ISLAMABAD: Terming the Single National Curriculum (SNC) a milestone to end disparity in the education system, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said on Sunday Prime Minister Imran Khan will officially launch the SNC on Monday (today).

Addressing a press conference at the Press Information Department (PID), the minister said that except Sindh the SNC had been launched from class I to 5 in public, private schools and seminaries.

“We are hopeful Sindh too will adopt SNC at a later stage. I will hold meetings with the education minister and the chief minister of Sindh soon,” he said. It is for the first time in the history of the country that the SNC has been prepared, which is indeed a great achievement of the PTI government, he said.

“Monday is going to be a highly auspicious day for the country as the prime minister will officially launch the SNC,” Mr Mahmood said, adding that all private, public schools and seminaries were bound to teach SNC-based books, which were available in markets.

Besides government publishers, private publishers have also been issued non-objection certificates for publishing the books.

He said that there are some challenges for proper implementation of SNC as new initiatives always face some resistance, adding that the government will overcome all the challenges.

The minister warned that action will be taken against those private schools which will not adopt the SNC-based books. He, however, said private schools and seminaries can teach students extra material/books of their choice but they can’t avoid the SNC-based books. The government is also mulling conducting special exams of class fifth in coming years to check implementations of the SNC.

He said that from next year the SNC would be introduced from class six to eight and then in 2023 from class nine to 12.

He said many challenges, which the country was facing, were a result of the disparity in the education system as a small group of students who got education in upscale schools got maximum chances of excelling while majority of students of public schools had no opportunity to shine because of the different education system.

The SNC, besides covering other aspects, also emphasised character building of students, promoting tolerance, nationalism, civic responsibilities etc. He said under the SNC Muslim students will be taught Nazra as a compulsory subject while they will also be taught about the life of the holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Similarly, the minister said, for the first time students of five sects of minorities will be taught books of their sects. To a query, the minister said he would ensure that there is no shortage of books in the markets. He said compared to others the SNC books were very cheap.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2021