CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN PAKISTAN:

CURRICULUM:

“A planned, intentional, gradual, and systematic process is described as curriculum development when it is used to make changes for the better in the educational system. The school curricula are impacted whenever changes or advancements take place in the globe.”

A system of education that had been created to produce literate labour to support the colonial rulers at lower levels of governmental and economic administration was passed down to Pakistan. Only the privileged few were intended to benefit from education; the masses were intended to be governed rather than served.

The emphasis was mostly on the arts in order to build an effective class of administration generalists. There was little professional and scientific education.

when America gained independence. With only a few educational institutions, 90% of Pakistan's population was illiterate. There were just two of the 21 universities in unbroken India that were located in Pakistan. Local organizations were in charge of running Pakistan's educational system from 1947 until 1955. Education became a provincial subject with the implementation of the one-unit programme. The Ministry of Education, part of the national government, was in charge of general policy and coordination. Six regional directorates for general education and two for technical education were in charge of administration. Four Boards governed the secondary and intermediate levels of schooling. Privately funded schools offered high-quality education to those who could afford it. Since the majority of these institutions were run by missionary organizations, British influence persisted.

A number of proposals were made at the First Educational Conference in Karachi, which took place in November 1947, with the goal of strengthening the educational system and making it more in line with the needs and ambitions of the nation. This includes declaring Urdu the official language, updating the curriculum, broadening the course offerings, requiring religious teaching, and creating the administrative framework. However, due to the current socio-political and economic circumstances, only a small portion of this expansive blueprint was really implemented.

Prior to 1958, no extensive educational reforms were made. A few uncoordinated adjustments were made that mostly dealt with primary and lower secondary curriculum issues. Higher education received very little focus. A few polytechnic and home economics courses were formed, and some technical courses were introduced in classes VI through X. . A thorough evaluation of education was attempted by the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the creation of a six-year development plan (1952–1958), but its execution was constrained by a shortage of funding. Although the six-year development plan's and the first five-year plan's goals and objectives were not substantially met, many of the concepts they contained were incorporated into succeeding changes.

Quite bold proposals were made by the New Education Policy of 1969 and the Education Reform of 1972. The importance of national and regional languages was emphasized, students and professors were encouraged to participate in running educational institutions, a university commission was called for, and reforms to the University Ordinance and the management of privately run schools were demanded.

It was also suggested to form a national literacy corps. In summary, the 1972 New Education Policy sought to completely overhaul the educational system. But for a number of reasons, this policy's execution was difficult. The nationalization of schools and universities caused a severe drop in educational standards and an unheard-of increase in education spending.

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A National Bureau of Curriculum and Syllabus and a National Textbook Board were established inside the Ministry of Education in February 1967 based on the suggestions of several committees. At first, the Bureau of Syllabus and Curricula was expected to perform the following duties:

(a) To coordinate the efforts of the provinces in order to develop common curricula and syllabus 

(b) to conduct comparative studies of curricula

(c) to ensure that the content of education is unified in all of the provinces so that the schools, colleges, and universities in the provinces produce graduates of more or less equal academic level, sharing common national outlook, and aspiring to common national goals;

(d) to identify issues, identify areas for study, set priorities for research, and create research projects:

(e) to consult with teachers, subject-area experts, and other people

(f) to host conferences and meetings; g) to create papers like reports.

The National Textbook Board's responsibilities were listed as follows:

(a) to establish a comprehensive national strategy guiding the creation and production of

textbooks.

(b) to periodically examine textbooks to ensure that they are up-to-date with changes that may occur;

 

(c) to make sure that the educational content is uniform and that academic progress at various educational levels, such as primary, secondary, etc., is roughly graded;

 

(d) Model textbooks up to per-university levels will be produced, while standard books on certain fields, such as Islamic textbooks, will be produced.

 

Process of Curriculum Development:

The stages of the curriculum development process that are typically followed in Pakistan, with a few minor exceptions, are as follows:

1.Identifying the purposes and objectives of education:

The first stage in developing a curriculum is to decide what the purposes and objectives of education are. The current educational policy, a Cabinet decision, or another policy statement by the President, Prime Minister, or Federal Minister for Education provide direction to curriculum developers in this regard;

 2. Established a number of committees by the Curriculum Wing

In accordance with the policy statement or policy guidelines, the Curriculum Wing of the Ministry of Education appoints two types of Committees at the national level, namely the National Committee on Secondary Education and the Primary Education each Subject Committee. These committees, which are made up of educators such as teachers, subject specialists, and administrators, outline additional educational goals for later input. The Curriculum Wing also conveys other policy directives to the Curriculum Research and Development Committees at the provincial level, as well as the objectives and goals of the aforementioned committees with regard to curriculum development.

3. Proposals from the Curriculum Bureau and CRDC 

The Curriculum Research and Development Centers and the Bureaus of Curriculum operating at the provincial levels take the necessary initiative, finalise their proposals while considering the overarching educational goals, the local situation, their research experience, etc., and send them to the National Committee on Secondary! Primary Education, as the case may be, for further processing:

 

1. The National Committees' processing

 

The relevant committee, either the secondary or primary level committee, receives the curriculum proposals from the provincial CRDCs and BCs, evaluates them in light of the overall educational goals, and then sends the curriculum proposals to the appropriate subject committee with its recommendations and observations. The primary/secondary level committee at the national level from which it had obtained it receives the entire package after the relevant subject committee has reviewed it.

The primary/secondary level committee working at the national level reevaluates the first suggestions and the subsequent recommendations and grants the curriculum its final approval.

Textbooks

Textbooks are a crucial component of instructional activities. In 1974, the Bureau of Curriculum and textbooks created a full-fledged textbook sector in acknowledgement of this function. Following are its primary goals:

 

1. To oversee the four Provincial Textbook Boards' activity;

2. To monitor the costs of textbooks produced by the boards;

3. Making ensuring that provincial textbooks adhere to organizational goals

4. and goals as outlined in the national curriculum; To uphold a uniform standard in textbook production and content

5.To show the boards how to lead by creating sample textbooks.

Production of Textbook

In Pakistan, four Provincial Textbook Boards are mostly in charge of producing textbooks. These Boards are independent businesses that are managed by the provincial department of education. The Federal Ministry of Education is where the process of producing textbooks for classes I through XII begins. The Federal Ministry creates study plans and develops curricula. The Boards and CRDCs receive the completed curricula so they can create the textbooks.

 

There are two main types of procedures used for textbook manuscript preparation. For the purpose of developing a textbook, some of the Boards assemble a group of authors and assign them various chapters. Others solicit written manuscripts in an open competition.

An expert group from the Boards reviews the manuscripts. For publication and prescription, the most excellent manuscript is chosen. Lessons and chapters are chosen from several manuscripts and the Board's own book in situations where no manuscript is available that meets the standards. The finalized document is submitted for approval to the Federal Ministry of Education.

 

A National Review Committee is created by the Ministry with the approval of the Provincial Education Departments for each subject area. The provinces, which are made up of topic specialists, curriculum developers, teachers, and other professionals, nominate candidates for the National Committee positions. In order to ensure that the textbooks accurately reflect the national curricula, the committees for each subject area review the relevant manuscripts. The Committee makes decisions in order of age, talent level, and grades. ensures that the distribution of the books is uniform and prevents overload. Also taken into consideration are price-cutting measures. The committees' reviewed manuscripts are returned to the boards for printing.

 

Private printers and publishers are hired to handle the printing and publication of the textbooks. These textbooks are distributed by private organizations. Publishers who offer these books through retailers are primarily based in major cities like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Hyderabad, and Quetta. Since the cost of the books must be kept to a minimum, the amount of the books' profit must also be kept to a minimum. The Textbook Boards precisely stipulate the minimum profits for publishers and the commission due to merchants.

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