ISLAMABAD: Students of grade 9 to 12 in the educational institutions of Islamabad will have a new curriculum as the education ministry has notified it.

Earlier, the curriculum notified in 2006 was in place.

“Secretary Ministry of Federal Education has been pleased to approve National Curriculum of Pakistan (NCP) for grades IX to XII for Urdu, English, Pakistan Studies, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science and Entrepreneurship and Islamiat (compulsory) XI & XII available at ncc.gov.pk to be implemented in all the public and private educational institutions of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and the educational institutions under federal government in the country,” read a notification dated June 14 which was issued on Thursday.

It said the curriculum of grade IX and XI will be implemented from the academic year 2024 and of X and XII classes from the academic year 2025.

Education ministry also issues roadmap for implementation of National Curriculum 2022-23

“This curricula shall be applicable to all categories of students unless notified separately for any particular category of students,” added the notification.

An official of the education ministry said the task of curriculum development for grade 9 to 12 was carried out in an inclusive manner. Relevant stakeholders were taken on board with all steps of curriculum development. An intensive consultation exercise was carried out with stakeholders, including policymakers, academics, practitioners, parents and students, from across Pakistan.

Meanwhile, a statement said for preparing the curriculum not only policy dialogues were conducted across Pakistan but also a number of curriculum workshops were held to take feedback from the concerned. Moreover, all concerned were also invited to share their feedback via an online portal.

After regional curriculum workshops in each province, a final workshop was held at NCC Secretariat Islamabad where nominated experts from all provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan signed off the curriculum for nine subjects.

The statement said in order to ensure the implementation of the curriculum, several meetings of the stakeholders were convened. After detailed deliberations, the curriculum has been notified for Islamabad Capital Territory and for the institutions under the federal ministries. Along with the notification, an implementation plan has also been issued.

It said provinces will review and notify the curriculum as per their laws. Explaining a roadmap for implementation of the National Curriculum 2022-23, the notification said it had three stages. In the first stage, by August 2023 development of the overall scheme of studies and development of assessment framework will be carried out.

In the second stage from August 2023 to Feb 2024, there would be assessment framework, examination syllabi, including table of specification, training of exam paper makers and paper checkers, training of teachers on formative assessment and in the third stage from August 2024 to April 2025, implementation in schools for grade IX and XI would be made followed by examinations by respective boards.

After all this exercise, there will be monitoring and evaluation of effective implementation.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2023