ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Federal Education Madad Ali Sindhi was briefed on Thursday that curriculum standards for grades 9 to 12 were being reviewed by the provincial authorities before the issuance of final notifications.

The minister was given a detailed briefing on the National Curriculum Council (NCC) by NCC Director Dr Mariam Chughtai on the functions of the NCC in the post-18th Amendment scenario.

The minister was informed about the “agreement of provincial experts on national curriculum standards for grades 9-12, marking a monumental milestone” for Pakistan. He was told that for the first time in the country’s history, a core curriculum from grades 1-12 and early years has been signed off by subject experts from all provinces.

Standards for grades 1-8 and early years are already underway for implementation at varying levels in all provinces across the country, while for grades 9-12, the curriculum is being reviewed at provincial levels before being notified.

It is relevant to note here that except for Sindh, all provinces and federating units adopted the curriculum developed by the NCC for grades 1 to 8. However, last year, Sindh also adopted the said curriculum for science subjects.

A notification issued by the Government of Sindh dated August 8, stated: “Government of Sindh is pleased to accord no-objection certificate for adopting the curriculum standards for five core subjects of National Curriculum of Pakistan i.e Early Child Education (ECE), Mathematic, English, General Science and Computer Science from Class ECE to Class XII and Curriculum Standards for Physics, Chemistry and Biology for Grade IX to XII, after review and medication by the Curriculum Development and Review Committee of Directorate of Curriculum, Assessment and Research, School Education and Literacy Department, Government of Sindh.”

During the briefing at the NCC, the minister was informed about the ongoing partnership with the government of Sindh regarding teacher development and assessment activities. Moreover, the steps taken regarding training of the textbook authors and reviewers in all the provinces and areas were also discussed.

He was told that the NCC in collaboration with other stakeholders had been working to bring uniformity in technical education and some meetings with boards and other stakeholders have already taken place in this regard.

According to a press release, Mr Sindhi lauded the efforts of the NCC towards its role of coordination among the federating units. He praised the role of the provincial governments’ stakeholders in upholding the cause of quality education for all children of the nation by championing international standards in curriculum reforms.

The press release said the development of the National Curriculum of Pakistan was a nationwide collaborative process, with provinces actively involved and their feedback gathered and incorporated through a comprehensive process.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2023