MUCH has been critiqued and discussed about the single national curriculum (SNC) in mainstream and social media. Now a formal approval has been accorded by the authorities to execute it from grade I to V in all government and private-sector schools across the country from March this year.
Like all previous curriculum reforms and policies, the SNC has been designed, developed and documented to unify the country’s diversified education system.
However, the actual problem arises at the grassroots level where preparation, motivation, capacity and availability of logistical and material resources are lacking and the implementation of SNC might even be resisted at that level by some other education systems.
More significantly, it is the teachers who implement the curriculum by delivering pedagogical knowledge in the classroom where the children and teachers have close interaction during the process of teaching-learning.
Furthermore, research studies argue that effective learning occurs when teachers efficiently immerse themselves in their job description, like in unit planning, lesson planning, instruction, and assessment, to influence students’ learning outcomes desirably.
But is the SNC confined to textbook knowledge only? So far, the answer is ‘yes’.
The definitions of curriculum reveal that it is more than textbooks as it encapsulates teachers’ capacity to deliver the explicit and implicit curriculum along with the logistics and the availability of other resources for its smooth execution.
Moreover, the administrative hierarchy, including the secretary of education, divisional directors, and district education officers, is responsible for ensuring the implementation of SNC in a befitting manner across all schools through proper monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
The officers at higher positions should know curriculum designing, development, evaluation and implementation processes and procedures as they have to observe classroom demo and share constructive feedback with teachers.
Finally, before implementing the SNC, it would be better to launch capacity-building programmes for teachers, principals, administrators and parents at provincial and district levels to give them a proper orientation regarding SNC dynamics.
Allocation and mobilisation of financial and material resources are equally important in the entire process. Otherwise, like previous curriculum reforms and policies, the existing status quo will prevail in schools, and the SNC will remain a dream.
Karim Muhammad Khan
Gilgit
Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2021
