Reforming the curriculum

Reforming the curriculum
At long last the new coalition government has found time to address some basic issues which have been crying for attention. The other day the federal education minister presided over a meeting of all the provincial textbook boards to review the development of textbooks under the new curriculum. He also used the occasion to ask all the participants to give their expert opinion within three weeks on the draft of the education policy prepared by the Shaukat Aziz government. One hopes that our education planners will show seriousness of purpose and the commitment to reform the education system in such a way that academic standards are raised and education becomes accessible to every child in Pakistan. One also hopes that the policies which are formulated are implemented in good faith and do not remain on paper only. This calls for an effective monitoring system to ensure that public sector educational institutions actually function and the money earmarked for them is used judiciously and is not embezzled.

An issue that came up for discussion at the meeting in Islamabad was the curriculum that always emerges as a matter of profound concern for every new government that assumes office in Pakistan. This is not strange considering that policymakers have treated education as a political tool to promote the interest of the government and not of the country. Thus the curricula under Ziaul Haq's and Nawaz Sharif's governments were loaded with a heavy ideological content seeking to inculcate 'Islamic beliefs' in the students and to make 'good Muslims' out of them, leading to the growth of religious extremism. After 9/11, there was a lot of rethinking on the issue and the policy draft that is under consideration speaks of the curriculum being objective-driven and focusing on learning outcomes rather than content. The main aim is defined as developing the capacity for self-directed learning, the spirit of enquiry, critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork, none of which is questionable. Also to be lauded is the suggestion to ensure the creation of awareness and knowledge of citizens' rights, the environment and reproductive health. These guidelines are a vast improvement over the earlier curricula, so long as emphasis is added on cognitive, emotional and social development as had been envisaged in a concept paper on the national curriculum prepared eight years ago by some experts for the ministry of education. Of course a lot would depend on how these principles are translated into the syllabus and the textbooks. Dawn