The academic school year will begin from August this year, Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood said on Twitter.
Replying to another user on the popular micro-blogging site, Shafqat agreed that all school years should begin from August as the students can return with a fresh mind after the summer break.
A different user claimed that the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) had refused to give no-objection certificates (NOCs), to which the education minister replied: “We have given instructions that NOCs should be given expeditiously.”
In reply to another question, he said that private schools are free to use any textbook that is in conformity with the Single National Curriculum (SNC) and has a NOC from the provincial government.
A day earlier, Shafqat had announced that the country will adopt the SNC from the next academic year.
The announcement had been made through the official Twitter account of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, wherein the ministry had stated that it has developed the SNC with consultation from the relevant stakeholders for grades pre-1 to 5 and that this “shall be followed by all public and private schools across the country from next academic year”.
According to the ministry, under the directives from the federal minister for education, the new year “would start now in August 2021 due to extension in examination dates to be held in May/June and also prolonged school closures in the academic year of 2020”.
Furthermore, the ministry had said that a letter was sent to all provincial and area governments regarding the Textbook Policy under the unified curriculum.
It had stated that publishers are “allowed to develop these textbooks aligned with SLOs prescribed by SNC” and that they will require a no-objection certificate (NOC) by the provincial textbook boards so that they may “check any inclusion of anti-Pakistan, anti-religion, and any other hate material”.
Meanwhile, the textbook boards have been advised to “exercise due diligence to ensure that private publishers are producing textbooks in line with the objectives and contents of SNC”.
