Investing in Inclusion – Implementation of Pakistan Single National Curriculum 2021
CELL in partnership with Mensen met een Missie, organized a two-day high-level seminar on November 29-30, 2021, in Islamabad and Karachi.
Educational experts and planners, policymakers, and civil society representatives examined the educational reforms in Pakistan, within the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda - SDG 4, and in the context of the Istanbul Process, and with an emphasis on the design and implementation of the new Single National Curriculum (SNC 2020-21) in the country.
Local education experts, policy makers, academics and civil society representatives too stock of how the new Single National Curriculum addresses the challenges Pakistan faces towards Social Cohesion and National Integration, in particular, the state of Ethnic and Religious minorities in the country.
- The event brought together experts and stakeholders, from Pakistan and abroad, to assess how the SNC promotes social cohesion and national integration. In doing so, the participants, in a panel format, examined how the SNC addresses the inclusion of the ethnic/religious minorities and ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities (UN-SDG 4).
- Discussants and participants at the seminar also focused on the measures taken towards the inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities in the SNC, their marginalization and/or exclusion, and the impact of being included, or marginalized, and/or excluded, on the minds of children and youth, key challenges, and good practices as proposed in the SNC in this critical domain.
- Panelists discussed policy and practice agenda on narrating the ethnic/religious minorities in the history, social studies, and religious textbooks and gained feedback from participating experts, policymakers, and researchers and representatives of religious and ethnic minorities in the education field.
- Submissions have been solicited for papers from Pakistani and internationally renowned experts in education, human rights, legal authorities, and policymakers. These papers are available on the event digital platform www.educationandinclusion.eu formed the basis for panel discussions at the seminar.
- Discussants Identified effective ways to gain maximum impact on educational policy and practice in Pakistan, as a contribution to the Istanbul Process, and provided an in-depth analysis of how the SNC takes into account the United Nations Sustainable Agenda SDG 4. Findings from the seminar will be used to design similar analytical educational events in other countries where inclusive curricula and education remain a contentious issue.