Single National Curriculum and teaching certain subjects in Urdu

The federal Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, recently launched a Single National Curriculum (SNC), where the vision indicated as ‘One system of Education for all, in terms of curriculum, medium of instruction and a common platform of assessment so that all children have a fair and equal opportunity to receive high quality education. Single National Curriculum is a step in that direction.’ The Ministry indicated that it had reached the SNC after consultation with various stakeholders, including all the federating units. The effort to reach a curriculum that allowed equal opportunity to all students in the country is indeed welcome, and something to be celebrated.

Having said that, the goal of any curriculum is to allow students to reach optimal opportunities, and all steps should align with this objective. Sadly, the current curriculum falls short on this account. Moreover, for national cohesion and a sense of one national uniform identity, it is indeed essential to teach the national language, in our case Urdu, to our students. It is also important to dismantle the colonial mindset that societies inherit from their colonial times, and as an ‘affected society’ more than the colonial language itself, in our case English, emulate their lifestyle as superior to our own. But in our case, this need not mean teaching subjects like science, social studies for instance, as is being indicated under SNC that would be taught in Urdu, and not in English, because optimal knowledge of these subjects, the subject vocabulary one needs to gain to reach out knowledge at the global level, all require these being taught in the language that allows this; which in this case is English. On the other the informal institutional determinants like imparting better analytical capabilities to augment mental constructs in students to allow them to reach better cognition of religion, national identity, customs, and culture.

So while it is important for reaching national cohesion and a sense of Pakistani identity, and in turn breaking the affected mindset with roots in superiority complex imbibed from colonial times, to bring better understanding of Islam, and other religions to their followers respectively, since the core of all religions is based on universally shared ethics, it is also important to not create another inequality of opportunity for national students, whereby by not studying these subjects in English, they will not be able to access information, knowledge, research skills that require knowing this language, and the underlying subject vocabulary.

While it is important that religious education is being emphasized in the SNC, and that it rightfully creates an educational environment that brings uniformity of national identity, and greater national cohesion, it is also important that subjects are taught in the language that allow students to reach educational objectives in the highest optimal way. Policies that last are open to reflection and revision for the betterment. It is, therefore, hoped that the SNC will truly work as a living document, and the concerned authorities will internalize the above arguments in the same positive light, to create healthy discussion, and timely revision of the SNC in this direction. 

Moreover, one of the concerns that are being addressed in SNC is to allow equal opportunities to all students, where previously Urdu-medium schools were taught sciences and social studies in Urdu, which did not enable them to gain knowledge, articulation, and needed sense of critical thinking, given the literature in Urdu is neither deep in terms of research, nor wide in terms of global foot-print to allow this, so that is why it was important to bring them at par with those studying in English-medium schools.

Even switching to these subjects being taught in English in higher classes will not be the same in terms of needed preparedness of students, when compared with those who study a certain subject in the most desirable language from the very beginning, in enabling such preparedness. Is it optimal to teach students in Urdu, subjects like science, geography, economics, among others, during their formative years when learning capabilities are the highest in terms of cognition and mental constructs, and then would have to unlearn or amend a lot of these subjects— both content and vocabulary— into English, given more optimal knowledge standards and research literature in that language for higher standards?

So, while the spirit of SNC is right to remove this disparity of opportunity, the direction it has taken is the opposite to what it should take— that is towards transitioning the Urdu-medium schools to the level where they can also study the needed subjects in English. In addition, the Ministry should continue to revise upwards the overall standards so that the subjects being taught are up to date in terms of knowledge levels reached globally.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan urged English language be learnt — and not the ways of English in terms of culture and personal identity—  so that modern knowledge in subjects where English provided such knowledge and skills, more so than any other language, could be reached at and utilised for finding solutions both at the global level, making contributions to resolving global problems, and with regard to finding solutions of indigenous problems in the light of that knowledge. And the first best way to approach such subjects like science, geography, among others, is to learn them from the very beginning in that language. Switching later on will always hold the less optimal outcome for students in terms of learning, articulation, and critical thinking and innovation, and will not overall allow Pakistani students to be at par with others who studied from the earliest level of their education. SNC should aspire for transitioning all students, from their initial base in terms of private schools, government schools and ‘madaris’.

So, while it is important that religious education is being emphasized in the SNC, and that it rightfully creates an educational environment that brings uniformity of national identity, and greater national cohesion, it is also important that subjects are taught in the language that allow students to reach educational objectives in the highest optimal way. Policies that last are open to reflection and revision for the betterment. It is, therefore, hoped that the SNC will truly work as a living document, and the concerned authorities will internalize the above arguments in the same positive light, to create healthy discussion, and timely revision of the SNC in this direction.