24 January 2004	Saturday	01 Zilhaj 1424

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has worked out a new curriculum of special education for graduate and postgraduate courses offered by public-sector universities.

In this regard, a three-day preliminary meeting of the HEC's National Curriculum Review Committee (NCRC) concluded here on Friday, said an official statement.

After preparing the first draft of the curriculum, the NCRC also made a number of recommendations and suggestions to enhance the credibility of the discipline in institutions of higher learning.

The committee recommended that each province should have a resource centre at some university as provincial headquarter to interact, benefit and share resources for the development of special education.

The NCRC suggested that universities should organize specialization in different disability areas, including mental retardation, hearing impairment, visual impairment, physical handicap, learning disability and inclusive education.

The committee was of the view that BA Honours in special education might be offered by the universities with full-fledged faculty of education and psychology, and syllabus for BA Honours (three years). Meanwhile, the proposed BA Honours (four years) programme might be circulated to all the universities for evaluation and feedback.

Universities already offering degree programme in special education may offer PGD programme in speech and language therapy, audiology, braille, low vision, sign language, assessment and diagnosis, parents counselling and rehabilitation.

The committee also recommended that special education should be offered as an elective/optional subject at intermediate and BA levels, and all teacher training colleges may be directed to include special education component in their core courses.