7.1 PROCESS OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN PAKISTAN

In Pakistan, curriculum, syllabus, planning, policy centers of excellence and standards of education are on the concurrent list of the Constitution of Pakistan. The Federal Ministry of Education has been empowered through the Federal Supervision of Curricula.

The 1976 Act of Parliament authorized the Ministry of Education (MOE) to appoint competent authorities to perform the following Curriculum-related functions:

• In connection with the implementation of the education policy of the Federal Government of Pakistan (GOP), prepare or commission: schemes for dies; curricula, textbook manuscripts and strategic scules for their introduction in various classes of educational institutions.
• Approve manuscripts of textbooks produced by other agencies, before they are prescribed in various classes of an educational institution.
• Direct any person or agency in writing (within a specified period) to delete, amend or withdraw any portion, or the whole, of a curriculum, textbook or reference material prescribed for any class of an educational institution.

A Central/National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks (NBCT, commonly known as the Curriculum Wing) was appointed to supervise curriculum and textbooks development/approval and to maintain curriculum standards from the primary through to the higher secondary levels.