Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood on Wednesday said that curriculum throughout Pakistan’s educational institutions on primary level would be unified by 2021.

He was speaking at a national conference on “Unified National Curriculum And Our Educational System” organised here at Faisal Masjid Campus by Iqbal Institute for Research and Dialogue (IRD) of International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI).

The federal Minister for Education and Professional Training said that government, through its National Curriculum Council, has prepared a unified curriculum at primary level.

He added that now in a national conference on March 19 various aspects such as language of curriculum, its application and teachers’ training will be deliberated.  He said the ministry was also working over preparation of textbooks in the light of newly prepared unified curriculum which will be adopted across the country by 2021 at primary level.

The conference was also addressed by Rafiq Tahir, Joint Secretary Education, who apprised about the initiative of unified curriculum taken by Ministry of Education. He briefed about various steps, details of preparation, deliberations and various stages in this regard.

Khalid Rehman, Executive President , Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) spoke on knowledge, its sources and importance of education. Rector IIUI, Dr Masoom Yasinzai said that Government’s vision on education was as limpid as water and it would bring a remarkable improvement in the landscape of education.

He stressed that unified curriculum was the ultimate solution to bring a unity among all the classes of society. He elaborated that universities can play vital role in training of teachers and a policy in this regard can help in bringing improvements. He also hailed the institutions those had been providing education to the youth blended with educational values and teachings.

Prof Dr Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiweesh, President, IIUI also participated in the conference. The one-day event was also addressed by Khurshid Nadeem, Maulana Zahid Al-Rashdi, Dr Sameena Malik, Zeeshan Abbasi, Dr Ikramul Haq and faculty members of IIUI.