July 17, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 13, 1429

KARACHI, July 16: Sindh will lag behind other provinces in imparting education to students up to Class X and conducting examinations of Class IX and XI in the coming academic session in accordance with the federal education ministry’s new scheme of studies merely because the new textbooks being published at present are based on old scripts.

All the provinces, except for Sindh, have reportedly completed arrangements for the introduction of the new scheme of studies in the coming academic session beginning next month and the exams based on the new syllabi will be conducted in 2009.

However, the textbooks being published under the aegis of Sindh Textbook Board carry old scripts and marks weightage for each subject.

The new scheme of studies, which envisaged changes in formation and combination of discipline/subjects by laying emphasis on mathematics, was approved by the federal education ministry in 2007 after having consultation with all stakeholders. Initially, it was decided that the annual examinations of Class IX and Class XI would be conducted in 2008.

An inter-provincial education ministers conference last year had decided to implement the new scheme of studies from 2008. All the provincial ministers promised to get the decision implemented in letter and spirit in their respective area of jurisdiction.

It was decided at the conference that the mode of papers for secondary and high secondary school certificate exams would be changed with a view to accommodating the spirit of the change in the new scheme of studies, whereby 50 per cent of the papers of each subject comprised multiple choice questions, 20 per cent were allocated to short answers and remaining 30 per cent were reserved for descriptive answers.

However, no provincial government could do its homework to introduce the new scheme of studies. Taking account of this, the inter-provincial education ministers’ conference later deferred the implementation of the plan for one year, resolving that the new scheme of studies must be implemented from 2009.

It was resolved at the conference that textbooks based on the new scheme of studies would be printed well before time so that they could be taught from the very beginning of the new academic session, starting from August. This would have helped schools to conduct the exams in accordance with the new scheme of studies.

Well-placed sources in the education department told Dawn that since the allocation made to publishers and printers by the Sindh Textbook Board to print textbooks was based on old scripts and weightage of marks, it was likely that the new scheme of studies would not be implemented. They pointed out that Rs360 million was allocated for publishing the textbooks, which were distributed free of cost among four million children in Sindh.