Pakistan has received many National Education Policies so far. All of those had their own pros and cons. The current government of PTI in Pakistan too had its own vision regarding the education system of the country and the education policies.

For instance, their priorities regarding education included putting all the out of school children to schools, introducing a single national curriculum, a focus on technical and vocational education along with improving the quality of education. These priorities indeed are laudable. But, PTI so far has been successful in mapping out a plan for only one of these priorities out of four which is the introduction of a Single National Curriculum (SNC). And as a matter of fact this SNC when viewed critically raises a number of questions.

First of all, it seems like reversing the 18^thamendment according to which education was made a provincial subject making the provincial governments responsible for education and education related matters in the province. Now with the introduction of SNC education will no more be a provincial subject because the federal government seems to be leading it.

Furthermore, SNC seems to be aiming at eliminating the education apartheid. Education apartheid probably will be eliminated by introducing a single national education system and not a single national curriculum only. Because, the disparity between the rich and the poor will remain the same as no focus will be given to improving the overall condition of the schools that include infrastructure, proper furniture, quality textbooks, introducing new technology in the classrooms and the list goes on. Only SNC will not serve the purpose until and unless reforms are brought at a bigger and wider level. Students from elite and poor background will no doubt study the same curriculum but under highly different conditions which will augment the differences between the two social classes.

Moreover, it seems like SNC is being used as a tool for national integration. The amalgamation of modern as well as religious education is being viewed as an all inclusive approach. But it creates an impression of ignoring the minorities in the country as well as turning a blind eye towards the multilingualism that prevails in every province of the country. The introduction of a curriculum with a focus on religious education will definitely be a challenge for the religious minorities of the country. What alternative is provided for children other than Muslims? How are they going to deal with such a curriculum? On the other hand, the SNC is being introduced from grades I to V. The students in these grades undoubtedly are very young and given their linguistic backgrounds, particularly in Balochistan, it definitely is a challenge for them to learn English or any other new language at such an early stage. These are some important issues that must be kept in mind when it comes to the implementation of SNC.

Every new step taken or any new policy formed has its own pros and cons. But, the ones that go in maximum interest and favor of the general public should be implemented. So, the implementation of a single national curriculum must also be critically viewed and reviewed before it becomes a part of our education system.