Single National Curriculum Hopes and Hurdles

 

Outline:

1- Introduction

2- An overview of the Single National curriculum

3- What are the hopes associated with the single national curriculum?

    3.1- Putting all out-of-school children to school

    3.2-Promotion of national integration in the country

    3.3- Equal opportunities for upward social mobility for masses and elite class

    3.4 In harmony with the vision of Quaide Azam and the constitution of Pakistan

    3.5- A better understanding of religion

4- What are the hurdles in the way of successful implementation of the single national curriculum?

    4.1- Low allocation of budget from the government

    4.2- Lack of trained teaching staff

    4.3- Cultural and lingual and sectarian constraints exist in the country

   4.4- The matter of constitutional transgression-education is a provincial subject after the 18th            amendment

5-Which measures can be taken to remove the hurdles?

    5.1-Proper training of teaching staff

    5.2- increasing the budget for education by the government

    5.3-Amendemnt to the constituion

    5.4- Ensure federal government and provinces collaborate through the council of common                    interests(CCI)

6- Conclusion

        Education plays a significant role in the growth of any nation. In Pakistan, the literacy rate is not high even though article 25A gives everyone equal education rights. The former government of Pakistan took the initiative to reform the education system of Pakistan. In this regard with high aspirations, the government introduced the single national curriculum. many hopes are related to the single national curriculum that includes providing opportunities for out-of-school children to go to school, unity integration and equal opportunities to lower, middle and upper-class children. Moreover, this initiative is in harmony with the vision of the father of the nation and also according to the constitution of Pakistan and it will be beneficial for students to have a better understanding of the religion Islam. Despite all the hopes there exist some hurdles in the way of the successful implementation of the single national curriculum. The that is allocated by the government for education is too low to fulfil the basic needs of the education system of the country. The teaching staff is not trained enough to teach the newly designed syllabus. In addition to it, Pakistan is a country where people of different sects and religions live together and the syllabus promotes the religion, Islam. Since the 18th amendment to the constitution, education has become a provincial issue. Nevertheless, all the hurdles exist but some effective measures can be taken to remove the hurdles. First, the proper training of teachers must be ensured. Second, the government of Pakistan must increase the budget for education. Third, the infrastructure of the institutes must be improved that will attract students for education. Last, the provincial and federal bodies must sit at the same table to solve this issue so the single national curriculum successfully implemented.

    

        In the regime of Pakistan tehreeke insaaf , the single national curriculum was initiated with the motto of "one nation, one curriculum". The main purpose of this initiative was to implement the same syllabus in every school. Therefore, the apartheid education system can b eliminated. This system has to be implemented in three passes. In the first phase from 2021 to 2022, it should be implemented at the primary level. In the second phase, from 2022 to 2023 it should be implemented at the middle level. And in the last phase from 2023 to 2024, it should be implemented at the matriculation level.

       

          Some hopes related to the single national curriculum are discussed in the following paragraphs.

       

         The first and foremost purpose of the single national curriculum is to put all the children in school for those who can not continue their education due to some reasons. The literacy rate in Pakistan is 62%  which means only 60 million people are literate in that Pakistan. This reason for the low literacy rate is so threatening. If all the schools follow the same syllabus and books, it will encourage parents to send their children to school thinking that their kids will get the same education which is being gotten by elite class children. Hence, this initiative alive the hope of increasing the literacy rate in the country.

     

           Moreover, the implementation of the single national curriculum is the best step toward national integration. By adopting this method, the children that are getting education in any corner of the world will follow the same books. Even the Madrassah students will also follow this system. However, the teaching methods must differ. In keeping with multicultural and multilingual Pakistani society, the Single National Curriculum would inculcate the national ethos among the children, making them consider themselves equal Citizens. Hence, It will bring national integration among the regional, provincial and religious factions of our country.

        

        The single national curriculum will upward social mobility. Basically, our Pakistani society has been divided into two main groups. The upper class or an elite and lower middle class. Most of the time people forget to consider the lower class in this counting. Now the problem that exists at present is, the lower middle class are trying to improve their status and they enrol their kids on that schools where the foreign syllabus is being followed and the high fees of that schools create lots of problems in their lives. To eliminate this divide to some extent, the single national curriculum is a good step. Now the middle class and lower class groups can send their kids confidently to low-fee or public schools where they will follow the same syllabus.

        The single national curriculum is in harmony with the vision of Quaide Azam and the constitution of Pakistan. Quaide Azam said," There is an immediate and urgent need for training our people in scientific and technical education to build future economic life, and we should see that our people undertake scientific, commerce and particularly well-planned industries. but do not forget that we have to compete with the world, which is moving very fast in this direction." Moreover, article 25A  gives equal rights of education to everyone. whether one is a man, woman or transgender. Hence, it is designed according to the vision of the founding fathers and the constitution.

        

        The promotion of a better understanding of Islam among the people of Pakistan is also an aim of the single national curriculum. Sadly Muslims are divided into sects, and there has always been a rift among them. The single national curriculum has been designed in a way that experts of all factions of the Itehad Tanzimatul Madrassah were part of the consultation. The new theme of  'Muamilat' and 'Islam or Dore Hazir K Tkazy' has been added to the syllabus of Islamic studies. In this way, students will learn the emerging demands of the time with religion. Hence, by implementing the single national curriculum the students will have a better understanding of the religion Islam.

        Despite all the hopes, there exist some hurdles in the way of successful implementation of the single national curriculum there are discussed in the following paragraphs.

        First, the budget that is allocated by the government of Pakistan is very low. For example, the government of Pakistan spends 2.5% compared it to our rival India which spends 4.6 % of its total GDP on education. Now, it is very clear that the budget that is allocated is very low. The lack of infrastructure, shortage of teachers, and low standard of lecture delivery; all spring from the disproportionate educational budget. it shows that the budget allocation to education is insufficient to help the nation to reap the fruit of single national curriculum. 

        

        Second, the syllabus that is designed in single national curriculum is designed in a way that demands very trained teachers for teaching. The teachers who are already teaching in school, particularly in government schools are those who are following the old syllabus for a long time and are not very up-to-date with the changing demands in the education system. Those teachers really need the training to pursue their teaching with newly or little advance and entirely changed books. Even the vocabulary that is used in the books at the primary level is advanced enough that the English teacher has to consult with the dictionary. Therefore, the ill-trained staff can not tackle the changing demands in the education system.

        Third, In the country, of Pakistan, cultural and lingual constraints exist. For example, an estimated 70 to 80 languages are being spoken in Pakistan. In the same way, different areas of Pakistan comprise different cultures. In addition to it, Pakistan is a country where people of different religions live. Therefore, in this situation, the single national curriculum is a controversial issue. Because people are too inclined to their languages and cultures it is difficult for them to adopt a new curriculum for the next generation.

        

        Last but not the least, despite all the pledges made by politicians and the single national curriculum designers about its potential to forge national integration, it does not seem a good recipe for national integration. The reason is the 18th amendment made to the constitution of Pakistan in which education was considered the provincial subject. For example, The Sindh government has objected to implementing the single national curriculum in the province. The education minister Sardar Shah has remarked that Sindh only adopts good changes in the science subjects. According to him, in social studies, every culture has its own history, culture and heroes. This object erodes the 'national' thing of single national curriculum as a challenge to national integration for the country.

        To solve all the hurdles in the way of implementation of the single national curriculum to some extent, some effective measures are needed that are explained in the proceeding paragraphs.

    

        To top it all, the teaching staff must be well trained to tackle the challenges of the changing demands of the newly designed syllabus. Francis Bacon said"Reading Maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man". When he said a conference a ready man, the fact is that if the teachers are given a proper opportunity to of training it will make a teacher, a ready man. A ready man is a person who is always ready for any kind of problem. hence, it is a dire need of training the teacher.

        In addition to it, the government must take the budget topic seriously. It has already been discussed the comparison between the budget allocation of Pakistan and the neighbouring country India. If the budget is low, it will become difficult to pay attention to the basic infrastructure. For example, in 2022 when so many political turmoils were at their peak and Pakistan was in debt, when the new educational year started, the books were not published to give students. Even the single national curriculum was not implemented at the middle level according to the plan. Therefore, an increase in the educational budget is necessary.

        Moreover, the government should take an immediate step to make amendments to the constitution against the 18th amendment. Because of the 18th amendment in which education was considered a provincial issue. The provincial education ministers are using that as an excuse to implement the single national curriculum in their province. For instance, if the amendment is made to the constitution, the provincial education ministers will not have more excuses to implement that new curriculum for the schools of their provinces.

        The provinces and the federation must sit n the same table through the council of common interests to solve this issue in a better way. The council of common interests (CCI) is a constitutional body in the government of Pakistan. It id appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. The CCI resolves the dispute of power-sharing between the federation and its provinces. 

        To sum up, the single national curriculum is a double-edged sword that encompasses both advantages and challenges. It has not been formulated in a way that will be helpful in the development of a child's cognitive skills to promote intellectual growth and social and economic productivity. instead, it is designed to further religious nationalism, homogenization, and centralism. it will also give rise to sectarianism, and gender-biasedness, and will sharpen social differences. despite all the challenges, there are some hopes are attached to the implementation of the single national curriculum.. it will ensure the reality of education, and remove the difference between the upper-class education system and the lower middle-class group. The literacy rate in Pakistan is extremely low. it is the need of the hour to implement the concept of one nation, one curriculum bit after taking the consent of provincial and federal bodies and sorting all the issues that exist in this system. there is no doubt if this system is implemented in a true way it will solve many problems in our society and education system.