ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to set up a National Curriculum Commission (NCC) to ensure that the provinces follow a uniform course of study in schools and colleges.

The Minister of State for Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education, Muhammad Balighur Rehman, has written a letter to the chief ministers, saying that lack of coordination among the provincial curriculum development departments is creating discrepancies in the quality and content of the courses.

He said the proposed NCC would have members from federal and provincial governments and it would be headed on a rotating basis.

Mr Rehman had said in a recent session of the National Assembly that the provinces would be producing students of different standards because of differences in their curriculum.

In the letter, he said that he wanted a forum where experts from all over the country could produce a uniform curriculum for schools and colleges to cater to the national requirements.

According to sources, the provinces are yet to respond to the proposal.

Before the 18th Amendment enforced in 2010, the federal education ministry was responsible for curriculum development.

When asked to comment on the move, Dr A.H. Nayyar, who has extensively worked in the field, said academicians generally believed that the curriculum development should be centralised. Under the 18th Amendment, the provinces prepare textbooks for their schools and colleges.

A reversal of this clause would require the difficult task of getting another constitutional amendment approved by parliament.

Therefore, the federal government which holds the power to form regulatory bodies may set up a curriculum regulatory authority, according to Dr Nayyar.

He said the private sector should also be involved in the process and consent of the provinces would be needed for such a move.