THIS refers to the article ‘Science report card’ (July 16) which criticised some parts of grade IV and V General Science book that is part of the Single National Curriculum 2020. Among other things, the article has argued that “without the concept of photosynthesis, pollination, and seed dispersal, etc., it is impossible to understand flow of energy in an ecosystem”. Is it possible to teach all such topics in grade IV? At the level of grade IV, we are not supposed to write biological terms, like ‘humerus’. We simply call it bone, and we should.

The writer has stressed that the number of muscles in the human body is over 650, and not 600 as mentioned in the book. It is intellectual dishonesty to omit the word ‘almost’ that the said book has prior to the number 600. Again, for the fourth graders, the concept of ‘desert’ means hot desert; not cold desert. So, yes, as mentioned in the book, Sahara is the largest desert.

Moving on, the ‘cell’ in detail is a part of curriculum for grade VI. For the fourth graders, only the word ‘cell’ has been introduced so that they may follow the text.

One can go on and on, really, and can answer every single argument raised in the said article, which basically fails to realise that a curriculum by its very nature is incremental in terms of introducing words and ideas.

Educationists must think, consult books, and study the curriculum before commenting or criticising a book. Apart from the authors, 10 highly qualified educationists had reviewed the books before they were finalised.

Prof (retd) Jawaid Mohsin Malik
Author, General Science,
Single National Curriculum 2020
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2021