Curriculum Reforms
Following the extensive media debate and academic reiteration on the need to update the curricula at all levels of education, the Government of Pakistan carried out measures in 2006 to improve the national curriculum for Pakistan Studies. These actions were based on the earlier studies and recommendations by the former University Grants Commission in 2001 and then later by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) in 2003 The new curriculum, for secondary and higher school certificates, was implemented from 2007 to include the political history from pre-partition to the modern times, international relations, evolution of the country's economy and demographics, diversity of regional cultures and languages, and the status of religious groups with specific reference to Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s views that he expressed at his speech of 11 August 1947. It also eliminates prejudice against non-Muslims, efforts have been made to exclude all such material that promotes prejudice against the non-Muslims of pre-partition India. Subsequently, the need was also realised to standardise the subject framework across the university degrees. As a result, in 2007, the Curriculum Division at the HEC revised the syllabus for the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Pakistan Studies. The new higher education course outline goes beyond the literature, politics, history and culture, and addresses the contemporary challenges of urbanisation, foreign policy and environment. The recommendations also imply the needs for training the teachers to improve their communication skills in accordance with the new structures.
Read more about this topic: Pakistan Studies, In Pakistan
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