SNC and shrinking provincial policy space
While the PTI's education policy boasted of a sixpoint 'Education Emergency Plan' which included an increase in education funding from 2.1 percent of GDP to 5 percent, investment in teacher training and information and communication technology, and re-engineering of governance based on complete decentralization and de-politicization, in practice the ruling party has focused on only one of its points - to impose a uniform system of education for all with the same medium of instruction, same curriculum and same assessments.
This was pursued relentlessly by peddling false narratives of an 'educational apartheid' that posited elite private schools as perpetuating class inequality in society - an analysis which is not only flawed in theory but also dangerous in practice as it reflects a lack of understanding of how a classbased society originates and also shows the deliberate deflection of the state's responsibility on to private entities.
A class-based society originates when the means of production and wealth are unequally held. Confusing 'equality' with 'homogenization' is a disservice to education and promotes incorrect narratives to extend 'control' over what is taught to the students. 'Sameness' does not automatically mean 'quality'. There is a need to recognize that children have different learning needs and require a system that is flexible, inclusive and accommodative, instead of the one that limits their options.
Making the curriculum identical will not eliminate the economic inequalities. The sham of the 'uniformity is equal to egalitarianism argument' is further evident in the fact that the new curriculum leaves co-curricular activities, including drama, sports, arts etc, out of its ambit and places them in the sphere of schools which will each have different resources and so the stated equality will still not be achieved. Therefore, the claim that 'one nation, one curriculum' would equalise and get rid of the education apartheid without first fixing the economic inequalities is false and misleading. Indeed, uniformity of thought and ideas at the expense of diversity is an indicator of the concentration of power in a few hands and not of a democratic polity.
The idea of 'one nation, one curriculum' is in itself exclusionary as it envisages a unitary and singular idea of 'nation'. Pakistan, however, is the sum total of the various ethnic, linguistic, gender and other minorities that make up our beautiful and culturally rich country. A single majoritarian curriculum may lead to their suppression and erasure when their voice is not represented in the books that are based on a single curriculum with the aim to promote one and not the others.
Not only do children have the right to study and learn about their culture, language, history, people, they also have different learning needs and require a system that is flexible, inclusive and accommodative, instead of the one that limits their options. The SNC is silent on the needs of such diverse groups of children, including those who may be differentlyabled, are ostracized or belong to a minority. In terms of learning objectives in general also, the curriculum is very heavy and contradictory, requiring children to adopt the project-based learning methods on one hand and on the other, to continue the practice of rote-memorisation. The increased syllabus and ideological focus of the curriculum will further lead to the alienation of students from learning.
Parents' right to choose the kind of education they want for their children is a fundamental human right as per Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Further, Article 18 (4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) binds state parties to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions. Not only does the SNC fail to take account of this choice, in effect it actually takes this right away from the parents.
The SNC creates implications for the publishing industry as well, subjecting it to an arbitrary three-tier review process to acquire NOC for books which must be in line with the SNC. This reduces diversity of learning resources and adds to the cost and time of production of books. The ultimate loss is of the students, who will have limited access to learning materials, especially those that are diverse and independent. This kind of control over books and curriculum goes directly against any effort to decentralise and depoliticise governance in education and, in fact, brings education even more directly under the scrutiny and control of political and bureaucratic offices.
Perhaps, the most alarming impact of the SNC is the bad precedent it sets in terms of recentralising, on a de-facto basis, what is otherwise a provincial subject after the 18th Amendment of the constitution. It appears that, unlike the Sindh government, which has outright rejected the SNC, the government of Punjab has played an insincere role as regards the policy domain of the province and has regrettably chosen to 'concur' and follow the directions, the model books and curriculum prepared by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, which it had no constitutional mandate to prepare in the first place.