ISLAMABAD: A national curriculum for grades 9 to 12 has been prepared and endorsed by experts belonging to all provinces and federating units and now it will be presented to the education minister for final approval.

The national curriculum from classes 1 to 8 is already being implemented in provinces except for Sindh. However, this time round for classes 9 to 12, Sindh’s experts also endorsed the curriculum and it is believed from the next academic session, students (from 9 to 12) will have books published inline with the new curriculum.

“Today is a big day for the country as all provinces and federating units have agreed to the curriculum for classes 9 through 12,” said Federal Secretary of Education Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry. This is a minimum standard and provinces could add more to this curriculum as per their requirements and get the textbooks published, he added.

An official of the education ministry said the said agreed-upon curriculum (for 9 to 12) will be placed before the National Curriculum Council (NCC) meeting to be chaired by Education Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain today (Thursday) for final approval.

Council to give approval today as all provinces, federating units reach consensus

“Then, in Islamabad, the process of publishing books will be started and provinces after getting formal approval from their competent forums will also start publishing books,” said the official.

He said that since the Sindh government had endorsed the curriculum for secondary and higher secondary schools, there are chances they will probably adopt the curriculum for other classes as well, he said.

National Curriculum of Pakistan

The Single National Curriculum (SNC) was started by the PTI government and was launched at the primary level.

However, the incumbent government last year changed the name of SNC to the National Curriculum of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the current government took steps to bring improvement to the curriculum and prepared the curriculum for grades 9-12. “(NCC) Secretariat achieved a historic milestone today as provincial representatives from across Pakistan signed off on the National Curriculum for Grades 9 through 12,” said a press release issued by the Ministry of Education.

It said that this marks the first time in Pakistan’s history that a core curriculum has been finalised for the entire nation, including early childhood education and grades 1 to 12. NCC Director Dr Mariam Chughtai expressed her sincere gratitude to the provincial focal persons who played an instrumental role in facilitating this nationwide curriculum reform.

The sign-off was achieved after the successful conclusion of the 3rd Inter Provincial Curriculum Workshop, where the curriculum for all core subjects for Grades 9-12, including Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, Urdu, Islamiat, Pakistan Studies, and Computer Science, was finalised.

The press release said that the NCC Secretariat conducted extensive engagements across the country to gather feedback from all parts of Pakistan. Additionally, a feedback portal on the NCC website provided a platform for written feedback from the wider public. Representatives from the public and private sectors, non-profit organizations, and madrassas were also included in the feedback process, ensuring a collaborative approach to curriculum reform.

“This landmark achievement reflects the NCC Secretariat’s commitment to creating a transparent and inclusive curriculum that caters to the needs and aspirations of all students across Pakistan. It is a momentous step towards a brighter future for all children in the country,” the press release claimed.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023