ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Prof Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday asked the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to submit a PC-I for the establishment of a state-of-art Teacher Training Institute in the capital.
The minister made these remarks while chairing a roundtable on the Inclusive National Curriculum organised by the Ministry of Planning Commission. The roundtable was attended by several experts in the field of education who shared ideas with the minister.
“The Planning Commission will give you a development budget for the Teacher Training Institute in Information and Communication Techno-logies (ICT) which is the dire need of the hour,” the minister said.
He said that curriculum reforms are much needed because growth and innovation in education lead to progress. He said that education has been a core agenda to bring Pakistan on the trajectory of economic development.
The minister further said that National Curriculum Reform was launched under Vision 2025 and in this regard, the National Curriculum Council was also established. However, he said that the previous government made the reform of the national curriculum “controversial”.
Iqbal further added that four important things need to be addressed immediately which include curriculum reforms, teacher training, examination, and madrassa reforms. In 2014, the above projects were initiated as part of Vision 2025, said the minister while highlighting the key initiatives taken by him in 2013.
After the devolution of education under the 18th Amendment, efforts were made to structure an interprovincial educational forum and a national curriculum council to address the imbalance in various boards of education, he added while reiterating that the Planning Ministry is here to create a curriculum that reforms the teacher, student and the examination system.
The minister emphasised that children must be able to conduct self-evaluation so that they make the right choices as a result of the updated curriculum. He said that the problem facing Pakistan is that curriculum reform efforts were disrupted by the instability in policies.
He said that the National Curriculum of Pakistan was made to bring a consensus on the curriculum and it should correlate with international standards. There should be a consensus on what is curriculum and how should it impact the personality of a student, remarked the minister.
He said that observation and reflection are ordained by religious scriptures and this should not be shunned in the face of dogma. The questioning should not be discouraged, it is what has led to the death of creativity and innovation in our students, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023