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827 - 1 Autumn 2018 PDF
827 - 1 Autumn 2018 PDF
Q.1 Describe the aims of secondary education in the context of 21st century skill.
What are the policy (2009) recommendations for the skilled based education at
secondary level?
Answer:
Over the past several decades, there has been increased demand for formal education to
include the development of generic skills as well as traditional academic subjects, i.e., to
include competencies for ways of thinking, ways of working, tools for working, and skills for
living. These skills for today’s rapidly changing society, such as communication, problem
solving, collaboration, and critical thinking, are being acknowledged increasingly all over the
world. The big challenge, however, is knowing how to support and teach these skills in
teach the skills and show how students have benefited from the process, countries are
selecting a variety of paths to explore optimal models. For example, the “Singapore Swiss
Roll” approach, which is starting to be implemented across the core curriculum, adopts a
value-centric framework that incorporates 21st century competencies, including civic literacy,
global awareness, and cross-cultural skills; critical and inventive thinking; communication,
collaboration and information skills; as well as social and emotional competencies. Syllabi
provided by the Ministry of Education offer guiding principles for the variety of teaching
approaches that teachers can implement to enhance learning. Australia’s national curriculum
of 2010 identified seven general capabilities, which teachers are expected to integrate
throughout their teaching. They are guided by online resources provided by the Australian
Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority.
In Costa Rica, with the understanding that the education system needs to progress to
respond to the changing demands for skills, the National Development Plan for 2015-2018
and a new curriculum being rolled out in 2018, aims to emphasize the development and
application of key 21st century skills and attitudes, such as socioemotional, communication,
critical thinking, citizenships, and problem solving. Similarly, Kenya is currently developing
their new competency-based curriculum, which is designed to integrate seven competencies
development.
they adopt or integrate “21st century skills”, was to undertake in-depth research into the
nature and development of the skills themselves. If we don’t understand what skills actually
“look like” as children and adolescents at different levels of competence demonstrate them,
then expecting our subject-based and trained teachers to teach them is an unfair impost at
best and destined for failure at worst. We have historically taught children based on
curricula—roadmaps to learning. These curricula have outlined the substance of what is to be
taught, sequences to follow to ensure movement from the simple to complex, and
expectations about the quality of anticipated student performance or knowledge.
Where are the curricula for skills? Surely, in order for teachers and students to know what
simple forms of communication through to sophisticated look like, they need a roadmap.
This roadmap then provides the guidelines for how educators can integrate development of
student skills within existing and reform subject-based curricula. Creation of these roadmaps
like and how to elicit or stimulate performance so that we know what the individual is ready
to learn.
What are the policy (2009) recommendations for the skilled based education at
secondary level:
1. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2009 (“the Policy”) comes in a series of education
policies dating back to the very inception of the country in 1947. The review process for the
National Education Policy 1998-2010 was initiated in 2005 and the first document, the White
Paper was finalised in March 2007. The White Paper became the basis for development of the
Policy document. The lag in finalisation of the draft owes to lot of factors including the
process of consultations adopted as well as significant political changes in the country.
2. Two main reasons that prompted the Ministry of Education (MoE) to launch the review in
2005 well before the time horizon of the existing Policy (1998 - 2010)1 were, firstly, the Policy
was not producing the desired educational results and the performance remained deficient in
several key aspects including access, quality and equity of educational opportunities and
Framework of Action Education for All (EFA) Goals and the challenges triggered by
globalisation and nation’s quest for becoming a knowledge society in the wake of compelling
3. The document is organized into nine chapters. Chapter 1 describes overarching challenges,
identifies two fundamental causes that lie behind the deficiencies in performance (the
commitment gap and the implementation gap), and outlines the way forward. Chapters 2
and 3 articulate the ways of filling the Commitment Gap (system values, priorities and
and human values. Chapters 5 to 8 outline reforms and policy actions to be taken at the sub-
sector level. Chapter 9 broadly suggests a Framework for Implementation of the Action Plan
of this Policy document. Annex- I lays out the current state of education sector. Available
indicators have been assessed against data in comparable countries.
4. Many of the areas discussed in this document were present in the previous policy
documents prepared in the country from time to time and apparently many of the problems
persist. A new policy document on its own will not rectify the situation but all the segments
of the society will have to contribute in this endeavour. However, the document does
recognise two deficits of previous documents i.e. governance reform and an implementation
roadmap which if redressed, can alter results for the present Policy.
5. On governance, the policy discusses the issue of inter-tier responsibilities wherein the
respective roles and functions of the federal-provincial-district governments continue to be
not clear. Confusion has been compounded, especially, at the provincial-district levels after
the ‘Devolution Plan’ mainly because the latter was not supported by a clear articulation of
strategies. The other issue identified for governance reforms is the fragmentation of
ministries, institutions etc. for management of various sub-sectors of education and, at times,
within each sub-sector. Problems of management and planning have also been discussed
and recommendations prepared.
Policy a truly ‘national’ document and not a federal recipe. For this, it has been
recommended that InterProvincial Education Ministers’ Conference (IPEMC) with
representation of all the federating units, will be the highest body to oversee progress of
education in the country. In this respect the Federal-Provincial collaborative effort remains
7. It has also been proposed to make the document a “living document” that will remain for
8. The purpose of the Policy is to chart out a national strategy for guiding education
development in Pakistan. Many of the policy actions outlined have already been initiated in
reforms during the process, most notably in the domains of curriculum development,
of these ongoing reforms and integrates them into its recommendations. The Policy is also
embedded within the Islamic ethos as enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan.
9. The success of the Policy will depend on the national commitment to the sector. Already
there has been a marked improvement in the area as all provinces and areas as well as the
federal government have raised the priority of education. This will now have to be matched
with availability of resources and capacity enhancement for absorption of these resources to
improve education outcomes for the children of Pakistan. It is a long journey that has already
begun. It is hoped that the policy document will help give a clearer direction to the efforts
and help in institutionalising the effort within a national paradigm.
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Q.2 Enlist the functions of boards in conducting the socialogy level exams. Hightlight
some of the issues related to lent manamgnet in this context.
Answer:
colleges offering primary and secondary education in Pakistan. Every BISE also administer the
exames for such classes. Every province has boards in major districts.
Responsibilities of BISEs
Public education is universally available. School curricula, funding, teaching, employment, and
other policies are set through locally by school boards in compliance with over all provincial
and federal policies. Every provincial government takes care of standards at Intermediate and
secondary education level in the region by help of BISE at district level. Hence; every board is
responsible to offer a transparent examination system and evaluation methodology. Each
BISE came into being as a result of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Act 1990.
Due to increase in work load on matric section, the conduct section has been divided into
two separate sections. Conduct 1 to deal with matric and conduct 2 to deal with
intermediate. A printing section has also been created for printing of question papers.
The Board is governed by a Calendar based on NWFP BISE Act 1990. The act along with
regulations and rules provide a complete compendium of instructions for running the Board.
Within the parameters laid down by this act, the Board makes rules and regulations for its
running. In addition the Controlling Authority also has the powers to provide directions to
the Board to regulate any activity.
Five districts, namely Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram and Kohistan. This
encompasses an area of 17,194 square kilometres and a population of 3.47 millions.
All students of 9 th and 11 th class are required to be registered with the Board. The student
population here is that of registered students. In our Board area, however, a very large
private student population is also there, whose examination requirements are also met by the
Board.
determined by Government. Lay down the conditions for admission to its Examinations to
determine the eligibility of candidates and to admit them to such Examinations. Prescribe
courses of study for its Examinations Lay down conditions for recognition of institutions.
Accord, refuse or withdraw recognition, wholly or partly. Inspection of institutions and
arrange for inspection of recognized institutions and call for inspection reports in respect of
such institutions. Institute and award scholarships, medals and prizes in the prescribed
manner. Grant certificates and diplomas to persons who have passed its Examinations and to
withdraw such certificates and diplomas
determined by Government.
Lay down the conditions for admission to its Examinations to determine the eligibility of
Inspection of institutions and arrange for inspection of recognized institutions and call for
inspection reports in respect of such institutions.
Institute and award scholarships, medals and prizes in the prescribed manner.
Grant certificates and diplomas to persons who have passed its Examinations and to
In order to enable the Board to perform these multifarious functions efficiently and
effectively, these Boards were established as independent autonomous bodies with the
Governor of the province as the Controlling Authority. Professionally Board is the most
as members etc.
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Q.3 Explain the issues and problems of staff development in public and private
sector in Pakistan.
Answer:
Education plays a pivotal role in the rise and fall of the nations especially in the 21st century
importance of education influence much to meet the fast growing challenges. It is mainly due
have different school systems but when we divide them we find two major categories of
school systems: private and public schools. In Pakistan, private schools are getting mass
During 1990s and 2000s, private sector emerged as a key provider of education services in
Pakistan both in absolute terms and relative to the public sector. Private educational
institutions are playing key role not only in eradicating illiteracy but also enhancing the level
are properly managed they can uplift educational standard in Pakistan as well.
The educational landscape of Pakistan has gone through numerous transformations in the
past two decades. Enrollment levels and gender parity index have been on the rise. The
changes in the education sector that have been taking place in Pakistan have created an
other sector, the declining trend in favor of non –state providers is significant.
Education, especially primary education is mostly considered a public service which should be
provided to the citizens without discrimination, irrespective of affordability and mainly as the
government’s responsibility. This ideology was behind the nationalization of all education
institutions in 1972, which severely interrupted the role of the robust private sector
particularly at the post elementary level. However, like other services provided by the
effectiveness.
After the end of nationalization in 1979, Pakistan has witnessed an exponential increase in
the role of private sector service providers. The negative experiences of government schools
have instigated parents to shift children from government to private schools. Private schools
no longer remain an urban or elite phenomenon, but rather poor households also use these
facilities to a large extent, due to their better locations, reasonable fees, teachers’ presence
and better-quality learning, especially in the fields of mathematics and language. Even
though private schools started off as an urban phenomenon, more recently they have
Several characteristics are responsible for making private schooling more attractive to
parents compared to government schools; these include better test scores, better physical
infrastructure, and lower rates of teacher absenteeism. Some of the other factors are:
1- Income of parents
3- Facilities in School
4- Child safety
5- Quality of education
6- School Fee
7- Medium of Instruction
8- Better results
Even if we disregard the debate of whether the learning levels are better in private or
government schools, the fact remains that the learning levels for both types of institutes
remain poor in an absolute sense. The private schools advantage over the public schools is
marginal up if we look at the problems of education in the country holistically speaking.
The outcomes of private versus public schools’ debate may be a popular discourse, however,
at a policy level it is essential to understand that the current education emergency in Pakistan
cannot be confronted with just a single player in the education sector. Multiple players, other
than the government alone are required in the process to combat the problems. The
government needs private sector’s help to contest the challenges. Various other challenges
including the flood, security issues and dislocations of citizens due to the regional conflicts in
the country also pose major concerns that the households and state need to plan around in
the future. The need of the hour is a collective action by all the stakeholders, including the
households, government, private sector and the civil society.
It can be a better option if the government uses its resources not on increasing the number
of schools but rather on the quality of existing schools. Increasing access to education for
children by increasing the number of schools should be a policy left for the private sector and
the government itself should concentrate on improving the quality of physical facilities and
teachers in the existing schools. By doing this, the benchmark for the private schools will also
increase, thus increasing both access to, and quality of education.
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Answer:
The process of curriculum development is facing serious issues in Pakistan. These issues are
interference of bureaucrats, the absence of involvement of school teachers etc. Experts sitting
in curriculum development boards do not use academic resources properly for revising
outdated sections of school textbooks. EAST offers innovative solutions for meeting the
needs of curriculum development in Pakistan.
What is Curriculum?
While thinking about education, the most important idea that comes to mind is curriculum.
Curriculum is a channel that school administration needs for giving educational and life skills
to students. However, unluckily, in Pakistani context, this idea is highly misunderstood due to
Ghulam Haider in his article, “Process of Curriculum Development in Pakistan,” says that
curriculum is not a static process, but it is a dynamic exercise that must undergo changes
In Pakistan, curriculum development is a static process. There are many reasons for the failure
1. Curriculum is outdated
Firstly, the curriculum is outdated, which does not meet the local needs of Pakistani society.
Raja Omer Shabbir in his article, “The curriculum problems,” notes that our present
generation is learning the same knowledge that previous two generations have learnt.
As students from different parts of the world get difficult mathematical and scientific
knowledge by activity-based learning, our students are forced to know scientific concepts
through cramming.
For example, in school textbooks of Mathematics at primary level, the concepts of shapes in
geometry lessons are not written correctly. One example is of sphere and circle. Most of the
teachers do not know that a sphere is a solid shape and a circle is a flat shape. Many teachers
teach students that the shape of sun is a circle and not a sphere.
It is sad situation that experts designing school textbooks of mathematics at primary level do
not pay attention to include the concept of solid and flat shapes together.
Secondly, both Haider and Shabbir note that involvement of government officers in the
development of Pakistani curriculum is proving harmful to our education system.
Haider suggests that the current process of curriculum development is based on a uniform
policy for the whole country that has its particular aims and goals, but he thinks that it is not
possible to apply national educational policy to different regions of the country with equality.
For example, there are many underdeveloped areas of Pakistan, where parents do not have
adequate resources to send their children to schools. The drop-out rate from schools is high,
because parents cannot afford the expense of education easily.
One way of doing this is to build schools, where students are allowed to study in evening
time, and where books having basic knowledge about core subjects such as English,
Mathematics, Science, Urdu and Islam are taught by trained teachers.
Thirdly, the problem that the process of curriculum development faces in Pakistan is
improper academic research for writing school textbooks. Haider points out those experts
sitting in the curriculum development boards use materials of their own choice for instruction
in schools.
He says that most of the times the chosen content is not up to the mark. While going
through textbooks approved by several board systems in the country, it becomes clear that
no suitable research/evaluation system is created to revise curriculum.
For example, in computer books of Class 9th, students still learn serial and parallel ports.
However, it is noted that all electronic devices created in present day are connected with
Fourthly, it is seen that the academic experience of teachers from different schools is also not
considered in designing and revising school curriculum. Daniel Tanner and Laurel N. Tanner
in their book, “Curriculum Development: Theory into Practice,” suggest that without
intelligent participation of school teachers, meaningful curriculum development will not be
achieved.
Tanner and Tanner say that teachers, who are involved in bringing out educational change,
accept and adopt the new ideas more quickly than those teachers who are not involved in
carrying out change.
Useful evidence suggests that in countries where well-educated teachers were not involved in
the curriculum development process, they did not accept new changes in school textbooks.
With lack of academic skills in researchers responsible for designing curriculum for schools,
the most important feature of curriculum, i.e. content suffers a lot. Students follow rote-
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learning process, because the content of their books does not match to their educational
skills.
In order to make students problem-solvers, Shabbir argues that our books must contain
questions that relate to problems we face in our daily life. By answering those questions,
students will learn to solve issues in difficult situations.
For example, while studying the concept of speed in science, students must be given
questions related to real-life examples of speed such as speed of a car etc., so that they know
EAST has developed a curriculum that provides activity-based learning to students and gives
problem-solving skills to them.
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Q.5 Highlight the gaps between curriculum student learning outcomes and
classroom instrucitons at secondary level for the subject science.
Answer:
Curriculum is an essential instrument used by the educational institutions for the social
development of the individual which is one of the essential objectives of education and
school is a societal organization, endowed with the mission of civilizing value transmission to
the future generation. Continuous attempt is desirable to ensure that the instrument is useful
and effective. For making stipulation to cope with the challenges and changing demand of
society, review and improvement in curriculum is required. The aim of study was to analyze
the curriculum process and development of a model for secondary level in Pakistan. The main
objectives of the study included investigation of the existing process, exploring the merits
and weaknesses, obtaining the teachers‘ opinions and developing a curriculum development
model for secondary level in Pakistan. Sample of the study was stratified randomly selected
from all over the Pakistan and 2200 teachers were included in the sample. For data collection
Questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. Data were analyzed by
percentage and chi-square. On the basis of the data analysis major conclusions were that
curriculum objectives did not endorse the practice of decisive and innovative thinking, policy
objectives were sound devised and interpreted into curriculum objectives. Major
recommendations are the process of curriculum development may be coordinated with the
philosophy and existent life applications through detailed subject matter. Proposed
curriculum model was developed in the light of the findings of the study and was validated
Curriculum improvement is also a political process. It involves dealing with the different
people with their different authority bases and their different views about ―good‖ education.
Curriculum development is not an action that once takes place and move towards an end
within a school. Relatively, it is a never ending process, with understanding and imminent
taken from various feedback from assessments and then starting freshly for future progress.
One of the key roles of teacher is to take decisions about the entire aspects of curriculum as
curriculum itself is not static but dynamic in nature. Every teacher should uncover himself in a
position, which comprise of number of features and aspects. Situation analysis is most
important, deep and beginning step to curriculum preparation, but less deeply, throughout
progress effort as a check, again at the position of execution of the new curriculum (on the
whole if few of the features have distorted by that time, which might fit be the case if
curriculum development has taken a extended time), and at last throughout deliberation of
the steps to be taken as a result of evaluation (Nicholls & Nicholls, 1974). Specialist works in
close association with textbooks boards, the curriculum centers, the education departments,
the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISEs) and other research institutes
such as Institutes of Education and Research (IERs) in the provinces. According to Morehead
(1966), a model is a minute description of something that will be constructed later. A model
Rather, one has been advocated but others explained as well, so that prospective curriculum
designers may choose the most suitable one for their own context. There are two broader
Curriculum is a whole range of formal setup and learning experience, offered by a school.
program, outdoor trips, and services and developmental projects or work in community. To
maximize the benefits of school career at each level curriculum organize all learning
experiences to the student. School‘s curriculum consists of all those activities planned or
development of individual including the logical or mental, individual, societal and physical
development (Mathews, 1989). Curriculum is the sort of building comprehension and
practice, analytically developed with support of the school or institution to make the student
able to enhance his or her power of comprehension and practice (Aggarwal, 1990). Farooq,
(1994) was of the view that at the time of selection of school experiences when planning the
curriculum there should have a compromise between two approaches. Schools should
incorporate those learning activities that ensure the knowledge acquirement and develop an
understanding of cultural tradition exclusive of intense force on immediate functional use.
Alternatively schools should also struggle to facilitate the individual with all possible aspects
including the problems of daily life. It means that both the experiences, that assist the
learners in the mastery of basic skills and also serve the important life needs of pupils
themselves, are to be included in the curriculum. Hunkins (1987) states that curriculum
different views about ―good‖ education. Curriculum development is not an action that once
takes place and move towards an end within a school. Relatively, it is a never ending process,
with understanding and imminent taken from various feedback from assessments and then
starting freshly for future progress. One of the key roles of teacher is to take decisions about
the entire aspects of curriculum as curriculum itself is not static but dynamic in nature. Every
teacher should uncover himself in a position, which comprise of number of features and
aspects. Situation analysis is most important, deep and beginning step to curriculum
preparation, but less deeply, throughout progress effort as a check, again at the position of
execution of the new curriculum (on the whole if few of the features have distorted by that
time, which might fit be the case if curriculum development has taken a extended time), and
at last throughout deliberation of the steps to be taken as a result of evaluation (Nicholls &
Nicholls, 1974). Specialist works in close association with textbooks boards, the curriculum
centers, the education departments, the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education
(BISEs) and other research institutes such as Institutes of Education and Research (IERs) in the
provinces.