So what did the half-baked Single National Curriculum do to the education system of Punjab?
For a minute, if you take the educational system of Punjab as a locomotive then what happened after the federal government formed the Single National Curriculum document is nothing less than “The Great Train Robbery!”
But before I begin to unfold in front of you this thriller, let me assure you of a few things:
1. Every word of this story is correct. And I am ready to standby the authenticity of the events in any court of law
2. All the story characters (their names have been changed to safeguard their privacy as none, except for one, are still playing an active role in this whole process) are very well-intentioned people. They are middle-class, patriotic, good Muslims with families of their own.
3. Last but not least, I have no personal vendetta against anyone. Not the individuals involved nor the government of the time. I had the privilege of serving as an educational advisor to the same government at the provincial level, which I did pro bono (without any financial reward).
So here is the story of “The Great Train Robbery of Punjab’s Education System”
Not long ago in the Capital of Pakistan in the Office of the National Curriculum Council was sitting a very well-intentioned bureaucrat. He had taken a long time coming up with a document that is now famous as The Single National Curriculum (SNC). The purpose of this document was to fulfil a promise during a political campaign: One nation, one curriculum.
Did he come up with a document that could fulfil the needs of everyone? Will it serve the purpose of preparing students for the challenges of the 21 century? Were all the stakeholders taken on board? And finally, did he form a council of intellectuals for this purpose? We leave these questions for the researchers and get back to our story.
However, one thing is for sure, there were many who were not satisfied with the newly penned SNC and they were using every mouthpiece to disseminate their dissent. But this well-intentioned gentleman of ours had no option but to ignore all the opposing comments as he had little time left till his retirement, therefore, he wanted to see this tree fruit before that!
So this Bureaucrat (we will call him Ex as he is retired now) had an issue on hand, the implementation of the SNC, which of course is a daunting challenge in Pakistan, considering the fact that education falls under the provincial domain as per the 18th amendment of the constitution of Pakistan.
But like the Pharaoh of the movie Ten Commandments had said, “So let it be written, so let it be done,” the plan was hatched to get it implemented in the shortest possible time. Now here is the catch. A curriculum document itself, no matter how well crafted, is like an egg in the basket; you need to get it hatched!
In other words, it has to be turned into, you guessed it, books. The syllabus is the best friend of any Pakistani school, public or private. And that’s what our Ex went on to do. The idea was simple: Hatch the SNC with model books. Shove these model books into the providential textbook boards, and they will copy the same, and, walla, you have SNC implemented instantly.
Looks good, right? Wrong. You see, provinces had their textbook boards that came up with their school books, and they were doing it for decades without any interference from the Capital. Hence, they looked at all this with bewilderment.
Before we move on, let me ask you: have you listened to the lyrics of Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler? Here is part of it, where the old gambler shares his experience with a younger one, who he has just met on a train journey:
You’ve got to know when to hold’em
Know when to fold’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done
Listen to the complete here:
Unfortunately, in our story, there wasn’t an experienced gambler insight to advise the government to “fold em'” by blaming it on the 18th. Instead, they charged.
From here, the events unfold as quickly as the landscape changes in front of you on a roller coaster.
Our Ex formed teams of writers to write model textbooks. To keep the story short, we focus on the work of the pre-primary (before grade one) team.
The NCC decided to squeeze two years of pre-primary into one.
The hunt for writers started who could get it done in six months. I repeat: Write three books (English, Urdu and Maths) that would cover two years of pre into one and do it all in six months.
There were none available. Finally, our Ex got hold of a writer, but there was a problem: the Lady had worked for a couple of ‘School Chains’ developing books for selected urban areas. In other words, she had no experience of developing school books for a country as culturally and economically diverse as Pakistan.
She was given a room at the council’s office with no resources, and when she requested reference materials, they told her to arrange on her own. “We thought you had it all with you,” they said.
Now let’s run down the whole situation: here you have a lady with no experience of writing books for an entire nation, has been asked to write three books, which will cover two years of pre-school, and she has no resources. So what happens next?
We will tell you in a minute, but before that, we take you to the educational department of Punjab, where an enthusiastic and well-intentioned educational minister is waiting to implement the will of his political leader. We will call him “Doc” because that’s what he claims to be.
The Doc declared, “The SNC implemented in all its spirit in the province of Punjab. In other words, all other books would be considered null and void, except for the ones that match the SNC.” And now, he was anxiously waiting for the model books from Islamabad that could be then printed as Punjab textbooks. Moreover, he clarified that private publishers would be asked to publish the same book to acquire a NOC from the provincial government.
In addition, all private schools had to use books with a NOC; otherwise, their school registration was to be cancelled.
Meanwhile, in Islamabad, we had good news! Considering the daunting task of creating pre-books in six months, our Ex appointed an advisor to support Lady, the writer.
Like our Lady, this newly appointed advisor had worked as a coordinator in some reputable private schools of Pakistan. However, she had an additional qualification: A lonely certificate of short course from the Harvard University in Early Childhood Education. Oh, did we tell you that this certification was about “Designing Playing Areas for Children?”
So there you have it: The whole system of education of Punjab, waiting for model books to arrive from Islamabad. Our Lady will design the books in six months with some help from an advisor who has a certificate in designing playing….., oh, never mind; you got the picture.
So the books were made by compiling ideas from various sources because there was hardly any time to do any original research work. Evidently, without any research work, you can’t meet the needs of the local population, and that gap was natural in the books developed.
Once the model books were developed, the review committee members (read interest groups) came to scrutinize and request some additions. One after another, things were deleted and added, and finally, the books ended up as a blend of many topics and concepts without any clear scope or sequence.
For the first time in the history of curriculum development, one chapter of primary classes had no less than ten student learning outcomes assigned to it. Naturally, it was not possible to cover each SLO in one chapter. Therefore, most chapters had ‘one liner’ to protect an SLO.
Furthermore, instead of asking the writers to develop the lesson planners and teacher’s guides, the contract of our Lady writer and the advisor is not extended. Today, one is working for the private sector, and the other has just landed a job in some government department after months of unemployment). Instead, making teachers guides is assigned to an organization in Karachi that Never met the writers.
Once this mixture of ideas reached Punjab, it was taken as the holy grail of education. For the Doc, it was not written; instead, it was revealed. Private publishers had no liberty to do their research work; to get NOC, they had to copy the model books (with the freedom to change artworks).
Overnight, years of research work done by the research departments of private publishers went down the drain. Researchers and writers were laid out, and the whole educational development industry went into a deep slumber in the province of Punjab.
Meanwhile, in government schools, educators could not fathom these new textbooks. One three-hour online workshop was the only training they received to get hold of the new syllabi, which was not enough.
Meanwhile, in Sindh, where SNC is not implemented, the innovation corridors in curriculum development remain wide open. New books and knowledge found their way into schools (at least in private once).
One clear piece of evidence was the recently held 16th International Book Fair in Karachi, where the SNC books hardly caught any attention. At the same time, new approaches toward curriculum were much in demand.
And, so ends the story of the Great Train Robbery of the Punjab education system. I would finish it with a piece from Shakeel Badayoni’s Ghazal:
Mera azzam itna azeem hai, kay paraye sholon ka durr nahi
Mujhhe durr tu aatashe gul say hai
Yeh chaman kahen woh jala na day
My will is so strong that I am not afraid of the foe
I am scared of the beauty of the flower,
For it might burn the whole garden
All is not lost, and a silver lining appears on the horizon. At the time of the writing of this blog, the new Head of the National Curriculum Council has started to review the Single National Curriculum on modern lines. Here are a few reasonable steps she has taken:
1. They are taking into account the work done by some of the leading curriculum development organizations of the world, including The Common Core Standards.
2. Instead of model books developed by the government, she has asked the public to come forward with their manuscripts for the textbooks. Indeed, this one step has created a culture of authorship in Pakistan. Surely more thinkers and seasoned writers are planning to present the government with their manuscripts now than ever before. Undoubtedly, this will create an ecosystem of innovation and creativity in Pakistan.
EndNote: EAST is glad to inform you that our researchers develop textbooks after lots of researching and thinking. Moreover, our syllabus is based on Common Core Standards while incorporating Single National Curriculum along with Muslim values.
- Listen to the complete ghazal of Shakeel Badayoni, click here: https://youtu.be/XYgG6SiX7ZE
- To watch the 1903 original movie from where the title of this blog is taken, click here: https://youtu.be/In3mRDX0uqk.
- To watch Ten Commandments, click here: https://youtu.be/2uU9qeFFQ90
- To visit the National Curriculum Council of Pakistan, click here: http://www.mofept.gov.pk/Detail/
- To see common core standards, visit their website here: www.corestandards.org.
- To see EAST educational standards, click here: https://east.education/student-learning-outcomes-slos/