeholders as well as full and proper support of all the segments of the society including minorities.
Similarly, the government must have to understand that teachers and professional leaders are one of the most influential and powerful forces to ensure sustainability as far as quality education and sustainable development goal (SDG-4) are concerned.
Therefore from the recruitment and selection procedure of teachers and leaders to their social status, working conditions, dignity, respect, and wages are prerequisites to achieving the vision, aims, and objectives set through SNC. On the other hand quality education is only possible through quality teachers as well as leaders therefore quality teachers and leaders are the ones who are professionally well-trained, motivated, emotionally stable, passionate, visionary professionals, and highly skilled.
Hence only those teachers and leaders need to be recruited in the future who possess proper professional degrees and experience like other countries of the world follow their national curricula. Until and unless no efforts or positive changes will be fruitful. Similarly, the involvement of all the stakeholders including civil society is inevitable in this regard.
Note: The author has neutrally given his viewpoint. He is neither a supporter nor a denier of SNC. The author doesn’t believe in any biasness rather believes in facts and ground realities. Therefore every reader has the right to agree or disagree with the views of the author.
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