ISLAMABAD: The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) has failed to establish a curriculum wing – a step required by the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2010.

The wing would focus on the development of a curriculum for Islamabad-based education institutions.

CADD is supposed to look after the affairs of 422 education institutions in the federal capital. The division does not currently have a curriculum wing, since it was transferred to the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training last year.

The division is without a curriculum wing ever since it was transferred to the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training

According to Clause 7(3) of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act the government is bound to establish an authority for the development of a curriculum for Islamabad Capital Territory educational institutions.

It reads: “The federal government shall establish or specify, through notification, an academic authority to lay down the curriculum and evaluation procedure including approval of syllabi and textbooks for students...”

“There is a need for the establishment of the curriculum wing, and we have started to file work for this project. We will either establish a new authority, or come up with a formula to share the education ministry’s curriculum wing,” a senior CADD official said.

CADD Secretary Khalid Hanif confirmed that, according to the act, a curriculum wing should be established. He said steps were being taken for the establishment of the wing, but did not elaborate further.

Last December, the prime minister – on the request of the state minister for education – transferred the CADD curriculum wing to the education ministry, which is not involved in the affairs of Islamabad’s educational institution.

The wing was initially a part of the education ministry, but was handed over to CADD following the 18th Amendment. Following the transfer of the wing back to the education ministry, CADD did not take any serious steps towards establishing its own curriculum wing.

However, CADD officially requested the prime minister to reverse the order that transferred the wing to the education ministry, but the request was turned down in March.

Sources said that, according to the rules, those CADD employees who were working in the curriculum wing should also have been transferred to the education ministry; however, those eight officials are still a part of CADD.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2015