THIS refers to the report “Aitchison gets ‘warning’ for not implementing SNC” (Sept 8) wherein Aitchison College has been warned for not implementing the Single National Curriculum (SNC) by the Punjab government.

First, instead of calling it SNC, it should be called the Single Provincial Curriculum (SPC) as it is being implemented in only one province. It is indeed a good step for the sake of uniformity in curriculum and equality.

But has anyone thought of the lower social classes? What about those who have to struggle to make ends meet? What about the children of the underprivileged who even do not go to schools and are deprived of their basic right to education.

The government needs to understand that before implementing these steps, it should focus on the children who are deprived of their basic right otherwise this step will end up in another fiasco.

With an estimated 22.8 million children out of school, Pakistan has the world’s second highest number of out-of-school children, according to the Unicef. Those children represent 44 per cent of the total population aged 5-16 years in the country.

The government, especially the ministry of education, must think of these children who cannot afford to go to school.

More importantly, the government should work with the provincial governments to improve the quality of education in government-run schools and start awareness campaigns about the importance of education among the parents who do not send their children to schools for various reasons.

This has led to the menace of child labour in our society. When the children do not go to school, their parents make them take up odd jobs owing to financial issues. As a result, these children often get involved in crimes.

This increases the crime rate. The government should impose heavy fines and take action against individuals and outlets hiring children.

It is only by focussing on increasing the literacy rate in the country that we may hope to have meaningful social reforms.

Ghaneem Irfan Warraich
Sialkot

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2021