Sindh declines to introduce Centre’s uniform syllabus

The Sindh government has decided against introducing a uniform syllabus devised by the federal government in the province and said that devising curriculum was a provincial prerogative. A meeting of the education department chaired by Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah reviewed a proposal to introduce a uniform syllabus across the country. Speaking during the meeting, Education Minister Saeed Ghani said that the federal government had conveyed them the contents of a syllabus to be introduced in the country. “They want a uniform curriculum in the country,” he said. During a briefing to the meeting, it was informed that the provincial syllabus carries a subject of social studies from grades six to eight. “However, the curriculum devised by the federal government has no subject of social studies,” it was informed. The meeting was told that the new provincial curriculum was devised as per the guidelines of effective learning skills. The provincial curriculum is far better and in accordance with modern-day needs as compared to the federal government’s uniform syllabus, said the chief minister, who also directed Saeed Ghani to draw a comparison between both the curriculums and submit a report to him. He said that the Sindh government would notify the new curriculum on its own as it is the province’s prerogative to devise a syllabus. It is pertinent to mention here that the federal government on March 19 announced that it has completed the first phase of its plan to implement uniform syllabus across the country as it prepared curriculum for classes upto fifth grade. Briefing Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding the implementation of uniform syllabus across the country, the education ministry apprised that the process involved a working group comprising professionals and experts along with assistance from academics in Cambridge and Agha Khan boards and LUMS. “The now-prepared curriculum until grade five will come into force from March 2021,” they said adding that the syllabus from grade six to eight would be finalized by March 2021 and would be enforced from March 2022. They further said that the uniform course outline from grades nine to 12 will be finalized by March 2022 and would come into force by March 2023.