ISLAMABAD: It seems a missive from Pakistan’s federal Ministry of Education has been lost as a letter to chief ministers of all the four provinces, Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan region, inviting recommendations on formation of a national curriculum commission has received no replies since it was sent in July 2013.
Minister of State for Education Balighur Rehman has reiterated the need for such a commission in order to develop “uniformity” and “cohesion” within the country’s curriculum.
Following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, passed in 2010, neither the ministry nor its orders are given weight by the federal or provincial governments after dozens of ministries were devolved to the provinces.
In November 2011, the Supreme Court maintained that under Article 25-A of the Constitution, the federal government could not absolve itself of the responsibility of providing education.
The inter-provincial Council of Common Interests (CCI) renamed the Ministry of Education as the Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education in June 2013, the third time the ministry’s name has been changed since its establishment in July 2011.
Legislators like Pakistan Peoples Party’s Raza Rabbani and the Awami National Party’s Afrasiab Khattak, proponents of the 18th Amendment, have opposed the existence of a ministry of education at the federal level.
A summary outlining the ministry’s possession and control of educational institutes in the capital has yet to receive a response.
Internews
